Tag Archives: long eaton field archers

Oct 6 2015

Shoot report – Long Eaton Field Archers – October 2015

Long Eaton making announcements at the start

Long Eaton making announcements at the start

The early mist of the October morning soon gave way to a bright sunny day, giving dappled sunlight on many of the 3d targets at Long Eatons ground. If you are interested you can read an earlier shoot report here, along with a listing of all shoot reports being available on where the Arrow lands page.
The course this time would be 36 targets all 3D, including predator prey and a moving target.

First target

First target

Sharon and I were joined by two Paget de Vasey archers Craig and Breanna Smith, both shooting hunting tackle. As we shot round I discovered Rianna follows the Off the Arrow shelf tumblr blog. Small world this archery community is.

Long deer target in the sun light

Long deer target in the sun light

The early morning low sun made shooting the big 3d Bison very difficult with the sun directly behind the target. There was quite a bit of discussion as to the distance and I think it was around 68 yards. I managed a very lucky lower leg hit with my first arrow, far more luck than skill.

Long bison in the sun seen from the red peg

Long bison in the sun seen from the red peg

Unlike previous times we had shot LEFA , they organsied the day as a shoot through, rather than everyone stopping for a hour for lunch. I think this worked well and we flowed round the course easily all day. In fact, I don’t think we saw the group in front or behind most of the day. The result of this was, at times we thought we were the only ones in the woodland. This made for quite a relaxing shoot, surprising when you think there were over 120 archers present.

Lion on the log

Lion on the log

I think LEFA must have bought a job lot of small 3d targets as there were a number of them, including a flock of magpies and small birds. Whilst there were many well laid shots, there was one target I think could have been improved. This was a small 3d hedgehog. The shooting pegs were situated in a hole and you were just over eye line to the ground, if like me you are 5ft 8 inches. The issue was you had to shoot over a low log. Anyone 5ft 4 or shorter struggled especially if they were shooting flat trajectory bows like a compound.

I’m not a huge fan of small 3d targets as I’m not convinced they are worth the money. The other thing I have found is if the 3d is soft then it gets shot out quickly, if its hard then due to the small size and shape they tend to result in glance offs if not hit straight on. This might be a personal thing, but if I was putting out a small target I’m more likely to use a paper face.

LEFA set some excellent shots like the large stag in the woods, along with the puma on the horizontal log.

Long 3D stag in the woods

Long 3D stag in the woods

Turkey shoot through an avenue to trees.

3D turkey

3D turkey

One highly unusual target was the running deer, which from a distance looked like it was flying.

The flying deer

The flying deer

There were also a few targets set at an angle making it harder to judge and hit.

Predator / Prey shot from the red peg

Predator / Prey shot from the red peg

Predator / Prey shot up close

Predator / Prey shot up close

It was good to meet up with Steven Tomkins, who I’d been chatting with online about Prokill24 all weather targets. I’d seen the targets at the national championships and there had been some posts on the various forums about them. Steven took the time to have a chat about their design and production. I hope to do a write up on there target faces in the next few months after I’ve tested them out, so watch this space.

Example of the Prokill target face on the practice bosses

Example of the Prokill target face on the practice bosses

I didn’t shoot well largely due to my shoulder playing up following a couple of hours of heavy gardening on Saturday using the petrol engined strimmer. Should have known better, really. Sharon was successful in winning not only the ladies Hunting Tackle but also the ladies handicap trophy. Congrats to Rianna also who was placed in Hunting Tackle.
Thanks for reading.

May 13 2015

Shoot report – Long Eaton Field Archers – May 2015

Long Eaton

Long Eaton 2015

The standard joke about the British sense of humour is we always talk about the weather. In many ways this is true and I think the reason for this is it’s so changeable. Weather forecasts at the start of the week had promised heavy rain over the bank holiday Sunday and even up to Friday and Saturday it was forecasting rain. In reality we had a beautiful sunny spring day making me wish I had chosen lighter, cooler apparel but it make make for lovely shooting weather. Having said this the drive up the motorway was unpleasant with lots of standing water and some chaotic drivers pushing their luck and speed limits.  Anyway on to the shoot report.
We hadn’t been to Long Eaton Field Archers  (LEFA) for a year and were looking forward to catching up with some old faces.  It was great to see David chair of LEFA , Adrian from black arrow and others just a shame we did get to chat longer. Was also good to catch up with JT and the media legend that is Jim Grizzly Kent. Here are some links to  previous LEFA shoot reports May 2014, 2013
Due to the forecasts Long Eaton had quite a few no shows and this delayed the start of the event by a few minutes along with the extensive pre shoot briefing and peg changes due to the no shows. As it was there were over 130 archers present.
Like many clubs LEFA have seen part of their woodland felled and this has changed the look and feel of the grounds dramatically which I think has improved it. The new layout enables fresh shots and new possibilities. The only thing I would say is they need to be aware of tree canopy as on a couple of shots the trees made it difficult for low poundage bows but this is easily resolved with a little pruning or change of peg position. Something I am sure they will sort for next time.
The fine weather did mean I was able to take a few photos.
Cliff Shooting

Cliff Shooting

Our shooting group would be Cliff and Nadeem shooting longbow and hunting tackle respectively.
It was to be a 36 target course of 3d targets of all shapes and sizes from bison to small pheasants.
Cliff nicknamed the shoot the Noahs ark shoot due to the number of targets where you had to nominate which 3d target to go for. This was an interesting dynamic as it meant you have to consider which is easier or more suitable for you to shoot.

3D target behind tree stump

3D target behind tree stump

Talking of the 3d Bison it was set well in the open at about 65 yards.

Bison 3D target

Bison 3D target

They had two predator and prey shots and a moving target. Personally I think one predator prey shot is enough and if you do put it in then have second arrow scoring for prey so a maximum of 14 if you hit the prey. Otherwise it inflates the scores if you get two good kills as it is a possible 48 points on one target peg.
The shoot was a bit slow at times with us catching up the group in front but I think this was inevitable as it was a challenging course and I went to second and third arrows  more than a few times as did others. I think I had the luckiest shot of the group on a 3D with my arrow some how just holding in the target.

Lucky shot

Lucky shot

LEFA changed the format from past shoots, to a shoot through rather than lunch break which worked much better as it allowed us to time our breaks so groups in front could have more time.
Also it was nice to sit and chill out in the sun. Catering was as good as remembered with a selection of cakes to make Mr Kipping happy and hot food in form of baked potatoes, burgers etc.
I think overall the course layers did a good job with well placed targets and good use of ground.
The standing bear which you shot from a hollow worked well.

3D standing Bear

3D standing Bear

There was a lovely set 3d stag in the trees which looked so natural.

3D stag

3D stag

Really special thanks to Nadeem and Cliff who were really supportive and fabulous company to shoot round with. Some readers may know I am struggling to get my head in to shooting the flatbow at present and at one stage nearly stopped on Sunday but their support and friendly banter got me sorted. Thank guys and belated happy birthday Nadeem.

Full results for the shoot are available on LEFA website and here’s a link if you are interested.
Sharon came away with first in ladies hunting tackle and despite starting badly I managed to scrape away fourth place in afb I think through luck rather than skill. Congratulations to Nadeem on his second place too obviously the force is strong in you.
Thanks for reading.

Jun 26 2013

Shoot report – Long Eaton Summer Solstice

Well it was billed as the LEFA Summer Solstice Shoot,note the summer part, it didn’t feel like summer. Windy with some very heavy showers it felt very autumnal as we arrived.

This weather made the shoot very challenging to say the least as the ground became very slippery under foot with myself and fellow archer John both falling. Fortunately neither of us sustained any real damage other than a a few thorns, though at one stage we wondered whether John had strained his hand.
For the day we were joined by father and son double act John and Ben Straw. Not sure what they are feeding Ben but I’m sure he’s grown again.

Ben and John Straw

Ben and John Straw

The course was a full 40 target 3d one with mixed sizes of targets and distances, with the normal break for lunch for an hour. LEFA had over 200 archers attend and devour the food off the lunch menu. Fortunately the heaviest showers weren’t during the lunch break or I think we might have been even wetter. I know a few people retired at lunch, due to weather I think.
As I said the poor weather made the ground slippery but also had the effect of lowering the tree canopy making some of the longer targets very difficult for lower poundage bows or for longbows that have a long cast. It also meant arrows would catch the canopy and skip off into the undergrowth. Resulting in time lost  searching for arrows, John lost 3 this way.
LEFA have come under criticism for the shoot being too hard and not up to their usual standard. I think this is a little unfair. The shoot was challenging with some targets being further than normal but not all and I have been to other shoots that have been far worse.
The weather played a major part in the problems on the day and I’ve tried to summarise the issues here.

  1. Rain made people wet and wet archers get cold and grumpy.  Kids get tired, feather fetchings become useless or at least less effective.  The can’t do much about weather, believe me I think there are many that would love to be able to.
  2. Rain brought tree canopy down making challenging shots, very difficult.  So maybe an inspection on the morning to prune trees would have helped but on the day organisers will be trying to sort parking, booking people in, etc etc
  3. Paths became slippery  due to the rain which slowed movement. Short of laying new paths etc not much can be done. Maybe a few steps or ropes hand rails might have helped but they had tried to cut in steps they just got worn away.

Despite all these problems it was still a good shoot, just not one of their best. So thanks to all the guys at LEFA. Dead ground was used on a number of shots and so was the undergrowth to hide distances.  Though I think shorter archers suffered as the bracken seems to have shot up.
Sharon had an off day, we all have them and when it happens there is little you can do. But it was one of those days for a number of archers and it saw her  not shooting as well as she can. Ben too was having an off day though he has swapped arrows recently, new bow limbs and has not been practicing due to school commitments.
Though I think Sharon had the shot of the day on the goat with a great 24. Well done.

3D goat at LEFA

3D goat at LEFA

One thing LEFA did do is angle some of the 3d targets and this made it harder to judge size and distances. It also resulted in a few glance offs.
The afternoon was slow not due to catching the group in front, more to do with taking our time to navigate the slippery paths, fortunately the weather improved (rain stopped) which is why there are no photos of the morning. My camera was buried under waterproofs.

Sharon in her summer shooting clothing

Sharon in her summer shooting clothing

Will we return ?

I know some people may have been put off returning to LEFA but we will, just not next time as we will be course laying for our shoot. Oh, how did we get on?

Almost forgot. Despite Sharon not shooting well she won gold with 518, Ben won in his class too, John retired as I think weather and his hand was giving him grief. I also won in my class with 618. Not too bad considering I didn’t get any 24s all day. It was only the second time Sharon and I have both placed 1st at a shoot.

LEFA trophy

LEFA trophy

As always thanks for reading.