Fleet Ibex Shoot Report 27th May 2012

With the 3D Nationals looming Fleet Ibex is the last practice shoot before the big event and boy this year did I need some practice. After my Smashing experience at South Wilts I had finished making a new set of arrows and this time they would be 3/8 Ash in the hope that a simple ricochet would not destroy an arrow. So also knowing that these new arrows were 20 grams heavier and 3 inches longer, than my Pine ones, I decided it was also time to finally get my draw consistent and use the same for both Field and Target archery. Given all of that today was going to be an entertaining day and I was looking forward to another fun day on an exceptionally laid course (as usual) that would be a complete learning experience.

So with what promised to be another scorching day I was well prepared with the factor 50, bug spray and many litres of water and boy did I need all of them. So having packed everything into by, Utility, belt it was off to registration and a flea in my ear for not cancelling John sooner then after a chat to my various fellow archers off to the first target of the day. Arriving at target 39 it was time to introduce myself to two relatively new Field Archers Sarah and Alex and the tradition exchange of score cards. With this being only there 3rd Field shoot they'd managed to pick an excellent ground and some pretty good weather.

South Wilts Shoot Report 5th & 6th May 2012

With the success of last years Bluebell Shoot South Wilts were again running it over two days with camping and partying on the Saturday night although given the weather of the previous week the field was likely to be wet and as such I decided I'd rather drive than camp.

So with the weather forecast expected to be dry and cold it was was looking like a good weekend of shooting was on the cards. Little did I know at this point that I was in for a cracking weekend and by that I do do not I had an excellent score. With 8 broken arrows on the Saturday and 3 on the Sunday I only manage to put a score in for the whole weekend that I should have score in a single day. This I have to say was totally down to the archer who could only seem to hit trees and ricochet off the backs of the 3Ds. So given my abilities over the weekend if you had asked me to hit a Barn Door at a 100 yards I'd have missed by a mile good job I was not hunting for food.

Anyway enough of the bad points of my weekend on on to the positives because as usual the course layers at South Wilts did an exception job using all the best features of the wood providing the usual mixture of tricky and deceptive shots followed by simpler and supposedly easier shots. These easier shots usually followed a deceptive one and you were left thinking is this as easy as it seems.