Sporting shoots 2023. How was it?

[Sian]

Grimsthorpe for us today. Good shoot set by Ed Solomons I believe. Biblical rain which was a shame. Club house very nice and pretty views. Sun came out after the shoot.

 

[donna]

Coleys for the 120 Classic and I must say, a cracking shoot. I struggled to see the targets on stand 6 - teal and l-r midi and ended up with a big fat zero and struggled on stand 7 - r-l green below your feet and an overhead which dropped so quickly in the wind I lost it in the background.

Apart from that missed a few here and there which I shouldn’t have but I received bad news yesterday and if I wasn’t booked in today I’d have shot maybe Friday but it was what it was and my heart really wasn’t in it if I’m honest, but nevertheless if your booked in for this you’ll enjoy it. Really good squad, only 5 of us but had a lovely chat and laugh on way round.

 

[jonz]

Coleys for the 120 Classic and I must say, a cracking shoot. I struggled to see the targets on stand 6 - teal and l-r midi and ended up with a big fat zero and struggled on stand 7 - r-l green below your feet and an overhead which dropped so quickly in the wind I lost it in the background.

Apart from that missed a few here and there which I shouldn’t have but I received bad news yesterday and if I wasn’t booked in today I’d have shot maybe Friday but it was what it was and my heart really wasn’t in it if I’m honest, but nevertheless if your booked in for this you’ll enjoy it. Really good squad, only 5 of us but had a lovely chat and laugh on way round.

Can I ask you a question please, “how can it be a cracking shoot, if the targets are set on a stand that you struggle to see?” Surly to make it a “cracking shoot “ you need to be able to see all of the targets clearly? Was it just you that had the problem there or was it a real eye sight test?

 

[donna]

Can I ask you a question please, “how can it be a cracking shoot, if the targets are set on a stand that you struggle to see?” Surly to make it a “cracking shoot “ you need to be able to see all of the targets clearly? Was it just you that had the problem there or was it a real eye sight test?

It was one of the harder stands but I think it was just the overcast/cloudy weather that made it harder for me to see, I was swapping lenses which I don’t normally do but tbh my heart wasn’t in it for other reasons. Saw some squads have no problem with it but most of our squad struggled on this particular stand. Even though I didn’t shoot particularly well yesterday, it was still a good shoot in my opinion.

 

[Will Hewland]

Hornet / College Farm today. Very evident that Kevin (who set the course) had recently been at the Hungary FSP. Definitely a step up today. Good though. A spectacularly poor 2/8 on the last stand trashed an otherwise respectable card, so 83. Get along if you fancy a good test this week.

 

[Westward]

Decide to push the boat out yesterday and shoot Barbury for my 3rd reg this month. I thought Josh had set up one of the best courses I've seen there. A good mix of a few technical targets, a few longish ones and a few straightforward ones. Although the stats show the overall average was fairly high, several AAs seem to have posted unusually low scores. For me it was a day of 2 halves having shot the first 6 stands at way above my recent form and then my concentration and focus started fluctuating so I messed up badly on 3 of the last 6. Enjoyed the shoot though and stayed dry amazingly.

Saw Will's car in the car park but didn't see the man himself.

 

[Will Hewland]

Decide to push the boat out yesterday and shoot Barbury for my 3rd reg this month. I thought Josh had set up one of the best courses I've seen there. A good mix of a few technical targets, a few longish ones and a few straightforward ones. Although the stats show the overall average was fairly high, several AAs seem to have posted unusually low scores. For me it was a day of 2 halves having shot the first 6 stands at way above my recent form and then my concentration and focus started fluctuating so I messed up badly on 3 of the last 6. Enjoyed the shoot though and stayed dry amazingly.

Saw Will's car in the car park but didn't see the man himself.

Sorry to miss you! Yes a very good course and as you say, the 40+ AAA/AA in attendance pushed the average up. We all thought it was very tough in the first half and eased off after that.. I was happy to be 9 away after 10 stands, especially as I thought last two looked quite easy. Then I had a mad moment and dropped 4 on stand 11, plus one more on stand 12 because I was so cross. .

 

[Westward]

I thought stand 11 was the trickiest of all. As you say it looked easy but shot hard, whereas stand 6, the long midi and turbo white crosser, looked like a card killer but most of our squad managed it okay. I dropped 1 on there but it was stand 9(?) that annoyed me. I was just resetting my concentration after a couple of really bad stands but the teal trap kept breaking clays and I dropped the last pair after multiple no birds.

 

[Martinj]

Sorry to miss you! Yes a very good course and as you say, the 40+ AAA/AA in attendance pushed the average up. We all thought it was very tough in the first half and eased off after that.. I was happy to be 9 away after 10 stands, especially as I thought last two looked quite easy. Then I had a mad moment and dropped 4 on stand 11, plus one more on stand 12 because I was so cross. .

There's always something to catch us out.
I see that anyone can do a 100 non-reg Sporting during the - "SOUTH WEST ENGLAND SPORTING TEAM SELECTION SHOOT" at Barbury this weekend, do we know if the open shoot uses the same targets as the Selection? I suspect that's a daft question

 

[Martinj]

Might be fun to go along and shoot the same targets without feeling the pain when it goes horribly wrong

BTW I checked and there is only one layout

 

[Richard59]

Might be fun to go along and shoot the same targets without feeling the pain when it goes horribly wrong

BTW I checked and there is only one layout

One layout? I cannot for the life of me seeing Barbury permitting anyone shooting the championship/selection shoot targets as practice, nor would the vast majority of members there want nor enjoy doing so, in short there will be plenty of practice stands open I’m sure.

 

[Will Hewland]

AGL today. Haven’t been there for a few months. I thought today was tricky in places, with maybe only 1 or 2 card filler stands. Stand 8 was a nasty sim away 5 pair, that only 1 person straighted all day.

I had a terrible time on stand 3 (straighted first two pairs then collapsed missing 3 after loads of no birds). Stand 4 with the big teal also a shocker, dropping 4. Felt like quitting for a moment, but knuckled down and surprised myself by only missing two more to the end of the round. Funny old day but a good result overall.

 

[donna]

AGL for us too, not been there for years, only 7 away until stand 8 the sim pair Will mentioned and came away with a 4/10 but was tricky and didn’t see anyone hit it well. Didn’t like shooting from the wooden surrounded stands. Stand 6 the dropping duck and r-l the ref could see I was having trouble just looking at them so allowed me to see a pair whilst in the stand before I shot which was greatly appreciated and stand 11 the r-l quick dropping looper and l-r played with my mind. I shot first target and it dropped so quickly and so low I almost shot the top of the stand which scared me so much I dropped second target. I looked round at the ref and apologised but said I didn’t think it was safe for me to shoot so again, he allowed me to stand right back. Dropped silly ones here and there, finished on 76 which was first in ladies but a nightmare 3 hour trip home wasn’t a good end to the day

 

[Martinj]

Well I did the Barbury Sporting Team Selection shoot today, general shooters such as myself were welcome and there were also separate pay and play stands.
I got stuck in and soon realised that I wasn't going to produce a personal best. Obviously the layout was designed to sort out the top shooters for the England team and it wasn't going to be super easy, in fact the high score was 88 so that's the kind of level we are looking at. On the face of it, it was a fairly normal layout but with no real card fillers. There was a good proportion of long targets, probably 60 yards plus in some cases, also one super fast and one close up floppy kamikazi L to R heading into a bank to add to the urgency. My performance was lacking somewhat but I enjoyed the layout and hit some of everything, I just love it when you fire the shot and see the break half a second later. The last three or so stands were complicated by steady rain blowing into our faces making shooting glasses a nightmare. I finished about 15 down on my average but wasn't too bothered by that, I wasn't the only one that's for sure. I do like the Barbury experience and (note to self) must do more.

 

[Charliedog]

A breezy local trip to Eriswell lodge, shoot average was 72 that suggests on the firmer side but I felt I shot it well and did not feel too difficult overall. Only stand 1 that was particularly wind affected, a couple of skeet type targets that occasionally dipped sharply in the wind. The rest contained good variation, no eyesight tests, I finished well above the average and a very reasonable priced burger in superb facilities rounded it all off nicely.

 

[Richard59]

Coleys today, unsure if it was last months reg or the rather dismal weather forecast that impacted entry which was well down on pre - Worlds offerings. On at 2.10pm, drove down from Dudley where it had been dry, didn't see wet stuff until Junction 11 M5, rocked up at 1.30 ish. Looked wet, was then raining so put on wet gear, it drizzled of sorts for first four stands then cleared, no wind got quite bright, even warmed up, I was defo overdressed. Couple of usual chums missing so had three new faces, one being Gnasher who shot very well.
Pleasant enough shoot, well for the vast majority it was, yes some card filling clays, he put in a few trip up targets (looking easier / harder than shot) and a sprinkling of "oh that looks tasty" to separate the nearly from the few superstars .
Scoreboard off when left, not that I was in the mix that is!

 

[Westward]

It was the forecast that put me off going - only to find it was reasonable during much of the day. Sounds like a few others thought the same, although as you say, the last shoot might have made a few wonder if they really want to spend money just to get beaten up.

 

[Will Hewland]

EJC today and it was a step up. Course setter just seemed to have had 3 Weetabix. Plenty of targets to really test you and only about three steady stands. Course average is 68 as I write. I tripped up badly on two or three targets but held a lot of the rest together for 86. Felt like I worked for it.

 

[donna]

EJC for us too, enjoyed the course but again the wooden structured stands done for me, especially 12, I could hardly see the teal before it disappeared. I stand as far back as I possibly can safety wise but find it hard. Had a nightmare on 6, the l-r low blaze and r-l high crosser, only hit a 1, getting one of the blazes. Finished on a disappointing 69 which was the average.

 

[Sian]

EJC I enjoyed it apart from stand 1 and 12 where size matters especially 12. Today in shooting the 2nd target on stand one I came perilously close to shooting the effing fence. Tash is not a slow shooter like me and her barrels came down on the fence on stand 1. Pees me off. It’s just a really uncomfortable feeling. Decided to take Lola today for a change rather than Dora. Haven’t shot her in a long time. She makes me work harder on the longer birds but it was good to get her out.