Tag Archives: Wolverine Archers

Aug 24 2015

Shoot Report – Wolverine Archers – August 2015

Wolverine - archers getting ready to set off

Wolverine – archers getting ready to set off

So Sunday saw us once again packing the car for a journey north up the motorway towards Stoke on Trent area, this time for the Wolverine Archers NFAS shoot.
Both of us were feeling tired before we even started the shoot, having been at the SVYF wood all Saturday helping set up half of the new course. It was a very warm Saturday to be clearing undergrowth and setting 18 new targets, but it was done and we even managed to shoot it.
Wolverine - archers getting ready

Wolverine – archers getting ready

Anyway on to Wolverine’s shoot, past reviews can be seen here. Sunday morning started dry, warm and sunny and unlike the previous week the motorway wasn’t that slow.
I think some archers may have been put off by the forecast of heavy rain later in the day, as admin at the shoot had to do some rejigging of groups for cancellations and no shows. As it was we ended up shooting with Adrian and his daughter Emily from Lyme Valley club both shooting hunting tackle class. I know some people are not fond of shooting in a group with a child but I must say Emily was a great sport, even when the heavens opened in the afternoon and it was raining she focused on shooting, being a credit to her family and club.

3D deer

3D deer

Wolverine always set a challenging course and Sundays was no exception with our first target  being  a downhill paper face fox. The course was a mix of paper faces and 3D targets and yes, there was Kong in the field.

Adrian shooting a 3D deer

Adrian shooting a 3D deer

Like Lyme Valley, Wolverine operate a lunch break where all shooting stops to allow archers to get safely off the course. This gave us time to grab something to eat and the umbrella.
Adrian shooting a 3D turtle

Adrian shooting a 3D turtle

My luckiest shot of the day I think must have been our first target after the lunch break, which was a small 3D dragon, which I managed to shoot through the mouth. Literally skin of the teeth.

Lucky shoot - 3D dragon

Lucky shoot – 3D dragon

Another tough shot was a 3D owl between a V in two trees. It looked lovely but wasn’t easy.
Slightly out of focus but a 3D owl between trees

Slightly out of focus but a 3D owl between trees

I’m glad we had done most of the course when the bad weather did arrive as I think it would have  gone from challenging to very hard.
The rain that had been forecast rolled in in the afternoon and it got very wet. Hence the lack of afternoon photos as I was more concerned with keeping the phone dry.  Thankfully we were mostly in the woods by this point.

Despite Sharon feeling she hadn’t shot well she won ladies hunting tackle and by some miracle I managed a second place in AFB.
Thanks for reading.

Apr 6 2015

Shoot Report – Wolverine – March 2015

No shooting over Easter Weekend,which was a shame as the weather has been wonderful, bright warm and dry. This enabled us to finally set the range up in the field. A complete contrast to the previous week. With the clocks changing last weekend to British summer time, it was an early start for us on Sunday as we headed north to the Wolverine club grounds not far from Stoke on Trent.
Anyone who attended the shoot will agree it was wet, very wet. I think it stopped raining for about an hour over the whole day. Added to this was the strong gusts which blew in and the Somme like mud in parts.
Despite the weather and mud Wolverine did their best to put on a good course.
The weather had a negative effect on the archery with scores for most classes being significantly down.
As for the course I thought it was overall good maybe not the best they have set as I  feel there were a couple of shots that could have had arrow nets or bosses up to catch stray arrows. This would have sped the search for arrows up for many. I  also think there were a couple of shots where the overshoots had not been fully considered. I don’t think they were unsafe but it is very distracting to see fellow archers collecting or searching for arrows in your peripheral vision when on the peg about to shoot.
The course was the standard mixed 3d and paper faces with a couple I think slightly stretched for the size of face. Our group was made up of the two of us, John shooting crossbow and Richard shooting freestyle. Overall it wasn’t too bad a course or day despite the British weather.
One entertainment feature of all the rain was watching a variety of cars trying to drive back up the entry slope. Of the several that attempted it only a couple were successful. Just to explain, Wolverine car park is in a field which you enter from a slope which tends to get quite muddy with all the traffic. Archers exit the car park from a different route, the only problem is due to the size of the car park, cars have to be parked in front of the exit, resulting in no-one leaving until the blocking cars leave. A few people decided not to stay until the end and tried to leave via the entrance slope.  The rest of us waited until after the end of prize giving and left via the exit route.
Neither of us shot particularly well and think it was lack of  practice and conditions.
Sorry there aren’t any photos of the course, but with the wet weather I had my phone buried under lots of layers to keep it dry. I did get a copy of a  photos from a friend and fellow SVYF member showing the muddy paths.
Muddy Path

Muddy Path

The video is a bit of fun and shows a friend of ours trying to get up the bank.
Thanks for reading.
Sep 27 2014

Shoot report – NFAS National Championships – part 2

B course - Archers mustering

B course – Archers mustering

Day two of the championships dawned and we wondered whether staying in the premier inn had been a good plan. We had had a very disturbed night having been woken by a fan humming noise which we’d thought was the aircon or heating but neither of these were on and it seemed to come from the corridor. The annoying thing was it would stop only to restart a few minutes later.

B course - Archers mustering

B course – Archers mustering

So bleary eyed we checked out and headed to Catton park. I’d taken some Lemsip tablets so I was hoping my head would be a little better.

B course - views across the fields

B course – views across the fields

The mid point placings were out showing Sharon in first place and me way down at 19th.
Sunday was brighter day with clear skies and a slight autumnal nip in the air. Shooting group would be different on each day so I wondered what to expect.

Sunday Shooting group

Sunday Shooting group

To say my possible concerns were ill founded would be an understatement as we never stopped laughing all day. Thanks to Julie and others in the group we had a great laugh often at our own expense.

Catton Park

Catton Park

I think we were fortunate on Sunday as unlike other groups we weren’t held up by the previous groups. I was speaking to one fellow SVYF member who was waiting over 10 minutes to shoot each target with a 45 minutes delay after food stop. When faced with these delays it is very hard to remain focused. I’m not sure of the cause but a possible solution for the future might be to allow groups to jump slow groups at food stops. This would mean that targets could not be taken down until much later though. (Normally the target you finish on, on the last day is brought in by your shooting group to help the organisers to break down the course. If you allow jumping them you might not be the last group to shoot the target.)

View on B course

View on B course

Think B course had the best grounds in my opinion with two separate pieces of woodland and a few open ground shots and a couple over water making for a good mix for all.

B course - 3D Crocodile

B course – 3D Crocodile

They also set up some interesting shots down the side of the woods or out of the woods into the fields, making distance judgement challenging.

B Course shot after food stop

B Course shot after food stop

Julie Shooting paper face on B Course

Julie Shooting paper face on B Course

Thank you

At this point I would like to say a huge thanks to all the people who gave up there time to not only lay the courses but find the ground initially and thanks to the administration staff for all the work behind the scenes.

Outcome

The full results are available here.
Despite feeling rough I managed to climb 9 places on Sunday from 19 to just get in the top 10. Not too bad I suppose. Sharon did wonderfully well winning ladies hunting tackle making her not only 3D champion from earlier this year but now also the national champion for 2014.

2014 NFAS Nationals - Sharon

2014 NFAS Nationals – Sharon (thanks Alex Tyler for photos)

Svyf came away with the team hunting tackle trophy.

2014 NFAS Nationals - ht team

2014 NFAS Nationals – Hunting Tackle  team (from left to right, Nigel, Johnny, Sharon and me) thanks Alex Tyler for photos

With Colin capturing a bronze in crossbow. Sharon and I also came away with the Nearest and Dearest trophy.

2014 NFAS Nationals - Nearest and Dearest

2014 NFAS Nationals – Nearest and Dearest (thanks Alex Tyler for photos)

So not a bad weekend considering I was feeling rough.
As always thanks for reading.