midland game fair

[Kentskeet]

This all sounds very bad next thing you know those of us with no friends will be loosing our prize money if we cant get back within a certain time.

whats the world coming too

You won't be late back again though! We all learn by our mistakes? I'm going to phone the RSPCA if you continue flogging this dead horse...!

 

[Richard59]

What's prize money? Is it the same as the gold at the end of the rainbow, hens teeth and rocking horse manure?

 

[RobertBeard]

Certainly sounds like it at Game Fairs

 

[salop sniper]

I havent shot the MGF for 4 years now and since they moved the clay line from across the bottom with the trees as the back drop, I feel its gone to the dogs. 2 Friends of mine went to shoot it this year after 2 hours of waiting and having only shot 4 stands they abandond it as they wouldnt get to see anything else, the setup was poor and a joke too !

Personally since the fox hunting ban the show has gone down hill rapidly !

I will still keep going to support the event though as the more shooters that support it the more chance of getting more shooting buisiness back to it etc and it not been taken over by the diddys and none shooting folk, we should all stand together side by side and strong to support this event as if it goes under it will be the thin end of the wedge. We need to promote our sports at every oppertunity ! and by doing this and giving the clay shoot a miss hopefully they will find someone else to run the clay shoot and we will once again enjoy a good sporting s

line shoot!

 

[lead belly]

I can tell this is a bit of a sore point.I will be shooting the intercounties at Doveridge on sunday and will make a point of asking those concerned in running the shoot at the mgf,if the payout structure was based on cards returned. I can understand the need to generate income when the rewards are so high (ie first prize 20 k truck) etc, but I personaly think they are taking the piss. Its a pitty that big shoots with a good prize structure are few and far between these days. There must be some ground owners or manufactures out there, that can put on a good shoot with some atmosphere and a good prize structure like the old Winchester knock out,Browning masters, or the white gold cup used to be. ( I know what your thinking. How old is this pratt)

 

[Hamster]

The organisers are bound to have got a whiff of their antics being discussed here, I say we give them a chance to explain their rationale behind it. Was it to nick more out of the shooters pocket or was it because the cards themselves were re-usable :wink: . Somehow I think we'll hear as much as we do from the cartridge makers.

 

[Fuzrat]

There must be some ground owners or manufactures out there, that can put on a good shoot with some atmosphere and a good prize structure like the old Winchester knock out,Browning masters, or the white gold cup used to be. ( I know what your thinking. How old is this pratt)

I hear the Essex Masters is one of the better ones, not shot it before myself but definitely in the diary for next year

 

[Mark Jones]

Also for future reference Mark, countback is normally lost by the person who misses FIRST on the selected stand, not last. No good to you now but if it happens again you can put up a scrap, I know I would!

Thats what I thought. Almost like a sudden death on the score card

 

[Salopian]

Well we get a disgruntled sparky going to sort out prize money fixing. What does he do? Goes and takes the bloody pot. Selfish or what. Good job none of the good Shropshire shooters turned up.So now flushed with success he's off to rob the ZZ specialists Good job he's not Corgi certified or he'd be robbing the Queen. Look out Nicola he's a smoothy.

 

[lead belly]

I did try and sort things out on Sunday, with regards to payout, but the main man was nowhere to be seen. I will have a word soon and find out exactly what goes on. Sure to be a reasonable excuse,sorry explanation. As regards good sheepshire shooters, I didnt know you had any !! RESPECT

 

[lead belly]

.

Ref the game fair pay-out. Have just had a long conversation with the main man involved with the setting up and running of the shoot at the fair. As you know I was not happy with the pay-out structure that was reported to me by somebody who actually won prize money at the shoot. also the length of time it took to shoot just 50 targets. The prize money was paid out on the cards that were purchased and not on cards returned as suggested by myself and others. The other main problem I had was the queuing at all the stands because of the clubman being run at the same time as the main shoot. The reason for this was the unexpected 300 plus entries on the clubman compared to 100 or so last year. Also a massive entry on the main shoot of 300 plus as well. We both agreed that with hindsight things could have been organised a little better in relation to both shoots being run on the same stands. I have apologised to Clive for gobbing off on here without the full facts. Also for not getting the facts right on this website as well. I would also like to apologise for misleading the rest of the users on this website. I suppose I should have calmed down a little and found out the facts before opening my big mouth.

 

[GlenPresley]

.

Ref the game fair pay-out. Have just had a long conversation with the main man involved with the setting up and running of the shoot at the fair. As you know I was not happy with the pay-out structure that was reported to me by somebody who actually won prize money at the shoot. also the length of time it took to shoot just 50 targets. The prize money was paid out on the cards that were purchased and not on cards returned as suggested by myself and others. The other main problem I had was the queuing at all the stands because of the clubman being run at the same time as the main shoot. The reason for this was the unexpected 300 plus entries on the clubman compared to 100 or so last year. Also a massive entry on the main shoot of 300 plus as well. We both agreed that with hindsight things could have been organised a little better in relation to both shoots being run on the same stands. I have apologised to Clive for gobbing off on here without the full facts. Also for not getting the facts right on this website as well. I would also like to apologise for misleading the rest of the users on this website. I suppose I should have calmed down a little and found out the facts before opening my big mouth.

Fair Play that man with your honesty!

 

[ExSCA]

Yep - fair play for correcting that. Good to see that we have an accurate picture of what went on.

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

just got back from the worst days shooting ever,landed at 10am ,shot 5 stands after what seemed to take forever as the refs couldnt call names out loud enough and the organizers put 50 sporting and 75 clubman sporting on the same 10 stands causing much confusion some refs let you see a pair some didnt (diferent presantation on the same stand for each comp)and 9 spaces on the card for 10 stands.first card was bad so like a fool had another and finaly finished on a 40x50 at 2.30 so 4and half hours to shoot 76 targets, never again,like ed said in another post "prefer to go to dentist" but then again never had a chance to win a car there.

We are sorry you feel you had a bad experinece at the Midland this year. But to be fair the issue was mainly due to the amount of shooters that decided to turn up at the same time in the first 2 hours. Having over 350 shooters in the first 2 hours was always going to cause massive queues. In 2011 we did over 500 entries on the saturday with no problem at all as they were spread over the whole day. At Lowther we did 450 on 6 Stands again with no issues.

Obviously the amount turning up in the first 2 hours was not expected and it is impossible to do anything to cater for this, except for squadding the shoot, which sporting shooters do not want. The Clubman last year only attracted 150 shooters over 2 days. This year we had 300 guns. If we had known we were getting 300 guns on the clubman we would of had a seperate course to help try and reduce numbers on the stands. But I dont have a crystal ball so we based it on what has happend over the last 3-4 years. We can only learn from this and try and make things better next year.

The Scorecards were specially printed for the Midland and we did not open the packet until the morning of the shoot. We did not notice the issue of the cards only having 9 stands on them until the first shooters came back with their scorecards. As soon as we found out we dealt with this issue. We told shooters as they came to enter, we added an extra stand on the bottom of the scorecard and we also put various signs at the end of the shooting line notifying shooters to make sure they went to stand 10. I then organised to get new scorecards for sunday so the issue was sorted. Sorry for the confussion but sometimes small things like this happen and it was sorted as quickly as possible.

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

glad its not just me that thinks its such a wasted chance to promote our sport.

This comment is far from the truth. Doveridge Shotgun Academy has every year put huge amounts of money and time in to providing a better event to the shooters each year. We are always after comments and recommendations, this is the only way we can improve the competition. Comments on forums like this is not the way to help promote the sport and to help us secure valuable sponsorship (Like a Car to give away) in the future.

Comments and any form of complaint should be sent directly to us the organiser by letter or verbally. The facts can then be discussed and dealt with. All comments are taken in to consideration for the next years event.

We provide Have a go sessions and Instruction to thousands of shooters, of all ages which massivly promotes our sport to none shooters. We have turned huge amounts of none shooters on to new certifcated shotgun holders and who are now regular clay shooters all over the counrty from the clay shooting line at the Counrtyman Fairs Shows.

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

Interestingly I have been disillusioned with the Mitsubishi ever since Nick Hendrick was cheated out of it. It amazes me how people like Stirzaker & Myers, Thompson etc., cannot even qualify for the finals. Rigged or what? We have even managed to have two under age drivers win a car, how stupid is that?

But this weekend it sank to it's lowest level ever. A Junior is up to the age of 21 according to CPSA, an adult is generally accepted to be over 18 in the real? World. A Junior yesterday was anyone aged 18 at the Clubman unless like Mark Foxley a Staffordshire shooter, CPSA Staffordshire Junior Champion aged 18 who yesterday put in a winning score but was prevented from winning any prizes or competing in any shoot off because he was 18 in December 2011 ( =18 3/4) so yesterday they magically conjure up " Oh No you must not be over 18 on September 15th this year"

So, Organisers are you going to give him his entry fee, cartridge costs, and all his out of pocket expenses back?

No I didn't think you would after all Rules are Rules especially if we make them up as we go along.

Finally re The Midland Game Fair it was very sad to see that it was a very good year for the vermin that was allowed to roam freely, unrestrained because there was no security on Friday night allowing the vermin to cut their way into tents and Marquees robbing and stealing whilst people slept, I hope the Police are as lenient with the firearms dealers who lost guns & rifles as they are with this vermin amongst us who seemingly roam free unchallenged.

My friends daughter had her handbag containing her phone, cards, cash, cut free from around her arm whilst she slept. Imagine how that poor girl feels today.

I noticed there was ample security to make sure I paid my £17 entrance fee or didn't climb the fence!!!!!!

Midland Game Fair R.i.P.

Since Doveridge Shotgun Academy has ran the Mitsubishi World Series, everyone has had a fair chance to win the car. We guarantee a AA or A to shoot against a B or C Class Shooter in the Final Round to win the car. In the 3 years i have ran this we have had a C Class, A Class and AA Class winner taking away the keys to the fab brand new Mits L200.

People like Stirzaker, Myers, Thomson have always qualified for the final since Doveridge Shotgun Academy has ran the event. They have never made the final round at the Grand Final because they have been knocked out in the various rounds by fellow shooters from the same class. Except for G Stirzaker who is the current Mitsubishi World Series 2012 Winner.

SO IT IS UNACCEPTABLE to accuse us of rigging the event. Legally we can prove this with all the rules which were provided to all competitors in the Grand FInal and on the notice board for everyone to read.

The Clubman has always been under 18 years of age at the time of the Clubman Competition. It clearly says this on the rules posted on the Sporting Gun website, entry form and on the notice board at the Midland. We did as much as possible to notify shooters of the rules but in the end it comes down to the shooters responsibilty to read carefully the terms and conditions of the competition.

Rules of competition:-

http://www.sportinggun.co.uk/clubmancomp/533279/Join_us_for_the_Sporting_Gun_Clubman_30th.html

It is again not acceptable to accuse us of changing the rules and asking us to refund entry fees, cartridge costs and out of pocket expenses when clearly the rules were in place and available for everyone to view.

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

These types of shoots are all about numbers and taking as much cash as they can! A ground owners dream, rip the arse end out of it and then finally when everyone complains walk away a very rich person! Lovely Jubbly!

Accusations like this should be backed up with fact. If you would like to sit down sometime and go through the cost of putting on a clay shoot on a show site like the Midland I would be more than willing to do this. Trust me it costs a fortune and has massive risks. Weather being a major factor, look at how many shows got cancelled this year and all the money lost due to this.

The cost just at the Midland to clearup every piece of broken and unbroken clay cost about £3000. These protected sites like Weston Park have horse trials and all sorts of other events so all the mess has to be cleared.

We are a business and we do need to make money. Who ever runs any of these events would not do it just for fun. It takes a huge amount of time and effort and investment to make these competitions run. Doveridge Shotgun Academy has always given back huge amounts of cash in the prize fund. I have also secured cartridges, clothing and guns as prizes.

I am very experienced in Clay Shooting and I love my sport. I am here for the shooters and want to make the competition as good as it can be. We cannot please everyone...Sorry.. We do not rip shooters off we offer the competition at a fair price with fantastic prizes.

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

Salop

whilst i agree with your sentiments entirely, if you look on shootuk.co.uk under sporting gun clubmans in clearly states juniors to be under 18 on 15th sept 2012. this was posted on shootuk in june2012 so maybe they didn't make this bit up. dont' want to stand up for these muppets but its there.sorry

jasper

Finally someone who reads the rules. They have not been changed for many years. They are not only on the website they are on every entry form. Also clearly on the notice board at the Midland.

I take offense of being called a "muppet" and request an apology from Jasper - Jason Taylor Please......

 

[Doveridge Shotgun Academy]

Dont want to go off track but I have never understood the stupid ages and dates we have in varius disciplines....just make it simple under 18 on day of Comp or under 21 on day of comp is a Junior. Simples.

same for veterans etc age on day of comp. It is quite easy really. All these silly cut off dates are not even needed.

Don't understand your comment.... It is simple you can only shoot as a junior if you are under 18 years of age on the 15th Sept 2012 (WHICH IS THE COMPETITION DATE)

 

[paul b]

thanks for the response,forums like this give you a chance to respond to all the club talk you would never hear otherwise. could you run both comps as 75 bird to make it easier for all concerned,if you have to run them on the same stands that is?Yes i was a bit harsh i know you put a lot into it but lossing the best part of a day i look forward to for so long realy wound me up.