So Sunday saw us once again packing the car for a journey north up the motorway towards Stoke on Trent area, this time for the Wolverine Archers NFAS shoot.
Both of us were feeling tired before we even started the shoot, having been at the SVYF wood all Saturday helping set up half of the new course. It was a very warm Saturday to be clearing undergrowth and setting 18 new targets, but it was done and we even managed to shoot it.
Wolverine – archers getting ready
Anyway on to Wolverine’s shoot, past reviews can be seen here. Sunday morning started dry, warm and sunny and unlike the previous week the motorway wasn’t that slow.
I think some archers may have been put off by the forecast of heavy rain later in the day, as admin at the shoot had to do some rejigging of groups for cancellations and no shows. As it was we ended up shooting with Adrian and his daughter Emily from Lyme Valley club both shooting hunting tackle class. I know some people are not fond of shooting in a group with a child but I must say Emily was a great sport, even when the heavens opened in the afternoon and it was raining she focused on shooting, being a credit to her family and club.
3D deer
Wolverine always set a challenging course and Sundays was no exception with our first target being a downhill paper face fox. The course was a mix of paper faces and 3D targets and yes, there was Kong in the field.
Adrian shooting a 3D deer
Like Lyme Valley, Wolverine operate a lunch break where all shooting stops to allow archers to get safely off the course. This gave us time to grab something to eat and the umbrella.
Adrian shooting a 3D turtle
My luckiest shot of the day I think must have been our first target after the lunch break, which was a small 3D dragon, which I managed to shoot through the mouth. Literally skin of the teeth.
Lucky shoot – 3D dragon
Another tough shot was a 3D owl between a V in two trees. It looked lovely but wasn’t easy.
Slightly out of focus but a 3D owl between trees
I’m glad we had done most of the course when the bad weather did arrive as I think it would have gone from challenging to very hard.
The rain that had been forecast rolled in in the afternoon and it got very wet. Hence the lack of afternoon photos as I was more concerned with keeping the phone dry. Thankfully we were mostly in the woods by this point.
Despite Sharon feeling she hadn’t shot well she won ladies hunting tackle and by some miracle I managed a second place in AFB.
Thanks for reading.
I’ve been falling behind on writing these shoot reports over the last few weeks so I’m going to try and catch up now starting with Lyme Valley Archers shoot.
Last Sunday we headed north to Lyme Valley shoot grounds outside Stoke on Trent. Due to the extensive road works on the motorway and the 50 mph speed limit we seemed to take ages to get there arriving to find the field already full of archers’ cars. A clear sign of the shoots popularity. Here is a link to their past shoots.
The good news was that the weather was dry and warm though I’m beginning to think August is less summer and more early autumn this year. As it was there was a slight chill in the shade of the wood. Thankfully it was not raining, Lyme Valley can get very slippery in the wet, since it is as its name suggests, situated in a valley with quite steep sides in places.
The course was a mix of 3d and paper faces with a couple of new 3d targets I don’t recall seeing before. There were 36 targets in total, unlike last time though they were all in the wood and none in the field.
Dan, David and John
There were five in our shooting group with David and Dan from Paget de Vasey shooting flatbow and longbow respectively along with John from Forest of Arden shooting flatbow all joining Sharon and I. The group gelled well and it was a really good laugh all the way round the course.
Dan and Sharon
We started on target 30; a down hill 3d bear that was trickier than first looked. I think we didn’t stop joking and laughing all day . The course only problem we had was when Sharon’s rest broke about 7 targets in and she had to fit a replacement.
Downhill 3D ptarmigan
Lunch break was between 12:30 – 1:15 after which saw us return to a tricky uphill shot at a 3D turkey. Lyme Valley operates a lunch break where all shooting stops to allow archers safely off the course for lunch. To be fair I think it would be very hard for them to do a shoot through due to the woodland shape being along a long narrow valley.
Archers heading back after lunch break
Over lunch and chatting to others we discovered there had been a problem at the opposite end of the woodland which had stopped archers shooting for a short time but we were unaware of.
The mix of targets and distances was good though I think the crocodile was a little on the far side as you were aiming at its side.
There was a great shot across the stream to a 3D bedded large deer that I completely misread resulting in a third arrow as my first and second landed in the mud in front.
Uphill shot
I think something that could improve peoples’ enjoyment of the shoot and save on broken arrows is if when the course layers dig out the bank for a shot they put either a boss or thick foam behind. They could camouflage it easily enough with undergrowth etc. The reason I mention this is that both Sharon and I broke the piles off a couple of arrows when we skimmed the top of 3ds and went into the bank.
To be fare the course layers must have worked really hard to get in some of the shots so credit to them for that.
3D goose
There were some really nicely framed shots and some good use of up and downhill terrain features. I liked a 3D deer between a fork in a tree which we shot early in the day.
3D deer between the trees
The large grizzly bear up against the tree was another shot which made you think about which angle to take.
3D Grizzly
Overall it was a good challenging course with a couple of shots that could have been improved with modification to peg position and consideration of overshoots.
Sharon came away with first in ladies hunting tackle but nothing for me other than a couple of arrows to repair and good memories. Sadly the journey home was even slower due to more traffic and reduced speed limit.
Thanks for reading.
Liberty shoots have a reputation for being a fun shoot to attend as the club always put a lot of effort into making sure it’s fun. This shoot was their annual two day event with a party bbq on the Saturday night. We had decided to camp again this year with a few of the SVYF members and booked the Friday and Monday off work. So early Friday morning we packed the car for the three hour drive to Liberty arriving just before 11 am so plenty of time to pitch the tent and settle in.
Liberty Archers campsite
The camp site was already very busy with caravans and tents popping up along the access road, with some having arrived the previous day.
Liberty SVYF camp chats
Friday night meal was the traditional fish and chips from the local chip shop washed down with a couple of bottles of cider whilst sat chatting.
You can read a shoot report from last year’s event here.
One really nice tradition that Liberty Archers do is when a member leaves (they have several members that are associated with the armed forces and are transferred to other bases or countries) the archer shoots an arrow into the leavers tree.
The leavers Tree
Saturday night party
This years theme was a Night at the movies which resulted in some fantastic costumes on show for the Saturday night party. Including a full Sister Act quior, Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Beetlejuice and Marilyn Monroe not to forget the jedi knights, Snow White and Mr and Mrs Shrek wondering round. Sharon was as always magnificent going to town on a Maleficent costume.
Sharon, Jane and Jill were sponsored to shoot the Sunday course in full fancy dress costumes so we had Marilyn Monroe Beetlejuice and Maleficent wondering round the woods.
The charity team (from left to right Jane, Jill and Sharon)
Felt sorry for any cars driving past the site as they caught glimpses of these characters. At least one motorcycle pillion took a double look. The charity to benefit is the British heart foundation and to dare over £135 has been raised. A just giving page has been set up too here is the link.
The course
All 42 targets on the courses had a film theme from Star Wars to Citizen Kane with some requiring audience participation such as the Monty Python shot at a vampire rabbit where your fellow archers were to use coconut cups to make the sound of horse hooves as you were shooting.
As course sites go Liberty is very flat and covered in open woodland of silver birch and oaks. Thankfully this year the weather wasn’t as hot as last year which made it a more cumfortable couple day in woods.
Tegan and Sam
Shooting group on both days would include Sharon and myself along with fellow Svyf members Sam and Tegan. On Saturday we were joined by Simon but he didn’t shoot Sunday.
I didn’t shoot well on Saturday and it was obvious in my score of 600 points fare lower than I wanted and in the number of second arrows I took. I seemed to be going over the top of everything.
Sharon shooting a bedded deer
One thing with Liberty is the ground swallows arrows as it’s quite sandy and grassy so we spent a lot of time searching for arrows. There is still one of mine somewhere out there.
Sams luckiest shot of weekend
Robo Deer made an appearance though with a new paint job.
Robo Deer with paint job on Sunday
The course is a full 42 targets with 3d targets of all shapes and sizes from mosquitos made up to be giant butterflies to a Magnificent Seven shot which was a herd of deer 3ds in the field. This changed to the seven samurai on the Sunday.
SVYF on the next peg
One target that was really tough for lighter poundage bows was based on the psycho movie, where you had to shoot through a taught shower curtain to hit a 3D bear. The curtain caused the lighter bows to either fail to penetrate the plastic sheet or deflect when their fletching made contact.
I wasn’t looking forward to Sunday following my awful shooting on Saturday.It wasn’t helped by my sinuses playing up, thankfully Sue had some nasal spray that helped clear my head.Matters didn’t improve when on my first target I sailed over the top with first arrow only to have second shatter into multiple pieces when it clipped a tree.
Another Liberty shot between trees
For some reason my head slowly started to work as the day progressed but any chance on placing was long gone due to poor shooting on Saturday but at least I wasn’t feeling a complete failure.
Sam shooting the singing in the rain themed target
Sharon shooting on Sunday in costume
There were a couple of shots on Sunday that I thought could have been improved with better peg location as shorter archers found them near impossible to see due to undergrowth but in all it was a good course.
Hard shot through the trees
Sharon proving she can shoot in costume
Sharon came away with first in ladies hunting tackle so she now has an Oscar to fit in the trophy cabinet.
My Archery Experiences 