Sporting shoots. Your personal accounts. 2022

[Martinj]

A couple of us ventured out to GREENFIELDS 120 BIRD GRAND PRIX SPORTING 14th-15TH MAY 2022 at Windwhistle Farm just west of Salisbury. Sunday's weather was not a patch on Saturday's but the rain held off most of the time and things improved as the afternoon wore on. This was set up by Sean P. of Gunsite and Hangman's fame.

We started on the Pool shoot just to warm the gun up so we were not starting the competition "cold" but rather than gaining confidence it left us totally demoralised, anyway on with the shoot. The stands were dotted along about a half mile length of an open Wiltshire valley. Initially the wind was playing havoc with the clays and in time honoured tradition we passed by stand 1 as the wind was making it impossible, I messed up on an early double rabbit stand with a fast crosser then one going away, to make it worse everyone else was bagging all or most of them. 

As we progressed things got better, a spell of rain stopped and so did the wind, most stands looked challenging but when it came to the crunch they were hittable, I redeemed myself on a fast 40 yard L to R rabbit followed by fast R to L 45 yard crosser, my confidence returned and I started to enjoy it. There was one nasty stand with a turbocharged 50+ metre midi that most people were missing by miles, myself included. Anyway some three hours later we made our way back to stand 1 and we bagged the lot.

I thought it was a pretty good day, we both shot 92/120, should have done better but that's the way of shooting.

I haven't seen the final scores although Sat 14th scores have been published where RF and Richard king both shot 112 and, if that wasn't beaten on Sunday (which it wasn't by 4:00pm) they would have had to do a shoot off and we would like to know how that went, hopefully final scores will be published on the Greenfields site.

Thumbs up, one to look out for next year.

p.s.

 

[chippy]

Northampton yesterday very good round as usual. I seem to have discovered the secret to high scores . Simply swop guns, had a cracked stock on my 682 x trap so I used my gold e hit 95,scores then dropped away. Got the x trap back yesterday and hit 91. Two weeks with each gun from now on

 

[Sian]

Shot Greenfields also on Sunday and enjoyed the day in good company.  As is the norm now I didn’t shoot well even on targets I felt confident about going into the stand although for those in the know I was pleased with my on report driven stand 5/8.  

 

[Richard59]

EJC today, been working in and around High Wycombe these last few weeks and yes do hear the rumble of the shooting each and every day, and no no one mentions it as an issue. EJC as ever looked in excellent condition and although not rammed it was still a hive of activity. As for todays reg, well it was lovely bright warm sunny day with hardly a breeze, all of which was most welcome, our squad was a five, we stared on time and despite a few trap issues finished in just under two hours. As a blagger I do like to see the odd "easy" stand to fatten the card and although a fair few targets looked to have been set so us blaggers could do so sadly a few too many eluded my pattern. Now Im probably going to be made to regret this but even I felt it needed a couple of "bigger/bolder/challenging" targets to make you think / work a bit harder, am not saying Id hit more or less just felt it was a bit wanting, that said most of the faces I saw were grinning not the hang dog looks I was seeing last time there, or was that just them seeing me?

 

[Daz W]

EJC for me too. Felt a bit on the easier side, although I'm not actually sure it was. Everyone on my squad got caught out on at least one stand. Not the same stand either. 2 mates of mine who normally shoot high 80's/low 90's only came in low 80's. Stand 6 seemed to be my bogey stand. For some reason I couldn't find the B bird (L-R looper?) at all.

I've been putting some work into shooting loopers on the drop, and that paid off on stand 12. Shot all the R-L loopers on the drop, and quite away down. Turned around to a few surprised expressions from the rest of the squad.

Finished on a registered PB of 81, which I'm well happy with. More so, because I've been shooting like an absolute muppet recently.

 

[Martinj]

Shot Greenfields also on Sunday and enjoyed the day in good company.  As is the norm now I didn’t shoot well even on targets I felt confident about going into the stand although for those in the know I was pleased with my on report driven stand 5/8.  

They weren't slow either, what did you make of the ballistic L to R midi LH side near the far end?

 

[Bebo]

I shot Churchills yesterday as well. Second target on Stand 6 was the largest lead of the day, but wasn't huge. I straighted that stand, but managed to miss 3 on the stand before, being complacent, hung on one of the incomers and shot over the teal.

Dropped 3 on the sim pair of driven. Other than that it was one or two away. Pleased to straight the sim on 12 and to hit all of the distant targets on the sim on 8 (managed to overlead the first looper). Finished on 86

 

[Sian]

They weren't slow either, what did you make of the ballistic L to R midi LH side near the far end?

Stand 10 I believe.  I only got 2 blaze.   I struggled to see it and the dot that was the second bird just never found.  I thought the ref was very quick as well on the button ..   Tony managed to connect  with  one of the black ones but he can be very quick.

 

[Chrisessig]

Westfield today! Did not do well at all .

Stand 1,2,3 did alright then stand stand 4 l-r crosser,r-l crossing looping target did terrible on. Stand 5 did good , then stand 6 terrible again. Overhead quarting target that went right into the path of the sun followed by a big looping target. Stand 7 went ok, stand 8 terrible, stand 9 went good, stand 10 SIM pair good again, stand 11 ,stand 12 terrible, big target off tower and looper(bloody loopers). Either did ok or terrible on the stands. Worst score to date.

I'm booked into EJ Churchill's next after hearing about it quite a bit on here so looking forward to that next.

 

[Bebo]

Driving back from the midlands today and called in at Gatton Bottom as it only required a short diversion. Best part of 3hrs driving and I arrive to find the toilets have been stolen! Needed a wee but thought I'd be ok. Got increasingly uncomfortable on the way around but after making a show of myself at Churchills on Thursday by slipping on a muddy patch and ending up on the floor I wasn't prepared to risk further embarrassment. Made it through and held on until Clackett Lane services on the way home, but concentration was completely shot on the second half of the course.

As for the targets, lots of the usual going aways, but they'd obviously thought to try to mix things up with a few dropping targets as well. There was a l/r coming from behind a tree that you couldn't see until it was on  it's way down, a sim pair with the second clay dropping vertically from behind the tree canopy, an overhead that was dropping by the time you shot it and a battue and slow crosser that didn't open up and become visible until right in front of you.

I was 7 stands in and only 7 away when I started to wobble a bit. Biggest disaster was 5 dropped on a simple full faced incomer. Was taking an age to arrive and I kept giving it too much to the right. Just wasn't concentrating at all for the last four stands. Finished on 78, not a total disaster but should really have made it into the 80s again today.

Moral of the story - stop for pee before you arrive at Gatton Bottom in future (or buy a shewee!)

 

[Will Hewland]

Hangman’s for me. Nothing like the overcrowding problems of last month. Hopefully the longer opening time helped and not that people just didn’t come back after last time. Westfield was also on.

Anyway another good course. Not brutal but plenty of variety and some long stuff in places. I missed an absolute easy away for my first shot of the day. Idiot.

Stand 8 had 5 pairs of two long targets and had to q to shoot it. Watched a lot of people having a bad time there and I could see they were mainly overleading. So on my first pair I missed them both, behind, just being too careful. Then missed two more, so that was my worst stand. Happy with a 90 considering that. Finally feeling like I know my gun again after the barrel change. 

 

[donna]

Westfield today! Did not do well at all .

Stand 1,2,3 did alright then stand stand 4 l-r crosser,r-l crossing looping target did terrible on. Stand 5 did good , then stand 6 terrible again. Overhead quarting target that went right into the path of the sun followed by a big looping target. Stand 7 went ok, stand 8 terrible, stand 9 went good, stand 10 SIM pair good again, stand 11 ,stand 12 terrible, big target off tower and looper(bloody loopers). Either did ok or terrible on the stands. Worst score to date.

I'm booked into EJ Churchill's next after hearing about it quite a bit on here so looking forward to that next.

Don’t beat yourself up, I thought it was a tough course today. We got stuck in traffic getting there and it took nearly 5 hours to get home (M25 closed) but worth the trip.  Shot some stands really well, some fairly ok for me but had a bit of a doomer on 11 and 12.  Stand 11 I really thought I’d over lead  the first pair, cut back, still missed, tried something different and hit 2nd target, realised I was miles behind them, hit last pair. Ruined my card completely then stand 12, missed all the tower birds but hit the looper.  Didn’t do very well on the sim pair going away either, couldn’t see the pink clay, hit the green ones though.  Only our 4th time there but we really enjoy it, Steve is an excellent course setter, need to learn to read the targets a bit better! 

 

[Sian]

Westfield and it was looking lovely.  Good shoot but as is normal now I shot badly.  Actually worse than badly , a 56/100.   I am almost ready to call it a day.

 

[Steve Lovatt]

Westfield today! Did not do well at all .

Stand 1,2,3 did alright then stand stand 4 l-r crosser,r-l crossing looping target did terrible on. Stand 5 did good , then stand 6 terrible again. Overhead quarting target that went right into the path of the sun followed by a big looping target. Stand 7 went ok, stand 8 terrible, stand 9 went good, stand 10 SIM pair good again, stand 11 ,stand 12 terrible, big target off tower and looper(bloody loopers). Either did ok or terrible on the stands. Worst score to date.

I'm booked into EJ Churchill's next after hearing about it quite a bit on here so looking forward to that next.

Hi 

not sure of your name but the two looping stands , stand 4 and 12 were Battues as the description said so I guess you needed to give them three times the amount of lead that you actually did 

 

[bisondan]

5 shoots in after my break (until May 1st I hadn't shot since Jan 2nd) and done ok, just a bit short of where I want to be, not really unstuck on any particular target but lapses of concentration in points, missing random pairs completely.

89 at Honesberie, 85 at Owls, 89 at Gunsite, 85 at Honesberie, and 88 at Hangmanstone today.

Enjoying being out behind the gun though.

 

[Martinj]

me too, I was pleasantly surprised that the overcrowding was better than last time, I guess Sean is controlling the numbers of shooters as it's booking only, I arrived around 10am and left 1pm, there were free parking spaces at both times.

Shot badly again, my bogey stand was the first out in the field where we get a L to R crosser, I have only hit one or two of those, or variants of it, in the past 4 shoots.

 

[donna]

Westfield and it was looking lovely.  Good shoot but as is normal now I shot badly.  Actually worse than badly , a 56/100.   I am almost ready to call it a day.

Don’t give up Sian, maybe stroll round with Tony while he shoots and enjoy the fluffy rabbits for a while. 

 

[Westward]

I didn't think Westfield was especially tough. It was for me because, thanks to ongoing medical treatment, my energy level is low and after about 6 reasonable stands things went weird. Typical was the straightforward driven report pair (Sian and Tony were just behind) where I smashed the first pair just as I expected then things went pear shaped for no obvious reason. I soon realised it was fatigue so the remaining stands are best forgotten.

I've only shot Westfield 4 or 5 times over the years but I have reffed well over 100 shoots there, so here's my twopennyworth: One aspect of Steve's courses is that you can't get away with using just one shooting method because you'll get caught out if you don't use the right technique.

A perfect example was the sim pair at the bottom of the valley, just up from the clubhouse. You really had to step up there because If you didn't nail the fast crosser early, the incomer became tricky to read as it wasn't falling straight, but if you took the crosser right in front the incomer was a simple straight shot.

 

[Richard59]

Barbury today, drove back from High Wycombe via M4 through some nasty squally showers sadly one of which caught up with me whilst later shooting, when I rocked up it was quite blustery 🌬and steadily got more so during the afternoon. Usual squad of splendid chums to shoot with. One had a topsy turvey shoot, straighted opening 10 bird simo stand and St5 when up first, enough of the “oh thats a good target” got hit, however as always a few that should not of escaped my pattern. Now it was windy and yes a few wobbled but I cant say it cost me any, my own faults lost me targets not the wind & rain. 
 

 

[Will Hewland]

Barbury today, drove back from High Wycombe via M4 through some nasty squally showers sadly one of which caught up with me whilst later shooting, when I rocked up it was quite blustery 🌬and steadily got more so during the afternoon. Usual squad of splendid chums to shoot with. One had a topsy turvey shoot, straighted opening 10 bird simo stand and St5 when up first, enough of the “oh thats a good target” got hit, however as always a few that should not of escaped my pattern. Now it was windy and yes a few wobbled but I cant say it cost me any, my own faults lost me targets not the wind & rain. 
 

Saw you in the car park and shot at a similar time. Much wiping of glasses today. A great course, not as easy at the RF 99 made it look! Enjoyed it, but I’m presently inconsistent in a silly way. I only missed two targets on my first pairs all day, but ended on 88. I’m trying too hard to keep the kills going and slowing up.  Need to chill out.