Fuzrats Skeet Diary

[Fuzrat]

Soon as I get a thursday off

 

[joe kitson]

hi salopian long time no see  why not come along with fuz will make a afternoon of it  the club is park farm at ombersley nr worcester free tea and coffey  i might even lean you how to talk black country  

 

[Fuzrat]

New post up on the blog about my trip to Bisley this afternoon  

 

[Hawkeye]

Congratulation's Fuz, well and truly hooked i'd say

Enjoy the practical and the mental challenge's ahead

 

[Fuzrat]

So bloody frustrating, shoot a dodgy 21 then straight, a poxy 20 then straight again  :banghead:   its not really an addiction...   :lol:

 

[Paul]

Well done Fuz, welcome to the addiction of a skeet field. Will be at Notts next week so will keep an eye open for you. Shoot well, have fun and enjoy yourself.

 

[Paul]

Meant to say, think your comments on Bisley were bang on the money, pity but absolutely true. It wouldn't take much effort to change things for the better but there seems little will to go for it.

 

[Fuzrat]

Meant to say, think your comments on Bisley were bang on the money, pity but absolutely true. It wouldn't take much effort to change things for the better but there seems little will to go for it.

Oh for an Olympic legacy Compact games my arse, Weymouth for the sailing is compact enough but not a bunt down the M3 for the shooting hey ho, the milk is spilt but no point in tears. Would love to see a few quid spent to bring a world cup event there though.

The infrastructure is all there from the commonwealths, it just needs a bit of tarting up. But like anything shooting related in this country we try to keep it low key for fear of exciting the anti gun lobby. Isnt it sad with all of our history of gunmaking and recent successes in shooting we cant shout it from the rooftops and get ourselves a world class facility.

Sorry if thats a bit of a rant, I'll head back to my lump of stilton and port  

 

[RobertBeard]

There were strong attempts by the NSRA and CPSA to get the Olympics held at Bisley including the submission of plans and costings for the required new ranges so it wasn't for the lack of trying but the Olympic powers that be were not going to have it.  LOCOG wanted a compact games and that is what the athletes want and have said so many times.  They don't want to live separate from their teams or to have to travel far for their events.

Therefore we got no legacy to speak of.  

Georgina "Gorgs" Geikie, an olympic team pistol shooter from Devon is now going around local schools trying to encourage kids to go along to try out shooting as her way of trying to develop some legacy in return for the support that she was given.  As if the athletes didn't do enough before to make the team and compete!

A very sorry and poor state of affairs which sums up the state of Bisley and how the establishment want to see shooting in the country.

 

[P1Fanatic]

Very nice shooting especially 2 straights! Looks like someone in C pipped you with a 92 so you didn’t lose out. I didn’t fair so well in what was my 2nd Reg shoot. We also did ranges 3 & 4. 1st round I got 22 which is my PB anyway but after that it went downhill with a 19, 20 & 18. All I needed in the last round was to clear stand 7 and I would have scored 81 same as my 1st reg which I would have been happy with but I dropped 2 shots to get a 79 on a stand that is a gimme really.

I did change cartridges half way through rd 4 as didn’t have 4 boxes of my usual Evo Sporting 24gm 9’s so moved onto the Super Steels 24gm 7.5’s. Never noticed how much more punchy they are when shooting them in isolation but using them after 3.5 rds of the Evo it was very noticeable.

Other than that it was mostly odd shots dropped here and there except stand 4 which was my downfall. On at least 1 rd I dropped 3 pts on it which just destroys your score.

Strangely our squad also struggled on Stand 1 on range 4 with I think our entire squad dropping at least one point. Low house was flying through that patch of gorse bushes so took longer to pick up but shouldn’t make much difference.

You are right about the NCSC. The café is ropey. I usually just go for a tea as I can make it as strong as I like. It looks like a good investment was made many years ago and nothing substantial since to keep it well maintained. It’s never that busy either which says a lot. Shame really but at least the traps are pretty reliable. We had just 1 no bird in our Squad of 5. Our ref on range 4 (tanned & weathered looking guy) wasn’t as good as the 1st ref (older chap). Several times he was late calling misses and sometimes didn’t even call them at all. My shooting partner reckoned one of our squad chipped a clay that wasn’t scored as a hit. As the ref didn’t shout miss he never thought to question it but checked the score at the end of the round. The ref was pretty abrubt when he disputed it on behalf of the other shooter. “You have to question it before the shooter leaves the stand” etc. Well if you don’t call a miss why would anyone question it? The shooter himself wasn’t bothered even though it would have got him a 96 but it highlights why its good to get consistent calls.

 

[Skeetfreak]

Fuz / Paul,

I do not think the issue of "needs a tidy up" is restricted to your experience of this last weekend. As you know i have just returned to shooting after a few years gap. Not many of the grounds have stayed in the same pristine condition let alone improved and i can fully understand why in what has been a tough few years economically.

I was at a trap shoot Saturday and one shooter who has been in the game a long time summed it up in a few words - something like "no wonder we are not seeing so many shooters these days. I came out here with 50 shells and i only have 12 left in my pockets"

Simple fact is with shells being best part of £200 for a high level trap shell using 38 on a round of 25 targets is expensive. So people will shoot less so the grounds have less profit and less money to spend on maintenance / improvements and of course we take wages out of their pockets by not spending our money at their grounds.

We all know what its like if you do not decorate your house after a few years it starts to look tatty. We all do the "lick of paint in the spring" or "fix that loose fence panel" at home but i am certain that things slip when times are tough.

Same for shooting grounds i suspect but on a bigger scale.... plus add in cost savings. Eg grounds man leaves the ground "ok we will cope without replacing them at X cost". Suddenly someone else needs to pick up the workload for no extra income..... not realistic and never works. Hopefully we will see things improve once the spend rate by shooters increases as things pick up in the future. Be a shame too see these great shooting facilities close / go to tatty versions of their former selves.

But i can sympathize with them when my last two skeet shoots have been affected by entries not being filled and shooters pulling off events.

 

[Fuzrat]

You are quite correct skeetfreak, times are hard and it isn't restricted to just last Sunday's outing. Few grounds have the finances for maintenance let alone updates these days. Its just looking at the pics of San Antonio and Chicago in the states and some of the Italian trap grounds one gets a tad jealous! just a shame that this is our National Shooting Centre and you can see how good it used to be. Is it a case of build it and they will come? Or am I just putting some rose tints on it?

 

[sibaldib]

The good news is that some are improving.

Dartford have invested heavily in improving their skeet layouts and access roads and it can only lead to increased attendances.

 

[joe kitson]

boys it/s not that people are not shooting i have five club/s nr me in the west midland/s go to any on a sunday and you will see up to a undred plus shooter/s why you ask two club/s 100 sporting 18 pound/s for practice and good shoot/s not strawbale shoot/s most not members of the cpsa not interrested in reg shoot/s to expensive plus travel go to some reg grounds 28 pound/s for practise 35 comp has we say in the midland/s stack um high sell chepper work a bit harder get the entre/s that/s why the club/s round here do so well easyeeeeeeee wake up reg ground/s

 

[Fuzrat]

Must admit 30 quid birds only was a bit steep compared to 26 at Northampton. They do mighty fine burgers too Dartford is on the must do list when the weather gets a bit better, will try and double head it with possibly Kingsferry

 

[P1Fanatic]

£18 for 100 sporting - I wish. Cheapest I do is £22 and thats not great (same layouts). £25 (actually 25p per clay so can do however many you want) cheapest with decent layout but  -that is members rates.

 

[P1Fanatic]

That said my closest shoot is Happy Valley in Grazeley which is a small 6-7 stand shoot and doesn't vary too much. £14 for 50 bird non member rates yet it is rammed which I dont like as usually waiting ages for each stand. But clearly many do and happy to pay £14 for it. If I go I tend to get there very early or very late to beat the queues.

 

[Paul]

Sadly, much of the poor maintenance we see is often down to bad or no management. I hate to find traps running out part way through a round and bins overflowing with empty shells and boxes while ground staff or trappers are sat drinking tea and the ground management can't be bothered to get them organised. Much of it is about attitude and expectation. I go to San Antonio most years and shoot several clubs out there large and small. The cost of shooting is often ridiculously low while the facilities are fabulous. Think it can't be done here, take a look at places like Orston where Charlie sets high standards, doesn't charge the earth for you to use them and the place is buzzing with people enjoying themselves. If only they would put on some skeet events it would be my first choice.

 

[Fuzrat]

Off on my travels later, new blog entry up and keep an eye out for updates on the Express champs this Sunday and a full write up with pics and video when I get back Monday evening

 

[sibaldib]

Good luck, Fuz.