Jims Jungle Jaunt Shoot Report 3rd / 4th July 2010

Every year the Americans celebrate the 4th of July and this year I also would be celebrating the 4th of July as well as the 3rd. This has nothing to do with American Independence and everything to do with what is, undoubtedly, one of the most entertaining shoots in the NFAS Calendar Jim's Jungle Jaunt and this year was the 25th Anniversary Shoot. Having seen the weather report this was going to be a glorious weekend and Saturday was looking at being particularly hot. So it was out with sun cream and plenty of bug repellent.
We mustered at 09:00, as usual, with the expectation of starting at 10:00 but if you have ever shot at Jim's you'll know this doesn't usually happen. So having spent a pleasant hours or so eating the beacon butty and catching up we were off to the pegs to start the shoot.


Having arrived at the starting target, 44 for us, it was time to turn on the Sports tracker and say hello to our fellow archers who were Peter & Peter, easy for John and me to remember, so we all agreed that it would be easier if we referred to one as Pete and the other as Peter although by Sunday we had Changed that to Pete and Pass-Through Pete for reasons that will become obvious.
For those that have never shot at Jim's the targets are, usually, all home made foam backed Hessian which is generally ok for the longbow archers. This as we found out can be tricky for Compound Archers like Pass-Through Pete.

• Saturday Google Earth File.
• Sunday Google Earth File.

As the whistle blow started the shoot we were stood at the first peg trying to identify what we would be shooting. In fact it was so well camouflaged that we were having trouble spotting it from the peg but once identified, yes it is in the photo to the right, we shot the Honey Badger in a depression and a 16 was a good start to the day. Moving quickly on, for we were being chased by Sam and Owen in the group behind, it was off to target 45 and a single arrow shot at a very small Tick.
With the Tick skewered by all it was time to pass the Tea Tent for the first time, although we did walk up the road instead, and onto Target 1 another very well camouflaged brown target against a brown background that was almost, but not quite, exactly the same colour. In addition it was another single arrow target shoot what turned out to be a Tortoise.
Having picked up my first blank of the day it was off to to the next target (at this point Pass-Through Pete's arrows had been going through the targets but stopped by the dirt behind) a, true, 3D Snake coiled around a tree limb. At least I could hit this one and then it was off towards the Valley and fortunately for us not the temperatures they would experience later in the day. The next target was another true 3D this time a Caterpillar crawling across a branch. Now a Caterpillar is a very thin target and hence I missed.
Oh well it was off next to what is one of the best known shots at Jim's the S a long downhill shot into the valley proper. With 40 points for the Egret and a possible 20 on the Elephant this was a high scoring target and first arrow hit on the Elephant carried a mandatory requirement to sign your hit.

Alas I missed the Egret, one year I will hit it, and only scored a 3rd arrow on the Elephant but then again I was not alone in the first arrow miss stakes.
Moving on from what, in the end, was a very close miss of the Egret and a reasonable 4 on the Elephant it was off to our next target a Snake hanging from the tree and from the peg it was another very well camouflaged target. This was the target where Pass-Through Pete first started to show his true potential with those high speed slim carbons of his passing most of the was through the snake only holding on by the nock and some crumpled fletchings.
With the snake despatched it was back up the bank to shoot down into the valley again over the bracken at a forward facing Black Panther and another 16; I was doing quite well. With the kitty cat down an out it was off to another of the notable Jim's shots the Predator & Prey across the valley. Two arrows and a nice 32 points, ok I could have killed them but 32 point was good enough for me, and then back into the undergrowth to track down target 8 a Tiger in a tree.

There was going to be no way to shoot this standing and the course layers had provided a paper plate as a kneeling mat. Now shooting a longbow from that position under and through the branches of the trees was entertaining to say the least but I was rewarded by a 16 and John by a 20.
Moving on up out of the valley it was time to shoot another forward facing Black Panther and I was rewarded by my first lost arrow of the weekend. Having managed to miss all the trees between me and the target my arrow skidded to the right of the target and under the backstop netting never to be seen again, well not by the end of Sunday anyway, but the second arrow did the job.
Having spent a fair amount of time hunting and scraping when the Sam and Owen arrived it was time to move on to another on of the very well hidden targets. This time a Brown, I'm assuming, Hyena. With the hyena no longer laughing it was back toward the valley with another shot at a cat in a tree. This time it was a Leopard part way up a tree half way down the valley side and not a shot to miss. Fortunately I didn't miss and scored a 16 unfortunately John did miss so I still had to make the trip all the way down the valley side to look for his arrow.
Moving on from the Leopard it was time for the moving target the Eagle and Rabbit. Always a fun target and with a bit of luck and no wind I scored a 4 clipping the right wing.

The Eagle and Rabbit were the last shots in the Valley and we moved on out up to the head of the valley to take a pot shot at an Orang-outang hanging from one of the trees and then onto the wild man of the woods or what I'm assuming was a Gorilla through a narrow gap in the trees. We were now onto our last target before lunch a well placed Leopard through a small opening in the branches of the trees and another tricky shot. With the Leopard toast it was off to the Tea tent for a well deserved Burger sandwich, a cup of coffee, not that I had much because John nicked it, and time to top up the water. By this time Pass-Through Pete was beginning to count the cost of the shoot so far managing to de-fletch a number of his arrow (all could be repaired overnight) loose a number of his nocks. Well when I say loose we new where they were but without knowing which of the hole in the target he made we were never quite sure whereabouts in the target his nock was.
Having filled ourselves it was off into the open field for a long shot at a Rhino in the baking sun. At this point it became obvious that the burger had not done me any good and was obviously affecting my natural ability (ha ha) to judge distance and I completely blanked the Rhino but I must say it was further away than it appeared. With the Rhino safe we were heading back into the shade and the trees on the other side of the field to shoot, what I assume was, a Mongoose and fortunately I was back on target and hit it with the first. By this time we were getting used to Pass-Through Pete's issues with the target as yet again his arrow was through and out the other side but the key question was "Can we find the nock".
Having disposed of the Mongoose it was off to shoot an Owl well hidden behind the brambles. As can be seen from the photo the Owl was not easy to see and even more difficult to hit given the trajectory of a longbow arrow. This target required the right squat, a good eye and more than a little luck. So you guessed it a third arrow and 4 although Sunday was going to prove a better shot.
With the Owl finally seen off it was time to move into the tree proper and take a shot at another of those well camouflaged brown Warthogs in a dip with a background the same colour as the target. But as luck would have it a second arrow kill gave me a 14 and it was off the the next target a very large Spider in another dip. This target was actually trickier than it first appeared, but at least Pass-Through Pete's arrows would be stopped by the bank behind, because the majority of the body was covered by the front lip of the dip which was to be my undoing on Sunday but Saturday provided me with a nice 20 slap in the middle of the body.

With the spider out of the way we were off to shoot another Tiger walking towards the pegs and a 16 was a good result. Leaving the tiger behind it was time for another Warthog through a V in the trees that took me all the way to a 3 for 8 although I was to get my own back on Sunday when the target actually fell over with Pass-Through Pete's shot. Leaving the Warthog for bacon (they do actually taste quite nice) it was off to shoot the Tapir again in a hollow and what was becoming a classic shot for the weekend although at least we could see the target this time.
A 16 on the Tapir was good enough for me and we were off to our penultimate (great word) target before our second tea break, of the day, a Cheetah. Now this should have been an easy shot through the trees at the target but oh no their was a branch in the flight path.
Saturday

But what's worse is I repeated it again on Sunday "Doh".
Sunday

Now it was onto the final shot before a cup of tea and a Looooong behemoth, another good word, of a 3D Elk down a hill to the side of the camp site, although their was some caravans behind which I understand someone managed to put an arrow between, and we were all standing at the top wondering how far this target could be. It was a long way and on Saturday all I could manage was a blank but again I would redeem myself of the Sunday with a Second arrow wound.
After a well deserved rest, it was hot, and a cup of tea it was time to fill all the water bottles before we were off to our next shot at an Otter through the trees. Then onto another Tick before we were back into the full shaded wood and a Micro Pig. The Micro Pig gave me a 16, just, and then it was off to the Mandrill, very nice shot followed by a Snake shot. This snake shot was rather entertaining, to say the least, it was a brown snake against a brown background that was only a few shades different but what really made it entertaining was the way it was coiled leaving lots of spaces between the coils. But a 16 was on the cards before we moved onto the Monkey a ricochet and my second lost arrow of the day. Again we spent a fair time looking but to no avail so as we left I ask Sam to that a look but like the arrow at target 9 she failed to find it as did everyone else that day and Sunday. Oh well it's probably stuck up a tree somewhere but anyway it was on to a shoot an Anteater from a very awkward Red peg and another 16 for and a 20 for John.

As you can see Pass-Through Pete lived up-to his name and although he hit the Anteater their was no evidence from the front and we spent some time looking for his nock poking arrows through the holes in the target.
Next it was another single arrow at a Snake to be shot from a depression in the ground which meant the snake was not much below eye level but a 16 was a good result because the heads on the Snakes are rather difficult to see sometimes never mind hitting them. After skewering the snake it was time to shoot a big red mouth or what I'm calling a charging Hyena before we moved onto another of those camouflaged Honey Badgers and then a Crocodile which I missed completely.
The crocodile was followed by a forward facing Leopard and a 20 before we moved on-to the Wolf Pack. On this target their are three wolves and you get 1 arrow at each and hence a possible 60 points. Saturday I only managed a 16 but on Sunday this target was to prove my undoing and I can say I was only 1 wolf pack away from a Bronze.
With the wolf pack behind us it was of for a nice shot at a Lioness, but only a 4 and a broken arrow, before moving onto a Small Leopard which I blanked and then a well hidden Vulture. In fact we did not work out what this was until we walked up to pull the arrows.
With only two targets to go it was time to get my act together and score some points so a 16 on the Lioness and the Tamarin was a good way to finish the day before walking back to the tea hut for a final drink before heading off home for the evening, a nice cold shower and a beer or three.
Sunday morning we arrived at the appointed time to find we would be shooting with Peter, Pass-Through Pete and Pass-Through's better half starting on the same target number. During the night the course changing pixies had been out an modified a number of the shots with the odd target changed. Although the pixies had been busy not all the changes made the shots more difficult but always more entertaining. Following a run-in with a "White Van Driver" who forced me off the road on the way to the shoot, cost me a new tyre, I was not quite sure how the day would progress but given the weather forecast I knew it would be cooler. Whilst eating the Beacon Butty for breakfast we bumped into Fred, but not his nipper who was working, and a few other Westcott archers who were there just for the Sunday.
As it turned out Sunday would be a far better days shooting, apart from the odd stupid shot, and I scored 40 points more than the Saturday and more to the point no lost or broken arrows. As mentioned a First arrow on the Elephant, a Second arrow on the Elk and a first on the moving target (Eagle & Rabbit) were the highlights of the day whilst a blank on the Wolf Packs and a first arrow between the Eagle & Rabbit on the moving target were not so good. At the enter of another entertaining day it was time to see if we had won anything in the raffle and wait for the medals or rather John's medal as a Wolf Pack cost me mine. At least I still had a full quiver whilst Pass-Through Pete had most of his arrows, he did have a spectacular breakage on target 8, but only 1 nock. If it was not for Owen and his spare arrows Pass-Through Pete would have had an interesting shot at the wolf pack.
All in all it was another excellent weekends shooting at Jims Jungle Jaunt and I'm already looking forward to next year. As I have said before if you have not tried this shoot then it is a must but only if you want a fun packed weekend.

Sunday Photos

Queue for the Elephant & Egret and Carol showing us how it should be done.

Oh $&!% Damn where are all the pieces.

Close but no bananas although everyone in the group hit the target with one of their arrows.

Well we killed that one.

Don't Shoot !

Saturday 3rd July

Target				Target
		Me	John			Me	John
44	Honey Badger	16	16	22	Warthog	8	10
45	Tick	16	20	23	Tapir	16	4
1	Tortoise	-	16	24	Cheetah	14	20
2	Snake	16	20	25	Elk - long	-	10
3	Caterpillar	-	-	26	Otter	16	16
4	Elephant & Egret	4	10	27	Tick	20	-
5	Snake	16	16	28	Micro Pig	16	16
6	Black Panther	16	16	29	Mandrill	16	4
7	Cheetah & Zebra	32	32	30	Snake	16	16
8	Tiger in tree	16	20	31	Monkey	10	16
9	Black Panther	10	16	32	Anteater	16	20
10	Hyena	16	20	33	Snake	16	-
11	Leopard in tree	16	10	34	Hyena	16	16
12	Eagle & Rabbit (moving)	4	-	35	Honey Badger	16	16
13	Orang-outang	10	10	36	Crocodile	-	10
14	Gorilla	16	16	37	Leopard	20	16
15	Leopard	16	-	38	Wolf Pack	16	-
16	Rhino	-	-	39	Lioness	4	10
17	Mongoose	16	16	40	Small Leopard	-	4
18	Owl	4	16	41	Vulture	10	16
19	Warthog	14	16	42	Lion	16	16
20	Spider	20	8	43	Tamarin	16	16
21	Tiger	16	16		Total	568	562

Sunday 4th July

Target				Target
		Me	John			Me	John
44	Honey Badger	16	10	22	Warthog	16	16
45	Squirrel	16	16	23	Tapir	16	16
1	Tortoise	16	16	24	Cheetah	8	16
2	Snake	16	16	25	Elk - long	10	-
3	Caterpillar	-	-	26	Otter	16	16
4	Elephant & Egret	16	10	27	Tick	-	-
5	Snake	10	16	28	Micro Pig	16	-
6	Black Panther	16	16	29	Mandrill	4	10
7	Cheetah & Zebra	20	36	30	Snake	16	16
8	Tiger in tree	16	16	31	Monkey	16	20
9	Black Panther	16	16	32	Anteater	20	10
10	Hyena	16	10	33	Snake	16	-
11	Leopard in tree	16	20	34	Hyena	16	10
12	Eagle & Rabbit (moving)	-	10	35	Honey Badger	10	16
13	Orang-outang	20	10	36	Crocodile	16	10
14	Gorilla	16	16	37	Leopard	16	16
15	Leopard	16	-	38	Wolf Pack	-	-
16	Rhino	16	-	39	Lioness	16	4
17	Mongoose	14	14	40	Small Leopard	10	-
18	Owl	16	8	41	Vulture	20	16
19	Warthog	10	8	42	Lion	16	14
20	Spider	-	14	43	Tamarin	20	16
21	Tiger	16	10		Total	608	510