the classic from my point of view

[Steve Lovatt]

wow what a week that was , started on weds with the services day , i was at the ground at 5.30 no rain ,then at about 8am it started and it kept coming all day which really annoyed me as the ground looked like a first class golf course on the tuesday and then you guys arrive and its a little muddy underfoot . the services day started and it soon became clear that the scores were going to be down on normal but the laughter and enjoyment level was still there somehow , at the end of the day i had wes from blaze and my good lady wife saying slacken it off its too tricky so me being open minded completely left it as it was , as i wanted a classic of old for once .

thursday morning was very stressfull first thing worrying about getting people in the car park as the gate way was so wet but then a farmer freind came and laid some solid track so panic over , after making the decision to keep the targets as they were i sort of crept around in the truck biting finger nails until i could study the first rotation of cards and gauge the atmosphere of shooters and it turned out ok 

we had one trap issue and that was the pink teal on red 6 that broke clays intermittently so we changed the carousel on it and that was that, and other than batteries changing a couple of niggly bits of clay stuck on the plates there were no great dramas 

our big concern over the past few months was logistics ,how long will it take to shoot a course , can we get people to the courses quick enough , i have lost count the amount of times we have walked from the tent to that blue course timing ourselves each time , but it all worked a treat so thanks to the tractor drivers .

so a big thanks to our sp[onsors for this , edgar brothers , promatic , gamebore

most importanly from our side of things thankyou all the shooters that came and enjoyed the targets , catering , etcc, it really means alot and now we have had so many messages i have lost count 

the results are a little slow coming out on our normal channels as this was blaze publishing side of things but im told they will be out on our results today 

so thankyou for helping us to put the classic back into the classic and look forward to next year 

steve and allison

 

[stevekeat]

Rain couldn't spoil it Steve, had a great day and i know which targets i need to work on now to get a better result next year (and in general). Everything looked so hit able then you miss and start the head scratching. I missed in front of alot of stuff.

Hope its more of the same at garlands Sunday so i can exorcise a few demons.

 

[Jeremy Baker]

Well done Steve and Ally. Knew you'd do it and you did.
With bells on and sugar on top.
Absolute blinder of a Classic.

 

[Dunc]

Steve,it was brilliant.  You and your team did a great job -  I was there all day Sat and didn't hear a single complaint from anyone. But I did hear many compliments. 

Even when the heaven's opened, the spirits weren't dampened.  You have every reason to feel very satisfied - and proud.  True professional.

 

[teepee1234]

+1 to all the above, superb effort!  :hi:

 

[Darkside]

Steve, so my prediction on facebook of 135 winning A class wasn't far off...Aspire with 131, (I feel he was 4 light,) not quite the 90%, but 87.3% Interesting...  :logik:   :shifty:  

 

[Darkside]

. the services day started and it soon became clear that the scores were going to be down on normal but the laughter and enjoyment level was still there somehow , at the end of the day i had wes from blaze and my good lady wife saying slacken it off its too tricky so me being open minded completely left it as it was , as i wanted a classic of old for once .

steve and allison

Steve, your HG score was the same as last year, thats the first Classic I've shot, 110 or 73.3%, I was happy with how I shot some stands but  I didn't shoot well at times. I found the first 5 stands I shot on the blue tricky and dropped too many, but the targets were fair, showing face/belly, dropped silly one's all day because the slightest dip in concentraition cost me a bird of worse a pair!!! I can think of more than 10 birds on each course that I'm really annoyed at myself for missing, I didn't feel 'robbed' of any, anything I missed was my mistake, messed up the simo incomers taking the wrong bird first, should have changed but went on auto pilot and kept trying to shoot them the wrong way and missed 4 doing so!!! I think the difficulty level was spot on, can't think of any 'lottery birds' so to speak, It did as you said it would, showed up any weaknesses in peoples technic...same again next year please!!!

 

[SP Clay]

Excellent Event and Excellent targets. The teals on both courses were awesome --- any chance of some at Garlands on Sunday!

Well done to you both, can't wait for the targets at the British!

 

[Steve Lovatt]

who would be happy to shoot that standard of target at a reg shoot every week then ???????

 

[Darkside]

Me...didn't think it was out of the way hard, tricky, needed concentration but in the main part fair...

 

[Macc Ladd]

Yes I agree with James, if we shot more of that, we would be better equipped to shoot that standard of targets, keep them coming Steve!!! Just not all at once!! Haha

 

[Aspire]

Careful people,you'll all get called 'Billy Big Bolloxes' in a minute You're not allowed to say you like a tough shoot...

 

[Jeremy Baker]

Happy to shoot those targets all day long.
"Kahunas go!"

 

[Macc Ladd]

Careful people,you'll all get called 'Billy Big Bolloxes' in a minute You're not allowed to say you like a tough shoot...

oh yes I take it all back!!

 

[maddmatt]

who would be happy to shoot that standard of target at a reg shoot every week then ???????

Definitely Steve, Sunday reg shoots are a tad soft and are often won on 97 - 99 regularly!

 

[Will Hewland]

Not by me they're not. Leave alone!

 

[MARK-POACHER]

i think within 5 years everyone will be in A or AA if shoots stay as they are, not saying  that i don't enjoy any shoot i go too . BUT..  :crazy: i shot the classic and i was buzzing as the targets were as targets should be sporting....not stupid..just bloody good targets that made you think and smile when you missed the buggers....

more of it i say....

 

[Hamster]

You could count the number of people capable of regularly shooting 97+ at registered shoots on the fingers of two hands   , nothing wrong with that thinks I as they've worked damn hard to attain that standard. 

In principal I see nothing wrong making targets more interesting/clever/harder/trickier as Steve has a knack to, why not indeed. Don't expect major changes in classifications though, that's not how it works, the cream always rises to the top and the better shooters (A/AA's) will still hit more than the B/C's. 

Can't quite get my head round the tisallabiteasypeasy at the mo bravehearts, not looking at their scores anyways.   :dontknow:   :lol:

 

[teepee1234]

Whatever the targets are, they need to be shot.  I'm still learning, so fly any bloody thing and let me work it out - with coaching, practice, luck...  It's not all about the targets though, it's also about the mental game and the concentration required to do exactly the same thing 3, 4 or 5 times on the trot to build a good score.  I don't have that yet, and at my age, I hope I don't get it!  Missing and messing up keeps me coming back every week, not shooting 100 straight!