Shoot reports and news 2024

[SBL]

74-100 this week, not great but some real tough clays. Lambtons shoot next weekend, fingers crossed for good weather as it’s a full day affair.

 

[Bebo]

Oxfordshire Shooting School on Friday. Too many quartering targets for my taste, but I suppose that's what they have to do at a small ground. I effed it up from the start, dropping 5 on a sim pair of teals, then it was sloppy most of the rest of the way around, dropping odd ones and twos. Finished on 76. M25 was horrendous on the way home. Over two hours to get from J16 to J5, so glad a I changes to an automatic last year, my dodgy left ankle would have be stuffed otherwise.

 

[Bebo]

Churchills yesterday. Started well, straight on the first two stands, dropped two on each of the next two and then straight on the next three. A combination of tougher targets and me getting the yips a bit because I was on for a PB resulted in 10 away over the next three stands. PB blown, all pressure off and I was straight on the last two for an 86.

Toughest targets of the day for me were the pink l/r on stand 8, which I finally found the last one of by taking it later and giving it a lot more lead than I thought it needed. Stand 10 orange target that was described as a teal, but was travelling a long way from l to r. Got a lucky pellet on it on the third pair, but still no idea how to hit it consistently. Stand I was most pleased with straighting was the sim pair at Hanger.

 

[Freddypip]

SBL - Please report on the Lambtons shoot - is that the flush day you are attending.

 

[SBL]

SBL - Please report on the Lambtons shoot - is that the flush day you are attending.

It is indeed.

 

[SBL]

SBL - Please report on the Lambtons shoot - is that the flush day you are attending.

Lambtons flush for me and 3 team mates on Saturday and the weather was beautiful. For those not aware, Lambtons is a country estate and castle in County Durham and it’s a lovely place. Many years ago they used to have a Lion park here where you drove around the estate with the animals roaming. The event is over 3 days and I went on day 3 and with a format of 7 - 80 bird flushes. Day 1 and 2 were 100 bird flushes. You have all the usual suspects rabbits, teal, grouse, high Pheasant, Pigeon etc. Churchills are actually the ones that provide the traps, set up and run it and they use the estate fantastically well. Grouse coming fast and quite high off the hillside, there’s reasonable time to get them as they appear over the trees but take a touch long and they’ve disappeared beyond the trees behind and into the river. High Pheasant my absolute nemesis. You’re standing by the riverside, castle on the hill infront of you but not really viewable for mature trees. The traps are on the battlements of the castle and come extremely high and deceptively fast. I’ll not embarrass myself and my team mates by giving our final score but we were in the top half as we left. Shooting started at 9 and we arrived at 10 so no getting ahead of any queues. We had to wait around 45 minutes at times so snacks and chats.
It’s a great day, great setting and well ran. Probably quite a trek for many of you people but if you ever fancy it I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed

 

[SBL]

I should add that as we left the high score was in the 530’s

 

[Clear Miss]

A tumultuous weekend in my own shooting life. I've spent the past 18 months trying to get used to the uber heavy weight Browning ProSport and then traded it in for a Beretta 694 on Saturday. Mass moves mass in reciprocal terms and getting the 9 & 1/2 lbs Prosport moving was a task in itself but slowing it back down again was another issue and I finally conceded that my 75kg frame was too light for such a heavy and cumbersome gun. It was great on long, out there targets but anything else was an effort. Even though the 694 is only a lbs or so lighter it feels 10 times more nimble in the hands and a faster moving gun overall.

First trip out for the new gun was at the Welsh FITASC qualifier at Strata Florida in Tregaron west Wales. It's not an established shooting ground, more a farm were the most of the sheep have been moved off for the day and some traps spread about the place. Despite that, it was a very well run and organised shoot in some of the most beautiful surroundings you'll ever shoot in. I thought it was well laid out with a mix of easy and hard targets with all presentations and distances ticked off. I hope they continue to hold events there in the future despite the 2 hours each way trip.

Having only fired 15 shots with the 694 when testing it at the RFD I didn't have any sort of expectations for a good result and finished on a 66/100. I didn't even have a chance to adjust the comb and length of the gun to fit, I just set the comb to center, raised it a little and crossed my fingers. I really struggled to find any targets at distance having developed a reliance on the weight of the ProSport to give me a good swing through and probably underled a lot of targets and overled some trying to compensate for this. I didn't miss that much of the close in faster targets with some miss mounting creeping in towards the end of the day.

The weather was great, very little disruption on the course, shot the whole lot in little over 2 & 1/2 hours and I was with a great squad so I enjoyed immensely.

 

[wynno]

A tumultuous weekend in my own shooting life. I've spent the past 18 months trying to get used to the uber heavy weight Browning ProSport and then traded it in for a Beretta 694 on Saturday. Mass moves mass in reciprocal terms and getting the 9 & 1/2 lbs Prosport moving was a task in itself but slowing it back down again was another issue and I finally conceded that my 75kg frame was too light for such a heavy and cumbersome gun. It was great on long, out there targets but anything else was an effort. Even though the 694 is only a lbs or so lighter it feels 10 times more nimble in the hands and a faster moving gun overall.

First trip out for the new gun was at the Welsh FITASC qualifier at Strata Florida in Tregaron west Wales. It's not an established shooting ground, more a farm were the most of the sheep have been moved off for the day and some traps spread about the place. Despite that, it was a very well run and organised shoot in some of the most beautiful surroundings you'll ever shoot in. I thought it was well laid out with a mix of easy and hard targets with all presentations and distances ticked off. I hope they continue to hold events there in the future despite the 2 hours each way trip.

Having only fired 15 shots with the 694 when testing it at the RFD I didn't have any sort of expectations for a good result and finished on a 66/100. I didn't even have a chance to adjust the comb and length of the gun to fit, I just set the comb to center, raised it a little and crossed my fingers. I really struggled to find any targets at distance having developed a reliance on the weight of the ProSport to give me a good swing through and probably underled a lot of targets and overled some trying to compensate for this. I didn't miss that much of the close in faster targets with some miss mounting creeping in towards the end of the day.

The weather was great, very little disruption on the course, shot the whole lot in little over 2 & 1/2 hours and I was with a great squad so I enjoyed immensely.

Considering it was the first time you shot it in anger, you didn’t do too badly. considering my layout was the hardest, you shot it well.
Remember it will take a while to get used to it, so don’t expect miracles

 

[Clear Miss]

Considering it was the first time you shot it in anger, you didn’t do too badly. considering my layout was the hardest, you shot it well.
Remember it will take a while to get used to it, so don’t expect miracles

I'm not unhappy with the result. I think I scored 10/25 on your layout which just happened to be the hardest by some margin and the first 25 targets shot with the gun. I'm glad we shot your layout first as the day only got better from there.

I am aware that it may take some getting used to. Luckily I'm not challenging for high gun or class wins and do it for the fun or it could be really frustrating.

 

[Clear Miss]

Barbury this morning for their monthly 100 ESP registered shoot. I was looking forward to getting the new gun out and onto some consistent pairs to test it out. I ended on a 66/100 which is about 15-20 targets under what I'd expect to have scored on a shoot like that. It was a very lightweight shoot and I would expect anyone from A-AAA to be battling it out in the 93-99/100 mark.

I found myself measuring a lot of targets rather than trusting myself and gun to have made the right judgement and got the lead and line in one swift move. As a result I found myself leaving a lot of targets a lot later than I would usually take them or stopping the gun. There was one fast and low looper on stand 3 which had to be shot before it disappeared behind some cover. I didn't even get close to any of them and must have shot behind all four of them by a good few feet. Inconsistencies got me from there on in dropping 1-3 targets per stand on stands I would normally straight.

More time and targets shot will get me there.

 

[Cuffers]

Barbury this morning for their monthly 100 ESP registered shoot. I was looking forward to getting the new gun out and onto some consistent pairs to test it out. I ended on a 66/100 which is about 15-20 targets under what I'd expect to have scored on a shoot like that. It was a very lightweight shoot and I would expect anyone from A-AAA to be battling it out in the 93-99/100 mark.

I found myself measuring a lot of targets rather than trusting myself and gun to have made the right judgement and got the lead and line in one swift move. As a result I found myself leaving a lot of targets a lot later than I would usually take them or stopping the gun. There was one fast and low looper on stand 3 which had to be shot before it disappeared behind some cover. I didn't even get close to any of them and must have shot behind all four of them by a good few feet. Inconsistencies got me from there on in dropping 1-3 targets per stand on stands I would normally straight.

More time and targets shot will get me there.

Barbury for me too this morning. It was not a gimme course! Whilst there were some softer targets, they were mixed in with some tricker birds that were made all the more difficult with the bloody rain. I finished 74/100 and feel like the weather robbed me of 6 and a Ref of 1 . Couldn't wait for it to be over to be honest, I'm so bored of shooting in the rain!!

 

[Martinj]

Barbury for me too this morning. It was not a gimme course! Whilst there were some softer targets, they were mixed in with some tricker birds that were made all the more difficult with the bloody rain. I finished 74/100 and feel like the weather robbed me of 6 and a Ref of 1 . Couldn't wait for it to be over to be honest, I'm so bored of shooting in the rain!!

I did Barbury too, when I booked it the sun was shining, it was nice and warm and I was imagining a beautiful day in the sub-tropical Marlborough downs but it was not to be.
The day started badly when I had to avoid M4 Reading due to an incident which cost me 45 minutes queuing and touring the countryside, I arrived with 10 minutes to spare already stressed.
I found shooting with waterproofs on a minor distraction (yes it rained steadily all through the session,) keeping glasses dry also a distraction (excuses excuses!) but it was a day out shooting and still a lot better than being in the office.
I thought most of the stands a little on the firm side (compounded by the weather) with few on the soft side. All hittable but relentlessly chipping away at my score, nevertheless very satisfying to break some of almost everything, I totally messed up stand 4 I think it was, (teal and rabbit) hitting 2/8, neither was that difficult. Oh, there was one stand with a fast incoming L to R orange demon of a target of which only one was broken in my squad!
I was thankful for the first two stands in the deer park with 8/8 and 7/8, I finished with a below average 76, the average on the day was 73 and High gun 94 with only six in the 90's

 

[Clear Miss]

Barbury for me too this morning. It was not a gimme course! Whilst there were some softer targets, they were mixed in with some tricker birds that were made all the more difficult with the bloody rain. I finished 74/100 and feel like the weather robbed me of 6 and a Ref of 1 . Couldn't wait for it to be over to be honest, I'm so bored of shooting in the rain!!

I am very surprised that a few thought it was a difficult layout. I didn't think there was much on the course that I would have struggled with had I not been using a gun that still feels completely foreign to me. The low looper on stand 3 and the teal on stand 4 were tricky targets with one or two others in the deer park but there was plenty elsewhere to flesh out a good score. I would have expected to come away with a low 80's which is a little above my average.

The weather was a pain with a cold wind and just enough rain to ensure that your glasses were completely covered by the second pair of targets. A few squads with just two or three people in following us around so I would assume that a lot people chose to remain in bed rather than get soaked.

There were two AA class shooters in my squad that finished on 90 & 91/100 that were very disappointed and thought there was at least another 3/4 targets out there for them.

 

[Martinj]

There were two AA class shooters in my squad that finished on 90 & 91/100 that were very disappointed and thought there was at least another 3/4 targets out there for them.

It doesn't take much to tip the balance, it's such a fine line between a hit or miss in some cases and a "spot" of rain along with extra clothing etc. is all it takes

 

[vmax1010]

Thanks thats 2 more excuses to add to the list

 

[Martinj]

I've got thousands of them

 

[SBL]

Back to normality today, a quick 50 sporting before the rain came. A decent result with 40 out of 50. Today felt easier somehow, hope it continues.

 

[Cuffers]

Drove down to the Highclere Show for their annual 50 bird Sporting Competition... All a bit of a farce!

A 5 stand competition but with multiple breakdowns on 3 of them and lots of no birds all all of them, it ended up being a bit of a drag.

2 stands that had their targets completely changed 'to make it easier' after 15-20 people had already shot... including me! The Grounds Team did a great job of trying to keep things going, but were getting just as frustrated as the shooters!

Those of you that know me, know that I have a lot of respect for referees, but when you have people that have never done it before and clearly have not been given any clear instructions on what to do, it all just becomes a bit farcical and it's not their fault.
Maybe it's just me but at £30.00 for a 50 bird competition the organisers need to pull their socks up.

Eventually finished on 39/50 but won't be returning next year unless the organisers can sort themselves out, which is a shame because it could be a really good shoot (and should be for the price!)

 

[Martinj]

I'll probably check out the show and clothing stalls tomorrow, I did the shoot a couple of years ago and have no real desire to do it again