forest of arden | My Archery Experiences

Forest of Arden mustering and announcements

So on a slightly overcast Sunday morning Sharon and I packed the car for the short run up the motorway to Forest of Arden’s grounds. For those interested here is a link to the last shoot report I wrote on Forest so you can have an idea of what they were like then. Despite it being overcast we had fairly good weather, without any heavy showers or backing heat, though there seemed lots of bugs out enjoying the good weather and archers as a source of food. Note to self need to get some more insect repellent and after bite cream. Enough of this waffle, onto the course details.

The course would be 40 targets, all 3Ds and we would shoot with Julie and Roger from LEFA (Long Eaton Field Archers) which is always a good laugh. Roger has gone back to shooting Hunting Tackle and Julie is trying out shooting compound in bow hunter. Considering it was only her second time out with it, she shot really well throughout the day. Do think she needs thicker arrows as the number of times she was just off the line a thicker arrow might have made the difference.

Julie shooting 3D before lunch break

The shoot was a shoot through with Forest having organised a second catering stop at one end of the woodland, along with the main one at admin and muster point. This seemed to work well.

They did have a lower turnout than normal for their shoot with approximately 100 archers. I think part of this may have been due to the wedding of two midland archers the day before. I can I take this opportunity to pass on my congratulations Rich and Alex.

I think the fewer numbers actually worked better as personally I feel there were a few targets a bit close to the previous one. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think it was dangerous just a little snug and if there had been more people I think a couple of pegs might have been a bit crowded. This is a personal view and for those that shot the course feel free to disagree. The course layers at Forest had obviously worked hard to change the course as it was reworked since the last time we’d shot there, having reversed the route round the wood.

Archers waiting for the start

Having said this Forests course layers produced some very nicely set targets making use of the grounds they have which is a mix of deciduous and conifer woodland, with some dips and hollows. Unlike the last visit there weren’t the giant foxgloves covering the forest floor, though there were some wild raspberry plants doted round the woodland. Wild raspberries are smaller than cultivated ones but taste great, being quite sweet.

One target worth mentioning is the 3D lion shot off the hillside. This obviously caught out few archers by the number of arrows stuck high in the tree on way to the target. There were 4 arrows there when we got to the target.

Julie shooting 3D

For us it was a very relaxed day and flowed well, I know a couple of groups got held up and found it a bit slow at times, but most seemed to be fine. It was great to meet up with one local reader of the blog who commented on how glad he was to see recent months actions hadn’t stopped me writing. Thanks your comments means a lot.

This was the largest group outing for the recently formed Briar Rose field Archers, with eight members present. Of the eight, four came away with medals. Lee getting 3^rd in gents American flatbow, Gail also shot well considering she hasn’t been out much recently getting 3^rd in ladies Bare-bow. Sharon shot well winning ladies AFB and I managed first in gents AFB.