Tag Archives: woodland

Jun 23 2014

Shoot report – Hawk archers – June 2014

hawk archers

Hawk archers

Earlier this month we headed just over the border to Monmouthshire for the annual Hawk archers shoot.
Numbers were small with around 40-50 archers of mixed classes but that made for an easy flowing day and relaxed atmosphere. You can see a previous shoot report here.

Opening shot at Hawk small brown 3D

Opening shot at Hawk small brown 3D between trees.

Hawks course layers set an enjoyable but challenging course with some very deceptively placed shots. A number of times we would get to the target to realise it was either further or smaller than we thought. That’s not to say they were stretched but well placed.

Sharon preparing for shot - 3D lion

Sharon preparing for shot – 3D lion

The course was a mix of 3d targets and a few hessian painted to a very high standard.
Inter mixed were a couple of predator prey shots which Hawk scores slightly differently to other clubs. If you hit the predator with your first arrow you can go for the prey with your second arrow but only score max for a second arrow. Therefore if you get 24 points on the predator the max you can score on prey is 14 points.  I think I prefer this scoring as you get a potential bonus but not a huge amount.
Hawk archers grounds is situated in a beautiful wooded hillside allowing them to put on shots both up and downhill.

Mary on long 3D deer shot

Mary on long 3D deer shot

Shooting group for the day would be Sharon,  myself Richie from DW Longbow (we shot with him at Wolverine) and Mary from svyf.

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The organisers worked hard to clear paths and cut in steps up and down the hillside which was much appreciated as the ground soil is quite heavy clay in parts making it quite slippery. As it was  we enjoyed good weather with no rain and it being bright without it being too warm. Having said this I know Mary struggled at times to have enough light to see through her sights as the tree cover was pretty dense in parts.
Only one shot annoyed me  or i think could have been improved which was one between a V in a tree which you shot from about five to six yards. The gap was too tight for my arrows as they are still straightening at that distance. The result was two broken arrows.

Mary shooting one of the uphill shots at Hawk 2014

Mary shooting one of the uphill shots at Hawk 2014

It was great to see Mary get round the course.  She had taken a really bad fall a few weeks ago at Charnwood shoot tearing the muscles in the left leg. The fact she could walk let alone get up and down the hillside.
As for me I didn’t shoot well at all only coming in with 520ish long way off placing and a lot lower than I wanted.

I’m going to have to work on my consistency of draw as I’m taking a lot of damage to my right ring finger tip.

Mary and Sharon at Hawk

Mary and Sharon at Hawk

Congrats to Mary and Sharon who both got first places. Especially well done to young Alfie also from SVYF our  a junior who shot really well coming first too.
As always thanks for reading.

Mar 17 2014

Shoot report – Centaura Archers – March 2014

Sharon getting ready for shoot

Sharon getting ready for the shoot

This last weekend we took a break from sorting the garden and on Sunday we headed north to just outside of Derby for a return to the Centaura Field Bowmen grounds. It had been a couple of years since we had last shot this ground and not since Pete Bates had passed away. Pete had been a very well known character on the field archery circuit in the Midlands and had been the driving force behind Centaura for years.
Bench donated to the club in memory of Pete

Bench donated to the club in memory of Pete

Considering the very wet winter weather we have endured in the UK, Sunday  was an absolutely lovely early spring day. Bright sunshine and blue skies all day, with our temperature gauge in the car showing 15 degrees when we left to head home late afternoon. Pub beer garden weather or better still shooting weather.
Practise bosses before the start

Practise bosses before the start

The shoot was to be a wooden arrow only shoot, with the course being a 36 target, mix of 3D and paper faces. Normally wooden arrow only shoots have a low turnout but there were over 100 archers split across the different classes of longbow American flat bow and hunting tackle attending the event.

Great Atmosphere

I think it would fair to say  that the shoot was probably one of the most relaxed and laid back shoots I have been on for a very long time. Everyone was smiling and relaxed with very few hold ups on the course.
There was a brief lunch break between 12:30 -1:15 which was necessary as the club ground doesn’t really make for a shoot through.
Post lunch break

Post lunch break

Woodland regeneration

The club is presently working with the local council on a 10 year project of woodland management to rejuvenate the woodland. It’s very obvious how much work has started with clearing and felling of some trees which has opened up areas.

The course

As I’ve said earlier the 36 target course felt split into two main sections one part having the shorter more technical shots dictated by the terrain.

Polo shot

Polo shot

We started on peg 11 which I will call the polo shot. A hole had been cut into a foam boss with a second boss positioned some  5 yards or so behind. You had to shoot through the hole to hit the target, a paper raccoon.

Starting Peg with Sharon, Dave and Graham

Starting Peg with Sharon, Dave and Graham

We were delighted to see Dave and Graham waiting on the peg, longbow archers we’d shot with before.  Our day was filled with jokes and laughter with little consideration of the competition and more about having a good fun day shooting with friends. Thanks guys.
There were some challenging shots out there though an Ermin at 3 yards and low to the ground. Sharon nailed this with a near perfect shot. In fact she nailed the 2 smallest targets on the course,  scoring 24 points on each.

Sharon as she shot the ermin

Sharon as she shot the ermin

There were a couple of predator prey shots one being a crocodile 3d with a 3D goose in its mouth.
There was also a deceptively difficult little 3d fox which caught a few people out.

Graham on 3D fox

Graham on 3D fox

Another was a nice herd shot of 3 3Ds all deer of different sizes and distances.

It was good to catch up with so many old friends who we hadn’t seen since moving house 18 months ago. SVYF came away with a few placings Chris Harley came second in longbow and Sharon and I managed to come away with firsts in Ladies and Gents Hunting Tackle.

I’m sure that with the work the club has already undertaken and are planning it will go from strength to strength.
As always thanks for reading.
Mar 7 2014

Course and Target laying – So What makes a shot challenging?

My personal view is there are several ways in which you can make a shot challenging. Instinctively you will sometimes see how the land and vegetation can combine to make a good shot. But that doesn’t make it very easy to explain here or to new course layers developing their skills.
The art is combining one or two of them together to make a shot challenging without being too hard. In essence there is a fine balance between challenging and demoralising and as a course layer you need to judge this carefully.
In the next few posts I will look at different options from target distance to size of target, intervening terrain to footing on the peg.
First off though I’m going to give some comments on elevation.

So what do I  mean by elevation?

Any shot that is not along flat ground and requires you to change your stance or aiming because it is down a hillside or hung in a tree.
Shooting along the flat is one thing but in field archery you have the opportunity depending on terrain to introduce a shot that goes down or uphill and it confuses people. Shots across the slope also increase difficulty as you have to judge the angle and distance to the target.
An example of this can be seen here, where it looks a straight shot up a hill to a target by the tree.
View from the red peg

View from the red peg

This isn’t a straight up hill shot though, but one at about a 30 degree angle across the slope.
Arrows shows the target

Arrows shows the target

Though it doesn’t look it, it is a largish paper target of a Ram too from the Merlin archery  range of faces, shown below. Many archers will judge the distance but not necessarily the elevation. When setting this shot we decided that a paper face mounted on a target boss was better than a 3D target.  Why, I hear you ask?
We thought that a boss would mean people would find arrows more easily rather than them skipping along the ground, also a target boss deceases the chance of an arrow skipping off the top of the target and traveling on.
target face - merlin ram

Merlin Ram

Raising a target can also work as was the case in the tree shot. You will notice we have put a lower target in for juniors.

Elevated shot for adults

Elevated shot for adults

This isn’t a long shot, being approximately 7-9 yards, but because of its elevation in a tree it often throws peoples judgement.
I hope these ideas help and generate some ideas of your own. Have a walk round your wood this weekend and see if you can apply any of these ideas. If so then let me know, via the the message for Rob.
As always thanks for reading.