Sporting Shoots 2020

[Will Hewland]

AGL today under a forbidding sky but was mild and dry. 

A good round with enough difficulty to be interesting but nothing horrible   

I started very nicely and was only 1 away after stand 8. Stand 9 I missed two rising l-r midis in front; annoying but 3 away with 3 stands to go was nice. Sadly it made me tense up badly on stand 10 battues, 5 pairs where I hit first and last pair but dropped 4 in the middle. Very cross with myself and it cost me 2nd place it turns out. 1 more silly miss on stand 11 and that was a 92, but as ever felt I’d thrown a proper score away. 
 

Anyway, happy to be getting some form back generally after a very patchy period. 
 

 

[Will Hewland]

So, EJC  has moved to Wednesday this week to avoid the new apocalypse  

 

[jasper]

 Honesberie today. Nice to see you Will. Stand 9 did me and never recovered. Needed a bit of luck with the wind today , which I didn't get. 84. Still not too bad with the loan gun. Mrs Jasper 80.

See you all on the other side. 

Jasper. 

 

[bisondan]

Honesberie this morning for what will probably be the last time any of us shoot for a while, not a bad 86; felt like I shot the harder stuff quite well, was on the ducks yesterday and I never find it easy going from game to clays.

 

[Sian]

Went to Willoughby Hedge, East Knoyle, fibre only and literally around a working farm. Wet and windy, the journey down was okay, the journey home horrendous and long.  A new Don Brunt shoot which I didn’t  shoot well at all.   I struggled with two clays an orange in white sky and a rabbit showing the black side instead of the orange,  I also got a bit annoyed when clearly on another rabbit stand the clay broke before my shot went off but she wouldn’t have it.  Another ref telling me where I as going wrong, unsolicited and surprisingly female.   I think I’d prefer summer time there, loved the animals, baby goat was adorable and the biggest chickens  I’ve ever seen.  Format for me would also need to change 10 stands of 5 pairs not my favourite.  lovely squad.

 

[Martinj]

I had no plans to shoot this weekend but panic booked a few rounds of skeet so I could let my gun off before the lockdown. There was one guy on the range with his wife, he had been shooting for the last hour, I shared with him for my three rounds which went reasonably well, he was breaking into a new slab as I left, fully intending to maximise the remaining hours and minutes, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

BTW this chap had an interesting gun, it was an old Russian Skeet gun with Jug or Tula chokes, it was quite old, looked a bit agricultural, had 26 1/2inch barrels and chokes something like that shown below. The diameter at the end of the barrel was visibly larger than my skeet choke. He needed to use fibre wads for full effect. The idea being that the "jug" causes the shot to jumble around giving a larger diameter pattern.

 

[Will Hewland]

The last hurrah today at EJ Churchill. As with the last lockdown, the weather was amazing. 10 degrees but I felt warm in bright sun and no wind. The course had no sun issues in the morning when I shot (might have done pm). 
 

It was a fairly soft course certainly for the first 8 stands, requiring care and precision. The last four stands stepped up a gear but were all fair, making a good course all round I would say. Did Ok.

The 50 STR was on two layouts, the first up the platform which again was fiddly but not too hard. I straighted that, then it was on to the second layout which was very different. I think I was getting a bit tired by this point and missed a few more than I would have liked. A slight sour note to end, where I had a distraction on the last sim pair with a glider behind the clay. Ref ignored my frustration with it and when I stepped out of the cage at the end to ask for a distraction he said no as I had stepped out. A bit jobsworth at this level I felt. If he is that good at doing things by the book he should have awarded the distraction when it happened. Oh well. Never mind. 

 

[Garwood]

Not a comp but went for a last shot at EJC at Swinton this aft.It was a glorious afternoon with magnificent colours in the landscape on the return journey looking down into the N Yorks  countryside .A great afternoons shooting too .Hard to relate to the current unpleasantness.

 

[Sian]

The last hurrah today at EJ Churchill. As with the last lockdown, the weather was amazing. 10 degrees but I felt warm in bright sun and no wind. The course had no sun issues in the morning when I shot (might have done pm). 
 

It was a fairly soft course certainly for the first 8 stands, requiring care and precision. The last four stands stepped up a gear but were all fair, making a good course all round I would say. Did Ok.

The 50 STR was on two layouts, the first up the platform which again was fiddly but not too hard. I straighted that, then it was on to the second layout which was very different. I think I was getting a bit tired by this point and missed a few more than I would have liked. A slight sour note to end, where I had a distraction on the last sim pair with a glider behind the clay. Ref ignored my frustration with it and when I stepped out of the cage at the end to ask for a distraction he said no as I had stepped out. A bit jobsworth at this level I felt. If he is that good at doing things by the book he should have awarded the distraction when it happened. Oh well. Never mind. 

Lovely weather for the last shoot until god knows when.   I fell down on the very close ones today and the white one in that little tunnel was hard to see lost 5 there.   Happy enough though just to be out and feeling stronger than of late,  Then did the Sportrap and managed a 24 and then 21.  I missed the D bird on layout 2 three times and it wasn’t one I expected to miss so much.  I won my class for Sportrap.  

Will I remember at Garlands on a major shoot shooting a rabbit with a clay box moving alongside it.  I thought the ref would call it but I was told you have to call the distraction.  She helped me by saying call a distraction as it was happening.  

 

[Sian]

Went to EJC today and it was good to get out despite the wet conditions.  I enjoyed the shoot but a bad start for me, lost 11/16 on the first two stands.   I was first up so just a bit stiff to start.   The second stand was sim driven which I detest.   Another stand I think stand 10, teal I missed completely so 4/8.  Other than that 9 lost elsewhere with three straights on the trot.  I wasn’t unhappy given the break and how heavy my gun feels at the moment and a dodgy rotary cuff.  Good to see a few familiar faces.   

 

[Will Hewland]

I couldn’t do EJC today because of work, but sat in my office looking at the soaking dusk-like weather I wasn’t left too unhappy..

 

[Sian]

I couldn’t do EJC today because of work, but sat in my office looking at the soaking dusk-like weather I wasn’t left too unhappy..

The light wasn’t good today.

 

[Will Hewland]

The light wasn’t good today.

I see there were 70 reg entries. It was fully booked when I tried to book on two weeks ago! I reckon capacity is 180 so that’s a LOT of no-shows. 

 

[Bebo]

I see there were 70 reg entries. It was fully booked when I tried to book on two weeks ago! I reckon capacity is 180 so that’s a LOT of no-shows. 

I tried to book on a couple of weeks back and all they had left were really early slots that I couldn't make due to a work commitment first thing.

 

[Nick Selby]

I went to Barbury on Wednesday with a couple of shooting friends. Only a bit of practice but great to be back out shooting. Barbury have done a cracking job of the new clubhouse\gunroom. Although slightly further than my nearest ground, I think I will make the effort to get to Barbury instead as they seem to have all the boxes ticked... 

 

[donna]

I tried to book on a couple of weeks back and all they had left were really early slots that I couldn't make due to a work commitment first thing.

Phil was due to shoot it but we are in Kent so not allowed to travel so had to cancel

 

[Fred Flintstone]

Phil was due to shoot it but we are in Kent so not allowed to travel so had to cancel

No, no, no... you are allowed.  You CAN travel for ESSENTIAL journeys  

 

[jasper]

FFS not this again. You lot will have us in lockdown forever. Note lack of smileys . 

 

[Fred Flintstone]

FFS not this again. You lot will have us in lockdown forever. Note lack of smileys . 

... maybe you need some smileys... it was a joke, claiming that going shooting was essential. Note my smileys!!!

Perhaps I should have made it clearer. 

 

[Bebo]

I travelled today, all within Tier 2 though.  First trip out in a month and went to Southdown for a practice round.  78/100, which I'm happy enough with.  Smashing up the crossers and loopers, it was mostly away and quartering away stuff I dropped.  Not unusual for me to be slightly off in the timing on those, was definitely over a few of the quartering ones.