Sporting Shoots 2020

[jasper]

So would I but as far as I know all short arses got to use the box.  It would also help if others actually spoke up publicly.   I do feel I do my best for all short arses by continually hounding the shoots about it.  Same as the coloured clays I will continue to hound them all about the use of coloured clays when they don’t need to on behalf of all the old gits and colour blind among us - I’m in both those categories. 

And just so you know I declined the box at the stand.  The other one was already in place so everybody got to use it.

Owls Lodge for me and wasn’t it hot.  I felt I shot well and only the last stand I messed up missed 4, second bird was really hard to pick up although I managed to get 2, more by luck I think and missed 2 of the going away out of frustration.

I hear you re short arses and coloured clays. Been on the recieving end of that pain a few times. And sun. Walked off a couple of shoots a bit ago because of stupid target setting in the sun. 

I can't help feeling, however, that the use of the box (by anyone) has given the ground  (or grounds) an excuse  not to set targets correctly.

  Just my opinion .

My " favourite " use of coloured clays is green , on green grass. Love it.

Anyhow. Gunsite for us yesterday. Bloody hot and lots of peeps melting. Not much shade there. Another good course with no tricks , stupid colours or boxes in sight. Just a good , honest , fair round.

Really enjoying post lockdown shooting . Looks like the enforced break has done me good. 

Jasper

 

[donna]

I hear you re short arses and coloured clays. Been on the recieving end of that pain a few times. And sun. Walked off a couple of shoots a bit ago because of stupid target setting in the sun. 

I can't help feeling, however, that the use of the box (by anyone) has given the ground  (or grounds) an excuse  not to set targets correctly.

  Just my opinion .

My " favourite " use of coloured clays is green , on green grass. Love it.

Anyhow. Gunsite for us yesterday. Bloody hot and lots of peeps melting. Not much shade there. Another good course with no tricks , stupid colours or boxes in sight. Just a good , honest , fair round.

Really enjoying post lockdown shooting . Looks like the enforced break has done me good. 

Jasper

I wish Gunsite was nearer to us, have shot it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it, as you say, no stupid targets you can’t see, all hittable and sensible but it’s a very long way for us.

Ive decided I’m joining Sians gang!  I do have a word in the owners ear sometimes or send in an email re a shoot now and again but I think if we don’t stand up and voice our concerns (I think it can be dangerous when you have high hedges/fences in front of you when you’re short) nothing will change. 

 

[jasper]

I wish Gunsite was nearer to us, have shot it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it, as you say, no stupid targets you can’t see, all hittable and sensible but it’s a very long way for us.

Ive decided I’m joining Sians gang!  I do have a word in the owners ear sometimes or send in an email re a shoot now and again but I think if we don’t stand up and voice our concerns (I think it can be dangerous when you have high hedges/fences in front of you when you’re short) nothing will change. 

Absolutely . Voice concerns.

Some will listen , some will take offence because they're egos are massive. If they're the latter then I don't tend to go often. I'll look elsewhere and only use those grounds when absolutely necessary. I'm out to have fun not be constantly wound up by crap setting. 

Gunsite is 96 miles each way for us. But have NEVER been to a bad shoot or had a reason to moan . So we go when we can. 

Jasper. 

 

[Martinj]

Gatton Bottom for me on Sunday, I think the enforced break has done me some good as I put in a score of 89 (was robbed of 1 point by a scorer too)

An enjoyable shoot, yellow clays over yellow-ish canary grass made life interesting around about stand 4, we put off stand 1 until last, as it looked too scary to start on, but it was OK in the end.

 

[Sian]

Shot College Farm today. Went in shorts and by the time I got there I had to put trousers on and my wellies and a jumper!  I felt cold.  I enjoyed the course although I felt sloppy in parts and it rained throughout.  Came away with a 77.

 

[bisondan]

Did a bit better today, 91 at Court Farm.

Changed my approach a bit as I've been jumping/chopping in to stuff, coming back a little nearer the trap especially on slower & quartering birds, letting beat the gun then pull the trigger as soon as I go through the back edge.

 

[donna]

Barrow Heath for us today.  Great targets,  not once did I have to stand on tippy toes to see anything.  Pleased to have kept up the consistency, 76 today. Shot some stands really well, had 3 bad ones, stand 5 a pink low quartering and a high crosser only hit half, stand 7 was a sim pair, I was on first and just didn’t read the chondel correctly, missed all them for a 5/10 then stand 11, midi teal and fast going away some of each.  Hit all the rabbits and some stonking battues were pulverised.  Hovering around 75, 76, 77 lately and felt I missed an opportunity to get into the 80’s today which would’ve been a PB but it’s going in the right direction.  A plus was I picked up some prize money from last year which was an added bonus so guess who brought the ice creams on way home!

Really well organised, no hanging around, weather was hot, sticky and humid and it absolutely chucked it down on way home so happy to have missed that. 

 

[Richard59]

Meadowcroft today, got held up going by a very well attended bike road race, Some of those chaps / lasses really are dare devils, arrived safely but my reading of the weather app & my choice of jeans & wellies ( it said rain it really did) was way off kilter, I was overdressed & boy when shooting did it get humid. Had a chaotic start as scorer forgot to call my name out at cabin so squad trotted off to St1, he came back for me & marched me double quick up the long slow hill to start, me that’s the old me says half way there through pants / gasps, “don’t put me on first I’m fu” get to stand I’m barely capable of breathing let standing and no thought of shooting just yet please, and to teach me a lesson he puts me up first  oh and first few stands are all left to right, card gone by St5. Decide to remove contacts after a simo pair of l-r rabbit as I’m seeing four at a time, last few stands go well enough. Memos to self, read weather app in morning, prepare for it be be wrong, dont presume scorer will notice the quiet old man in corner. Apart from the self inflicted wounds I enjoyed my morning out, missed more than I’d like yes but there’s always next time, oh the others in squad were quite pleasant, very chatty and they all shot really well. Day was made when a chum noticed I’d lost a bit of weight, she was nursing a hangover and hadn’t at first recognised me from afar. Left well before end no idea who hit what, to be fair I didn’t even count my own, might have shot my age, but as I was seeing double rabbits do they count double? 

 

[Westward]

Didn't see you there Rich but It's a bogey ground for me. No complaints - the targets were okay - I'm just not made for technical targets which is most of them. I'm determined to beat the bogey though and post a respectable score there.

It was great to be in a squad with Andy Moon. Brilliant shot and all round nice guy. He shot 99 which I can't see anyone beating.

 

[Zea]

Day was made when a chum noticed I’d lost a bit of weight, she was nursing a hangover and hadn’t at first recognised me from afar.

yes, the head felt fuggy today...but it wasn't just the prosecco fuzz...not much left of you to spot!

 

[jasper]

Westfield gold cup. 200 bird. Must say full marks to all. The ground looked fantastic. Great targets . Weather report was totally off. So happy to stay dry but it was mega humid. Valley  tougher than the barn layout. Refs all good. Bit of a hold up on stand 5 of barn, but all good.  Faulds 196 was unreal. 171 for me. Thoroughly enjoyed myself with great squad. Knackered now. Off for some cider. 

Jasper. 

 

[Sian]

Westfield for us today, agree with Jasper both courses were very good.  The first one I made silly errors and by the time I shot the second one I was so hot and tired and you needed to be on the ball.   Had a lovely squad we were all wilting half way through the second course.   Disappointed with my score 137 but not surprised, I am willing winter upon us as I type or at least less humidity and about 16 would be great.

 

[wynno]

Meadowcroft also for me yesterday, a decent technical course, all were eminently hittable if you kept your concentration. Sadly my mind kept wandering which resulted in pair lost in the middle.... frustrated isn’t the word.... we had a great ref, her eyesight was incredible and she managed to see all the chips we had.

Couple of things that irked me, social distancing was a joke, and the prat from the squad behind us who felt that he had to mingle with us and see the targets before his squad had even finished their stand.

 

[GT2]

Also shot Westfields and really enjoyed it, in a nice squad of people which always helps. .

Started on the valley course ended up with 85 which was  poor, dropping 6 on the last 2 stands. Was the stiffer of the two but all good and varied targets. 

Shot 92 round the barn course dropping 3 on the 7th which was stupid and another 3 on the 11th with the rabbit which buggered a decent card. 

Fairly content with 177 till I saw the 196 posted!

Still, very good competition, good refs good targets all the way round both layouts, great day out.

 

[Bebo]

Just back from Churchill's.  I really enjoyed my round for two reasons i) first time I've shot a round with Sian, and ii) for the first time since the return from lockdown it actually felt natural shooting again (rather than being a bit tentative and uncomfortable).  Quite a lot of wind affected targets, more no-birds than I'd usually expect there and not sure why they used a green clay for a teal against a bright blue sky, but I still enjoyed the shoot. Managed to avoid total meltdowns on the driven and the sim pairs (although they cost me a few) and finished on 79.

 

[Will Hewland]

Just back from Churchill's.  I really enjoyed my round for two reasons i) first time I've shot a round with Sian, and ii) for the first time since the return from lockdown it actually felt natural shooting again (rather than being a bit tentative and uncomfortable).  Quite a lot of wind affected targets, more no-birds than I'd usually expect there and not sure why they used a green clay for a teal against a bright blue sky, but I still enjoyed the shoot. Managed to avoid total meltdowns on the driven and the sim pairs (although they cost me a few) and finished on 79.

You don’t realise how well you did. Very tricky shoot with lots of AAA types in the mid to low 80s. Awful day for me and for a change I’m having a “tall” winge. That overhead bar in the driven stand killed me, I missed four and I rarely miss driven. I just couldn’t finish the shot or at least was very distracted by it. Daft I thought. 

 

[Bebo]

You don’t realise how well you did. Very tricky shoot with lots of AAA types in the mid to low 80s. Awful day for me and for a change I’m having a “tall” winge. That overhead bar in the driven stand killed me, I missed four and I rarely miss driven. I just couldn’t finish the shot or at least was very distracted by it. Daft I thought. 

I think 88 was leading when I went up to collect the cartridges I bought.  I was surprised as there didn't seem anything really extreme to me today.

Yes, that bar was daft.  I dropped the first pair and then the first bird on the last pair.  Driven can be one of my bogies as I tend to slow the gun up, but gave myself a mental kick up the backside after the first pair and managed to mostly avoid doing that.

 

[bisondan]

You don’t realise how well you did. Very tricky shoot with lots of AAA types in the mid to low 80s. Awful day for me and for a change I’m having a “tall” winge. That overhead bar in the driven stand killed me, I missed four and I rarely miss driven. I just couldn’t finish the shot or at least was very distracted by it. Daft I thought. 

I shot really well for 87 and missed 5 on that driven stand.

I hit my £12500 gun 3 times on that bar on a cage that didn't even need to be there, only to be told after that it was put there to make the stand more difficult to shoot, the angle of it made it even worse for a left handed shooter.

.

 

[Will Hewland]

I shot really well for 87 and missed 5 on that driven stand.

I hit my £12500 gun 3 times on that bar on a cage that didn't even need to be there, only to be told after that it was put there to make the stand more difficult to shoot, the angle of it made it even worse for a left handed shooter.

.

I get a top bar for direction reasons, but this one was 10” from the front. Shift it back another 6” and no problem.

 

[Sian]

I enjoyed being able to shoot with Bebo. It found no form whatsoever.