Paget announcements

I always think of the Paget shoot as the start of the NFAS year. Though in the NFAS unlike other societies there is no indoor and outdoor season, with shoots going on all year round, Paget just feels like the start. You can read previous shoot reports here 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Having said this it never feels like the start of spring as it is always cold, sometimes bright and cold but always cold. This year was no exception with the morning being cold and exactly as the forecasts predicted after midday it started to rain and didn’t let up until near the end. So Sunday morning saw me scraping the ice off the car before heading up the motorway. Paget is one of our closest shoots so only 40 minutes drive saw us pulling up in the car park.
The course was a mix of 3d targets and paper faces set at sensible distances with a couple of challenging shots but nothing stretched. I think they had taken on board people’s comments from last year. The course is spread over two woods the smaller being their club grounds and the larger rented for the weekend from the activity centre.

Paget is always a popular shoot and this year was no different with most groups being five to a peg. So Sharon and I were surprised to see only one other person join us Anthony from Frankly shooting hunting tackle.

Paget marshals sheltering from cold

Not sure if the photo does it justice but they had a new dinosaur 3d between the trees.

Dinosaur 3D

I didn’t approach the shoot with much confidence following a fall I had at SVYF on Saturday which jarred my back and shoulder.
Sorry there aren’t many photos but I didn’t want my phone being soaked so only have a few from earlier in the day.

3D mountain lion

Catering was as fantastic as always with the cottage pie warming us up for the second half perfectly. I think the only downside to the day were a few delays which occurred when target bosses had to be replaced as heavier poundage bows were passing through. This the organisers dealt with as quickly as possible but inevitably did cause a few delays and hold ups but in fairness I’ve seen this at other shoots too.

Sharon shooting a paper face deer.

Paget has great facilities but they pay a price as they have limited access to the larger wood which I know they struggled with this year.
Unlike some from SVYF members who did well on the raffle we didn’t win anything. I mention the raffle as I liked the way the organisers bagged up multiple items into one prize which looked good and worked well. It meant there were 10 or so decent prizes rather than a mix of good and not so good.
Despite the poor weather, Sharon shot really well winning ladies hunting tackle and in fact scoring better than all the men too. As for me the shoulder held out partly due to attaching a heatpack to keep it warm. I managed a respectable second place with my second time out shooting AFB, but was aching lots on Sunday night.
Thanks for reading.