Tag Archives: “field archery”

Aug 9 2012

Field Archery & nature

Spring in the woods
One of the reasons I enjoy field archery is the opportunity to be out in the British countryside, enjoying the fresh air, fine weather and occasional random encounters with wildlife. Granted this year the fine weather has been in short supply with unusually high rain fall, strong winds and thunderstorms with hailstones the size of golf balls.
Despite this I still enjoy being out and about, seeing how the woods change over the months, from the first signs of bluebells poking out of the earth to the jungle of green ferns that have appeared almost overnight.
Blue bells in the wood

Blue bells in the wood

The changing seasons are amasing to watch from the first onset of Autumn and change of colours through to the shorter shooting days of Winter and first frosts or snowfall.
Spring at Black Arrow Woods

Spring at Black Arrow Woods

As the seasons change so do the habits of the wildlife and your chances to see them.

Each Saturday when we get to the wood I walk the course, partly as a safety check for fallen branches and to see if target faces need replacing. It gives me the chance to see wildlife too before the wood is filled with the sounds of archers and arrows.  I often see a selection of animals and birds going about their business. Last week I disturbed a fox who looked somewhat surprised to see me appear from behind a tree, before he retreated down the hillside.

The other Saturday I was walking along one of the lower paths when I spotted a grey squirrel some 25-30 feet away heading straight down the path towards me. Standing perfectly still I let it approach, wondering how close it would come before it realised that I was there. I’m guessing it couldn’t recognise me as I was wearing my old army surplus camouflage jacket. It came up to a couple of feet and sat there looking at me. What was it thinking? Maybe it was trying to work out if I was a threat or just on oddly shaped bush?

After a few moments it must have decided I was no threat and to move on so hopped within inches of my feet onto the moss-covered  perimeter stone wall of the wood and then it was gone. This was a really magical moment for me, to have the opportunity to be  so close to animal as to see the individual strands of fur and the colours of their eyes as they look straight at you.
I so wanted to reach  for my phone and record the encounter but knew if I moved it would spot me and disappear. So archery can be far more than just shooting a few targets

I’m sure anyone who enjoys field archery has similar stories to tell of their encounters. Thanks for reading

Jul 26 2012

3D targets stolen

I’ve just heard that Company of 60 archers have had a load of 3D targets stolen. 19 3D targets in total, varying in size and condition (some were new, but all are branded with CO60). I’ve copied a list below, so if you get offered any cheap 3D it could be theirs.

This is a massive loss for any club and a real setback for them, but as I understand it their shoot later this year (September) is still going ahead.

If you have any details can you contact http://www.co60.co.uk/index.shtml or DC Gamble at Surrey Police. A full list of the targets and photos can be found here (word format)

Large Targets

  • Reinhart Rising Boar l Used
  • Reinhart leopard / stump l Used
  • Reinhart cougar l Used
  • Reinhart browsing buck l New

Medium Targets

  • Reinhart Cinnamon bear m Used
  • Reinhart Bowhunter Buck m Used
  • Reinhart Bowhunter Buck m Used
  • Eleven WhiteSpot Pig m New
  • Reinhart Peccary s New
  • Reinhart Baboon m New
  • Reinhart Snarling Fox m New
  • Reinhart Coyote m old
  • Reinhart peccary s Used

Small Targets

  • Reinhart skunk s Used
  • Reinhart green frog s Used
  • Reinhart mini bear s Used
  • Artefact Large Owl/Stump s Used
  • Reinhart Raccoon s New
  • Artefact Chipmunk w Log s poor

Lets hope the thieves are caught, please pass this on to other archers and be on the look out. 3D targets are valuable and sadly a target for thieves.

Thanks for reading

Jul 26 2012

Invite day shoot at Black Arrow

Image of a wood pile "steaming" in the morning sun

Image of a wood pile “steaming” in the morning sun

Not a true shoot report, as it wasn’t a formal shoot, but I thought it worth adding here. Last Saturday saw Black Arrow run an invite day at our wood for Long Eaton Field Archers (LEFA). It was with great delight to see so many turn up from Long Eaton Field Archers club to shoot at our wood for the day.
As I said it wasn’t a formal shoot, just one club opening its doors to invite another club round for a bit of fun and it worked really well. The goal was for people to have fun and for the 2 club memberships to mix shoot together and enjoy a laugh or two, with 15 members of LEFA enjoyed Black Arrows hospitality (free hot drinks, cuppa soups etc, big thanks to LEFA guys who brought the fantastic chilli) Archers could score if they wanted or just wonder round and shoot.
Sadly, there are no pictures of the day other that the one taken by Sharon first thing of the log pile steaming in the sun (yes we had good weather) I’m afraid I was too busy chatting, laughing and shooting. There were so many happy faces and a great laugh.
I really think this is something that more clubs should do. Rather than opening their doors for solely open shoots which are competitive events where each shot counts. I shot round the wood twice with Nick and Ady and was very interesting to see how they managed our up and down wood. LEFA have a lovely ground but its a flat ground in comparison to ours at Black Arrow. So seeing them having to shoot up, down or across the hillside was great.
Our target 7

This was taken a few weeks ago

The course was a mix of some 3Ds and paper targets. The picture above shows the angles across the hill side and was taken a few weeks ago before all the undergrowth shot up. The target boss is half way up the slope and you shoot for red peg, if you miss move to white, if you miss then blue.

Since there was no pressure nothing stopped you have a couple of extra arrows at any troubling target. Nick is a course layer from LEFA, so it was good to see and hear his thoughts on the Black Arrow ground. Nearly everyone went round the 20 taret course twice.
There was no shoot fee, simply asked for donation towards Cancer research UK a charity that has touched the hearts and lives of many in Black Arrow. We raised £78 for cancer research charity and this was matched with a very generous donation to the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institiution)as a thanks for our contribution to the club over the past 4 years. A very thoughtful gift to a charity I’ve supported for several years.

“This was a great day!…….no medals and scoring only if you wanted to……just the challenge of shooting and the enjoyment of socialising with very pleasant folk.”

Kevin Bunting Black Arrow chairman.

Big thanks to all that were involved and helped from both clubs.
The only sad thing was this would mark our last Black Arrow club event. We are in the process of buying a house which will result in us moving away from the area and so leaving Black Arrowa club that has offered us so much support and friendship over the past 4 years.

Think we left on a high. Thanks for reading.