Shooting outside for the first time......

[Bear1970]

Hey folks!!

Not been around a great deal thanks to work and moving and life in general! I've not even shot indoors in weeks because firstly, I moved about 2 hours away (but only 15 miles) from BVA which made it difficult, and secondly, my car got broken into and some muppet stole the air filter system in the engine and damaged the door so it was undriveable. Pah! The insurers have also decided it's not economic to repair so I've to wait now til they decide how much the car is worth and send me a cheque to get another vehicle!! All that has made it all but impossible to get anywhere far but on Sunday I bit the bullet and jumped on a bus to go visit a club near my new home

Bromley Archers was my chosen club and after 2 buses and a looooooooooong walk (I got off 4 stops too early!!) with my kit bag I turned up about 20 minutes after they started Luckily it was just a general club shoot so after a quick hello to the Field Captain and an explanation of who I was I was able to set up and have a go

First target was at 40m which is about twice as far as I've shot in about 10 years! (did some archery with New Forest School Of Archery way back!) I did pretty well!! Every arrow hit and I was happy with my groupings by the end of 3 dozen arrows time was gettin on so I had a go at 50m as well.

That went pretty well too and again, every arrow hit, with a few in the gold as well. By the time I'd shot another 2 dozen there was only about 4 of us left and the other 3 were all shooting at 80m I asked if I could join them and so had my first long distance shots! I think I need to get a new (or different) sight as I moved the pin as low as it would go and I was coming up well short and I had to aim about 1-2 inches above the top edge of the boss to hit!

It's funny but for me, at that distance their was a distinct joy at releasing the arrow and watching it's long flight and then hearing the thunk as it hit the target!! I didn't mind where it landed at that point, I was just happy that on my 3rd 6 arrows I got 5 nice clear thunks, including one gold!

It's giving me a boost that I can do the longer distances and a determination to get along to the field much more often!! I know I can get there relatively easy on the bus and I evne discovered that one goes from the end of my road to within half a mile of the field I'd kinda resigned myself to a long wait before shooting again but I'll try and get there every other weekend now until I have a car again!!

Thanks for listening!! hehehe

Pete

[Bear1970]

Hey Ruth!! No worries about me falling off the face of the planet lol I've had to put Aikido on hold for a while so Archery is my only real hobby

I'll be going as much as I can and aiming to shoot as much outside as possible now I've made the first step!!

Originally Posted by ruthmc

Now I just have to convince you to come along to the Ironman frostbite I need a backup windbreak in case Radar_UK can't make it

Ruth

When, where and how much? lol If I'm available and I can get there easily enough I'll try and make it I'm a great windbreak and hand warmer me!!

[Bear1970]

Cool, I've now registered for the Winter League

I'll sign up to the Ironman Frostbite as soon as I get paid!

Beach wear eh? They have beaches in Iceland don't they? hehe

[Bear1970]

Went back down to Bromley Archers today and they had their Agincourt Clout Shoot Today being the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of said battle.

It was great fun! I've never shot a Clout before and I really enjoyed it. It's very different shooting to get your arrows in a circle on the ground

They had the options of shooting at 100 (metres or yards I wasn't sure lol I think it was metres though!), 140, and 180. After a quick discussion about my bow (38lb TD01 style) I decided I'd start at 180 and see how I did. If I was struggling after the sighters then I'd drop to 140...... it wasn't a problem my first 6 were all too long so I decided to stay on the 180 line and see how it went.

It all went decidedly well After the 3 dozen arrows I'd scored a grand total of 15. I was just happy I could get arrows in the scoring circle so wasn't expecting much more. Then, after soup and the raffle the scores were announced and it turned out I had shot well enough to come joint 2nd at 180!! I was comletely surprised lol

So I also got my first medal lol Just a small silver one with the club badge on but it was a great day and I was well pleased