Write on Target
Now the winter's here and we can't get outside to shoot, we've managed to find time to do a Newsletter!! So wrap up warmly and read enthusiastically.
Records Report
West Midlands Summer Postal League
We are currently seventh out of eight in Division 1, and in prime position for relegation.
County of Worcester Summer Postal League
We are fifth out of six, with Roger Hanson having the highest gents recurve score for July.
New Records
| Recurve | |||
| Gemma Williams | Short Junior National | 447 | Club Record |
| Compound | |||
| Margaret Hanson | Long Warwick | 328 | Club Record |
Members' Achievements
Shoot Reports
All-comers Warwick - 12 September
We had an excellent turn out this year - thank you all for making the effort. By all accounts, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Using our new scoring system, ie by handicap and distance, the results were a better reflection on people's ability.
Jo Horner won the ladies trophy;
Wayne Dunstan won the gentlemen's trophy;
Matthew Ingram won the Junior trophy.
Well done to all three.
Many thanks to Derek once again, for all the background work, and helping make it a successful shoot.
Sword of Shrewsbury
Five of our longbow members shot the Sword, returning with a bag of four medals and a boot-full of raffle prizes - a good day was had by all.
Severn Valley Field Shoot - 17 October
Four members shot this on a surprisingly dry day. Bob Hanson had second place Freestyle Gent; Margaret (luckily - she was the only one in her discipline!) came first Lady Compound Unlimited; Carl Haywood came back with all his arrows (well, it WAS his first field shoot), so was well satisfied.
Indoor Shooting
The indoor season has started at Perryfields School, from 8.00 pm on Fridays, at a very reasonable £3.00 per person per night. Once again, we need your support to maintain this facility - it's there for your benefit, so that you can shoot all through the winter months in the dry and relative warmth. Use it or lose it!
Members' News
Bob Cole is now out of hospital and on the road to recovery, taking gentle exercise and probably bored out of his tree! We do wish him well, and look forward to seeing him back on the shooting line.
This is for your eyes only, Bob - lots of people from other clubs have enquired after your progress and send their best wishes.
Editors' Note: Bob put in an appearance at Perryfields on 22nd October - Nice one Bob!
Annual General Meeting
The AGM was held on 6 October, at which time there were some changes to your Committee, as detailed below:
Wendy Taylor is a new member (without portfolio)
Carl Haywood took over as Chairman
Peter Langmaid took over as Tournaments Officer
Thanks are due to Pete Clarke for his stint as Tournaments Officer.
The meeting also voted to increase our annual subscriptions to £65.00. This is broken down as follows:
GNAS - £29.00
Region - £2.75
County - £5.50
SCOA - £27.75
Junior Fees will be increased by £1.00.
Dates for your Diary
7 November - SCOA's Annual Open Worcester. (Five dozen arrows at 20 yards)
This year this event is being held at Perryfields High School (our indoor venue). Sighters are at 1.00 pm, and there is one session only. If you've never shot a Worcester before, now's your chance! But you'll have to be quick, there's only 40 places, and bearing in mind this is an open shoot, please contact Peter Langmaid as soon as possible.
If you're not shooting, but would like to help things run smoothly, please contact Bob Hanson or have a word whenever you see him. A work party will start things off at noon.
28 November - Redditch Stafford (Six dozen arrows at 30 Metres)
This is a Garrington Cup round. If we could just get a team together, that's a good start. There are six Garrington Cup rounds, and the best five of those count. We need people who are prepared to have a go, so that we can get our feet back on the ladder of success.
If you would like to be part of our 'squad', contact Clive for dates and details, and he will ensure you are booked in. In particular we need ladies and juniors, as they are an integral part of the team.
If you would like "Write on Target" e-mailed to you on what Bob charmingly calls the "InterWeb", please let us know your e-mail address, so we can do it!
Bob's Bows - Part 5
The OK was so ugly that I had to have one, but unfortunately over the time that I shot it, as a target bow we didn't get on together, and my scores reflected this.
My eye was taken with the Marksman Portland 2000 and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try one. So, with Mag in tow, back to Marksman we went. Les Howis had sadly died, but his wife and daughters had kept the business going, not at Cuckney, but now at Welbeck Abbey.
Having 'phoned them to let them know we were coming, and roughly what I was looking for, when we arrived everything was ready for us, including a cup of coffee.
The riser of the bow was an unpainted factory blank to which were fitted the limbs and attachments of my choice. We were then shown outside to the shooting range - a beautiful walled lawn with the target placed safely in front of the wall!
Starting at 20 yards, I shot the bow to get the feel of it and, as I gained confidence, moved back 30, 40, 50, 80 yards, which was the limit of the lawn. But I needed to know if it would do 100 yards. So, using Mag as a lookout, I worked my way down the service road, and had a bash, being fearful of banging one into the wall.
To my joy, 100 yards - easy peasey - no damaged arrows, and no delivery men shot! After trying various limbs and stabiliser set-ups, I decided to relieve Marksman of one of their bows. After settling quite easily on technicalities such as poundage and stabilisers, now came the hard part - what colour riser? Two hours later we were on our way home. I still have my Marksman 2000 - it is a beautiful bow (gunmetal grey, by the way), and still shooting as well as ever.
Apart from the bow, the biggest breakthrough was the purchase of carbon arrows. Having tried the all-carbon type, and weighed up the pro's and con's (ie the increase in speed against not being able to find them in the grass in the unlikely event that I missed; their tendency to shatter thus producing lethal carbon shards), I opted for the Eastons with the aluminium core.
The improvement in my sight marks was outstanding, but my style had to improve to handle the extra speed, as carbon arrows are not tolerant to mistakes.
The Marksman, the arrows and I got on well together for many years. Unfortunately, something had to give eventually, and it wasn't the bow or arrows. They are still as good as ever, the clicker (an invention of the Devil) and a mental block on my part, made me contemplate and eventually take up the Compound.
Dave's Quiz
Answers to Quiz 32
Quiz 33
Archerix
One is never too old to unlearn bad habits.