Tag Archives: SVYF

May 6 2016

Shoot report – Long Eaton Field Archers – May 2016

LEFA Practise area

LEFA Practise area

Despite the best efforts of the weather forecasters to predict poor weather for the Long Eaton shoot,  the British weather provided a  spring day which was mostly dry although not that warm.

The shooting group couldn’t have been better company, with fellow Severn Valley members JT, Paddy and Jim Kent aka Grizzly Jim joining Sharon and I.

LEFA marshals and shooting group

LEFA marshals and shooting group

The course was to be 36 targets, all 3d targets, with LEFA running it as a shoot through. Targets included the normal LEFA favourites of the bison and moving target, along with a couple of choose the target where you had a couple of 3d targets at slightly different angles and distances. This gave the archer the choice as to which to go for.
JT shooting our first target

JT shooting our first target

There were some nicely laid shoots, framed well between trees and using dead ground. It  was evident the course layers had worked hard on redesigning the course and it seemed to work well with few hold ups. You can read a previous shoot report here. Despite the easy flow, it was a tiring day as you were slipping and sliding in areas due to the mud, nowhere near as bad as Wolverine had been. I was very grateful that it didn’t rain as we would probably have joined that carpet of bluebells covering the forest floor.
View through the trees

View through the trees

Sadly my archery was not up to the mark and I don’t feel I did the course justice .
JT shooting

JT shooting

The lack of practice over the past few weeks showed as I struggled to hit anything. Amazing how a few weeks off shooting has such a negative effect for instinctive archers or at least it does for me.
Sharon shooting at LEFA

Sharon shooting at LEFA

Sharon shot well winning ladies AFB and congratulations to Jim on his placing.
Thanks for reading.
Apr 29 2016

Shoot report – Severn Valley – April 2016

SVYF shoot 2016

SVYF shoot April 2016 – archers gathering

Normally I would give you a detailed description of how our NFAS shoot went at the weekend. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there for the entire day due to being called by the police to tell us we’d been broken into.
Those who follow the tumblr blog associated with off the arrow shelf will have seen some photos of the damage. Fortunately it was our garden shed which had been smashed into and ransacked and not our house.

Sadly this is the second time in 6 months and we think it’s probably the same thieves returning. We weren’t the only victims as it appears they worked along the backs of people’s gardens. So in total we’ve lost approximately  £600 worth of tools and a couple of hundred pounds in damages over the two incidents. Since excess on our insurance is £200 each time we are at a considerable loss.
There’s also the feeling of anger, frustration and fear of leaving the property and wondering what we might find on our return.

Bluebells in the wood

Bluebells in the wood

As for the shoot it seemed to go well with a mix of 3d and paper faces making up the  36 targets.
I don’t think there were any hold ups on the day but as I said I wasn’t there for much of it. I think there were around 170 archers with a dozen no shows, which was a real shame as I know we had a waiting list.

Cobra 3D target

Cobra 3D target

We were lucky with the weather, as it stayed dry and sunny for most of the day.

3D standing bear

3D standing bear

It was good to have the positive feedback as a large portion of the 36 target course had been set by archers new to setting up courses and it was good for them to gain both the experience and feedback.

3D bear target

3D bear target

Well done Marcus, Jamie and Andy for your first foray into course laying.

3D fox - this was set by Marcus and Jamie

3D fox – this was set by Marcus and Jamie

It was nice to chat with a few archers and to catch up with Patrick a coach who qualified at the same time as me. We had a chat about our experiences of coaching since qualifying along with developments we’d seen etc. Good to see you mate and glad you made the trip.
Anyway thanks for reading this very short write up.

Feb 26 2016

Shoot report – Harlequin Bow Hunters – February 2016

Mark mustering the archers at the start of the day

Mark mustering the archers at the start of the day

So last weekend was a baptism of fire back into the field archery circuit with Paget de Vasey shoot on Saturday and Harlequin club shoot Sunday.
So with slightly aching shoulders we set off up the motorway to Harlequin’s grounds. You can read my previous shoot report here. (Just so you don’t get confused Harlequin changed the club name recently from Hay Smiths to Harlequin)
The course was a mix of 3d, 2d and paper faces set over sensible distances. In fact I would say it’s one of the best set courses I have shot for a long time.
We had great company on the shoot with Roger and Julie joining us shooting Hunting Tackle and Barebow respectively.
Sharon shooting at Harlequin

Sharon shooting at Harlequin

The club have a lovely piece of woodland offering some great opportunities to frame shots and use dead ground, including a cracking shot at a 2D lynx which was across a small pond that wasn’t even visible from the first peg. A great example of how to cleverly lay a target.
Action shot of Roger shooting the 2D Lynx

Action shot of Roger shooting the 2D Lynx

Due to recent heavy rain areas of the course were very muddy and waterlogged.
The shoot had a really good vibe with a relaxed atmosphere. Catering was run really well by the club especially as it was the first time they had done it.
Sharon shooting 3D goose between the trees

Sharon shooting 3D goose between the trees

It was also, like Paget, well marshaled, something that became apparent when the whistles blew and the shoot was stopped. An archer had slipped and injured her back and was helped off the course. The fact the marshals handled it so well was great to see and a credit to the club. It was also great to see that all archers also obeyed the rules and had stopped shooting.
Martin bear set between the trees

Martin bear paper face set between the trees

Great framed shot through the trees

Great framed shot through the trees

I think the only negative I could say was that the latter quarter slowed which I think was down to people misjudging targets and having to take second or third arrows. I know I took way too many second and third arrows.
Sharon taking a shot after lunch

Sharon taking a shot after lunch

I must say though it was good to shoot a challenging course, made challenging by clever course laying and not stretched targets. Nothing couldn’t be reached you just needed to take time to judge it carefully. In fact we started on, I think, the longest target – the 2d tiger.
First target at Harlequin the long 2D Tiger

First target at Harlequin the long 2D Tiger – sorry slightly out of focus

The small (read very small) bedded fawn caught a few out as it had been set in such a way that you thought it was the large one.
Congratulations to Sharon on her first in Ladies American Flatbow with a score that would have got her placed second in the Gents class. Congrats to Jim Kent on his placing and JT on getting his personal best.
It is a shoot like Hawk that we will do our best to get to in future as I think it is one of the best on the circuit.
As for me I need to practice more and to build up the strength in the shoulders to cope with two days of shooting. P.S, Mark if you are reading this sorry for not hearing the comment about targets, I was distracted by some fellow SVYF archers talking to me.
Thanks for reading.