Tag Archives: outdoors

Oct 3 2013

Confidence Hit, should I carry on?

smoke in the trees-blog - a

In recent months I’ve been having and hearing more discussions about course laying with numerous people both face to face and on-line.

I’ve also been criticised for giving comments and my views online. And this has made me feel pretty low, in truth very low as it’s hit my confidence big time, making be question whether to continue posting or even archery.

Some organisers have said these points should be raised at the time of the shoot and not posted online on Facebook or websites.

Well maybe there is something in that, but I personally don’t see that as always being possible. People aren’t always that approachable because, lets face it, you can be stressed when trying to run something like a shoot.

There have been times when I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the course layers, more normally on courses where I know them personally and can have a quiet word.

So why don’t people make comments?

Maybe here is a reason, why…

At one recent shoot I attended all the archers were told that if they needed a target face changed they were to notify a course marshal. Only course marshals were to change faces. Fair enough, I can understand that as you don’t want faces being changed every five minutes.

However, what I and other archers witnessed might be a reason why so many archers don’t say or give comments on the shoot.

An archer requested a target face change, marshal replied that someone would be down shortly. The archer replied saying that there were people waiting to shoot it. The marshal then appeared to become very, lets say, agitated and short in his following reply.

I can understand that this is a stressful time for the organising team with long days and late nights, but it might explain why many archers don’t like approaching organisers.

This kind of response explains why archers don’t make comments on the day. In fear of being rebuffed or ridiculed.

There’s been a lot of conversation down at the club and other locations on courses and shoots attended, far more than ever appear on the web.

Is it better to say nothing? Then there is no chance of improvement.

Is it better to say something on the day? Call me a coward but I can understand why some would find this difficult to raise on the day. You also aren’t sure if it is just you not shooting well on the day. It is only afterwards when talking to others you realise maybe it wasn’t just you.

How do you report a problem?

Well you could approach a marshal and explain your concerns and views. How they react though is unknown.

If it is a matter of safety then you have to raise it there and then.

So what will I do?

To be completely truthful I don’t know. I don’t know if I will carry on writing these shoot reports or not. I started this as a bit of fun after reading many other blogs ( http://jordansequillion.wordpress.com/ and http://charlesarcheryblog.wordpress.com/). I thought posting these would be helpful and interesting.

Now I am not sure….

Here is a parting thought if you say nothing do you have the right to comment when things change?

Thanks for reading,

Sep 25 2013

Shoot report – NFAS National Championship 2013

2013 NFAS National Championships

2013 NFAS National Championships

Last weekend (21st-22nd September) saw the annual NFAS National championships, which this year was held just outside of Hemel Hempsted, Hertfordshire a little over a 2 hour drive from home. This was the second time the Gaddesden Estate had hosted the event in the last 3 years, though this time we were only using one area of the woodland.
The estate grounds are a lovely mix of old mix leaf deciduous woodland, crisscrossed with paths and hollows, some of which were used by the course layers exceedingly well.
Unlike other champs we decided not to camp being unsure of the weather and went for a bit of luxury, well sort of limited luxury, as we and a few others booked in at a Premier Inn about 20 minutes drive from the site. It was a novelty being able to have a hot shower, a proper bed and not too bad food from the restaurant next door.  We were joined by a few others from Severn Valley and Paget de Vesey club making it a social evening on both Friday and Saturday night.
2013 NFAS Nationals

2013 NFAS Nationals

The two clubs who put all the effort in to set the courses, clear paths and marshal were Cloth of Gold (Course A) and Westcott Archers (Course B). This would result in 2 very different courses of 40 targets one shot each day over the weekend. With over 400 archers present the courses were packed, with 5-6 on a peg, top marks to Admin though for all their hard work and organising.
Personally I think the society should have gone with 3 courses, as it would have spread the archers out and wouldn’t have resulted in as many hold ups on pegs which was a real problem for us on Sunday.
Delays result in a lack of flow to the day and I suffer from this in the form of a loss of concentration and focus. Combine this with a more challenging course, Sunday would prove to be a tough and long day. With only 2 courses it would see us shooting in mixed groups, which was great as it meant I got to shoot with Sharon on both days.
The first day we would shoot A course with Pug (who we had shot with before at Thornbury and would go on to be placed in compound limited) Robin and Norm with B course on Sunday with Rob Cook, Vickie, Lesley (Rob would go on to win gents bare bow)

Downhill boar

Downhill boar, probably the best shot on A course

Saturday A course

A course was laid by Cloth of Gold and would prove to be the easier of the two and I think this was partly due to them having less woodland. There were a few lovely set targets like the boa in the hollow which you shot from the top of the slope. The thing I liked was that there weren’t many silly long shots.

Only two targets spring to mind and both were small ones. The JVD red squirrel which was just after the food stop and the JVD ermine. The ermine is a small target and doesn’t need to be put on an angled boss. The squirrel was too far and it didn’t help that we had an hour long enforced lunch break just before it due to hold ups with groups in front of us. In contrast on B course the Ermine was set up really well.

Ermine target on B course

Ermine target on B course

In all though the day was okay and made better by the good company.

Sunday Course B

Sunday saw us on B course set by Westcott Archers which was far more challenging and demanding for all.

2013 NFAS Nationals B course sunday first target

2013 NFAS Nationals B course Sunday first target

The problem was this meant archers were taking more arrows and with the number of archers present it slowed down the day especially at the longer shots or those 3d targets with no backstops.

At one target when we arrived there were two groups in front of us still waiting to shoot it. I spoke to a few people who like me thought it  would have been a good idea to station a couple of marshals there during the day to help search for missing arrows.

2013 NFAS Nationals 3d deer

2013 NFAS Nationals 3d deer

This was the first time there had been a mix of 3d and paper faces at the championship. Traditionally it had always been solely paper faces.

2013 NFAS Nationals red squirrel

2013 NFAS Nationals red squirrel on B course

Big thanks to Merlin Archery who donated the paper faces for the event.

Tight shot between trees Nationals B course sunday

Tight shot between trees Nationals B course Sunday

Whilst it was good to shoot a mix of faces I think the lack of back stops on some of the longer distance 3d targets resulted in delays as people searched for missing arrows. Having said that there were some great shots on B course including a very deceptive 3D crocodile which had been hidden in a slight dip, which saw many archers arrows go high.

I would like to say a big thanks to Alex for all her stunning pictures of the weekend some of which she’s kindly allowed me to share on this site. Love this one of Sharon.

2013 NFAS Nationals Sharon

2013 NFAS Nationals Sharon

I manage to get one of Alex, whilst she was getting ready for end of shoot awards.

Alex hiding behind camera

Alex hiding behind camera

Waiting for results

Everyone waiting for results

SVYF came away with team trophies in bare bow, longbow and instinctive along with placing in the individual gents bare bow, crossbow and junior girls hunting tackle.

2013 NFAS Nationals - Barebow team

2013 NFAS Nationals – Barebow team Sharon and Robin, the rest of the team (Ivor & Steve) were a bit camera shy.

Sharon missed out on placing by 20 points coming under 3rd place. As for me I came in 8th, not bad I guess but I dropped 3 places on Sunday, I think due to the delays and waits for shots. Full results are available on the NFAS website, or click here .

Thanks for reading.

Sep 9 2013

Shoot report – Doverdale September 2013

 

My grandparents raised me when my mam went out to work. They always said if you can’t say something good don’t say anything.

I don’t entirely believe in that as constructive comments can be very helpful.

So here goes. On Sunday we headed about 15 minutes drive down the road to Doverdale shoot ground, a local club who have seen a number of changes in recent months.

We’d shot there previously and been demoralised by their tendency to stretch distances to shots. Stretching is a term I use when the target face or 3d is set further than the norm i.e. if a target is normally set at say 20 yards it might be a challenge at 22 yards but stretched if at 25 yards or more. (under NFAS rules all targets are shot over unmarked distances)

I know a few members of our club had not booked on the shoot because of past experiences, but we thought we would give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sunday was sunny but had a slight chill in the air, fortunately it stayed dry all day. Some 80 archers attended the event which would see a mix of 3d and paper faces. They have a mix deciduous mature woodland with a few dips and avenues.

So on to the course. Well I would say some targets weren’t stretched they were plain ridiculous.

Can think of two out of 36 that were sensible distance.

To give an example of the type of shot we faced. JVD, a paper target face publisher, produces a pheasant target face you often see on shoots. Normally it is set at 15 -18 yards for the first shooting peg, maybe 20 yards at a push. That day it was set at over 30 yards!!

pheasant

We shot (or attempted to) a paper face mallard that could have been a duckling for the distance.

duck

The shoot was immensely depressing to shoot and I must admit to giving up half way round. The only redeeming feature was the company as all of us were fed up.

I have never walked off a shoot but came close at lunchtime as did a number of others. I think many will vote with their feet next time and simply not book for their next shoot.

The day before we did our club shoot, which was a 36 target 3d course. Sharon scored 536 on Saturday and at Doverdale she scored 412, that was the winning score. I shot 670 on Saturday and 500 at the open shoot. Although we were both placed we were immensely demoralised by the shoot. Heaven knows what others thought.

Thanks for reading.