Sporting shoots. Your personal accounts. 2022

[Daz W]

Nice day at Oxfordshire SS today for their reg shoot. As is becoming normal, saw Daz W again, always good.

It’s not the toughest affair, but enough fast and fiddly stuff to keep you on your toes. Got my ducks in a row and only had one silly miss (just held too high for first shot on stand 11 and lost the view). Another target on stand 2 failed to live up to the lead I was giving it. So 98 for a new PB. Nice way to start the weekend!

Well shot Will, a 98 & 3 clear of the rest of the pack is pretty impressive.

There were a few targets that did catch some people out, including me. If gun hold and gun speed were off by a little bit, then it was easy to go whizzing past the bird. I managed to dust all the bunnies today, which I'm happy about. They've recently become my bogey target.  Went back to AGL the day after there last reg shoot to work out where I've been going wrong. Shooting nearly a foot below them seems to have done the trick (for now). Finished 2nd in B, so I'm pretty happy with that.

I do like Oxfordshire SS. Nice little ground, with probably the best coffee and cakes of anywhere I've been. 

 

[Will Hewland]

Well shot Will, a 98 & 3 clear of the rest of the pack is pretty impressive.

There were a few targets that did catch some people out, including me. If gun hold and gun speed were off by a little bit, then it was easy to go whizzing past the bird. I managed to dust all the bunnies today, which I'm happy about. They've recently become my bogey target.  Went back to AGL the day after there last reg shoot to work out where I've been going wrong. Shooting nearly a foot below them seems to have done the trick (for now). Finished 2nd in B, so I'm pretty happy with that.

I do like Oxfordshire SS. Nice little ground, with probably the best coffee and cakes of anywhere I've been. 

And sandwiches! 
 

Well shot Daz. 

 

[Will Hewland]

Owls Lodge esp reg this morning for me.  Toughest thing overall I’ve shot for a good while. RF set it firm, then the wind got up. I don’t know if you’ve studied the STATS button on CPSA website for each shoot, but if so there is an average score shown and you’ll find an easy shoot comes out at about 82, with many being around 76. Well Owls is at 63 so far after the morning rotation. 
 

I actually enjoyed it in fairness. There was time on everything, it was mainly long distance that was the factor actually. However the 5 yard rabbit and close crossing sim teals also made many look daft. Managed 81 which is under my average but was a good test. Probably don’t need a shoot like this everyday   I predict about 90-92 as HG but you’d do well to hit that.

 

[Martinj]

Owls Lodge esp reg this morning for me.  Toughest thing overall I’ve shot for a good while. RF set it firm, then the wind got up. I don’t know if you’ve studied the STATS button on CPSA website for each shoot, but if so there is an average score shown and you’ll find an easy shoot comes out at about 82, with many being around 76. Well Owls is at 63 so far after the morning rotation. 
 

I actually enjoyed it in fairness. There was time on everything, it was mainly long distance that was the factor actually. However the 5 yard rabbit and close crossing sim teals also made many look daft. Managed 81 which is under my average but was a good test. Probably don’t need a shoot like this everyday   I predict about 90-92 as HG but you’d do well to hit that.

For the first time, I have been playing with the (very informative) Stats button on a few of the shoots I have been to in the past, most were 80-83%. Yesterday at Owls ended up on 64% which speaks volumes. Your 81, although lower than your average, put you in joint 4th and was in truth an outstanding score. You sir are on a roll!

BTW it looks like RF got it wrong on the day, the previous three averages were 72, 74, 76% which are still on the firm side in my humble opinion.

At the last Owls Lodge I shot at the average was 75% which makes me feel better about my below average score - 

 

[jonz]

For the first time, I have been playing with the (very informative) Stats button on a few of the shoots I have been to in the past, most were 80-83%. Yesterday at Owls ended up on 64% which speaks volumes. Your 81, although lower than your average, put you in joint 4th and was in truth an outstanding score. You sir are on a roll!

BTW it looks like RF got it wrong on the day, the previous three averages were 72, 74, 76% which are still on the firm side in my humble opinion.

At the last Owls Lodge I shot at the average was 75% which makes me feel better about my below average score - 

The average score for the shoot doesn’t really tell you a lot, if the majority of competitors are AA then an average of 83 would be below the AA cut off so you could claim the layout was on the tough side but without knowing what class the competitors are in, the overall average is subject to giving a false indication of how testing the layout was.

Perhaps an average of each class would be a better indicator 

 

[jasper]

The stats show also which classes were at the shoot.... Its not the full story but its close. 

Jasper. 

 

[Will Hewland]

Those splits of classes are very typical, almost every shoot looks like that. A class are the keenest folk it seems!

 

[Charliedog]

Owls Lodge esp reg this morning for me.  Toughest thing overall I’ve shot for a good while. RF set it firm, then the wind got up. I don’t know if you’ve studied the STATS button on CPSA website for each shoot, but if so there is an average score shown and you’ll find an easy shoot comes out at about 82, with many being around 76. Well Owls is at 63 so far after the morning rotation. 
 

I actually enjoyed it in fairness. There was time on everything, it was mainly long distance that was the factor actually. However the 5 yard rabbit and close crossing sim teals also made many look daft. Managed 81 which is under my average but was a good test. Probably don’t need a shoot like this everyday   I predict about 90-92 as HG but you’d do well to hit that.

Thanks for pointing the STATS function out, never noticed it before, checked my 2 regular shoots and they generally average 72 to 74 but feel both present very good targets

 

[Daz W]

AGL for me yesterday. Felt like a fairly softish shoot, although some of the top scores were lower than I was expecting. HG was 96, but only 5 in the 90's, as opposed to 20 last month.  Looking at the scores, it was definitely a good day for those of us in B.

Came out of the gate fairly well, only dropping 3 in the first half. Didn't fully release my trigger between shots on stand one (inertia trigger) so trigger never reset & second shot never happened when I wanted it to. Done that a couple of times recently.  Dropped 2 of the teals on st4.

Then somehow we all managed to walk right past stand 5. So we shot st6 and plodded back to 5, which would have narked off one of our squad, because he's only 6ish weeks post knee replacement. 

Then the dominoes started falling. Missed 3 of off the telehandler, dropped a couple of the sim bunnies, and complacently dropped 4 over two other stands. Finished on 88, which placed me 2nd in B. Happy with that though, although still kicking myself for the 5 dropped easy targets, due to not releasing the trigger and being lazy.

Bumped into Will H again, always a pleasure. Saw a few other faces I haven't seen at AGL for a while too.  

Local shoot at Codicote this weekend, haven't been there for a while. Then Northampton for next weekends reg.

 

[chesterse]

Thanks for pointing the STATS function out, never noticed it before, checked my 2 regular shoots and they generally average 72 to 74 but feel both present very good targets

I’ve been looking at the STATS for sometime and around the 72/74 mark is normally a well balance shoot to be enjoyed by most people. Once you get above 80 and below 70 you get into the realms of too easy and too hard respectively i.m.o.

 

[Daz W]

I’ve been looking at the STATS for sometime and around the 72/74 mark is normally a well balance shoot to be enjoyed by most people. Once you get above 80 and below 70 you get into the realms of too easy and too hard respectively i.m.o.

I always judge a shoot by how many AA, A & B shooters finish above/below their classification. If more finish above that below = too soft, more finish below than above = too stiff. Can't look at C class, because there's no bottom limit, there's too few AAAs for a decent sample size.

 

[Garwood]

E J Churchill`s @ Swinton today,first Reg shoot for me since Feb.Started poorly ,dropped too many in first few stands but only lost 2 on last 7 stands ,ending up with 80. Overall pleased with that ,but could have been much better !!!! HG 96. Top marks to EJC for a very good course today that everyone seemed to have enjoyed .

 

[Daz W]

E J Churchill`s @ Swinton today,first Reg shoot for me since Feb.Started poorly ,dropped too many in first few stands but only lost 2 on last 7 stands ,ending up with 80. Overall pleased with that ,but could have been much better !!!! HG 96. Top marks to EJC for a very good course today that everyone seemed to have enjoyed .

That was the first place I ever had a go at shooting. Was Warren Gill then, owned by Dave and Ann Elgie.  The local area was a convenient overnight stop on regular Scotland trip. Used to stay in the Nags Head in Pickhill, where the landlord suggested we have a go at clay shooting. That was me hooked.

Must go back one day now its EJC, to see how much it's changed.

 

[Garwood]

Dave is still about most days ! EJC have opened it out a fair bit,it`s a cracking ground now with many and varied presentations ,topped with a great atmosphere .

 

[Martinj]

Gunsite from a few weeks ago, the scene of some personal battles

I like the way Sarsen stones are left lying around - the materials nearby Avebury stone circle was built of some 4500 years ago

 

[Will Hewland]

Had my first bash of registered Super Sporting today at EJC.

The ground was in pretty heavy fog for the first half, so a few long ones were a bit of a test to judge. Anyway, a fun format with 10 stands. Each had four traps, shot as four singles followed by 3 pairs of on report or sim. We were a squad of 6 so it did go a bit slowly, taking almost three hours meaning it would have been ideal in a squad of 4 or 5.

Anyway, managed a 91 with two silly misses so not unhappy. Will give it another go sometime. 

 

[Westward]

Steve's running another reg SSP at Westfield on 22nd Jan.

 

[Sian]

First time out for me in a month at EJC which I enjoyed in good company and I like supersporting.  Felt I shot  well considering I haven’t been shooting a lot for a good while.  One disastrous stand which was 9 the driven one.  I hate that stand whatever we shoot there  with the big panel and bush on top, very off putting.  Good job that was my last but one because it would have put me right off.  Light dropped pretty quickly .   We had 5 on our squad and it still took 3 hrs but it didn’t feel long.  

 

[Bebo]

I too went to the super sporting at Churchill's. First reg comp with my new stock. Not a single trigger flinch, so the change worked. Unfortunately, I shot like a complete idiot. Hanging on to everything, measuring lead and moving the gun in slowmo. When I stopped myself doing that I was in the middle of stuff. Need to get a thousand through the barrel and regain my confidence a bit I think. Only problems at the moment are caused by my head not the new stock.

 

[Will Hewland]

I too went to the super sporting at Churchill's. First reg comp with my new stock. Not a single trigger flinch, so the change worked. Unfortunately, I shot like a complete idiot. Hanging on to everything, measuring lead and moving the gun in slowmo. When I stopped myself doing that I was in the middle of stuff. Need to get a thousand through the barrel and regain my confidence a bit I think. Only problems at the moment are caused by my head not the new stock.

Good news re the flinching. I think that for many people, even a good change with your equipment is a distraction. It just needs to be forgotten about and the full focus return to the clays (as you know).