Sporting Shoots 2021. Reports and discussion.

[Westward]

Sounds horribly complicated. As Wyn says, refs get used to the rain and to gaps on squad cards. In my experience it only ever gets tricky on sportrap or compak layouts when you have a load of handsets taped together rather than a proper control module.

 

[wynno]

Sounds horribly complicated. As Wyn says, refs get used to the rain and to gaps on squad cards. In my experience it only ever gets tricky on sportrap or compak layouts when you have a load of handsets taped together rather than a proper control module.

I never get used to the rain, what I dislike most is when your collar is wet and it starts to dribble down the back of your neck….

Some grounds reckon the refs have two pairs of hands, one to hold the multiple handsets and the other to mark the scorecard

Because of the 6th spot where the person is waiting there is a line of grey boxes across the sheet pre filled out for them as waiting in a diagonal. When you then go from 6 to a full 5 the some of the lines are not filled out vertical and you need to jump forward 5 targets. It's a bit difficult to explain, it's not easy even when you look at the sheet. The easiest way we found was to actually still shoot as a 6 and leave the missing persons cage empty, problems came when the ref thought they could manage as a normal 5, then found out they couldn't.

Only time I’ve seen it like that is compak  sporting 

 

[Bebo]

Hornet on Thursday for the first time. Amazing how they set up such a good shoot in such a limited amount of space. Stuffed a relatively simple sim pair on the first stand dropping 5. Managed OK on the rest of the course shooting some of the harder targets well. Finished on 78.

Back to Redricks today, expecting to have a hard time again.  Still good targets but nothing quite as tough as the sim pair of loopers from last time. I also shot a lot better, wasn't as tired and being a bit cooler suits me. Managed to drop a single target on each of 7 stands, which is pretty poor really. If I can hit 7 I should be hitting 8. Still pleased with the score, 87.

 

[bisondan]

I've had bit of a weekend of it.

Had a great session at Grimsthorpe on Friday with Ed, shame that it rained all day but still got some good shooting in.  As grounds go it's one of the best I've ever shot at, lovely terrain with a game/tower arena that feels like you are standing on a game shoot.

Stayed over and shot at College Farm on the way back yesterday.  It was a lot tougher than the last shoot there so was happy to walk off with 88, missed some daft stuff though including complete pairs on 7 & 8, but straighted 12 then after Kevin let me have a go at it even further back, good crossing target but something that you had time to connect and move with.

Went to Meadowcroft this morning and dodged the rain until the last couple of stands which was a bonus, shot 91 which was pleasing, few bigger targets on which I managed to connect with.

 

[wynno]

Longridge for me today, not many easy stands, lots of stuff very low and fast, managed the big stuff easily, the close dustbin lids… well that’s another story, dropped one on four stands but still managed to finish on an 81, not to shabby considering.

 

[Markh701]

Southdown. England selection shoot but not personally in the running - ha! Good targets over the sporting and sportrap layouts. A tougher sporting stand at the bottom of the lane with a big right to left climbing and a fast high driven midi off a high tower - great combination. Good to see a driven target on a layout for a change;  all too often it appears to be tooooo difficult for a ground to schedule!

Good to see a 200+ turnout with plenty of AAA/AA star quality. Happy to be in the top 25% for both layouts.

An enjoyable weekend.

 

[wynno]

No shooting for me this weekend, I’ll be reffing fitasc in Monmouth, getting in practice for the GB shoot at Westfield the following weekend.

How does it go now “ no bird,warning, drop your bloody stock, I won’t warn you again…

 

[bisondan]

Owls was pretty tasty today, this was the toughest shoot I've shot since starting back.

Shame I missed some steadier targets as I managed to find most of the longer stuff, only one straight as well, scraped an 80.

 

[Will Hewland]

Owls was pretty tasty today, this was the toughest shoot I've shot since starting back.

Shame I missed some steadier targets as I managed to find most of the longer stuff, only one straight as well, scraped an 80.

I could have written that account myself Dan. Ditto. 

 

[Will Hewland]

AGL today. A good course, but a daft stand 4. A sim rabbit and crow. The rabbit was a fair way out, quartering in, a good target. The other target was a straight up and down crow, which you could only shoot after the rabbit. Sounds OK, but the crow was about 70 yards or more away and was already on the drop when you got to it. Also, it was 5 pairs. It just didn’t need to be sim. Or if it was, the crow could have been 20 yards nearer and still a challenge. It just looked lucky on the few occasions I saw it break. 
 

The other 11 stands made a good course, finished on 88. 

 

[bisondan]

Very windy, but dry morning at Four Counties today.

Was the Berkshire County Championship and it was stepped up a bit with some testing birds, but despite the conditions I didn't have any affected by the wind.

I shot fairly well for 88, again I shot the longer stuff really well but went in front of some steadier birds which was frustrating, but happy overall.

 

[Will Hewland]

Also Hangman’s Stone (was Four Counties) Berks champs for me. 
 

Pleasant drive there, but a very blustery wind when I arrived at 9.30. Thankfully it dropped off as we shot the round. I agree, a decent course with nothing too tough but a handful of noteworthy targets for sure. Two simpler stands left me frustrated with myself, one where I missed the teal then got cross and made it a lost pair, having hit the rest. A quartering target on stand 3 or 4 got away twice and really shouldn’t have, but hey ho. Finished on 91, second in Berkshire, so happy enough. Enjoyed the course. 

 

[Richard59]

Am another who ventured to Hangman’s Stone today, not been here nor as it’s previous name 4Cs for years, it’s about 45mins from front door, much closer than a lot I’ve frequently chosen the place over. Booked late and had been lucky enough to be squadded with two chums, the other three, all very pleasant people soon became chums also. Not been out on a weekend reg for a while but at a lowly level where there’s no such excuse as “rusty” was though more than on how my shoot went, hit some of the “difficult” stuff & more of the rest than I’d usually do, we also managed to avoid both the forecasted wind & rain. RF 98 was HG and bar a few other stellar AAAs most found the course a challenge. Drank some tea, chin wagged with plenty all in all a very pleasant day out.
 

 

[donna]

Up to Sporting Targets for the Jack Pyke and the day was doomed from the start!  Nightmare journey on the bloody M25 AGAIN, got there with time to spare but it’s no fun these long journeys anymore, then when we arrived I had a call to say my salon had been broken into Not too much damage that they could see, just the till missing a a few things thrown on the floor so we stayed and shot but needless to say we didn’t shoot well and didn’t enjoy it either I’m afraid.  Was not in the right frame of mind and found it very hard to concentrate. Had 2 straights though, stand 14 a big fat zero then stand 15 the high driven a full 8/8. First time I’ve had a zero stand for a very long time! 
The goodie bag was a lovely surprise though, much better than what we’ve been given at recent shoots  

 

[Bebo]

Churchills for me today.  Not huge targets today and a fair bit of slow floaty stuff that you pretty much had to shoot at.  I was fine with all of the bigger crossers on stands 6 through to 9 (in fact I managed to straight the sim pair of l-rs), but dropped far too many of the floaty, straight at it type targets.  Too much over-thinking them, hanging on or giving lead where none was needed.  Disappointed with myself and the 71 I ended up on.

 

[Will Hewland]

Also EJC. The course was fairly similar feel to recent ones I felt, but that’s not a bad thing. Yes a mix of technical and several good long targets. I too hung on and measured a few into misses today. Happy enough with 91. Lovely day for it.
 

The 97 leading the scoreboard is an error as the fella concerned told me he hit about 80. I think a 97 exists for a good AAA shooter potentially 

 

[bisondan]

Steady 90 at Churchills today, good mix of targets and perfect weather for it; didn't get too hot and barely any wind.

Shot most of it quite well, missed 2 of the really close rabbits on 2 and 3 of the long, slow crossers on 7 where I wasn't positive enough. 

 

[Jonny English]

Sporting targets today, high tower challenge in the morning Jack Pyke in the afternoon. Pretty average on both really.

36 on the high tower challenge, dropped a pair of dolly's on the first stand. Seen some of the biggest gaps I've ever shot on clays, 1 bird in particular which I shot twice I was in the region of 40 to 45 foot. Never seen that sort of a gap before. Very good course with a few basic birds, and some very big ones. George Digweed on 48 will take some beating.

Jack Pyke was a course of 2 half's. First 5 stands very close and technical, second half of the round had some distance and testing birds. Under performed really on a 92, at least 10 light of where I ought to have been. Nice course but would have been a harsh lesson for any game or pigeon shooting lads doing it.

 

[Bebo]

Back out again this morning to Kibworths monthly reg shoot.  Had a couple of poor stands - struggled on a slow right-left target, again not being able to stop myself shooting just in front when it really needed nothing and couldn't get consistently onto a target plummeting down off a bank, managing to hit one of them.  Finished up well though, with three straights and single dropped target on the last stand. Thought for a while it was going to be a repeat of yesterday, but the last few stands pushed my score up above my average.  Finished on 80.  One thing in common with yesterday though, I definitely like shooting big crossers more than I do fiddly quartering things.

 

[Bebo]

Back to Redricks again today.  Wasn't shooting my best. Lots of missed pairs, especially first pairs.  Was drifting the gun through instead of finishing the shot. Highlight was hitting all on a fast sim pair stand.  Disappointed with 67, but looking at the scores it seems that it was set on the tougher side again. I struggle to judge if it's tough targets or just me when I don't do so well!