Tag Archives: woods

Mar 24 2016

Shoot report – Thornbury – March 2016

Thornbury Field Archers

Thornbury Field Archers

Last Sunday we headed south on the motorway to Thornbury Field Archery Club for their 40th anniversary shoot. I have come to the conclusion that I really hate road works on motorways and especially 50 mile an hour limits, which only some people adhere to. Anyway on to the shoot report. We’ve shot at Thornbury a couple of times and this was by far their busiest shoot with over 120 people attending. You can read the last shoot report here.
Despite the size of the event it was still friendly and flowed quite well with only a couple of hold ups.
3D bird target just over the bank

3D bird target just over the bank

We would be shooting with a couple we’d not met before, Helen and Jason. Helen shooting Barebow and Jason his compound. It was really nice to meet another archery couple and we hope to shoot with Jason and Helen again in the future.
Shot between the trees

Shot between the trees

Unlike previous shoots at Thornbury, this one would be a full 40 target course, with a mix of 3D, paper and hessian faces. They had managed to secure the adjacent field to their wood which has enabled them to set 4 targets in field including a lovely 3d target of a badger under a fallen tree.
Sharon shooting 3D badger

Sharon shooting 3D badger

There were a couple of predator prey shots (only one arrow at each target allowed) along with some challenging shots over banks or window shots between trees.
3D target between the trees

3D target between the trees

I think one of the hardest shots of the day was one of the special shots, where you had three 3d deer targets and a wolf 3d behind. The target was the wolf and if you hit the deer you blanked the shot.
Jason shooting a 3D hare

Jason shooting a 3D hare

I’m not sure but think they must have some very gifted artists in the club as they had some lovely hessian targets on the course including a fantastic tiger and a fish jumping out of the water for a dragon fly.
An example of the great hessian faces

An example of the great hessian faces

The elephant shot returned, though not at the great length it was previously, but it still made for a challenging shot between the trees.
The elephant shot makes the return

The elephant shot makes the return

Sharon shooting off one of the towers

Sharon shooting off one of the towers

My complements to the cooks as the chilli at lunch was great as was the homemade lemon cake. Sharon shot well winning ladies AFB and I was pleasantly surprised coming first in gents AFB.
Thanks for reading.
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.
Nov 2 2015

Spooky shoot report – SVYF Halloween night shoot – October 2015

Halloween shoot

Halloween shoot

Well that was a very busy weekend. Saturday morning we were driving up to Loughborough for Sharon to collect her new Blackbrook American flatbow from Andy Soars, then back home to collect the bows for club Halloween themed night shoot which meant we finally got home about 10:30 pm. Sunday we were back to the wood for 9:30 am to tidy and clear away the temporary course and for Sharon to try out her new bow.
Anyway on to the shoot report. Some of you might remember that last year Severn Valley ran a charity night shoot and this year Nigel and crew set about doing another.
This year we had just over 50 people for the shoot, made up of members and guests arriving in the early evening as dusk began.
SVYF welcome all, just don't feed the zombies

SVYF welcome all, just don’t feed the zombies

Even the weather helped to set the mood, with mist just forming as people started to arrive. The weather was unseasonably warm and completely dry, which was as good as could be hoped for for this time of year.

Mist appearing as dusk falls

Mist appearing as dusk falls

One thing about a night shoot is how very different the woodland is at night and you can hear the owls not being too happy with us being in their woodland.

woods at night

woods at night

As was the case last year it would be a simple 20 target course with custom faces and scoring from one arrow getting you 40 points to negative scores if you were unlucky in picking the wrong target. The flock of bats (or should that be colony) was one where you picked the target and shot two arrows. Problem was you only found out what you scored when you got to the target.

Themed pumpkin target

Themed pumpkin target

The targets themselves were illuminated with candles buried in the ground just in front of the bosses . (Yes you did have to be careful not to go too low or you ran the risk singeing your arrows.)

baby ogre target

baby ogre target

There was the floating bat distraction too, which Nigel controlled on a length of fishing line and would bob up and down as a distraction. sound effects were also played at some shots or along paths to set the atmosphere.
One target that worked well was the skull. Normally you have to hit a target to score, with the skull you had to shoot through the eyes or nose and had one arrow.

skull shot in day light

skull shot in day light

Here is what it looked like in day light from the peg. At night it looked like it was floating in air.

Skull target from the peg in day light

Skull target from the peg in day light

There weren’t any very long targets,  the longest target was about 30 yards
Once the shoot was over there was hot food of chilli or a variety of soups along with mountains of cake to warm you up for the journey home. The atmosphere was great with lots of laughter and joking around. Congrats to Nadeem on shooting so well in longbow. I’m sure you will remind Rich of your sucess, but stop picking on Cliff 🙂
I  think we raised just under £300 with the plan being to donate the surplus once the costs are covered to local charity.
Thanks for reading