Tag Archives: SVYF

Apr 13 2015

Shoot Report – SVYF – April 2015

SVYF - archers waiting to go out on course

SVYF – archers waiting to go out on course

The weather stayed dry but the wind was ever so present.
SVYF is our club and this means this shoot report will be from the view of the organisers rather than competitors. You can read some earlier reports here Autumn 2014, Spring 2014.
Helping to run a shoot is a lot more tiring than shooting and it gives you a great insight into the work involved in setting courses.
The course this time comprised of 40 targets mostly 3Ds with a few paper faces. I’ve loaded some pictures on my Tumblr site (http://offthearrowshelf.tumblr.com/) already but here are a few more. Sorry there aren’t any action shots was a bit busy.
Predator prey shot

Predator prey shot

3D boar

3D boar

We delayed the start from 10 due to an accident on the motorway that delayed many archers’ arrival. As it was we only had 3 no shows, resulting in over 180 archers attending. It was great to catch up with so many fellow archers, friends and a few readers of this blog. It is always great to meet up with readers of this site so please if you do see us a t a shoot pop over and say hi. (Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for the shoulder)
Ever present tiger 3D

Ever present tiger 3D

The wood surrounds a couple of over grown ponds and is quite sheltered except on one side where the edge of the wood is exposed to open fields. Archers on this side would be battered by exceedingly strong winds, making the archery challenging to say the least. I think the compound archers suffered the most as their arrows were flicked off their rests.
Frog 3D between the trees

Frog 3D between the trees

Besides the high winds the only other problem which was partly under our control was the running repairs on bridges.
Can you spot the 3D Cobra

Can you spot the 3D Cobra

In SVYF we have over 13 bridges ranging from only a few feet in length to over 100 feet. We run regular checks on the bridges, replacing planks etc, but with over 180 archers trekking across them, plus organisers we had a few planks break. The only problem was they seemed to all go on one bridge, we had seven go on one bridge in the space of 20 minutes. Added to this was that target was 40 shot was across the bridge so we had our work cut out for us, cutting new planks, removing old ones and replacing them.
Bedded deer 3D

Bedded deer 3D

Overall the day seemed to run well, with archers enjoying themselves. Sadly not everyones day went as well due to delays on the course, we finally traced these delays to one group that were being very slow in shooting and scoring.
SVYF next shoot is in early October, hopefully it won’t be so windy.
Thanks for reading
Mar 21 2015

Shoot Report – Centaura Bowmen – March 2015

We were a little busy last weekend. Friday night a rock concert in Birmingham, bit of practice Saturday, then back in time to see the 6 nations rugby and off to trophy shoot Sunday.
This meant on a chilly Sunday morning we packed the car and were off north to just outside  Derby for the Centaura shoot.
View of 3D

View of 3D

This was to be a bit different to a normal open shoot as it would be a 36 target wooden arrow only. So no crossbow or compounds, just longbows, afb and recurves in hunting tackle classes. (Sorry nearly forgot the primative class.)  Still it saw over 80 people attend in the mix of classes. Here is a link to last years Trophy shoot report.

Me on the first target of the day

Me on the first target of the day

The course has seen some extensive work at one end of the wood due to essential tree felling after one tree blew down on top of their secondary hut and toilet block leaving only splinters and large logs. The result is it has really opened up the canopy in that part of the wood.
Area by the felled trees

Area by the felled trees

The course itself comprised of some new and some very familiar shots.

The polo shot

The polo shot from behind

The now infamous polo shot returned, this time with a 3D owl target, though I think it was a little too close to the archers as I  think some lower poundage bows might struggle to clear it.

The polo shot from the side

The polo shot from the side

The course was a mix of 3d and paper faces set at sensible distances in the most part.

Sharon on one of the down hill shot

Sharon on one of the down hill shots

With a small shooting group of Sharon, myself and Alan form Pines Park we made good progress with few hold ups prior to lunch. Most groups were only 4 in number which made in all a good day that flowed fairly easily.
Alan shooting

Alan shooting

Lunch break was from 12:30 -1:30 and this slowed down the day a little bit but we’d finished by 3 pm
Despite predictions the rain stayed away but it was a cold day.
Sadly there were no trophies for me this year, not surprising really as am still coming to grips with the flat bow and building my own confidence in it. Sharon won ladies hunting tackle again so the trophy returns for another year.
Thanks for reading

Feb 23 2015

Shoot report – Paget de Vasey – February 2015

Paget announcements

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

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

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

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.

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.