Sporting Shoots 2020

[Sian]

Disappointing day for me.  Shot Kegworth 200 bird comp. lost the plot by the time I got to the second 100, felt like he was trying to beat you up on some stands.  each ref had to take care of two stands and you shot one bird from the first stand on the second stand.  Not really my cup of tea.  Yet again there some of the stands where either the ground is a bit dug out or the stand is on a slant and the bar is then too high for me and when you got a low one I just drag along the bar.   I also don’t  like shooting where you have the trap in front of you and the ref and no board for safety.   It’s 2 hrs to get there and usually more coming back so it’s very irritating.

 

[bisondan]

Barrow for us today for the Cheddite comp.  Really great course, good targets, nothing you couldn’t see and nothing for us shorties to complain about!  A few hard stands to sort out the best from us mere mortals but enjoyed it.  I didn’t shoot particularly well, got tired towards end but that was me,  not the course!  Second outing there this month and both have been very enjoyable, they have worked wonders on the ground, very little no targets and one of the young ladies scoring actually told someone off in our squad for not having ear protection and made him put them on,  I commended her when I picked the score cards up and she said that was the second person that she’d had to tell that morning!  

Mixed bag for me, some I shot well and some not so well, missing 3 on four and 4 on five just put a bit of pressure on. 

Thought a couple of the longer birds on 11 & 12 were a bit 'short window' if you know what I mean?  Clays appearing from the trees 50 yards away then disappearing as fast with no time to get a reasonable connection is frustrating.

Dropper off the cherry picker was clever, never seen anything like that before.

 

[donna]

Dropper off the cherry picker was brilliant!  One person in our squad hit 2, no one else hit it.  I have seen that when we shot in South Africa a few years ago, they had a rabbit on a picker, rolling along then falling off the end!  I started ok Dan, dropping the odd one or two here and there, but I got dehydrated as our dog was drinking my water and another dog tagging along wanted some too! I didn’t have any spare bottles with me and the dogs are far more important than me, hence lack of concentration and a bit of a headache towards the end and my scores reflected in that.  Hated the 2 white sim pairs, only hit one and it wasn’t a hard stand to be fair, I just kept picking up the wrong one to shoot first.  Had a good stand to finish on which helped on the way home! 

 

[Hamster]

Barrow for us today for the Cheddite comp.  Really great course, good targets, nothing you couldn’t see and nothing for us shorties to complain about!  A few hard stands to sort out the best from us mere mortals but enjoyed it.  I didn’t shoot particularly well, got tired towards end but that was me,  not the course!  Second outing there this month and both have been very enjoyable, they have worked wonders on the ground, very little no targets and one of the young ladies scoring actually told someone off in our squad for not having ear protection and made him put them on,  I commended her when I picked the score cards up and she said that was the second person that she’d had to tell that morning!  

Never understood how anyone can shoot and stand alongside people shooting a 12 gauge !!

 

[donna]

The thing is he took them out whilst walking from stand to stand and only put them in when shooting!

 

[Sian]

An enjoyable day in good company for Compak and Sporting at Southdown.   Timing between Compak squads was a bit out so it took a bit longer than it would normally somstraight onto Sporting after.  Just enough time to get cartridges and grab a packet of crisps.   The weather was lovely.  Chris Childerhouse on our squad, again a pleasure to watch.  Shot a couple of stands where I felt I could have done better so he pointed out what I could try after shooting it and I had a couple of tries.  He was of course right.  Double teal which I dread but 5/8 and I even had a go at his speed  and got a pair to my utter surprise.   Don’t know that I made myself very popular with the squad waiting after us on the first stand because they were very loud and I did ask them to be less noisy.  It worked because when they caught us up on stands they were very good.   

 

[Will Hewland]

A very good course at Ian Coleys today I thought. No really easy stands and while everything was a good test there was nothing stupidly tough. Shame we got bloody wet near the end as the rain came in early. 
 

I had two stands that ruined my card, the first being stand 2, where I hit the first 7 clays and missed last three! Very annoyed at that. I also never hit a crosser on stand 9, just couldn’t read it. Finished on a decent 87 considering the damage elsewhere. 
 

An enjoyable shoot!

 

[Richard59]

Coleys today, they were running a bit late so our 2.30 start time slipped, it was wet, got chilly too, again in a squad of good chums all of which are usually there or there about at the top of their class, do wonder how they put up with a blunderer such as I. Shot three stands badly, didn't touch an incoming orange looper which was a poor effort on my part, did let a few get away that maybe I shouldn't, shot the "longer" targets very well and finished bang on my adj average, so it was on my part, average. The shoot itself deserved better weather, and as a course it was a far better shoot than some Ive been too lately and would, if I could shoot it again, oh indeed but in better weather.

Had to trot away straight after, no idea of scores, 

Edit HG Sam Usher 96, and to A class Tim Thornett 94 whom I had the pleasure of shooting with today

 

[GT2]

Shot the British open today. Good course, decent mix of targets, lots of crossers at varying ranges, nothing too out of the ordinary but technical enough to catch you out.

Fairly typical targets that you would see at a normal reg shoot at Garlands.

Ended up on 102, made some silly errors unfortunately, too many stands of 7 and also dropped 4 on the double teal stand, missed qualification in AA by 1 place - BUGGER!

Rain hit us hard in the afternoon but otherwise a decent day out. 

 

[tiptop]

...And so the annual farce begins again.  

 

[tiptop]

Shot the British open today. Good course, decent mix of targets, lots of crossers at varying ranges, nothing too out of the ordinary but technical enough to catch you out.

Fairly typical targets that you would see at a normal reg shoot at Garlands.

Ended up on 102, made some silly errors unfortunately, too many stands of 7 and also dropped 4 on the double teal stand, missed qualification in AA by 1 place - BUGGER!

Rain hit us hard in the afternoon but otherwise a decent day out. 

... And yet there are people that shot less targets than you in AA, that have made the finals. Yes, they may have qualified in category, but they will also be eligible for a class medal and cash in the final, that they never qualified for. Not only that there are 3 A class shooters that never finished in the top 40, yes, that's right the top 40 of A class on the day, yet are in the final, and that is only on the first day. No wonder this sport can and never will be seen as a serious sport, and attract decent sponsorship, You couldn't write this sh*te.

 

[Bebo]

Just home from Churchill's.  Another enjoyable round, made better by the fact that I shot it with Donna's dog!  I had a pleasant chat with her husband as well, but the dog was definitely the highlight.

Interesting mix of targets.  I felt I shot most of it fairly well, missed a few silly ones on Stands 4 and 5 that I shouldn't have.  The big challenges for me were on the last two stands.  The sim pair on 11 was a little bit daft, a battue and a long crosser.  Taking either of them first means a crosser dropping into some bushes or a battue plummeting earthwards.  I managed one pair and missed the first pair completely for a 5.  Think the best in our squad was a 6.  On 12 I just couldn't find the first bird, have a feeling that I was pushing over the top of it.

Fairly happy with my 74, I think 80 was leading B when I left and my 74 was second.  Not sure there will be many B class shooters in the 80s today, but expect lots in the high 70s.

 

[Will Hewland]

Just home from Churchill's.  Another enjoyable round, made better by the fact that I shot it with Donna's dog!  I had a pleasant chat with her husband as well, but the dog was definitely the highlight.

Interesting mix of targets.  I felt I shot most of it fairly well, missed a few silly ones on Stands 4 and 5 that I shouldn't have.  The big challenges for me were on the last two stands.  The sim pair on 11 was a little bit daft, a battue and a long crosser.  Taking either of them first means a crosser dropping into some bushes or a battue plummeting earthwards.  I managed one pair and missed the first pair completely for a 5.  Think the best in our squad was a 6.  On 12 I just couldn't find the first bird, have a feeling that I was pushing over the top of it.

Fairly happy with my 74, I think 80 was leading B when I left and my 74 was second.  Not sure there will be many B class shooters in the 80s today, but expect lots in the high 70s.

Agree with you. A good course a bit brutalised near the end. Not my finest hour and the shoot ended up pretty tricky. I did mention that stand 11 appeared to be set by somebody that doesn't shoot. Only one straight all day on there. The orange on 12 should have been a black clay too. Fine for young stars but not good for all..

 

[Bebo]

Agree with you. A good course a bit brutalised near the end. Not my finest hour and the shoot ended up pretty tricky. I did mention that stand 11 appeared to be set by somebody that doesn't shoot. Fine for young stars but not good for all..

Surprisingly I only dropped one on the other sim pair.  That sort of pair, with both birds close together at the start of their flight usually buggers me right up.

 

[GT2]

... And yet there are people that shot less targets than you in AA, that have made the finals. Yes, they may have qualified in category, but they will also be eligible for a class medal and cash in the final, that they never qualified for. Not only that there are 3 A class shooters that never finished in the top 40, yes, that's right the top 40 of A class on the day, yet are in the final, and that is only on the first day. No wonder this sport can and never will be seen as a serious sport, and attract decent sponsorship, You couldn't write this sh*te.

In fairness I was surprised to be close on 102!

 

[tiptop]

In fairness I was surprised to be close on 102!

The point being though, you don't have to shoot and be the best to get a place in the finals. In fact looking back at day one, there were 2 people that finished joint 70th, yes joint 70th of 82 A class shooters, and are back for finals with a chance of a podium finish in class, although they only qualified through category. There are even people in one of the categories that just had to turn up on the day, colts only 2 turned up on the day and both make the final. To me that just just makes a mockery of the whole thing. This is the British shooting flagship event of the year.

To me the CPSA have got it the wrong way round. If you qualify for class, and are eligible for category then you should be in both. You shouldn't be able to shoot badly, qualify in category, and come back and be in both, you should only be able to shoot in the category for which you qualified for, and not for class. There are so many things wrong with this format. I suppose it's back to old thing of people running the show that aren't shooters.

 

[Richard59]

The point being though, you don't have to shoot and be the best to get a place in the finals. In fact looking back at day one, there were 2 people that finished joint 70th, yes joint 70th of 82 A class shooters, and are back for finals with a chance of a podium finish in class, although they only qualified through category. There are even people in one of the categories that just had to turn up on the day, colts only 2 turned up on the day and both make the final. To me that just just makes a mockery of the whole thing. This is the British shooting flagship event of the year.

To me the CPSA have got it the wrong way round. If you qualify for class, and are eligible for category then you should be in both. You shouldn't be able to shoot badly, qualify in category, and come back and be in both, you should only be able to shoot in the category for which you qualified for, and not for class. There are so many things wrong with this format. I suppose it's back to old thing of people running the show that aren't shooters.

Martin have you considered putting your thoughts onto paper / email and asking CPSA directly about these valid points? 

 

[tiptop]

Martin have you considered putting your thoughts onto paper / email and asking CPSA directly about these valid points? 

I've spoke to a few people that have asked about it, and the reply is nothing is going to change. There is a post on CPSA fb page this week, by one of the regional directors, and in that even he says that he has no idea about the qualification process, and had to ask Clare about it, he had to give up and walk away. So what chance have we got if regional directors don't have a clue. I did ask the question to him, but to be honest I wouldn't expect a reply on fb, or by direct message from him. In fact I have even had a reply before from Clare, and all she churns out is, 5 top scores for class, and 3 from category, class taking priority over category. Well we know that don't we, doesn't explain how you can shoot sh*te and still qualify though.

There is so much wrong about this competition, another thing Senior category for qualifying, WTF, is that all about. Is it just a ruse to guarantee more AAA, and AA to the final to make it look good for them? When it comes to category prizes vets, ladies, juniors, colts are all there, yet the senior category disappears off the face off the earth, how strange.

All this qualification stuff was brought about by a few top guns whining about how unfair it was with the weather on different days.

 

[Charliedog]

I've spoke to a few people that have asked about it, and the reply is nothing is going to change. There is a post on CPSA fb page this week, by one of the regional directors, and in that even he says that he has no idea about the qualification process, and had to ask Clare about it, he had to give up and walk away. So what chance have we got if regional directors don't have a clue. I did ask the question to him, but to be honest I wouldn't expect a reply on fb, or by direct message from him. In fact I have even had a reply before from Clare, and all she churns out is, 5 top scores for class, and 3 from category, class taking priority over category. Well we know that don't we, doesn't explain how you can shoot sh*te and still qualify though.

There is so much wrong about this competition, another thing Senior category for qualifying, WTF, is that all about. Is it just a ruse to guarantee more AAA, and AA to the final to make it look good for them? When it comes to category prizes vets, ladies, juniors, colts are all there, yet the senior category disappears off the face off the earth, how strange.

All this qualification stuff was brought about by a few top guns whining about how unfair it was with the weather on different days.

I may be completely missing the point but surely the best shooters will still qualify for the final and the best on the day will win the title, the rest who make it into the final will just enjoy the experience, maybe 1 or 2 may miss out and feel hard done by but they were never going to win it anyway?

 

[Jonny English]

Shot the british sporting and sportrap yesterday, in A class for both events. Finished on 86 in the sportrap and 90 in the sporting. Thought both courses were really entertaining, Steve has done a great job with the targets. Felt like I shot the sportrap pretty decent, but just couldn't get flowing on the sporting, deliberating and bleeding targets everywhere, also struggled with miss reading too many targets. Once I'd done enough damage to throw the shackles off and let the gun fly had some awesome stands, should have done that from the start really. All in all a really good pair of courses with some decent gaps needed here and there. Well done to Steve Lovatt on setting the course.