3D Nationals Shoot Report 2nd & 3rd June 2012

It was the Jubilee bank holiday weekend and time for the  2012 NFAS 3D Nationals and having shot in 20+ degree heat at Fleet Ibex last week the traditional English Bank holiday weekend weather had arrived. Oh well the weather is not everything and we would be shooting  at Osmaston Park, near Ashbourne a wonderful drive down the A515 from my parents, the same as last year.

With the Nationals spread across the weekend the weather was going to be drastically different between the Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was going to be cool and damp whilst Sunday could be described, in that Top Gear way, as Mildly Moist and for those that were there you know what I mean.

Again this year the traditional longbow archers would be shoot B course, laid by Pride Park, on the Saturday and A course, laid by Cheshire Oak, on the Sunday but instead of the short walk we had last year we would be the first out each day for the long walk out.


With roll-call done and safety instruction given B Course was first out and the long walk across the park and eventually the course specific instruction before I was off to my starting Target (B22) and meet my shooting partners for the the day Mandy, Julie and Steve. Little did I know at this time that it was going to be one of the most entertaining shoots I'd been on for a long while. As usual my aim for the day was to get around the course with no blanks and more importantly no lost or broken arrows.

Mandy, Julie and Steve

The B Course was the smallest of the wooded areas this year and given the Pheasant pen in the middle the Course Layers had little woodland to play with which severely restricted what they could do. Also this part of the wood was thick with Rhododendrons or Ruddydendrons as they became known. So leveraging the ground they had the Course Layer put on an excellent course.

So whilst waiting for the A, X and Y course to walk out we exchanged cards and chatted idly listening out for the starting shotgun blast. During this time it became clear that all of us were of the same mind set and were simply there for a bit of fun and an enjoyable day.

With the sound of the shotgun it was time to start shooting and because I wanted to take photos I was off to the peg first and started the day with a quick 16 on a Puma through the Rhododendrons before moving on to a Mosquito in a ditch and another 16.

So things were starting off well and maybe I could score the same or more than last year or at least the same and a clear round. Things continued well for the morning and if I was not scoring with the first arrow at least the second was a kill.

Although the misses went rattling through the Rhododendrons with Steve and me looking whilst Mandy and Julie were scoring we found them quite quickly. As it was everyone in the group was scoring roughly the same and so the friendly banter continued throughout the morning as we worked our way through the first 19 targets and around the Pheasant pen.

My first 4 of the day came on a simple bedded deer where I tried to strangle myself by catching the strap on my hat in the bow string, not recommended, but a second quickly came on the long Stag but at least I was not alone.

Long Stag

With the stag out of the way it was back to the normal scoring for the morning as we wandered through the woods following the smell of freshly cooked burgers before finally reaching the lunch stop.

The target following the lunch stop was a long uphill dinosaur and turned out to be my only miss of the day. Although given the height of the Rhododendrons in front of the Red peg I had a distinctly easier shot than either Mandy or Julie.

From this point on my shooting returned to the normal for the day hitting with the first or, now, wounding with the second picking up a couple of 24s on the way.

So far Julie had been either missing the 20 by a Mosquito leg or missing the 24 and this was to continue for a while longer until we finally reached the Orange frog and an ecstatic Julie finally hitting the 24.

And so having wander around the woods laughing between most of the targets and sometimes on the peg, it was that sort of group, it was time for the last target of the day a medium distance Standing Bear over a small bit of raised ground. So far today I had not lost or broken any arrows and with one target left it could be a good day. But the first arrow passed right hit the ground and ricocheted off to the left and was gone. At least it was the last and we could spend time looking but after 10 minutes of searching we had no luck. At which point we decided it was time to go and as Steve wanders around the brambles there it was standing proud all 35 inches of it.

With no arrows lost or broken and only one missed target Saturday turned out to be an excellent day especially because of my fellow archers. It was now time to hand in the cards and head off for the night to return early Sunday morning. 

My Saturday 24s

Julie Finally gets the 24 after a morning of "Nats Whiskers"

Driving to Osmaston Sunday morning I could tell it was going to be Wet driving through the clouds and the rain as I traveled through Buxton to Ashbourne. On arriving the rain was almost horizontal and it was definitely going to be a day for full wet weather gear and as it happen a brolly as well.

With a full set of Mossy Oak waterproofs it was off to register and pick up the cards for the day. It was getting wetter by the minute and given the forecast a number of Archers had simply decided not to come and this caused a few delays as they changed the targets for a few people.

Eventually with all the target changes announced it was off to A course and another long walk. On arriving at the peg I found I would be shooting with Jane, Paul and Andrew (that made it interesting for scoring). Given the amount of rain scoring today was going to be interesting and buy the end of the day the majority of the score cards resembled a soggy mess.

Today the course layer had more wood to play with and as a result they could lay some more entertaining shots and so once the shotgun had sounded we were off for the days shooting and a Raccoon. Given the weather I was not going to be taking many photos. The day started with a 20 but as usual the aim of the day was to get around with no blanks and not lost or broken arrows.

So working our way through the course the fletchings on my uncovered arrows were getting flatter and flatter as they because wetter and wetter. Although I must admit that they still shot as well as dry fletchings.

The A course was hillier than B course, and this would prove entertaining later in the day, providing many and varied uphill and downhill shots that would often prove trickier than they looked. As we progressed through the targets my scoring seemed to be fairly consistent with that of Saturday which was good given that many of the targets were more challenging than the Saturday course.

Even the give-me open shots were not all they appeared and so we worked our way through the first half of the course towards lunch and well deserved cup of tea and a burger.

The first target after lunch was a slight downhill shot from the mud bath around the peg and as my first arrow wizzed over the back the group in front heard it fly through the Rhododendrons never to be seen again well may if the gamekeeper finds it over the next 12 months.

It was now time to start working our way down the slippy bank to the lake and with a few more down hill shots we were soon there. Having reached the bottom it was time to start shooting up the hill again as we move along the road towards the swamp but just before reaching the swamp we had target 35 a simple uphill shot at a Honey Badger. The shot was not overly difficult but the bank was treacherous (below) and on climbing up to retrieve the arrows I found myself on my knees.

Will Jane make it ?

Having made it to the top it was one final downhill and we were into the swamp well bog really and plenty of mud working our way through overhanging Rhododendrons.

On escaping the bog we were on the final uphill climb and 9 targets before the end of another entertain if mildly moist days shooting. With Jane's shooting dripping water the same as Andrews hat and Paul shivering it was time to total the scores, which was easier said than done given the state of the score sheets, and then  pickup our last target and return it to the nearest road before heading back to the main registration area.

With it all over bar the shouting it was time to head off home for a well deserved beer (King Goblin) look forward to next years 3Ds which will again be held in the grounds of Osmaston Park.

Sundays 24s

Results

Saturday 2nd June

Target				Target
		Me	John			Me	John
22	Puma	16	-	02	Fox	14	-
23	Mosquito	16	-	03	Standing Bear	8	-
24	Goat	14	-	04	Puma	16	-
25	Mountain Goat	14	-	05	Fox	20	-
26	Cobra	16	-	06	Honey Badger	16	-
27	Raccoon	16	-	07	Boar	24	-
28	Bedded Deer	4	-	08	Frog	10	-
29	Fox	16	-	09	Standing Deer	16	-
30	Stag	4	-	10	Bear	16	-
31	Walking Bear	10	-	11	Stegosaurus	16	-
32	Prong Horn	16	-	12	Owl	24	-
33	Standing Deer	10	-	13	Leopard	10	-
34	Ibex	24	-	14	Turkey	10	-
35	Walking Bear	16	-	15	Bear	10	-
36	Boar	16	-	16	Jackalope	20	-
37	Boar	16	-	17	Standing Deer	10	-
38	Puma	16	-	18	Wolf	20	-
39	Mountain Goat	4	-	19	Stag	16	-
40	Honey Badger	16	-	20	Stag	20	-
01	Dinosaur	-	-	21	Standing Bear	14	-
		260				310
				Total		570

Sunday 3rd June

Target				Target
		Me	John			Me	John
10	Raccoon	20	-	30	Boar	14	-
11	Boar	4	-	31	Javelina	10	-
12	Reindeer	10	-	32	Standing Deer	10	-
13	Boar	16	-	33	Bear	10	-
14	Pig	20	-	34	Puma	14	-
15	Standing Bear	14	-	35	Honey Badger	10	-
16	Frog	24	-	36	Standing Bear	4	-
17	Standing Deer	14	-	37	Fox	16	-
18	Puma	10	-	38	Alligator	20	-
19	Puma	16	-	39	Dinosaur	10	-
20	Baboon	14	-	40	Cobra	4	-
21	Boar	10	-	01	Boar	4	-
22	Jackalope	24	-	02	Wolf	24	-
23	Boar	16	-	03	Standing Deer	10	-
24	Bedded Deer	20	-	04	Turkey	16	-
25	Fox	10	-	05	Stegosaurus	16	-
26	Standing Deer	16	-	06	Woodchuck	20	-
27	Bedded Ibex	16	-	07	Bedded Deer	24	-
28	Baboon	-	-	08	Mosquito	16	-
29	Bedded Deer	10	-	09	Bear	16	-
		284				268
				Total		552