Tag Archives: Paget de Vesey Company of Archers

Feb 24 2014

Shoot report – Paget de Vesey – February 2014

Well the Field archery season has started with a very, very windy Paget shoot thankfully the rain stayed away.  (An unusual event this winter). Though not officially the start as you can shoot all year round, I always think of Paget as the start of the shooting year.  (Previous reports can be found here 2013)
On this occasion we were joined by Roy and Karen from Frankley Bowmen each with new bows or limbs in Karen case and a new longbow for Roy. Our thanks to them for making it a really enjoyable day.
Sharon and Karen at Paget

Sharon and Karen at Paget

As always the food was fantastic with two separate food huts providing ample quantities of hot food, cakes and gallons of tea and coffee.

The course

The course layers set a challenging course made more so by the extremely strong winds in a couple of areas of the woods. The Paget ground is made up of 2 woods and the course was split between the 2. In hindsight I think it might have been better to move a few pegs closer in to the targets to make shorter shots that would have been less affected by the wind. Though it is a challenge enough to set a course that works, factoring in the weather makes it really hard.
They had also suffered from falling trees in recent storms resulting in course changes. Well done guys .
The course itself comprised of 36 mixed 3Ds and paper faces. The club capped the total number of competitors to 180 but with a few no shows on the day it meant most pegs had 4 archers making for an easy flowing day.

3D lion in tree

3D lion in tree

Another great shot was a 3D crocodile between tree stumps which gave a lovely window shot. Sorry I didn’t get a photo of this one. I did manage to get one of the mountain lion in the tree which was a lovely setting.

Arrow Casualties

With the strong wind it was somewhat inevitable there would be a few casualties, with Sharon breaking one but it was Roy who won the prize for the most unusual casualty. It’s not uncommon to see arrows snap behind the pile or in half if they encounter a branch, but I’ve never seen an arrow split like Roys.
Roy misjudged one target and skimmed the top of the boss. Clattering into some branches. After a short search we spotted it and appeared fine until you picked it up.

Image arrow looks fine

Image arrow looks fine

It had split down the line of the grain.

Split down grain

Split down grain

They say imitation is a great compliment if so I’m feeling very happy. In a recent post I made reference to a different kind of shot where there was 1 target face but at different sizes. Paget members who had shot it at our shoot liked the idea so much they copied the idea putting out a very similar shot.

Ironically this was the only target I missed all day as when I drew up for it a combination of wind and hand slipping resulted in me releasing early 😦
Neither Sharon or I felt we shot particularly well with the lack of practice evident but it was a good day shooting and catching up with friends.
SVYF did well coming away with a few medals. Well done to Chris Harley on her placing in ladies longbow. Next time keep focused and stop getting distracted. Congrats to young Alfie in placing in his first ever shoot.
Thanks for reading.
Feb 18 2013

Shoot report – Paget de Vesey 2013

As promised here is the write up from the Paget shoot which took place on Sunday 17th. This was the first competitive shoot of the 2013 season for us and before I start I will admit to having a soft spot for Paget de Vasey shoots.

Paget was the first NFAS shoot we ever did and have made sure we have booked on their shoot ever since. It was also going to be the first shoot that Sharon would be competing at following recovering from her injury.

Paget 2013 - start of the day

Sunny start of the day

Unlike in previous years, where the shoot has been cold and damp, last year even having a dusting of snow, we enjoyed a sunny Sunday. The only problem was having the sun in your eyes for a few shots 😉

The Paget club only hold one shoot a year and they use an outdoor activity centre when they do. This means the club members have to set everything up the day before and have everything cleared out by the end of Sunday. An advantage to this site is the catering is superb, with 2 food stop huts with an excellent selection of cakes for those with a sweet tooth.

On the day we were very fortunate to have a had a great group too shoot with Trev, Emma, Robin (also from SVYF who we were taking round for his first ever NFAS shoot), Sharon and myself, with a mix of styles too with longbow, hunting tackle, barebow and compound. I was shooting Hunting Tackle (recurve bow without sights and wooden arrows) as I’d not had any practice with my flatbow.

From left to rightEmma, Chris, Sharon and Trev

From left to right
Emma, Robin, Sharon and Trev

The course was made up of 36 targets, being a mix of 3D and paper faces about 50/50 I’d say with some less familiar faces too. The centres grounds are flat, with the woods being mainly deciduous woodland.

The shoot started at 10 am the day flowed well with only a short stop for lunch and no hold ups. We started on target 15.

Target 16

Target 16 – 3D coyote

Some of the shots were very nicely set like this one below of a 3D boar in a hole by an uprooted tree.

Paget Shoot - 3D boar in hollow

Paget Shoot – 3D boar in hollow

There were a few paper faces targets that were stretched for the distance which was a shame. Often course layers will put a paper face out and increase the recommend distance to make it a harder shot when it truth it can be done with careful positioning or use of ground. Sorry winge over.

In fairness there were also some very nicely set paper faces. This crocodile was a great example, can you spot the interesting feature? (No, Trev hasn’t shot himself in the head, its just the angle of the photo and how he is holding the arrow)

Paper Crocodile shot

Paper Crocodile shot (No Trev hasn’t shot himself in the head)

This target was  made more interesting as the target boss was slightly slanted forward.

target 14 - last of day

Target 14 – last of day – 3D bobcat

As readers of this blog will know I was a little anxious about this shoot. It would be the first Sharon had competed at following the recovery from injury. Saturday she had managed to shoot round the wood in full (40 targets) for the first time with her own bow for nearly 4 months.

Sharon (holding my bow)

Sharon (holding my bow)

I needn’t have worried as she did really well and enjoyed the day. Though she will admit she was not up to her usual scoring level, she managed to shoot the entire course and it wasn’t until the latter part of the day that she began to feel tired and scores dropped off. Even then she scored 546 points  (an average of just over 15 points a target) which was enough to secure first place in ladies Barebow. Well done.

Robin also did really well and seemed to enjoy himself and already booked on another shoot in  a couple of weeks.

I came in with 596 points, no blanks and secured second place in gents Hunting Tackle, 8 points off first. Not bad considering I’ve only shot the bow a couple of times in the last few months.

Overall I’d say it was a great day, really good to catch up with so many familiar faces who we hadn’t seen for so long. Here is hoping for a good 2013 season.

Thanks for reading.