Santa2512
Well-known member
Pet Easton's I've been pinked day, charity shoot Owls lodge 13/9/14
Ok Pink was the order of the day, so a quick rummage through the wardrobe found a nice little number, 95% polyester & 5% elastine. Perfect, should keep my svelte figure in check
and a nice little tutu to accessorize, so suitably adorned, off I set.
To be honest, if you weren't wearing pink, you were going to feel out of place!
It was amazing, and all credit to all the participants, Pink was defiantly the colour of choice.
However Any chances of slipping silently thought the crowd were cruelly dashed on my arrival, all I can put it down to were the hob nailed boots, not the most elegant fashion accessory I agree, but the most comfortable. That's men you see, function over form.
Signing on completed, it was out to shoot
Stand 1) R-L midi or R-L std
First stand, On watching the pair seemed fairly straight forward a pair crossing R/L, just running across the tops of the trees
The first two pairs just sailed on past, as my attempt at lead was woeful, On the last two pairs, something clicked, and the first midi was killed, but the Std eluded me
last pair was the same, with the midi killed and the std escaping
Note to self, read the target board!! first bird was a midi, the second a std.
Ok first stand down - 2/8 I was on the leader board
Stand 2) Sim Pair incoming Std & Midi
Watching the pair, it was one of those brain game moments, in my head I'd already decided how to kill the pair, but in reality it turned out slightly different.
The incoming side was straightforward, but the way the birds came wasn't. with the slightly looping trajectory having an impact, mainly on yours truly!
The first pair were killed cleanly and with a quick burst of confidence, and cheeky smile to David Bailey on my right ( nice picture BTW), it was on to the remaining 8 pairs. Oh dear, my game plan fell apart. The next 8 pairs went the same way with the std bird surviving, and the midi being killed.
Thank goodness the pictures were taken at the start of the stand, and not the end.
Still, on the positive side, I hadn't blanked, and still felt good. - 6/10
Stand 3) Going away midi or L-R std
For a fairly open stand, it certainly made good use of the available terrain.
The going away midi had a slight r-l path and shot off between the two small trees,
The angles though made for a small window to take the bird. The or L-R standard was deceptive, and try as I might, I couldn't get anywhere near this and near on everything survived. - 1/8 and yup, it was the midi that died .
So, 3 stands down and whilst not a stellar performance from myself. I was happy with kills from all 3 stands.
Stand 4) Teal std & overhead midi
The teal should have been straight forward, but it wasn't, and the midi according to my track record so far should have been a doddle, again it wasn't.
For what looked like a simple stand, it sucked me in, and spat me out
I managed a paltry 3, with the teals taking the kills,
Ouch, not one of my finest stands, on the plus side I smoked 2 of the teals, with nice pink clouds - 3/8
Stand 5) R-L Rabbit & blaze crosser
Bunnies, yeah right, more like greyhounds, or bunnies being chased by greyhounds, to be more accurate. The usual trick of shooting the front legs off, failed miserably, and I tried to shoot the rear legs off with predictable results. As for the blaze, it did what is says in the name and blazed past me, however on the plus side I managed to nail one. 1/8 nuff said
Stand 6) Going away lhs or incoming lhs
Hats off to the course setter at Owls, this was one challenging stand by any standard.
The lhs going away wasn't to bad, just a timing and lead exercise, but the incomer, what a tricky beastie. The bird started high on the lhs bank, and had a slow incoming falling trajectory, and just as it reached the end of its travel rolled slightly to the right and hit the deck.
Where to kill it? Logic said just at the end of the travel where it rolls into the deck. trouble was occasionally with the wind they were being pushed into the bank just before the roll, so I opted to take them early before the roll.
Bad move, I managed two. Should have had the courage to go with my original assessment. - 6/8 not bad though
Stand 7 High going away or Rabbit
Another tricky stand, for me, after going for the high bird, and more often then not missing it was a fast drop to the deck for the rabbit which if not seen and taken quickly shot behind the bushes.
My failing was coming down too far behind the rabbit then trying to get in front.
(perhaps ambushing may have been better loll) - 2/8 argh!
Stand 8 L-R Std or Std incoming
My best stand of the day
Ironically I cant remember how I did this doh, Happy Santa though,
Result a cracking stand. - 7/8 One well happy camper
Stand 9 1 std crow or L-R crosser
Initial assessment was a L-R crosser and an incomer, but watching both birds closely they seemed to me were more teal like in there flight.
Both had a rapid arc, but then had a pause before dropping quite close to the stand. Game plan set, off I went. - 4/8 not bad I suppose
Just as well really, the next stands was possibly the most evil stand of the day. Richard certainly knows how to present fast birds!
Stand 10. R-L Battue & R-L crosser
OMG the crosser. I swear if you'd have called V1 and rotate, this puppy would have taken off and started climbing to 30,00 feet. it was unbelievably fast.
I couldn't get any where near it, with only 1 kill on the Battue
- 1/8 miserable and dejected .
However , Hats off to the junior who straighted the stand just before me.
that really was a tough stand
Stand 11) R-L Blaze incomer & L-R Blaze
If I thought 10 was hard, 11 was no picnic. What presented itself as a simple stand used the terrain to maximum advantage and kept me on my toes.
The R-L incomer dropped down the bank edge on, making it tricky to see, and then just cleared the little hillock at ground level.
First problem was finding the bird, more often than not it had passed me before I saw it, and it was a rapid catch up to kill it. The hillock gave the impression of ground level, so I shot early and over the top.
The L-R bird wasn't to bad and I managed to kill a few - 5/8 passable
Stand 12) L-R Rabbit or R-L Blaze crosser
The finale was just as tricky as the last stand. The rabbits broke cover and went for it, I redeemed myself and took 3, sadly it was the only 3 ..
The blaze was not only crossing, but dropping, and predictably I shot over the top on all of them - 3/8 poor
So that was it,12 stands 100 birds. Final score 40ex100, not bad, but would have liked to break 50 Have to say a very fair and fun course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The next target was to better my last outing at Churchill's and not come last.
Hats of to Pet, Richard & Tanya, a cracking event and a course with some very very good birds
Highs of the round. stands 8 & 2 lows of the round stands 3 5 and 10, just shows how much work I need to do on crossers...
Pool shoot.
Dare I mention my efforts on the pool shoot
5 stands a R-L and a L-R on report
Clearing all birds gave you entry into the extreme pool shoot
The R-L was tough, the L-R the same.
I think I managed 1 on the L-R . I'm saying no more
The extreme pool shoot was just that, extreme
Watching the shooters do that was amazing, clearly I have a long long way to go to get to that level.
Prize giving and raffle
Bit of a result in the raffle, and I managed to win a nice bottle of Port
Unbelievably though, I managed to take the prize for best dressed male, how I don't know , it was just something I threw together from the wardrobe, Lets just say Versace, isn't going to be featuring it in his next collection ..
All in all an absolutely fantastic day, great company & great venue.
Congratulations to Pet, Richard & Tanya for organising it, I cant wait for next year
:santa:
Ok Pink was the order of the day, so a quick rummage through the wardrobe found a nice little number, 95% polyester & 5% elastine. Perfect, should keep my svelte figure in check
and a nice little tutu to accessorize, so suitably adorned, off I set. To be honest, if you weren't wearing pink, you were going to feel out of place!
It was amazing, and all credit to all the participants, Pink was defiantly the colour of choice.
However Any chances of slipping silently thought the crowd were cruelly dashed on my arrival, all I can put it down to were the hob nailed boots, not the most elegant fashion accessory I agree, but the most comfortable. That's men you see, function over form.
Signing on completed, it was out to shoot
Stand 1) R-L midi or R-L std
First stand, On watching the pair seemed fairly straight forward a pair crossing R/L, just running across the tops of the trees
The first two pairs just sailed on past, as my attempt at lead was woeful, On the last two pairs, something clicked, and the first midi was killed, but the Std eluded me
last pair was the same, with the midi killed and the std escaping
Note to self, read the target board!! first bird was a midi, the second a std.
Ok first stand down - 2/8 I was on the leader board
Stand 2) Sim Pair incoming Std & Midi
Watching the pair, it was one of those brain game moments, in my head I'd already decided how to kill the pair, but in reality it turned out slightly different.
The incoming side was straightforward, but the way the birds came wasn't. with the slightly looping trajectory having an impact, mainly on yours truly!
The first pair were killed cleanly and with a quick burst of confidence, and cheeky smile to David Bailey on my right ( nice picture BTW), it was on to the remaining 8 pairs. Oh dear, my game plan fell apart. The next 8 pairs went the same way with the std bird surviving, and the midi being killed.
Thank goodness the pictures were taken at the start of the stand, and not the end.
Still, on the positive side, I hadn't blanked, and still felt good. - 6/10
Stand 3) Going away midi or L-R std
For a fairly open stand, it certainly made good use of the available terrain.
The going away midi had a slight r-l path and shot off between the two small trees,
The angles though made for a small window to take the bird. The or L-R standard was deceptive, and try as I might, I couldn't get anywhere near this and near on everything survived. - 1/8 and yup, it was the midi that died .
So, 3 stands down and whilst not a stellar performance from myself. I was happy with kills from all 3 stands.
Stand 4) Teal std & overhead midi
The teal should have been straight forward, but it wasn't, and the midi according to my track record so far should have been a doddle, again it wasn't.
For what looked like a simple stand, it sucked me in, and spat me out
I managed a paltry 3, with the teals taking the kills,
Ouch, not one of my finest stands, on the plus side I smoked 2 of the teals, with nice pink clouds - 3/8
Stand 5) R-L Rabbit & blaze crosser
Bunnies, yeah right, more like greyhounds, or bunnies being chased by greyhounds, to be more accurate. The usual trick of shooting the front legs off, failed miserably, and I tried to shoot the rear legs off with predictable results. As for the blaze, it did what is says in the name and blazed past me, however on the plus side I managed to nail one. 1/8 nuff said
Stand 6) Going away lhs or incoming lhs
Hats off to the course setter at Owls, this was one challenging stand by any standard.
The lhs going away wasn't to bad, just a timing and lead exercise, but the incomer, what a tricky beastie. The bird started high on the lhs bank, and had a slow incoming falling trajectory, and just as it reached the end of its travel rolled slightly to the right and hit the deck.
Where to kill it? Logic said just at the end of the travel where it rolls into the deck. trouble was occasionally with the wind they were being pushed into the bank just before the roll, so I opted to take them early before the roll.
Bad move, I managed two. Should have had the courage to go with my original assessment. - 6/8 not bad though
Stand 7 High going away or Rabbit
Another tricky stand, for me, after going for the high bird, and more often then not missing it was a fast drop to the deck for the rabbit which if not seen and taken quickly shot behind the bushes.
My failing was coming down too far behind the rabbit then trying to get in front.
(perhaps ambushing may have been better loll) - 2/8 argh!
Stand 8 L-R Std or Std incoming
My best stand of the day
Ironically I cant remember how I did this doh, Happy Santa though,
Result a cracking stand. - 7/8 One well happy camper
Stand 9 1 std crow or L-R crosser
Initial assessment was a L-R crosser and an incomer, but watching both birds closely they seemed to me were more teal like in there flight.
Both had a rapid arc, but then had a pause before dropping quite close to the stand. Game plan set, off I went. - 4/8 not bad I suppose
Just as well really, the next stands was possibly the most evil stand of the day. Richard certainly knows how to present fast birds!
Stand 10. R-L Battue & R-L crosser
OMG the crosser. I swear if you'd have called V1 and rotate, this puppy would have taken off and started climbing to 30,00 feet. it was unbelievably fast.
I couldn't get any where near it, with only 1 kill on the Battue
- 1/8 miserable and dejected .
However , Hats off to the junior who straighted the stand just before me.
that really was a tough stand
Stand 11) R-L Blaze incomer & L-R Blaze
If I thought 10 was hard, 11 was no picnic. What presented itself as a simple stand used the terrain to maximum advantage and kept me on my toes.
The R-L incomer dropped down the bank edge on, making it tricky to see, and then just cleared the little hillock at ground level.
First problem was finding the bird, more often than not it had passed me before I saw it, and it was a rapid catch up to kill it. The hillock gave the impression of ground level, so I shot early and over the top.
The L-R bird wasn't to bad and I managed to kill a few - 5/8 passable
Stand 12) L-R Rabbit or R-L Blaze crosser
The finale was just as tricky as the last stand. The rabbits broke cover and went for it, I redeemed myself and took 3, sadly it was the only 3 ..
The blaze was not only crossing, but dropping, and predictably I shot over the top on all of them - 3/8 poor
So that was it,12 stands 100 birds. Final score 40ex100, not bad, but would have liked to break 50 Have to say a very fair and fun course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The next target was to better my last outing at Churchill's and not come last.
Hats of to Pet, Richard & Tanya, a cracking event and a course with some very very good birds
Highs of the round. stands 8 & 2 lows of the round stands 3 5 and 10, just shows how much work I need to do on crossers...
Pool shoot.
Dare I mention my efforts on the pool shoot
5 stands a R-L and a L-R on report
Clearing all birds gave you entry into the extreme pool shoot
The R-L was tough, the L-R the same.
I think I managed 1 on the L-R . I'm saying no more
The extreme pool shoot was just that, extreme
Watching the shooters do that was amazing, clearly I have a long long way to go to get to that level.
Prize giving and raffle
Bit of a result in the raffle, and I managed to win a nice bottle of Port
Unbelievably though, I managed to take the prize for best dressed male, how I don't know , it was just something I threw together from the wardrobe, Lets just say Versace, isn't going to be featuring it in his next collection ..
All in all an absolutely fantastic day, great company & great venue.
Congratulations to Pet, Richard & Tanya for organising it, I cant wait for next year
:santa:
