Sporting shoots 2023. How was it?

[vmax1010]

I’m organising a little competition. I will shoot 5 pairs of 10 yard dolly up loopers. My opponent will have 5 pairs of sim 70 yard battues that don’t turn and show face. Loser pays £5k. Who is in?

If only I was closer

 

[Sian]

College Farm yesterday, no rain as such but bleak. Struggled with the orange a lot but I was not alone, a few AA in my squad found them hard to see. Frustration took hold so lost the plot on ones I can actually see. Good company though. Hangman’s today I either straight the stand or go bonkers and not enough straights so poor score. Again bleak but warmer I thought. As I drove there two fawns jumped out the hedge and dashed across the road. I don’t speed down country lanes so was able to stop. They were beautiful.

 

[Will Hewland]

College Farm yesterday, no rain as such but bleak. Struggled with the orange a lot but I was not alone, a few AA in my squad found them hard to see. Frustration took hold so lost the plot on ones I can actually see. Good company though. Hangman’s today I either straight the stand or go bonkers and not enough straights so poor score. Again bleak but warmer I thought. As I drove there two fawns jumped out the hedge and dashed across the road. I don’t speed down country lanes so was able to stop. They were beautiful.

I thought College was another good shoot there. I shot Thursday in very bright sun, meaning oranges were visible but some of the black ones turned to glass. Very sad to miss 3 almost invisible loopers near the end and ruin a decent card. Actually, on stand 12 there was an orange I didn’t see and didn’t even pull the trigger. Mainly I was just looking in wrong place though.

 

[Sian]

I thought College was another good shoot there. I shot Thursday in very bright sun, meaning oranges were visible but some of the black ones turned to glass. Very sad to miss 3 almost invisible loopers near the end and ruin a decent card. Actually, on stand 12 there was an orange I didn’t see and didn’t even pull the trigger. Mainly I was just looking in wrong place though.

That looper was still hard to see in the dull light.

 

[chesterse]

Tough but awesome Fitasc at Orston on Saturday which was won on 80. Shot 62 but no complaints at all.
Followed by 100 reg sporting at E of England yesterday. Completely fresh set of targets from some new shooting positions. They had the high tower in action on a few stands which further enhanced things. I.M.O the best shoot they have put on for some time. 78 which included two stands of 3 (bugger)

 

[wynno]

Checked the latest classification from the cpsa, I’ve just scraped into A class with a .05 above the minimum

 

[Richard59]

Checked the latest classification from the cpsa, I’ve just scraped into A class with a .05 above the minimum

Well done you not quite got the hang of this sandbagging game have you

 

[wynno]

Rich, I’m not in your class when it comes to sandbagging…..

 

[Westward]

Well done Wyn.

Did you say you're taking a break from shooting?

 

[Richard59]

Rich, I’m not in your class when it comes to sandbagging…..

Ha, I think your confusing being keen but very rubbish to bagging, theres a very good reason for my scores, again well done you

 

[wynno]

Well done Wyn.

Did you say you're taking a break from shooting?

I did, but now I’ve had my knee replaced and it seems to be doing fine,I’m itching to get back to normal.
I’ve tentatively booked onto supersporting at Robs on the 12th and Hartys on the 17th, it’s surprising how much I’ve missed shooting and having a chat with everyone.

 

[Will Hewland]

Made a rare pilgrimage to Northampton today for the esp reg. Forecast didn’t look great, but went hopeful. That didn’t work. Constant rain, low light and a significant mist to create some visual issues. A messy start dropping several on some easier initial stands, mainly as I was cold and a bit fazed by the fog. Struggled to straight much as there was a constant tricky level to the course, which averaged 73 with plenty of AA/AAA there. Had a couple of bad stands mainly where I just couldn’t decide how far away some of the clays were in the mist. Overall I thought it was a great layout. Rain stopped just as we finished of course.. Finished on 84 which was a bit less than I’d hoped for but enjoyable day despite the weather. Shame it’s such a trek for me, but I will be back there.

 

[chippy]

Made a rare pilgrimage to Northampton today for the esp reg. Forecast didn’t look great, but went hopeful. That didn’t work. Constant rain, low light and a significant mist to create some visual issues. A messy start dropping several on some easier initial stands, mainly as I was cold and a bit fazed by the fog. Struggled to straight much as there was a constant tricky level to the course, which averaged 73 with plenty of AA/AAA there. Had a couple of bad stands mainly where I just couldn’t decide how far away some of the clays were in the mist. Overall I thought it was a great layout. Rain stopped just as we finished of course.. Finished on 84 which was a bit less than I’d hoped for but enjoyable day despite the weather. Shame it’s such a trek for me, but I will be back there.

I've had a very poor run of shooting in the 70s and a 60s last week at east of England. So an 80 at Northampton today in the constant rain and mist was quite good for me. Very good round.

 

[Freddypip]

Northampton for me too. 79. I'll take that. It's a well run shoot which always has something challenging and the right balance of clays - more than hard enough to create worry with some to keep you upbeat. The rain was a shame - some of the clays were lost a little in the 'fog' and in quite a few cases the releases struggled to transmit so a few no birds. It's part of the sport however and at this time of the year I think I/we learn more than 'fair weather days'.

 

[Will Hewland]

Barbury today. Last shoot before off for some foreign winter sun, so nice to do a decent job with 93 and only a couple where I felt I could have done better. Joint leader, just waiting for that to topple.. A great course with nothing hideous but plenty of testing stuff. Misty start (I thought it could be a disaster and stand 1 was hard to see) but it burned off nicely. Proves winter shoots can be great, with the right clothing.

 

[Martinj]

Its interesting to see that they publish the scores while the competition is in progress, so why do we have to wait 3-4 days for some shoots to put their scores up?

 

[Will Hewland]

Its interesting to see that they publish the scores while the competition is in progress, so why do we have to wait 3-4 days for some shoots to put their scores up?

Yep. Some grounds are lazy, outdated and I would suggest unacceptable in this sense.

 

[Bebo]

Barbury today. Last shoot before off for some foreign winter sun, so nice to do a decent job with 93 and only a couple where I felt I could have done better. Joint leader, just waiting for that to topple.. A great course with nothing hideous but plenty of testing stuff. Misty start (I thought it could be a disaster and stand 1 was hard to see) but it burned off nicely. Proves winter shoots can be great, with the right clothing.

Well done. Fingers crossed the Churchills tomorrow is OK weather wise.

 

[Cuffers]

Barbury today. Last shoot before off for some foreign winter sun, so nice to do a decent job with 93 and only a couple where I felt I could have done better. Joint leader, just waiting for that to topple.. A great course with nothing hideous but plenty of testing stuff. Misty start (I thought it could be a disaster and stand 1 was hard to see) but it burned off nicely. Proves winter shoots can be great, with the right clothing.

I was in an early squad and had issues with depth perception on a couple of the rangy targets in the deer park. The fog seemed to lift in a space of 5 minutes, walking between stands 8 and 9! Some good technical targets and overall a really good shoot.

Four more for me before Christmas. SSP at Cefn Tilla and Owls Lodge, ESP at Royal Berkshire and then trying my hand at DTL at Bisley.

Merry Christmas!

 

[Macc Ladd]

Barbury today. Last shoot before off for some foreign winter sun, so nice to do a decent job with 93 and only a couple where I felt I could have done better. Joint leader, just waiting for that to topple.. A great course with nothing hideous but plenty of testing stuff. Misty start (I thought it could be a disaster and stand 1 was hard to see) but it burned off nicely. Proves winter shoots can be great, with the right clothing.

Well shot Will