Fair weather shooting

I think I might be about to find out just how keen I am on clay pigeon shooting....... winter is on its' way back with avengance so I may well be shooting in a snow blizzard on Saturday........

The only drawback is that wearing too many clothes can hamper how much feel you get through the gun. I prefer to remove my coat whilst shooing, but this isn't ideal at times.....

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Back to basics....

The more I think about it the more I think that my shooting over the top of stuff is more about basic set up than anything else. It might also explain why I struggle with some tower birds..... if as I suspect I lose the rib of the gun as I point it skywards then I will naturally struggle.... whereas if I start right as I clearly do on occasion then I have a good hit rate.

It is something that I am going to work very hard on at the weekend. I intent to practice quartering birds by shooting skeet all morning, while concentrating on my gun mounting.....that should be more than enough to be going on with.

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Grange Farm Leicestershire

My second competition was something of an eye opener...... I ended up with a 51 which while being worse than at Targets is not too much of a catastrophe.

What it did do was open my eyes to some areas that I need to pay urgent attention to.

Firstly, I am not convinced that I mount the gun in the same place evety time, I believe that I might be holding the stock slightly lower in my shoulder on occasion causing me to shoot over the top of targets. I am not convinced that I am but it might explain why I am on occasion accused of being over the top of stuff.... especially on the towers.

It is something I will watch, to make sure that I am looking up the rib and not down onto the rib as I believe I might do on occasion.

Secondly I seem to have a habit of hitting difficult targets first time by "throwing" the gun at them...... but then when I process what I thought I had done and back engineer my shot I then miss.

This could be due to gun speed, as I try to create the same picture I do so with a slower gun as I improve my stance etc..... this takes away the gun speed as I am no longer pushing through the target..... to in effect try to catch up with it which I usually do on my first shot.

I am going to experiment with trying to shoot targets earlier, gun down also and use gun speed to kill the bird...... It is going to be a skill that I will need to learn, but my basic instinct seems ok when I first go for a target, it is only when I think about it that I cock it up.

This is a common problem apparently, but I intent to resolve it sooner rather than later.

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Sunday morning.....

I am up early and raring to go....... I am a little apprehensive that I am going to take a backward step today score wise, but I'm prepared for it. A score in the 40's will be acceptable at this stage of my learning curve.

Any score better than the 40's will be a major triumph I think although I am still being guided by JT etc when I shoot so I haven't really had a clean score to date.......

Wish me luck.....

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Saturday practice ok so far.......

So today's practice went ok...... I had highs and lows as expected, following the path of last weeks 100 bird shooting competition. I still struggled with some..... the Grouse from the sleepers is not a favourite of mine and will soon be added to my shit list if I don't soon sort it out!

The low quartering birds into the banks were tricky as per last week, but then I got 7/8 on the tower left to right....... pleased as punch. I then got 7/8 on the rabbit pair again.... pleased with that.

The top stand in the embankment is still trouble though..... the going away bird curling left as it climbs is just like the second bird at the top tower last week and is definitely on my shit list!

I finished in the "Bay of pigs" with a sporting compac..... unbelievable 21/25....... and I screwed a pair in the 4th stand that I still can't believe I screwed up.......... still very impressed so far.... roll on the comp at thr Grange tomorrow...... I have been told to expect a score in the 40's so I am prepared to be realistic about my chances........

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Bring on the weekend

So tomorrow I am going to practice what I think I have learn't from my first clay pigeon shooting competition. I am going to be shooting somewhere in Leicestershire with Johnny T on Sunday so I am hoping to have a successful day tomorrow.

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Things to do.......

I have decided upon reflection that I am going to first concentrate on the following;

To practice shooting either on report or simo pairs in order to maximise the practice opportunity. This does mean that I will need to be more organised when I go shooting.

I will need to shoot with other people whenever possible in order to maximise shooting pairs as often as possible.

I am also going to get into the habit of shooting birds earlier so that I will have more control. Apparently by shooting the clay while it is under power it is easier to hit..... in addition I will then have longer on the second bird. This flys in the face of my latent ability of shooting clays on the drop.... which for me at least is easier.

I will also spend time on the towers.

I might be shooting in Leicestershire somewhere with Johnny T on Sunday...... to add to my cpsa ranking.........

I will practice on Saturday in the hope of building my confidence on the towers and maybe coming up with a strategy that I am happy with.

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

My First Competition - part 3

The tower was ok as it turned out, 3/6 and the last three so I was relatively happy that I homed in on the birds ok.

I excelled myself in the "Bay of pigs" which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite bays now I can wing afew of them! 7/8 and I missed the last bird due to a lack of concentration I think.

This shooting competition was turning out to be a lot more enjoyable than I expected. As I headed to the last two stands I was very pleased with the overall results so far.

The penultimate stand was a bird off the top tower right to left moving at no speed at all and a going away bird that curved to the left as it climbed steeply. The result was 1/8 which was a disappointment after so many success's but it is to be expected this early in my clay pigeon shooting career.

The last stand was off the two top towers, one right to left, the other straight towards me over my head, I think I scored 3/8 or maybe 4/8 which was ok considering I currently dislike towers and especially incoming directly overhead ones......

What I have learned is that I have much practice to do but now I know what areas to work on.....

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

My First Competition - part 2

As we went behind the clubhouse at Sporting Targets I felt that all was going ok and this must be about the half way stage.

Behind the clubhouse we had a pair of crossers that looked easier than I made them, but I still walked away with over 50% so was happy enough.

We next headed for the heavily waterlogged 1st bay... I forget its proper title! Hear we shot from the top of some stairs at a pair on report below us, one going away the second incoming. The thing I learnt about these is that they needed more lead than I initially gave them. I left the stand 4/6 which as I missed the first two finding them I was very pleased with.

Next was the tower...................

I shoot at Sporting Targets Clay Shooting ground in Riseley, Bedfordshire.

My First Competition

So I have completed my first 100 bird shooting competition. It was fantastic even if I say so myself. 59/100 was 20 more than I was expecting!

I have to admit I was a little unsure if I was starting too early, but I fine having a value attached to my performance allows me to improve. The competition provided a variety of targets that I had never seen before so they were very challenging.

I started with a 3/8 on some incoming simultaneous pairs that I really should have done better. Next was the best moment of my shooting career to date. 8/8 on the platform with the first bird being a quartering dropper that looks impossible but seemed to suit me.

I followed that stand up with a disaster on the next, a low left right quartering away and down into the ground and then a similar bird right to left that hit a low bank. I had cheekily had 8 shots the day before as I was finishing my practice and had hit 6/8 as singles so was quite confident that on report I would hit at least half of them...... it wasn't like that at all, I had a nightmare and only hit 1/8 though at least I did hit my last bird to avoid blanking the stand!

The next few stands were ok, I hit 7/8 rabbits on report which was great as I often struggle with rabbits.

Some tower birds were tricky, I had the same problem with twisting my body and dropping my shoulder in the process. The stand was acceptable though as was the next at the top of the embankment a looper I think and a right left quite high..... I should have done better here as I hit some early on and then missed too many, but all in all the first half was not too bad at all.

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

All ready for the off............

So here we are, the morning of my first competition. I am due in Riseley at 1pm and am feeling good about my chances of achieving a respectable round.

I slept well which is important and I think I'm as ready as I can be. I am meeting up with Johnny Taylor to do the Competition with him. As I said it will be interesting to see if I can shoot to the standard that I have already done on occasion.

I will let you know later.......

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

Pre competition practice.

I decided during in the week that how I got on today would govern whether I would shoot in the 100 bird competition on sunday. It has been raining all day so I waited as long as I dared in the hope that it might lift, but at 1 ish I headed to Riseley to get some practice under my belt.

I had my new ballistic Oakley shades to try out and even though it was not ideal conditions I did need to find out how much they would help me. I also made a decision to upgrade my cartridge choice. From now on and until further notice I will be shooting Hull Pro One 8's instead of the standard club cartridge that I have been shooting up until now.

I am so pleased with the change in cartridge. I am not sure whether it is purely psychological or whether they are that much better, but I found I could kill many more birds today than I had previously. I had a great day today, and excelled myself in the "Bay of pigs" especially which I was very pleased with myself about.

I met up with Steve Humpheries who like me was shooting on his own, so we buttoned for each other and I was very fortunate to benefit from his instruction and guidance.

I very much liked his view that I am trying to shoot in the space in front of the clay, and at say 40 yards I have a 3 ft pattern so if I shoot anywhere from 3 foot infront to 3 foot behind I should at least wing the clay. When it is put it terms like that it seems impossible to miss as that sounds like a large "window" to be aiming for. If it was that easy then everyone would straight every stand so I am thinking that there is still more to it!!!

I had a great day as I said, I halved my lead on the tower birds and hit some which was good. I still have a few bad habits to resolve, like stopping the gun on occasion, flicking the gun up as I shoot.... which is obviously bad, and not thinking about each clay and where I am going to kill it. I have some clays that I can't help but kill it seems and others that I never seem to catch up with.

I am happy that tomorrow my score is going to be towards the lower end, but if I can bank something in the 40's it will be ok as my lack of pairs will cost me dear I think.

Roll on tomorrow...

I shoot at Sporting Targets Corporate Entertainment and Clay Pigeon Shooting ground in Bedfordshire.

The weekend ahead

I have a big weekends shooting lined up at Sporting Targets. I am going to have a practice in the rain tomorrow and then on Sunday assuming that the practice isn't completely shocking then I am going to enter my first 100 bird competition. I am hoping to creep into the 40's as a first score being realistic as I have had very limited experience or practice with two birds either on report or as simultaneous pairs.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow

Debrief continues

I am now fairly happy with how to fix my faults on the tower. I am sure that rather than not giving enough lead, I was giving too much. I had based my previous "picture" on my success from a windy day when I had a good kill rate. The clays that day were moving at speed with a tail wind so when I gave the the same lead with out the tail wind I was in front by miles....... I am looking forward to seeing if this hypothesis is correct as I believe or whether I am barking up another blind alley..... to nicely mix a metaphor!

I am going to practice on Saturday and if that goes according to plan then I plan to enter my first competition 100 bird shoot on Sunday at Sporting Targets...... watch this space!

Accessories.... or toys!!

Today my new shooting shades arrived. I decided against the latest craze which seems to be for "Hi Def Spex" as worn by George Digweed the most successful shot for over a decade. I decided instead to go old school and opt for some Oakley M frames. My thinking was that I wear dark lenses most of the time outdoors anyway, so in anything but the darkest of days I would need something more than the yellow lens in the Hi def spex. I have three lenses with my oakleys, a blue looking dark tint G26 which strangely looks orangey red when worn, an orange lens which has a name too but I forget and a clear lens. I thing that will get little use but I have it as an option if required.

The reason for this purchase was purely practical, I was shooting a few weeks ago at dusk on an overcast day and had a problem picking out the clays. Andy, Owner of Sporting Targets where I was shooting lent me his oranged lensed Oakleys and I could then pick out the clays much easier. The orange lens makes the clay pop out from its background and hence is easier to find, follow and ultimately hit.

I am working on the practical theory that if I am going to spend lots of money shooting then wasting some of it trying to hit clays I can't see is pointless...... purchase justified!!

I will be using them in anger for practice n Saturday and possibly in my first competition on Sunday.

My mental Debrief

So I have been thinking about why I had such a problem with the high tower on saturday. With the benefit of hindsight I was in the cage when I shot the tower well, so that wasn't the issue after all.

I now think that I was giving the clays too much lead as I had done when it had been windier. On Saturday it was a calm day and so I am thinking that the clay was moving slower than it had been previously. That would explain why I couldn't find the sweet spot by moving further in front. I think I was too far in front to start with.

I will try to adopt Steve Leonards strategy of giving it what you think, if you miss double it, if you miss aim at the clay...... If I had done that I would probably have found it.

Frustrating that I couldn't work through that thought process at the time. It is much like my Karting days, it would be the Tuesday after the race before I had fully debriefed myself and had a plan to fix any issues from the race.

I need to continue practicing my set up routine so that it becomes second nature, while watching for me lifting my cheek off the stock prematurely and stopping the gun. They are my too biggest issues currently I think, the stopping the gun sometimes when I pull the trigger is a bit awkward..... almost as if I can't multitask!!

There is a hundred birder shooting competition this coming Sunday and I am seriously considering entering so that I can start to gauge exactly where I am.

I am not expecting great things as there are still many birds I struggle with and pairs often pose a problem, especially simultaneous ones.

I am undecided, but realistically if I could get my first score in the 40's I wouldn't be too disappointed. I would love to be cocky at this point and say 60's, but there are so many birds that I struggle with that I could easily have ten shots at a target and miss them all like on Saturday with the tower so I think a 40's score will do to begin with.

Practice,practice,practice

I spent Saturday afternoon at Sporting Targets clay pigeon shooting club. Having spent the pass few weeks shooting in windy conditions with different people.

I would at this time like to wish Fletch good luck for his forthcoming bypass operation and wish him a speedy recovery......... I will be somewhat lost until he returns.

I decided to go out on my own and try a variety of targets to see how I could fare on my own. I have to say the one thing that is difficult about going alone is that you can't have birds on report. Otherwise it is an opportunity to refresh yourself with just where you are in terms of progress.

I had a mixed bag, killing more than is normal for me in the "Bay of Pigs" even the long distance B bird that is far from easy.

My biggest disappointment of the day was at the high tower. On my last visit with Johnny T I had killed most of my tower birds and in a strong wind too.......... and yet today with no wind I missed all of the A birds off the tower apart from one, and most B & C birds. The only difference was that previously I had stood in front of the cage when being instructed and this time I was in the cage which is maybe more claustrophobic. It is something that I am going to have to work on in the future.

I did ok shooting into the sun on the platform though, and excelled myself just up from the grouse on a stand with two very tricky birds. The first goes away at waist height and hits a bank 40 ft away, the second is a left right crosser at waist height that hits a bank just to the right of the cage. I had previously missed both these birds when I had been out with Steve Leonard, but this time the going away bird I killed 4 out of 5 whereas last time I never caught up with it before it hit the bank.

The crosser I hit once out of 8 shots, but I was pleased that I worked out how to hit it, and that in spite of how close it is it needs more lead than I had given it before. I got a real sense of achievement from solving this clay and am looking forward to getting back to it next time.

My first proper go at skeet

I head up to the Skeet Range at Sporting Targets for the first time. I have very little experience with two birds on report (one after the other) or simultaneous..... as a consequence I am a little concerned about how I will get on with skeet.

I am assured that it is a good place to practice as it is quite fast and also offers a wide variety of target from each of the stands.

I had mixed results to be frank, starting with 3 out of 4 on the first stand, and rapidly going downhill on stands two and three. The middle stand is without doubt the most taxing as both clays are crossers at there fastest.

When I go to the last stand stood right by the traphouse I experienced what must be the cruelest of all shooting related actions. With my first shot I killed both clays...... now to me this was clearly an act of genius....... I expected a ticker tape parade ........... drinks in the clubhouse...... the shooting equivalent of a hole in one in my mind. But no, it is not a good thing, quite the reverse, imagine getting a hole in one playing golf and being told that it doesn't count and you have to take your shot again...................

Gutted is the only word to describe my feeling at the time..........

In spite of this I do think that skeet is a good practice activity along with sporting compac which to be honest I currently prefer.

Tomorrow I am back for more ..... well if it isn't snowing!

Am I improving?

That is a difficult question to answer. On the one had I think I am as I am now hitting more clays, but on the other I seem to just be swapping bad habits for new bad habits. My latest thing is to get "on" a clay but then rather than pulling the trigger I seem to take half a second to double check that I am right by which time I am wrong!

It is very frustrating at times, but then I am impatient to get to a level of competancy that I am happy with. I still look at most clays and have little idea as to what I should be giving it in terms of lead or not. So if I miss the same clay several times I end up experimenting trying to find out where the sweet spot is. This is of course a good thing, because if you are missing it where you are currently trying to shoot it then there is little point doing the same thing again because the result will be the same. To quote Steve Leonard..... who I think was quoting George Digweed..... "give it 2 ft, if you miss give it 4 ft, if you miss aim at it" which strikes me as sound advice as it should be coming from both of them.

I am currently working on the theory that if I shoot often enough then I will accumulate enough knowledge in time that I will learn to read a clay and hence have some idea of where to start off trying to kill it....... if it doesn't work like that then I am never going to be any good!

Positive mental attitude!

The weekend went very well from a shooting perspective. I spent Saturday afternoon at Sporting Targets clay pigeon shooting ground with Johnny T and Randal. I am determined to keep my concentration, to prepare properly and to make sure that my set up is spot on for each clay.

We start off where I finished last time in the basin with a sportac. This was a little less successful than last time but that was to be expected as I needed to warm up and get my eye in. In spite of going straight in I impressed myself by concentrating throughout and killing several pairs including one simultaneous pair!! Promptly followed by missing an easy going away bird...... the usual reason, I had already killed it in my mind so I failed to respect this "easy" bird and it showed me the error of my ways!

Positive thinking.....

I am optimistic after my last lesson and my additional extra tuition that today I will shoot like a demon! I am meeting Johnny T at Sporting Targets for an hour or twos shooting. Having had some minor success at the sporting compac I fancy some more of that along with some skeet too. The Bay of niceness now holds no fear for me........ although it is still a very challenging place to be.

The sun has come out, the temperature is rising and my enthusiasm knows no bounds..... wish me luck!

Too many cooks.......

As I discover to my cost...... asking too many questions, listening to too many different opinions..... trying too hard will only result in a backwards step. I am very fortunate to have a rich vein of shooting knowledge to tap into. These include Andy Clifton the owner of Sporting Targets clay pigeon shooting ground and no mean shot himself, Fletch my Instructor, Sally Monday a fully certified instructor friend of mine and Steve Leonard who is about as good at shooting as you could hope to be. Between them my learning curve has been rapid, but as I said too many cooks....... even if they are individually brilliant....... will soon set you on the way to dispair!

My learning curve has been steep, but of the hundreds of new bytes of data I am currently filing away the biggest one is that you should stick to one method of learning to shoot and with one instructor.

Over the Christmas break I had the least successful days shooting I have so far experienced and two days later the best...... and it seems only because I was trying too hard to learn too fast.

My next goal is to practice shooting pairs as that is currently an area that I fall down at.

I shot three hundred cartridges on the day it all went well, starting with Fletch, a lesson and 100 skeet, which I hadn't previously done before. It is a very good discipline for beginners like me as you get to see a wide variety of birds.

After the skeet, the lesson continued on the high tower...... which isn't my favourite yet, but I am determined that I will end up loving it just as soon as I can shoot it properly.
We did another 50 there, which finished my lesson nicely and quite successfully. At that point Andy Clifton ambled past and suggested I join him. I did and had another 125 doing sporting compacs........ I think........... which under his guidance and having been dialed in to hitting things went extremely well.

My new years resolution is to shoot at least 100 cartridges per week and to aim to get into "B" class by the end of the year........ which might be interesting as I have yet to shoot a competition and the very act of having two birds in the air either on report or at the same time guarantees the survival of at least one of them.

My second resolution is to rename "The bay of bastards" as "The bay of easiness" .....but that is just for my own psychological wellbeing as I don't want it to become a negative trigger in my mind!