Tag Archives: nature

Sep 10 2012

Shoot report – Doverdale September 2012

Last Sunday saw us travel 20 minutes down the road to Doverdale archery club. The last time we had shot there was over a year ago and a lot longer journey time.

Unlike last time the weather was great, bright sunshine and blue sky for most of the day. Numbers were down too, though there was a good turn out from SVFY with us shooting with Sue and Ian from the club. Due to the low numbers they opted for a lunch break from 1 – 1:45 rather than a shoot through. On that topic I would like to say thanks to the catering guys who slaved in a hot kitchen to make sure we had a hot meal. Thanks guys the food was great.

Doverdale bow stand

Doverdale bow stand

As for the course, this was a mix of 3d and paper faces, making a 40 target course in total (10 3ds and 30 paper).

The course was hard, not like Wolverine the previous week which used the terrain very well. Here it was small targets at longer distances than they need to be. Don’t know whether they set it up as a pre champs (National Field Archery Champs is next weekend), but think it was very tough, tougher than it needed to be.

Second target on the day

Second target on the day

It’s a lovely large mature wood with lots of great opportunity for deceptive shots. For that reason I couldn’t work out why they would put a target out 3-10 yards further than it needed to be. I don’t believe this helps to make a shot a challenge, just stretched. This won’t affect the very good archers but gets demoralizing for us mere mortals.

There were also too many repeat target faces and a lot of archers commented on that. I think we shoot the same paper duck target face 4 times at different points in the wood, and standing hare a few times too. For a 40 target course where 10 targets being  3Ds,  having the same face 4 times is a bit much to say the least. Bit disappointing too when you consider the number of faces out there. (This is turning into a bit of a moan sorry readers.)

The other thing I would like to say is how much I hate the plastic legs on some of their 3d deer or on any 3D.

For those of you not familiar with these 3D targets I’ll explain. The body is the normal foam 3d but the legs from just below the body are hard plastic like the plastic used for heavy-duty plant pots or urns in garden centres. They aren’t very friendly for wooden arrows, I  snapped 1 arrow in them when trying to remove it. They tend to close round the piles. I know a couple of archers that joined me in losing piles or snapping arrows. Sue who was shooting a low poundage bow due to a shoulder injury had her arrow hit the leg and bounce back because they are so hard.

So why are they used? Price I guess, I think they are cheaper than having full 3D targets

Last target of the day

Last target of the day – deer with plastic legs

There were some nice shots one-off the raised platform, but even this was off-putting as the next peg was so close you had archers in front of you.

View from platform

View from platform

Sharon did well despite blanking one target she won first place in ladies Bare Bow.

In all I think I might return, not because it’s a great shoot but because it’s convenient, though I will take spare arrows.

As always thanks for reading.

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