Sporting Shoots 2020

[Richard59]

Meadowcroft today, left wet soggy home to a dry overcast, but pleasantly warm Markham, twas the Avon ESP Championship also, first time for me that I was, at 58 the youngest in the squad!, Taken around by the charming Mr Fred Gillman, having had a few pointers on left-right handed targets boy was I lucky that 27 of the first 38 were l-r!. Will admit to the odd huge dollop of good luck / good fortune, did chip a fair few and just as many probably only just about broke in half, did though have a very decent morning out in a very friendly (albeit aged) bunch of gentlemen. Was third squad in, no scores showing, entry was standing at 160 was told, impressive for here. My feel good bubble was burst as I left as after replying to her question "how did you get on?" a smiling me, oh quite well thank you, "must be really steady then" was the icy reply, ta for that one thought. Barbury Wednesday, hope its not as windy as when last out there!

 

[Bebo]

A very mixed performance at Sporting Targets this morning. Shot some stands really well, others really poorly. Had  trigger flinchbthat cost me and various random pairs dropped. 69 that should really have been at least 75. Oh well, there's always next time.

 

[jasper]

Honesberie for us. Had a serious brain fart on stand one. A sim pair of dolly incomers. Call for first pair. Pull trigger..... nothing. Safety on. Pair lost. . Anyhow dug in. Moved on. Three away for the rest of the course for a 95. Maybe I'll keep this loan gun.

Good course again.

Was surprised to see so many in the 90's. There really was enough there  to trip you up. 

Top shooting all round.

Also had a bit of a funny comment from me old friend Steve at the end. He seemed surprised at my 95 and said that should help your average. Thanks . .

Which of course it will , just not as much as he implied. .

And I must say that the young lady who organises you into your squad and sends you out on the course and greets you on return and genuinely enquires how you've done and what you thought of everything, is a credit to honesberie. 

Jasper. 

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

Honesberie as well and a really enjoyable course. Felt like everything was there to be hit, but needed to be paying attention! 

Ended with 87 which felt maybe 4 clays light based on some mistakes. Looking forward to the next one!

Agree with Jasper, they really do care about how shooters find the events and act on feedback received.

 

[Will Hewland]

Honesberie as well and a really enjoyable course. Felt like everything was there to be hit, but needed to be paying attention! 

Ended with 87 which felt maybe 4 clays light based on some mistakes. Looking forward to the next one!

Agree with Jasper, they really do care about how shooters find the events and act on feedback received.

Sounds a lot more user friendly than three shoots ago! Maybe their business head is working..

 

[Sian]

Westfield today for us.  150 Fitasc which I thoroughly enjoyed although it knackered me.   Good atmosphere, super squad and great targets.  It was a long day but helped by the weather.  

 

[bisondan]

I did alright this weekend; 86 at Owls on Saturday for 2nd in A then 93 at Court Farm yesterday morning for 1st in A. 

 

[Richard59]

Went to Barbury today, warm enough but was a breeze that played a few targets up. Shot some stands well, average, poor, very poor, dire and er clueless. Now in the main I try to enjoy my days out, for some reason found today a constant “bit off more than I can chew” challenge. In a squad of A AA & AAAs and even these guys got short shrift on a few stands. Left before end, not seen scores. Off to Widdington Sunday, hoping mojo will return as she evaporated quite early today. 
 

Now seen scores JBD HG 98, my disaster day not quite as poor as it feels / felt 

 

[Will Hewland]

Went to Barbury today, warm enough but was a breeze that played a few targets up. Shot some stands well, average, poor, very poor, dire and er clueless. Now in the main I try to enjoy my days out, for some reason found today a constant “bit off more than I can chew” challenge. In a squad of A AA & AAAs and even these guys got short shrift on a few stands. Left before end, not seen scores. Off to Widdington Sunday, hoping mojo will return as she evaporated quite early today. 
 

Now seen scores JBD HG 98, my disaster day not quite as poor as it feels / felt 

I went also and it was a very good shoot. Certainly not easy. Once again I’m amazed at the high scores. Stand 7 had a target I thought nobody would hit much all day. 4 of us on our squad and it got hit once. A colossal low point for me scores wise. I’ve been very up and down since lockdown, plus was distracted by work stuff today. Amazing how much you can lose the plot if your head is in disarray. I’m also hoping to be back to normal at Widdington on Sunday. 

 

[Barburyshooting]

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Friday 31st July - Sunday 2nd August

THE PRO ONE CHALLENGE @ Barbury Shooting School

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Over £10K Prize Fund

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[Bebo]

Just home from Southdown, where I shot the Sporting. Bumped into Donna and had a little catch up, which is always pleasant.

Second squad out, and Squad 1 suffered constant trap problems so we kept catching them up.  Fortunately meant that they had ironed out most of the bugs for us.

I started horrendously, dropping 10 over the first two stands!  Couldn't find a right to left midi looper on Stand 1.  Kept extending the lead on it.  Only thought after I'd shot that I'd probably been in front on the first one and was just making things worse.  Dug in and improved on the rest of the course, but after that start it was never going to be a high score for me.  Finished on 70.

 

[bisondan]

Just home from Southdown, where I shot the Sporting. Bumped into Donna and had a little catch up, which is always pleasant.

Second squad out, and Squad 1 suffered constant trap problems so we kept catching them up.  Fortunately meant that they had ironed out most of the bugs for us.

I started horrendously, dropping 10 over the first two stands!  Couldn't find a right to left midi looper on Stand 1.  Kept extending the lead on it.  Only thought after I'd shot that I'd probably been in front on the first one and was just making things worse.  Dug in and improved on the rest of the course, but after that start it was never going to be a high score for me.  Finished on 70.

Every time that ground has trap problems, I like shooting there but I lost a bit of faith with the amount of breakdowns and no-birds.

 

[donna]

So Southdown for a fairly early start.  Bumped into Bebo which was the highlight of the day!  As Bebo states, squad 1 had loads of problems , we were squad 3 and had the same problems unfortunately.  It took nearly an hour to do the first 5 stands.  One of our squad had 10 no birds in a row, we had dead batteries, broken clays and we suffered with loss of concentration after that.  I think we had 3 stands with no problems.  Was very glad to finish if I’m honest and for the first time ever wondered why I had bothered!  Not normally like that so had an ice cream on the way home which made me feel a bit better and will now look forward to the Barbury shot next Sunday which is always a delight to shoot.  Finished on a very sad 65 which I was really unimpressed with!  But at least the scorers got half hour break today  

Every time that ground has trap problems, I like shooting there but I lost a bit of faith with the amount of breakdowns and no-birds.

I think we will give it a miss for a while too, just can’t be doing with it all! 

 

[Bebo]

Every time that ground has trap problems, I like shooting there but I lost a bit of faith with the amount of breakdowns and no-birds.

I should make the effort to go there as with Horne just doing open shoots at the moment it's probably my nearest Reg comp. However, the no bird issue, combined with yesr long roadworks near Polegate may curtail further attendance in the near future.

 

[jonz]

I went also and it was a very good shoot. Certainly not easy. Once again I’m amazed at the high scores. Stand 7 had a target I thought nobody would hit much all day. 4 of us on our squad and it got hit once. A colossal low point for me scores wise. I’ve been very up and down since lockdown, plus was distracted by work stuff today. Amazing how much you can lose the plot if your head is in disarray. I’m also hoping to be back to normal at Widdington on Sunday. 

Be interested in what you thought of Widdington today Will, just had a call from a friend who shot there this morning and he thought it was tough with a lot of edge on targets that were hard to see. 

 

[Richard59]

Widdington, not been for few years, forgot how lovely the valley is, and how exposed too. Started with a very friendly bunch of gentlemen at 11, was very windy and half way round heaven’s opened and we all got soaked. Had a bumpy shoot, some stands very well the bogey l-r targets ( of which there were aplenty) not so A very big error on my part was to try and shoot a simo flat teal stand in heavy driving rain, a sad card made worse. As we all have to do I left well before end so no knowledge of scores, in our squad Matt Stafford ( of this parish ) mid 80s & John Smith 90+, both impressive considering the overall conditions we shot in. Nice place to shoot, didn’t shoot it very well, that’s my fault as nothing bar a horrid going away rabbit was “nasty” in any sense of the word. 

 

[bisondan]

Widdington, not been for few years, forgot how lovely the valley is, and how exposed too. Started with a very friendly bunch of gentlemen at 11, was very windy and half way round heaven’s opened and we all got soaked. Had a bumpy shoot, some stands very well the bogey l-r targets ( of which there were aplenty) not so A very big error on my part was to try and shoot a simo flat teal stand in heavy driving rain, a sad card made worse. As we all have to do I left well before end so no knowledge of scores, in our squad Matt Stafford ( of this parish ) mid 80s & John Smith 90+, both impressive considering the overall conditions we shot in. Nice place to shoot, didn’t shoot it very well, that’s my fault as nothing bar a horrid going away rabbit was “nasty” in any sense of the word. 

I thought it was a good shoot with no gimme stands, I missed ten over stands 2, 3, and 4 so was happy to recover to finish on 84.

Uphill rabbit I left until as late as possible then rifled it as it slowed up.

 

[tiptop]

Widdington...wouldn't be Widdington without the mandatory trap break downs, and no birds. Targets, not set by Sean this time. Edgy and either quartering or going away. Definitely not value for money at £43/38 entry fees.

 

[Sian]

So Southdown for a fairly early start.  Bumped into Bebo which was the highlight of the day!  As Bebo states, squad 1 had loads of problems , we were squad 3 and had the same problems unfortunately.  It took nearly an hour to do the first 5 stands.  One of our squad had 10 no birds in a row, we had dead batteries, broken clays and we suffered with loss of concentration after that.  I think we had 3 stands with no problems.  Was very glad to finish if I’m honest and for the first time ever wondered why I had bothered!  Not normally like that so had an ice cream on the way home which made me feel a bit better and will now look forward to the Barbury shot next Sunday which is always a delight to shoot.  Finished on a very sad 65 which I was really unimpressed with!  But at least the scorers got half hour break today  

I think we will give it a miss for a while too, just can’t be doing with it all! 

Well the no birds kept coming .  My issue today was ORANGE and I wasn’t the only one. Even our ref found quite a few hard to see, we helped her score.   Cobbie says a competition shoot should have at least 70% black clays.  I love Southdown but I didn’t enjoy today.   I shot the Sportrap badly also.   I enjoyed the pool shoot only one orange clay.  No idea of scores I didn’t want to know.

 

[jasper]

Just a local ( South worcs) for me today with the Mrs and me mate.  An enjoyable shoot. Lots of variety . Ran smooth. 

Jasper.