Druids Shoot Report 23rd June 2013

With the arrival of the Summer Solstice it was time for the Druids shoot unfortunately I'd only be shooting the Sunday this year but based on previous shoots I was expecting another fun days shooting. So with an early arrival it was time to register and grab my cards before a cup of tea and then a chat with my fellow archers some of whom I had not seen for a fair while.

So following te standard talk it was off to my starting target, 30, and time to find out who I would be shooting with. On arrival at target 30 I was surprised to see that this year I would be shooting with Adrian and Dylan who I'd shot with on the Sunday last year and we  would be joined by Brian for an entertaining days shooting.

So with the sound of the horn it was time to start the days shooting and a shot at a standing boar. At this point I found out it was going to be a difficult day for taking photos with very little light in the woods and the tendency for the camera to report the chance of shake. Oh well hopefully my shooting with the bow would be better.

So with the boar out of the way and a quick 10 it was time for a sitting mountain lion and a 20 so things were looking up and a plan to keep all my scores ending in 0 would make the maths easier.

Alas this plan was quickly spoilt by a pig of a shot before a tiny wood chuck with more base than target before on to a deer. Moving up through the back woods it was beginning to get brighter and at least some of the targets were becoming clearer and so it was onto a long ram. This year I made same mistake as last year and put one left whilst Dylan made the same mistake as he had on Saturday and dropped short.

Following the long shot it was time to drop back into the woods and a longish Panda where I managed to lose an arrow even though we knew where it landed, but hey that's all part of the game, before a boar and a deer.

Now we would be heading to the top field and long open shot at a raptor. Now this would not have been to bad if the wind had not chosen this moment to pick up which turned the entertaining long open shot into a rather more challenging one. Simple solution was to ignore the wind and I was rewarded with a luck leg but that will do nicely.

Following this was one of the most entertaining of the days shots a pair of Owls through the centre of a circular boss. Now the trick was to hit the big owl and not the small one. As it was I let both survive as I could not even find the hole.

So it was time for the first tea stop of the day before we headed of through the lower wood and some more well laid shots and eventually onto some of the famous Hessians that can be found at Druids. Although they always look to good to shoot it has to be done and with the Sabre Tooth tiger I decided it needed 3 but could not score them all.

I'll take 3 then ! - can I score them all

Moving quickly on it was time for some more 3Ds and then out into the second field with some interesting uphill shots at some rather small targets before heading back into the woods and some entertaining shots. The odd thing is how dark it suddenly seems when moving back into the woods. So it was on through the woods heading for another tea stop and then we came across a Tortoise head on. So the question we were all asking is where is the kill at the front of the tortoise. As it turned out not where we all thought but luckily for Brian he shot it wrong and hit the kill.

I now know

A quick fox and cobra then it was time for tea before the only new Hessian of the weekend the bounty hunter from Starwars and then we were out into the field for the final time just as their was a bit of rain in the air. A quick shot at a Carp, I forgot to photograph, and a deer then we were back into the woods for out final few targets of the day.

With only 9 to go it was time for some entertaining short shots across the small stream in the back woods before heading up for a mini bear that had caused a fair few problems to the guys on the Saturday before our penultimate leopard and where I hit the wrong spot with the first arrow and then onto the final target of the day a bedded goat which I left with sinus problems.

Having had another excellent days shooting at Druids it was simply time to pack up the car and head off home to contemplate what could have been and look forward to the next shoot.