Sporting Shoots; where- and how was it? (2018)

[Will Hewland]

I was mentally way off at Owls yesterday and missed just easy going away clays etc, so a poor 82. One to forget. 

AGL today was an exercise in chilling out yet concentrating enough. Three or four more I should have hit but nice to get a 93 after recent poor form. It was a bit easy in places, where I practiced just being careful, but I got through the three or four testing stands pretty well, so happier today. Back in the deep end at Westfield on Sunday then!

 

[Bebo]

Don't think I'll be getting another Registered shoot in before the period ends.  Family funeral on Monday and lots of people staying at mine over the weekend.  If it all gets too much I might try to sneak off to Dartford or Horne early before they are up.

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

Haven't posted much of late as really not been out shooting too much.

On Sunday I was out at Honesberie for first cards. Experienced the no birds from the tower and rabbit traps but saw they got it replaced, apparently caused some hold ups later on in the day. Spent some time on the phone with Nick afterwards and went through some of the feedback; it seems like there was an issue with the toilets which certainly will not happen again. Some of the target presentations were a bit sun affected as well, which was a shame. The low winter sun was lovely and warm but also incredibly bright!

I really enjoyed the shoot, ending on 80 which was enough to second place but not a win which I desperately wanted to qualify for the series final next Sunday.

This coming Sunday will be at Westfield and then the Gloucester Clay Club for the County skeet shoot.

 

[Sian]

Haven't posted much of late as really not been out shooting too much.

On Sunday I was out at Honesberie for first cards. Experienced the no birds from the tower and rabbit traps but saw they got it replaced, apparently caused some hold ups later on in the day. Spent some time on the phone with Nick afterwards and went through some of the feedback; it seems like there was an issue with the toilets which certainly will not happen again. Some of the target presentations were a bit sun affected as well, which was a shame. The low winter sun was lovely and warm but also incredibly bright!

I really enjoyed the shoot, ending on 80 which was enough to second place but not a win which I desperately wanted to qualify for the series final next Sunday.

This coming Sunday will be at Westfield and then the Gloucester Clay Club for the County skeet shoot.

It’s a shame because I think you were in the minority on Sunday for enjoyment.  On one stand alone I used 20 cartridges to complete 4 pairs.  Stand 4 the pink low looper was ridiculous and given they had white clays on the next stand they could have used those.

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

It’s a shame because I think you were in the minority on Sunday for enjoyment.  On one stand alone I used 20 cartridges to complete 4 pairs.  Stand 4 the pink low looper was ridiculous and given they had white clays on the next stand they could have used those.

Which stand was that? Our group had a load of no birds on from the driven tower but as that was the A bird it wasn't a cartridge waster (just tired arms ). I only saw one other no bird which was on the field stand that had a quartering teal followed by a decent L-R fast crosser. 

I didn't have a problem seeing the pink chondelle in the woods on stand 4. Could have been the time of day of course but I shot that as our last stand (about 11:45 I think).

 

[Sian]

Which stand was that? Our group had a load of no birds on from the driven tower but as that was the A bird it wasn't a cartridge waster (just tired arms ). I only saw one other no bird which was on the field stand that had a quartering teal followed by a decent L-R fast crosser. 

I didn't have a problem seeing the pink chondelle in the woods on stand 4. Could have been the time of day of course but I shot that as our last stand (about 11:45 I think).

Stand 2 I think.  Lucky you for stand 4 but I certainly wasn’t the only one, the scorer said most shooters had found it hard to see.  Tony managed to hit three I think and he didn’t see it throu it’s journey he just has the experience to time it and shoot at a space.   To be honest I am getting just a bit fed up with lots of shoots who use colours inappropriately.  More seriously though forget the shoot, targets etc because so many of their young scorers are failing to wear their glasses. That is far more concerning.

 

[Hamster]

Feeling privileged to have shot Owls Lodge yesterday followed by AGL today, rather shabby 4x8 missed on stand 10 at the former meant I ended up on a fairly mediocre 88, started AGL incredibly well considering I had never been there before, just one miss out of the first 8 stands which included some fairly nasty and easily missable ones but as Will says there were also a fair few "club" targets. 

The self inflicted comedy of errors started on the tricky fur & feather stand where I walked off with a 9 only to be told by the scorer that she considered one of my pairs to have been irregular so had to walk back and shoot one more pair again only to promptly drop both  , no matter I thought if I keep my head in gear I can still get a decent score so off I went and straighted 11 and 12 as well and feeling chuffed wiv me "97" handed the card in to the staff in the office only to be told oh no you haven't shot stand 9 yet   . 

Back I went spending 10 minutes to try and find the stand and hoping for "club" targets only to be met with quite a tricky combination and with my head spaced out I then dropped another FOUR birds.   

Oh well, in all fairness I'd have taken the 93 all day long and thanks to Will going "Targets Only" I might even luck into a free entry for next time.   

As for the ground itself, what a lovely piece of ground and so much going for it, unfortunately being new to the layout I made a silly error and walked down one of the "no go" paths and had to apologise to the ref and shooters who greeted me with sideways looks, entirely my fault BUT some of these signs can be missed if your angle of approach to the junction is in some way obscured, far better surely to place some obvious sewelling to actually prevent entry. 

 

[Will Hewland]

Lovely weather at Westfield today.

We started on stand 12 which was a distant looper and a high away. Glad to straight that as a first stand. A good course as ever with some distant targets, but I threw my card away on a little pair of sim white aways, dropping second target on each pair. Stupid stupid stupid. Asked for a pair afterwards and just shot them quickly instead of carefully, which made second target a doddle. Aarrgghh.. Shot most of the rest well enough, a couple of daft misses elsewhere, but managed 87.

My much improved mate Steve Bowe did an amazing job to put in a 95 for a new PB. He was just one behind Stuart Rudling when we left!

 

[wynno]

Sorry Will, I have to disagree with you about this shoot.

Westfield used to be a cracking shoot, targets you could see even if they were 50 yards plus away that needed a bit of thought on how to shoot them. Shooters used to feel challenged by the targets, today I felt cheated.

Safety.... only one word for it appalling. On the rabbit stand ,if the first rabbit bounced and you lifted your gun to shoot it you were shooting directly at people waiting to shoot stand 8.

I was shooting stand 6 when the trapper on stand 5 decides to go for a wander and is in my direct line of fire, one of my squad ran down to tell him and it was as if “oh did I “ .

Very few of the YOUNG trappers had either ear or eye protection, it’s a registered shoot for fu**s sake, Steve you  NEED to sort out that pronto. On the subject of young trappers, why oh why do you let them out on the ground when they are quite clearly not dressed for the conditions, some of the youngsters were so cold they were shivering and couldn’t press the buttons.

As an employer you have a duty of care to ensure that they are adequately attired.

lost the plot on this ground, unfortunately yes you have.

 

[Will Hewland]

Sorry Will, I have to disagree with you about this shoot.

Westfield used to be a cracking shoot, targets you could see even if they were 50 yards plus away that needed a bit of thought on how to shoot them. Shooters used to feel challenged by the targets, today I felt cheated.

Sure, I was only talking about the actual targets and the ground as a piece of land. I don’t disagree about the rabbit stand etc.. I just wasn’t focussing on it. Steve Lovatt called me after the shoot and I did mention it. He wasn’t there today. 

What are you saying about the targets? I don’t quite follow, apologies.

 

[Sian]

Chilly today at Southdown.  Sportrap and then sporting with two goes on the pool shoot.  Enjoyed both shoots felt happy with my shooting although a couple of silly misses like the close slow floppy dinner plate 3 of which I missed!  Did well on my battues today and there were a few.  Joint first in Ladies for Sportrap and first in Ladies for Sporting I think. Four good shoots this week following a couple of weeks disappointments so balance is restored.

 

[wynno]

Westfield has some fantastic terrain, that Steve used to put to good use, the last two shoots I have attended were sloppy. Today for one instance stand 10 on the platform. The first target R to L orange was easy to see, the report target was low and difficult to pick out from the background, that all that target needed was to lift it by a couple of yards so it was visible 

If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it.

 

[Will Hewland]

Westfield has some fantastic terrain, that Steve used to put to good use, the last two shoots I have attended were sloppy. Today for one instance stand 10 on the platform. The first target R to L orange was easy to see, the report target was low and difficult to pick out from the background, that all that target needed was to lift it by a couple of yards so it was visible 

If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it.

That was the one target that I found very tricky because it was hard to see for sure.. missed it twice.

 

[Clynt]

Sorry Will, I have to disagree with you about this shoot.

Westfield used to be a cracking shoot, targets you could see even if they were 50 yards plus away that needed a bit of thought on how to shoot them. Shooters used to feel challenged by the targets, today I felt cheated.

Safety.... only one word for it appalling. On the rabbit stand ,if the first rabbit bounced and you lifted your gun to shoot it you were shooting directly at people waiting to shoot stand 8.

I was shooting stand 6 when the trapper on stand 5 decides to go for a wander and is in my direct line of fire, one of my squad ran down to tell him and it was as if “oh did I “ .

Very few of the YOUNG trappers had either ear or eye protection, it’s a registered shoot for fu**s sake, Steve you  NEED to sort out that pronto. On the subject of young trappers, why oh why do you let them out on the ground when they are quite clearly not dressed for the conditions, some of the youngsters were so cold they were shivering and couldn’t press the buttons.

As an employer you have a duty of care to ensure that they are adequately attired.

lost the plot on this ground, unfortunately yes you have.

You are correct there Wynno regarding the rabbit I pulled out of several first birds which jumped as,I was about to shoot at them !! as  the shooters waiting on std 8  ( who I thought were walking across the old railway line ) were in direct line of my barrels ..... !!! quite difficult to explain to the young girl marking why I had not taken the shots ?? but would guess even at 140m pellets cause injury ......not right is it , bit of thought and care needed !?

 

[Zea]

Westfield has some fantastic terrain, that Steve used to put to good use, the last two shoots I have attended were sloppy. Today for one instance stand 10 on the platform. The first target R to L orange was easy to see, the report target was low and difficult to pick out from the background, that all that target needed was to lift it by a couple of yards so it was visible 

If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot it.

Totally agree; used to really enjoy Westfield but the last few times we've attended have been a test of whether you can actually see the target at the pick up or kill point without being blinded. If you shoot after midday you're completely hampered by the sun regardless of the darkest lens you wear. It should be a fair course no matter the time you attend it... If not, change the time of last entries. 

 

[jonz]

But if you know that attending after midday you are going to have problems with the sun then surely on cloudless sunny days you go early or not at all ??

 

[Zea]

But if you know that attending after midday you are going to have problems with the sun then surely on cloudless sunny days you go early or not at all ??

My point being, that at this particular ground there should not be a problem with setting targets that could be affected by the sun; I could count 7 areas today that were not used & in the past have been used for stands, and back then, regardless of time of day, or time of year you had fair targets that were visible throughout your entry time. I understand that at some smaller grounds you'll inevitably get one or two sun affected targets due to the lack of space, but there's really no need at this ground. There's plenty of space to make it a fair shoot for all of your entries regardless. As I said, if this is not the case then limit your entry times. 

 

[Will Hewland]

My point being, that at this particular ground there should not be a problem with setting targets that could be affected by the sun; I could count 7 areas today that were not used & in the past have been used for stands, and back then, regardless of time of day, or time of year you had fair targets that were visible throughout your entry time. I understand that at some smaller grounds you'll inevitably get one or two sun affected targets due to the lack of space, but there's really no need at this ground. There's plenty of space to make it a fair shoot for all of your entries regardless. As I said, if this is not the case then limit your entry times. 

With the winter sun lower in the sky, grounds need to really consider this. Westfield was OK first thing, just nearly a problem once or twice. 

 

[Hamster]

I brought this subject up a few years ago now when a very poorly set number of stands at Southdown cost me a decent score on a promising card and at the time was given all sorts of lectures about technique   or how I should consider the suns position when planning my day   but slowly it is becoming clear that this is something that grounds are really going to have to work harder at in order to keep things fair.

There are a number of things that can be done to combat it ranging from keeping targets low, opening up new stands or having the foresight to situate the stand underneath a handy tall bush or tree. The absolute minimum they should do is not throw pairs of Teal directly into it.  

 

[chippy]

cambridge had a stand yesterday with a l-r battue going into the sun and a teal straight into the sun. if you shot the battue quickly it was ok but the teal was really bad. the ref could only score it by watching the clay drop so anyone taking a chip off lost a target.