Cliff shooting 3D hare

A couple of weeks back we headed north up the motorway and through what feels like endless road works to Lyme Valley shoot. Sorry its taken so long for the shoot report. If you are interested here is a link to a previous shoot report. We were lucky to have good weather, dry and not to warm which is perfect conditions for Lyme valley as you don’t want it to be too warm going up and down the slopes, or wet as it can get very slippery.

It would be a twice round twenty rather than the normal 36 target course they have set in the past. This would prove to make it  a good but long day. Admin and catering was as good as I remember from past visits.

Cliff shooting 3D vulture

Our shooting group made for great company, with us being able to catch up with Nadeem, Cliff and Kay all shooting longbow, not forgetting Teyah (Kays dog)

Kay shooting downhill at 3D bear

There were some nicely laid shots with good use of dead ground. The big grizzly bear 3D shot was great and I wish I’d taken a photo of it. The use of dead ground worked really well I thought on this shot.

Another  was the big bedded elk 3D shot along the hillside was a very nicely framed shot and provided the shot of the day from Cliff on the first circuit round as he managed to 24 it. Though it has to be said that one person’s reaction was timeless to the shot, especially the timing of the comment.

Sharon shooting 3D bedded Elk

I had one very lucky shot on the 3D carp only just getting it, with the arrow balanced on top. Ironically Cliff had done exactly the same thing happen the first time round. Evidence of this can be seen in the photograph.

Cliffs very lucky shot at the 3D carp

Only shot I wasn’t overly keen on was the 3D crocodile by the river. As it was situated on the bank, if you missed your arrow stood a chance of breaking in the stones bank or deflect up into the bridge. The shot looked good and wonder if mounting the crocodile a couple of bosses would have saved a few peoples arrows (including Sharon’s) worse thing was you had to shoot it twice.

Another change to the normal Lyme valley shoot was it was a shoot through rather than a lunch break which I much preferred.

Tricky shot at 3D frog on bank

The  downside of shooting a twice round is if you get a good shot the first time round on a target you feel you should be able to replicate it second time round. The upside is getting some photos, that is if you remember.

I know some people have commented on some parts of Lyme Valleys course being a little tight on space but by reducing the course to 20 targets from 36 it gave them plenty of space between the different shots.

Sharon shooting down hill towards 3D baboon

Overall it was a good day with a well laid course. Personally I think if they do another twice round twenty they would be better to use only part of the woodland rather than all of it. Or maybe as Sharon suggested at the time they could set a course of 30 targets and possibly charging slightly less entrance fee. It proved very tiring going up and down the slopes, not once but twice. I think it also made others tired too as the second time round felt slower. To be fair to Lyme Valley, it was a good course and fun day out in the woods.

There were 4 Briar Rose archers attending the shoot, with it being Gayle’s first visit. Steve only just missed out on placing in gents barebow by a couple points. Sharon shot really well despite her thinking the opposite winning ladies AFB with a score that would have had her placed second in the gents class. I surprised myself by winning gents AFB.

Thanks for reading