Avalon Shoot Report 16th & 17th July 2011

With the hot spell over and a forecast of some showers this weekend was promising to be cooler and slightly damp and having just returned from a week in Istanbul I was looking forward to some cooler weather and was not going to be bothered by a bit of rain.

But as they say you should be careful what you wish for because on Saturday the it was not raining Cats and Dogs it was raining Elephants and Hippos as the heavens opened at the start of the shoot we we all soaked within a few targets. As a result many an, intelligent, archery packed up and left early and so all that remained were foolhardy and insane.

I'm not sure which of those two camps I fit in but having been soaked within a few targets and having no equipment that would be badly damaged by the rain I decided to work my way through all my waterproofs and stick it out for the day and then try and dry everything before returning on Sunday. Fortunately I do have multiples of some items so the wet and still dripping were left in the utility room to be replaced by new dry versions. The only thing I could not dry was the leather handle on my longbow. Sunday as it turned out was a total contrast to Saturday with only a single short deposit of Elephants and hence by the end of the day even my bow handle had dried.

Raven Shoot Report 10th July 2011

Having originally thought "I've not shot at Raven before" I was proved wrong when John looked at his gold medal and said we have shot at Raven before I have another on of these at home. So it was not to be the first time I'd shot at Raven but it had been 3 years (although I will not be waiting that long again).

So having had a few hot weekends it looked like we were in for a cooler days shooting with maybe a bit of rain but that was completely wrong because from the point we got out of the car the heat started rising and so did the humidity. We were in for another warm day that was going to be very humid in the morning.

The Making Of Bamboo Arrows

As I mentioned in my Wellington Bowmen report I was considering buying some of the Tonkin Bamboo arrow shafts and so I did. Now having never worked with Bamboo shafts before, well not strictly true because I remember using Bamboo garden canes for arrows as a child, I thought I would blog about what I found.

I've been making arrows for a number of years, given the amount I break on field shoots I'm quite good at it, and traditionally I use either Boyton Pine or Port Oxford Cedar (these smell good when the break) so Bamboo was going to be something new. The first thing you will notice is the beautiful red / brown colour of the heat treated smoothed lacquered Bamboo. The second thing you notice is that your shafts are not all identical or of a consistent machined diameter. Given that these shafts are simple cut Bamboo you will also notice that each of the shafts has a natural taper and hence my shafts were approximately 11/32 at one end (pile end) and 5/16 at the other (nock end) give or take and 39" in length.

Jims Jungle Jaunt Shoot Report 3rd July 2011

Well It was that time of year again as the Americans get ready for Independence Day we get ready for a much more important event Jim's Jungle Jaunt in the woodlands near Shacklford. Although Carol and co have not been hosting it quite as long as the US has celebrated the 4th July it is a much more prestigious and memorable event. There were a number of changes this year, for one I was only shooting Sunday, with a new course and only 40 targets it was going to be different.

With the weather forecast saying that we would have a generally sunny day and temperatures in the 20s it was going to be warm again and given the predication for the valley section to be hot and sticky, especially as I entering it mid afternoon,  plenty of fluids were required. After a quick cup of tea and a target change it was off to target 5 to meet up with my fellow archers, for the day, and await the car horn to start.