Tag Archives: autumn shooting

Oct 22 2012

Shoot Report – LEFA October 2012

Long Eaton Field Archers (LEFA) used to be one of our nearest shoots but now takes 50 -55 minutes to get there but it is still worth it though. This Sunday the mist and thick fog added to the journey time. It always amazes me the speed some people drive in fog and how many don’t have lights on.

The course was 40 3d targets with a few changes from the last shoot, but still some of the old favourites like the 3d bison.  Lunch break as always from 12:30 -1:15 which is a bit of a shame as I prefer shoot through but food was excellent. Ranch stew which was a mix of beans, bacon, sausage in tomato, perfect what a cold autumn day. The cakes were great too.

Misty shot

Misty shot at 3D deer

There were about 140 archers I think and we were lucky enough to shot with Ben and John Straw old Black Arrow colleagues. Good to see so many old friends too. Here is John shooting of the 3ds. The mist made distance judgement a bit harder at times on a few shots.

John shooting

John shooting

Sharon did very well not only winning her class but also scoring higher than the gents first place in Barebow. The results are available here.

Sharon shooting

Sharon shooting

Marshaling again next weekend, though not sure about the weather as forecast is for it to get cold with cold front from the north. Here’s hoping it stays dry.

Might decide not to camp though. Thanks for reading.

Oct 15 2012

Shoot Report – the other side

Frosty morning

Frosty morning

Slightly different shoot report this week as although we attended a shoot on Sunday it was not as a competing archer but as a marshal.

This was the first SVYF shoot we would not be shooting but marshalling  shame as we thought it was a great course.

We’d spent all Saturday putting in the 3d targets and checking target bosses, clearing paths and low branches.

Sunday morning saw a ground frost and had me scraping the ice off the car before 8 am, by the time we reached the wood it was -1 centigrade.

Something very beautiful about a frosty Autumn morning with the sun slowly burning off the mist as it rises in the sky. We were very lucky with the weather earlier in the week it had looked like we’d have a wet weekend.

Cob webs on frosty morning

Cob webs on frosty morning

The course was a mix of 3d and paper faces about a 70/30 split. The 40 target course is split in two, with one group laying 1-20 & other group doing 21-40, with us helping out lay 21-40. We had about 170 archers and 30-40 helpers.

Gathering of archers

Gathering of archers

Thanks to the early Autumn light through the trees some of the 3d targets were in partial shadow making distance judgements that little bit harder. Was interesting to see how different styles shot the course from sighted compound to longbows.

3D boar target

3D boar target

I spent sometime talking to a few archers about how far they thought one shot was a slightly downhill shot at a 3D boar. I was interested in the different distances they thought the target was. As someone who doesn’t use a sight or gap shoots, I had paced the target distance at 31 paces (about 29 yards) and archers were guessing everything from 28 yards to 36 yards.

example of shot

Turkey 3D shot

There was a difference to previous shoots I’ve been involved with simply in the sheer number of marshals and helpers, making it less stressful and a bit easier.

Think I must have walked our part of the course at least 4-5 times over the day.Feedback was really positive, with only a couple of things to change for future shoots. Was a long day but worth it.

If you ever have an opportunity to help run or lay a course then take it. You learn a lot and realise just how much work is involved in putting on a shoot.

We must be mad as we’re helping on another shoot at end of month.

Thanks for reading.