Tag Archives: “shoot report”

Aug 28 2013

Shoot report – Windrush

Windrush logo

Windrush logo

Firstly apologies for no photos in this shoot report. My camera was buried under waterproof trousers for most of the weekend. Yes a British bank holiday weekend and at times it was very wet, thankfully not all the time.

We set off on Friday afternoon fighting our way through bank holiday traffic arriving shortly after 5 pm at the campsite (read field). Pitching the tent we fixed something to eat before the rest of the svyf group arrived.

very wet Grasshopper on Saturday morning

very wet Grasshopper on Saturday morning

Windrush club (http://windrushbowmen.org.uk/wordpress/) is just outside Charlbury and were hosting a 2 day shoot over the bank holiday weekend. We hadn’t shot Windrush before and there were a few from svyf who had joined us for the weekend. Numbers at the event were quite low, 80 each day, which we think might be due to a couple of other 2 day shoots on and the Scottish Championships all being that weekend.

Windrush ground is a flat open deciduous woodland with a few areas of scrub and bushes. I think this is their new wood and they have use of part of it all the time and the rest only for the two day event.

The courses were a Mix of 3D and paper faces, 36 targets on each day. With quite a few changes of target faces or 3d targets on the second day. This would make for a very challenging couple of courses. Personally I think a there were a number of targets which were stretched for their size and distance which was a shame as the grounds and setting opportunities were extensive. 2 day shoots are always hard as fatigue sets in possibly compounded by a lack of a decent amount of sleep.

Morning of first day started early with heavy rain and overcast so on went the waterproof jacket and trousers. The second day started with rain but cleared up resulting in a warm sunny day just after lunch.

Windrush worked hard to make it a very sociable Saturday night with a hog roast and live band, who were pretty good playing a mix of blues and rock and roll tracks.

Saturday night band

Saturday Live band

Overall it was an okay weekend, neither of us felt we shot well on what were 2 very challenging courses.

Sharon like myself is struggling with distance judgement. I know I’m looking at targets and thinking okay that’s how far it is and then second guessing myself by thinking this is how far a target of this size should be and shooting it at that distance. Resulting in inevitable falling short as many course layers are stretching the distances targets are placed at. Targets you would expect at 30 yards are being set at 35-40 yards.

One of the hardest shots of weekend was on second day. Target 29 had been a standing 3d black bear facing you at about 48 yards. This worked well as if you misjudged the distance slightly but kept the line you might drop your arrow into the leg. Which i did with my first arrow.However on the second day this had been replaced with a stag at the same distance. The body mass of this target is about 20-22 inches so you lose any chance of dropping into the lower limbs. This takes it from a hard or challenging shot to a very difficult one when you consider you are shooting from behind a mound and having to get under the low canopy. Sharon lost one arrow on this target and I know others did too.

Our thanks to all at Windrush for all the work for the weekend. Great sociable Saturday, loved the band and amazed it stayed fairly dry.

Thanks for reading.

Aug 20 2013

Shoot report – Wolverine – August 2013

Wolverine - archers waiting to start

Wolverine – archers waiting to start

The night before there had been heavy rain and we had wondered whether this was going to make Wolverine a slipping and  sliding shoot, it turned out to be a bright and not too warm day. Ideal shooting weather.

Our group was made up of 3 fellow SVYF Sue, Jason (both shooting AFB) and Tom shooting bare bow, joined Sharon and myself. This was to be Tom’s first open shoot and I think he might be back judging by his smiles during and at end of day.

Wolverine group - Jason, Tom and Sue

Wolverine group – Jason, Tom and Sue

The course itself was very challenging, comprising of a mix of 3d targets, a couple of hessian or home made ones and a selection of paper faces. There was a lengthy debate at one home made hessian target when we tried to work out if it was a brown bear or kangaroo. After we had shot it and when we got close enough to see it we discovered it was actually a curled up lion. Think we need new glasses!!

Wolverine’s ground is a wooded hillside with an open field at bottom for a few very long shots. Comprising of mature deciduous trees it is quite open allowing for mixed undergrowth and some very nicely framed shots like the mountain lion. (If you can see it past Sharons very bright hat)

Wolverine - Sharon blinding hat

Wolverine – Sharon blinding hat

I know I shoot best when the event flows and there are few hold ups. Unfortunately after the lunch break and for over 10 targets we were delayed by the group in front waiting to shoot as they were being delayed. I know it affected them as I know a couple of them (Danny aka Toast who i shot with in Scotland last year and Rob Cook). Unlike last week I don’t think the delay was due to too many archers just a few slow ones combined with a challenging course.

Toast and Cookie

Toast and Cookie’s group waiting to shoot

Here is a good example of what looks easy yet many archers over shot this 3d hitting the backstop behind.

Not as easy as it looks

Not as easy as it looks

I do really need to work on keeping concentration up though when waiting to shoot. It cost me at least 40 points.

The one downside to Wolverines location is down to the nature of the geography. Wolverine have to have a break for lunch as all the catering and administration are at one end of the woodland. This breaks the flow of the day but is sadly unavoidable.

Sharon was definitely having an off day but managed over 560. Maybe the delays got to her too. Having said that she did have a great shot of the day through the fork of a tree to hit a 3d cheetah.

Wolverine-shot of day by Sharon

Wolverine-shot of day by Sharon

Despite not shooting well, losing concentration due to delays and getting a blank on a target i really should have nailed easily I came in with 626 which got me first place.

In all it was a good shoot with some challenging shots.

Thanks for reading. We are off to a new club next weekend Windrush for a 2 day shoot so hopefully the weather will be kind to us, even if it is August bank holiday.

Aug 14 2013

Shoot report – Lyme Valley archers August 2013

Been a short while since my last shoot report so here is one for the nfas lyme valley shoot last weekend. For those of  you who are interested here is the last report on Lyme valley.

Dave, Graham, Sharon and Peter

Dave, Graham, Sharon and Peter

Early Sunday morning we set off up the motorway to just outside Stoke on Trent; about an hour and 20 minutes depending on traffic. We’d missed the last shoot but I had managed to shoot their excellent 3D course at this year’s 3D champs.
For those of you who are new readers Lyme valley archers ground consists of a wooded valley which gives them the opportunity for some nice up and down hill shots.
In all I would say it was a good course with a few challenging targets. The only real problem was the afternoon dragged as progress was slow. We were constantly catching up with the group in front who were only just getting to shoot the target. This made for a slow days shooting as you could never get into a rhythm.
Lyme valley is a very popular shoot and I wonder if it suffers from it’s own popularity by trying to accommodate all the archers it can and sometimes that’s too many.
downhill 3D mountain lion

downhill 3D mountain lion

5 on a peg but a few with 6, combined with a challenging course means archers take second or third arrows. All slows down the day. Personally I think they would be better to have 4 maybe 5 to a peg.
Weather was good, warm but not hot with sunny spells.

View up the slope after shooting down the hillside

View up the slope after shooting down the hillside

The course was a mix of paper faces and 3D targets with some very long down hill shots like the giant komodo dragon shot from the top of the hill to the stream bed.

komodo dragon as seen from bottom of slope

komodo dragon as seen from bottom of slope

There were some new paths in some cases but glad it was dry as we would have been slipping and sliding all day.
Generally we like Lyme valley shoots and I enjoyed the course the only thing that put a downer to on the day were the hold ups.

Sharon won ladies Bare Bow and I was lucky enough to come away with first in Gents Hunting Tackle.

Thanks for reading.