2009 B.H.C.P.S.C. RESULTS
217: Sunday 20th December 2009 - Christmas Shoot
216: Saturday 5th December 2009 - The Tony Gargiulo Trophy.
215: Sunday 22nd November 2009 - The Annual Turkey Shoot
214: Saturday 7th November 2009 - The Chris Wallace Memorial Shield
213: Sunday 25th October 2009 - The Barnsby Shoot
212: Saturday 10th October 2009 - The Treasurer's Shield
211: Sunday 12th September – Express Sponsored Day
210: Saturday 12th September – The Lottery trophy.
209: Sunday 30th August 2009 - Saddlery and Gunroom Trophy
208: Saturday 15th August – The Protected Bird shoot
207: August 2nd 2009 - Browning Sponsored Day
206: Saturday 18th July – Then Snooker shoot
205: Sunday July 5th 2009 - Beretta Sponsored Day
204: Saturday 20th June 2009 - Have-a-go day.
203: Sunday 7th June Napier Sponsored shoot
202: Saturday 23rd May – Independent magazine shield
201: 10th May 2009 - Gamebore Sponsored Shoot
200: Secretary's trophy shoot 25th April 2009
199: Shoot Dinner 2009
198: Sunday 12th April 2009 - the WinGate competition round 2.
197: Saturday 28th March 2009 - The Crystal Cup
196: 15th March 2009 - WinGate week 1
195: Saturday 28th February 2009 - The Eley Shield
194: Suzuki Moto GP Trophy – 15th February 2009
193: Saturday 31st January 2009 - The Laurona Trophy
192: Sunday the 18th January 2009 – Sponsored by Bisley
191: Saturday 3rd January 2009 - The Frostbite Trophy
217: Sunday 20th December 2009 - Christmas Shoot
I’m not sure if it was the thought of a Compak layout, the snow or if everyone still doing their Christmas shopping but there weren’t too many members about this week! Those that didn’t make it missed a treat. Bert designed us a fabulous Compak layout and Dan had a brainwave (or should that be a brainstorm!) to turned one of the stands into a 10 bird, wrong shoulder, optional pool shoot stand! Presided over by Stacey to make sure that there was no surreptitious shoulder swapping everyone had to do the wrong shoulder bit; however Stacey came into her own by demanding money with menaces to bump up the pool and, with a magnificent score of 3 out of 10, (yes I did say 3) Bert took the pot. We’ll probably do that again, maybe sometime in say 2020?!! The Compak was a bit of surprise to some and amongst the chaos there were some serious targets and combinations. Trap 3, a high quartering midi, was always a surprise but, as part of the following pair shot from stand 3, was a downright shock if you waited too long for the incomer to arrive. The best you could then hope to do was wave the midi goodbye. More than a few shooters found out the difference between following and on report birds on this stand! The balance of the 50 birds was made up with 5 pairs of battue in the pit and 5 singles from the tower to get the end of the year confidence back. The “experience” was reflected in the scores with Bert in fifth place with 22, Dan just ahead on 23 and Barry E in third on 25, but the joint Christmas shoot fairies for 2009 with a score of 26 were Paul and Stuart. Paul also organised a Christmas raffle with bottles of wine as prizes which, using Stacey’s money gathering skills, raised £35 towards club funds. One just hopes that the choice of wines were to Paul’s personal taste as, to a chorus of “fix”, he was promptly drawn as the winner! Being the final shoot of the year we would like to thank all of the helpers who have supported the club during 2009 with everything including setting up and putting away. Were it not for all those club members that are willing and able to assist in the organisation and running of the club, it would not exist. A special thank you also to Suzanne and Jill for filling the inner man and to Pam for just putting up with us all. So have a Happy Christmas, may we all have a prosperous New Year and, with a renewed resolve, break more clays in 2010. First opportunity is Saturday the 2nd January 2010 for the Frostbite Cup. See you there.......... Pictures Here
216: Saturday 5th December 2009 - The Tony Gargiulo Trophy.
The club’s old mimesis of a 25 bird Down the Line layout was rolled out for part of the Tony Gargiulo Trophy shoot this week, and yet again we proved that we can’t shoot DTL at the club!!! Thank goodness there were a couple of other stands to ease the pain. The pit had a high 90 followed by a hair parting standard from behind whilst the next stand had a tricky quartering bird and a simultaneous low lazy incomer. Thanks mostly to Barry E, who decided that simultaneous was fine, if you took too long on the first clay the incomer was waiting on the grass to be shot again next time! To make up the 50 birds we finished off with 5 quick minis on the tower. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was especially pleasing to see young Paul taking out so many DTL birds with a 20 bore and Callum scoring enough to put him in the middle order. They certainly seemed to spur on some of the older members!! As for the results; Laurence, Dean & Barry were joint 5th, Frank & Graham came in joint 3rd and James shot himself a personal best to take him into 2nd place. However this week’s winner of the Trophy for the second year running was Stuart, which was just as well as he forgot to give it a clean or bring it back!! There’s just one shoot left in the year so, to cheer everyone up following the DTL this week, the Christmas shoot is going to partly consist of a Compak Sporting layout. Not shot that before? You’ll love it!! So get the Christmas shopping done early and leave the 20th free for some fun. See you there.
215: Sunday 22nd November 2009 BHCPSC The Annual Turkey Shoot
Unbelievable as it seems in looking back at the blog I find this year’s weather was actually better than last year……… when we also had hail and snow! The rest of it was much the same, with the chief shooter in the sky arranging for wind and rain that only the insane members competing for Turkeys would venture out of the clubhouse for. However the ones that are really beyond any hope are the non-members who had a choice, with no hope of a prize, and still put in a score! I take my hat, if it ever dries out, off to you!! As usual there was the out of the hat selection of pairs of shooters to take on the 60 birds of the flush, and two “normal” stands to make up 100 birds. The rabbit and away bird weren’t too bad, but “normal” takes on a whole new meaning when the bottom pit has 6 inches of water in it and the overhead pair of battue only stay in the air for a micro-second or two!! Enjoyment, or was that the sort of camaraderie that you get on a sinking ship, abounded, and with many a spoilt Sunday lunch we finally floated on to a result. In third place, with 45, were Frank and Stuart, only slightly behind Tom W and Dan, who were second only to the dream team (do I hear fix?) of Barry E and Paul G with 54. Thanks has to go this week to the volunteers that braved the top of the tower in the wind and rain to trap for us, and all the helpers, both before and after the shoot, who set up and put away. Thanks also to Howard for supplying the combination of turkeys and wine for prizes. There’s just one Sunday shoot left in the year, meaning just one more shoot to get a decent score in for the annual trophies before the excuses are made and we all start to make our next year’s resolution to do better!! There’s still time for a practice on Saturday 5th December, so see you there.
214: Saturday 7th November 2009 - The Chris Wallace Memorial Shield
A fair turnout of members on Saturday were treated to some very testing targets to compete for the Chris Wallace Memorial Shield. The set-up was one of those that we would classify as “expletive invoking”! Starting in the bottom pit there were an overhead simultaneous pair of a midi and standard that quartered from behind. The committee of shooters standing in line all had good theories but, especially the low bird, shot all the theories to bits, which is more than happened to the clays! Simultaneous pairs were the theme of the shoot with a pair of standards from different traps on stand 4, a mini and a standard on 3 and a pair of 90’s on the tower. The only slight respite was the bouncing rabbit and the teal on the top pit. Unfortunately we were limited to mostly outgoing birds this week but the variety made up for that and, despite the expletives everyone seemed to enjoy the shoot. Triumphant this week in third place was Barry E with 33, Graham in second with 37 but this year’s winner of the magnificent Chris Wallace Memorial Shield was Bob with 39. Our thanks as ever for all of our helpers, both before and after the shoot, and a reminder that the next shoot is the Turkey shoot where we will be running the 2 man, out of the hat, flush that we usually do. No doubt we will be inventing variation 99 of the rules this year. Hopefully we will sort them out before we start, but that will be a first!!!!
Pictures HERE
213: Sunday 25th October 2009 - The Barnsby Shoot
The Barnsby Sponsored Shoot Sunday saw some 30 shooters taking advantage of the mild weather and dusting off their guns to compete for the Barnsby Trophy. It was a pleasure to see some old faces reappear and put their excuses of work, ill health, other pursuits, etc. behind them. What could be more important on a Sunday shoot day than getting those final few scores in for the annual trophy? The layout was cunningly devised this week by George, Bert and Paul. I’m not sure how the conversation went but there was evidence of some score enhancing stands and some that clearly weren’t! On the good side were the left and right (thankfully not simultaneous) risers shot from the tower and, on the other extreme, were the pair of mini’s thrown from the tower!! In between was the overhead pair in the pit, the teal and crosser combination on stand one and the rabbit followed by the long incomer that was a bit trickier than it seemed. The scores weren’t too bad (well not for us!) with a club average of 27 for the day. There were a lot of ties but thanks to Barnsby we had trophies to 6th place. Bert brought up the rear with a score of 30; in 5th was Kevin who was just beaten by Andy, Frank and Patrick, but in first place to take the annual trophy was Paul with a score of 35; Proving, no doubt, that it pays to choose the layout!! Our thanks, as ever, to all of the helpers who set up and put away and to Pam for putting up with all of us! See you in a couple of weeks.
212: Saturday 10th October 2009 BHCPSC The Treasurer's Shield
Saturday saw a goodly number of members contesting the Treasurer’s Shield on a layout that had some old “favourites” and a couple of “testers”. The favourites included a pair of battue from the tower, a rabbit followed by a long incomer and the curling daisy cutter. The testers this week were the simultaneous pair in the lower pit and the crosser followed by a rising 90 on stand one. The scores weren’t that bad ...... really!! Colin, Dan and Stuart tied in 4th place with 29 (could do better); Andy was third with 34 (nice try) and Bob and Paul were top of the class with 36. On the flip of a coin (as we had packed away before we realised there was a tie!) Bob took the trophy for 2009. There was a casualty this week as Ray’s belt gave way. The immediate suspects were a conspiracy between Suzanne’s sausage sandwiches and Ray’s regular disappearances from the field. However Ray hotly denied this and complained that losing his trousers was putting him off his shooting! I speak for the rest of the members when I say that the thought was more than enough to put us all off!! How’s that for this week’s excuse?!! Pictures Here
211: Sunday 12th September – Express Sponsored Day
A beautiful day accompanied a tantalising layout with something for everyone. There was a simultaneous incomer and out goer combination on stand 1, a pair of 90’s off the tower and a high 90 followed by a “kangaroo” on 3. The daisy-cutter on 4 is becoming a regular feature to confound us all and the simultaneous high and low pair from the pit beat some of the best. The scores weren’t great but it took David F, a non-member, to show us how it was done with a score of 38. Joint second were Andy and Paul with 37, whilst Stuart came in fourth, Barry fifth and Dan brought up the rear (so to speak!) Our thanks to Express for cartridge prizes to the top three members and thanks to all the helpers who cleared away this week; including members, non-members and guests. You’re all welcome back anytime!
210: Saturday 12th September – The Lottery trophy.
Continuing with the endeavour to get a series of annual Saturday trophies organised this week saw the inaugural shoot for the BHCPSC Lottery trophy.
The rules are simple;
- Create a well organised 50 bird shoot with a variety of targets
- Have all members and non-members present compete in the shoot
- Add the scores, compile the results and then........................
- Put all the names in a hat and draw one as the winner of the trophy!!
Ah well....... it is the Lottery trophy!
So for the shoot we had a rabbit and low bird combination on stand 1, a pair of 90’s from the tower, a simultaneous incomer and quartering bird, a pair of battue on stand 4 and a simultaneous high pair from behind in the pit.
There were 30 shooters this week and as for the results, Paul G shot 37 closely followed by Andy on 36; A bit of a gap then to Bradley and Bob on 31, Stuart with 29 and Frank on 27.
However, under the rules of the day, the draw was held and the holder of the Lottery trophy for the next year is a very worthy Paul Easter. Paul is one of our youngest shooters and is regularly showing some of the old hands how it should be done.
Our thanks to all of the helpers who cleared away this week and who really did prove that many hands make light work. Keep safe and see you all again in a couple of weeks.
209: Sunday 30th August 2009 - Saddlery and Gunroom Trophy
Weather: High broken cloud i.e. some sun. 16 degrees. Light breeze from left to right.
Breaking news: The high Tower has been painted! First time in 25 years?
More breaking news: The hand trap on the top platform of the Tower has been replaced. Some comments were made as to its slight inefficiency.
Unfortunately there were no bacon sandwiches but Paul Gater was good enough to put together a self service coffee a tea facility and a packet of biscuits.
Traps:
1) Small pit. Left to right, high and low on report.
2) Tower. 5 pairs from the hand trap.
3) Grass cutter and going away right to left rising. Challenging but enjoyable.
4) Left to right 90's from a hand trap.
5) The Big Pit. Was aptly named because of a very challenging 5 pairs together, coming from behind and crossing at about 20 yards out. Which one to choose first? There were those amongst us that were able (or lucky enough) to get both with one shot!
The Winner of the Trophy was Paul Gater with 34 (looking splendid in a hooped T shirt and new slim body), 2nd Patrick Collins and 3rd Barry Etherton. They were followed by Dan Merron and Bob York.
Patrick Collins instigated and donated three trophies for the Non- Members Saddlery and Gunroom Trophy.
The winner was Keith Drayton on 28 ( a past member of BHCPSC) 2nd Dave Easter 21. 3rd Ian Harris (Only the 3rd time he had shot) 4th Jim Graham. 5th Louise Marnett. 6th Dan O'Neill.
There were 31 guns of which 7 were non-members and 6 were lessons. 7 helped clear away. Patrick took the photos.
Thanks were given to "the boys" that set up for a good shoot and to those that cleared away.
There endith a very pleasant morning.
208: Saturday 15th August – The Protected Bird shoot
For the first time in ages we have seen the return of the protected bird stand as part of the shoot, where the aim is to miss one! Something that we are all pretty good at normally!!
In this case there had to be some split second thinking as every now and again a random orange clay was introduced to a normally all black pair of standards shot from the tower. With a couple of notable exceptions, to be named and shamed later, everyone was pretty good at not shooting at the protected birds.
Thanks to Luke the rest of the day’s shoot consisted of a wicked pair of battue in the pit, a rabbit and teal combination and a simultaneous incomer and outgoing 90 over the hedge at the top stand.
The scores were not too bad with Barry E in fifth place, having murdered a protected bird, and George and Patrick in joint third. Paul and Stuart were tied in joint first until the truth came out and the deduction made for Paul’s callous destruction of a very rare and now very extinct species of protected bird.
Jail would be too good but for the day the minus points just saw Paul demoted to second!!
This week also saw the welcome return of the trap on top of the tower. So look forward to high battue, rocket powered minis and overhead pairs again, just in time for the Saddlery and Gunroom trophy shoot over the Bank Holiday weekend.
It’s about time someone relieved Paul’s mantelpiece of this magnificent trophy; so let’s see some serious shooting practice before then and make him have to clean it and pass it on this time!!!
207: August 2nd 2009 - Browning Sponsored Day
The sun shone on the righteous again today and 25 shooters enjoyed a well thought out layout in bright sunshine with a bit of everything to test and confuse! All credit to the boys from the shop who set up for us now.
They gave us a slightly wind affected long crosser on stand one; the tower was a teal from below and a simultaneous long crosser, whilst stand three had us chasing a pair of fast outgoing mini’s. Things didn’t get any easier on stand four with a quick daisy cutter midi following pair, but the piece de resistance this week was in the pit. There was a low outgoing standard from the left that never broke the tree line followed by and overhead rising clay; both would have been easy birds on their own (!) but as a combination, this was the one that raised the most expletives for the day.
Every one seemed to enjoy the shoot but those maybe enjoying it most this week were Barry E. with a creditable 37 in third, Paul in second with 39 but this week a back on form Stuart stormed in with a 44 to take first place.
Our thanks to those that helped clear away (always room for more volunteers now we don’t have a setup rota) and also to Browning for the prizes.
The next shoot, on Saturday the 15th August, is due to be a lottery shoot…………whatever that is!
Only one way to find out, so see you there.
206: Saturday 18th July – The BHCPSC Snooker shoot
OK, as promised the snooker shoot was on the agenda again! Complete with written instructions for the shoot and also, for the first time, how to score (for the shoot that is, not on a night out!!).
The threat of the prize for the member who could get the hang of the rules was lifted and we settled for the more conventional approach of the winner taking the silverware. Well silver is maybe a “slight” exaggeration!!
However, the scores were fabulous. Having had 20 birds on the snooker shoot and 30 on the other stands there was a potential maximum score today of 68 points.
So no, even though the scores look like it, Stuart didn’t get the club’s first perfect round with 50 and Bob wasn’t cheating when he scored 52 to take the Snooker Shoot trophy for 2009.
So what next? Anyone got any ideas for the competitions? We are going to resurrect the white bird shoot, and for those of you who remember that, you’ve been a member for a long time! For the newer members you’ll have to wait and see!!
See you all in a couple of weeks. TTFN.
205: Sunday July 5th 2009 - Beretta Sponsored Day 
The Beretta sponsored shoot this year brought out the sunshine, complete with shooters in shorts and of course the obligatory knobbly knees. The sunshine on a shoot day was welcome; the knobbly knees, well that's a personal choice!!
The shoot was well contested with a good range of targets; unfortunately we didn't do it justice so expect a lot of pickups next time! Notably the DTL style clay from the top pit raised a few expletives and the simultaneous high and low birds shot from the lower pit caused even more!
However in 5th place with a creditable score of 26 was Colin, just beaten by Stuart who in turn was beaten by Bob with 29. Unusually Paul only just just made it into the 30's but champion of the day with a score of 32 was Dan.
Our thanks to the boys for the setup and to Beretta for the prizes. With so many cleaning kits in circulation now we might not be the Club with best shots but we'll outshine everyone with our guns!!
See you in a fortnight? We'll see if we can finally get the rules right with a mini snooker shoot for a special prize; not for scoring the most, but for the member that can understand the rules!!
Keep safe. TTFN.
204: Saturday 20th June 2009 - Have-a-go day.
The have-a-go day was with us again and this year the boys had laid on a full shoot to test the members with a selection of some of their wickedest stands, including the 20 bird snooker shoot. Even so some good scores were recorded. It was good to see both Kevin and James in the thirties.
The biggest problem seemingly (yet again) to be the ability to understand the rules of the mini-snooker shoot and how to score it!! Time to write a manual...........or take up snooker!!
On the have-a-go stands, what initially promised to be a non-event saw the have-a-goers coming in thick and fast. Most of them seemed to get the bug and kept Pam busy by buying extra cartridges. It will be surprising if their enthusiasm doesn't turn some of them into becoming new members.
As always, the more the merrier, or in our case more people to barrack!!
The next shot is on Sunday the 5th July so see you there.
203: Sunday 7th June Napier Sponsored shoot
Following a serious overnight storm the sun came out and so did all the shooters. With a turnout that had Pam working her fingers to the bone there was some serious competition on a layout that could best be described as sweet and sour.
Sweet were stand 4 with a straightforward outgoing pair and the tower with a following pair of rising standards......and then there was the sour!
Starting with the lower pit there was a hedge hopping standard followed by a sky-high midi designed to demonstrate the law of universal gravitation; there was a dodgy leaping rabbit and then everybody’s favourite..........a pair of DTL birds. That’s right, this week the lads gave us a DTL pair from two different traps to frustrate and annoy.
It’s clear that the lads are enjoying setting up too much. It must be time to get them to try and shoot some of their devious inventions. (Either that or put their kneecaps under threat!)
Those that made the best of a bad job in joint 5th were Dan, Bob & Dean with a score of 32. Bradley was fourth with 33, in joint second place with 35 were Patrick and Paul and taking the Napier trophy this year was Stuart with 38.
Our thanks as always to those members that helped clear away and to Napier for the prizes. There is a great expectation that there will be some gleaming barrels at the next shoot!!
202: Saturday 23rd May – Independent magazine shield
Sorry no report his week other than to let it be known that 17 shooters contended for the Independent Magazine Shield and that Barry E shot a worthy 25 to come in 5th. Colin was 4th with a score of 28, Bob and Patrick shared 2nd place with 31, but the honour, this year, went to Andy with a score of 33.
Our congratulations to Andy and I’m sure that he’ll let Bob admire the Shield occasionally!!!
201: 10th May 2009 - Gamebore Sponsored Shoot
For what must be the second time in 2009 the Biggin Hill micro-climate has out done itself and given us sunshine on a shoot day!! That in turn brought out all the fair weather shooters for the best turnout of the year to enjoy a brilliant set-up.
The boys are really getting into the swing of setting up and giving us a great variety of targets. This week included an overhead and incoming pair from the pit, an awkward rabbit with an on report outgoer and then there was that low bird from the top pit again; This week shot from the tower and with a simultaneous high bird from the right just to make it that bit harder... as if it needed that!!
Scores this week were Barry H, Bob, Brendan, Phil and Stuart all on 35 in joint third; Paul scored a 36 to take second place, but this week's champion was Dan with 37. Asked how he did it, Dan was heard to say that he just didn't think! I guess that we've suspected that for some time but maybe he just meant about the clays!!!
Our thanks to Gamebore for the prizes and to all the many hands that once again made light work of clearing the field.
200: Secretary's trophy shoot 25th April 2009
The weather was kind to a moderate turn-out on Saturday and although we had threatening clouds the rain held off. It wasn't the warmest day until it was time to put away, and then all of the gallant helpers worked up quite a sweat. The boys from the shop gave us a brilliant shoot which matched their pre-shoot threat that they had given us some challenging birds. The report overhead pair form the pit weren't too bad. The rabbit followed by the outgoing 90 needed some thought, as did the simultaneous outgoing mini and standard. The rising bird and crosser from the tower was a bit of a test but, the pig of a stand the boys had set up was the following pair from the top pit. As a DTL bird it should have been easy; but then how often have we said that!! Almost everyone was caught out. Howard became the sole beneficiary of the stand as not only were there more pickups available but a good few pounds were spent after the competition trying to find out why it all went so badly wrong!!! The scores remain a secret to protect the guilty but in 5th place was a much improved Bert, 4th was Andy (beating Bob....again!) and 3rd was Barry (even with the new gun). Runner-up was Patrick but, surprise, surprise our winner again this week was Paul. Thanks to all our regular helpers and just another reminder that there is always room for any other club members to meet their obligation to help occasionally. The next shoot on Sunday the 11th May is sponsored by Gamebore. See you there.
199: Shoot Dinner 2009
Pictures Here
198: Sunday 12th April 2009 - the WinGate competition round 2.
Easter Sunday, and you'd expect the twittering birds, the early spring sunshine and the rows of bright daffodils to greet the shooters and bring joy into everyone's thoughts.
But no; this is Biggin Hill on a shoot day, and what do you get ...FOG. In fact so much F. FOG that not only did we never see the end of the field but we could barely see the clays either. Paul did a miraculous job with the set-up for round two of the WinGate to give us loads of short range variety.
Stand 1, well that would be 1a/b/c/d & e , gave us a sort of DTL setup. Shooting a rising teal coupled with an on report crosser to wet the appetite and prove that as a club we really do hate anything remotely reminiscent of DTL!
Stand 2 from the tower was a simultaneous pair of rising birds, stand 3 gave us a left-hand quartering 90 and an on report standard from the right, whilst the pit had a pair of battue in the air for all of a millisecond or two!!
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was always the excuse that you really did score more; only it was in the fog when it broke and no one saw it!!!
The scores for members over the two shoots show just how well(!) we did.
Name |
Number |
15/3/09 |
12/04/09 |
Total |
Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob |
371 |
40 |
32 |
72 |
1 |
Dan |
372 |
33 |
37 |
70 |
2 |
Patrick |
194 |
32 |
37 |
69 |
3 |
Bradley |
380 |
32 |
23 |
55 |
4 |
George |
335 |
31 |
16 |
47 |
5 |
Andy |
370 |
* |
23 |
23 |
|
Barry |
259 |
* |
28 |
28 |
|
Bradley |
380 |
32 |
23 |
55 |
|
Clive |
281 |
15 |
18 |
33 |
|
Graham |
350 |
25 |
17 |
42 |
|
Ian |
399 |
17 |
* |
17 |
|
James |
397 |
12 |
11 |
23 |
|
Kevin |
410 |
21 |
20 |
41 |
|
Paul |
189 |
42 |
32 |
74 |
|
Phil |
154 |
22 |
* |
22 |
|
Roger |
408 |
* |
8 |
8 |
|
Simon |
409 |
* |
20 |
20 |
|
Stuart |
108 |
33 |
34 |
67 |
|
Congratulations to all the winners and especially Bob who has the pleasure of dusting the trophy for the next year.
As ever our thanks to all those members who regularly stay to help clear up and a reminder to all those who we never see that we are a club, not a commercial shoot. If the members don’t all share the load there wouldn’t be a club for you to shoot at.
Be safe and see you next time.
197: Saturday 28th March 2009 - The Crystal Cup.
Our thanks to George for sponsoring today's shoot with some fabulous prizes to add some zest to a particularly wet and windy day, even by Biggin Hill standards.
However it really showed up who the fair weather shooters are!! Only 12 brave souls arrived to take part in the Crystal Cup shoot with George's inspired layout that was designed to make everyone work to win the prizes.
There was a simultaneous rabbit and long incomer on stand one, an outgower and crosser from the tower, and a simultaneous pair of quartering clays from stand three. Stand four was a high bird from behind the shooters left shoulder and there was no respite in the pit either with an overhead standard and mini pair.
The scores varied quite dramatically, but on a George inspired shoot, that doesn't matter as the winners aren't necessarily the highest scorers! That's right you did read that correctly. The winner was fourth and the runner up was seventh.
So in first place, by coming fourth, was Keith who took the cup and a very handsome crystal vase, whilst Graham was second, by being seventh, and took home a set of crystal wine glasses.
Confused? Well you should be. Had you fair weather wimps been there all would have been made clear and you would also have had a very good chance for competing for the prizes.
You do have to be in it to win it!
Hope to see more of you on Easter Sunday and in the meantime keep safe.
196: 15th March 2009 - WinGate week 1
Much against normal trend for the Biggin Hill microclimate Sunday's shoot was conducted in Sunshine!! Let's hope that it's not the only one this year!!
The boys gave us an interesting assortment of clays today with, amongst others, a simultaneous overhead standard and 90 in the pit and an evil daisy cutter, which never got more than a metre above the ground!
There was a fair turnout for the first of the two WinGate shoots. This year, as always, it will be the member with the best score over this and the next Sunday shoot that takes the plaque for the year.A brilliant start from Bob and Paul M must make them the favourites but the rest of the pack is still in contention. Let's just hope that the sun shines on us again for the next round.
195: Saturday 28th February 2009 - The Eley Shield
An overcast sky did not mar the enthusiasm of the few merry men who turned up for the morning's proceedings. After mocking the general Big Issue seller resemblance of Bradley's facial hair, three small boards tackled an intriguing layout of rabbits, outgoers and overheads. Stand one claimed its fair share of victims as many struggled to master the outgoer from the bonfire pit which followed the rabbit/kangaroo.
Shot of the day had to go to the newcomer, Robert Russell, who managed to dust a pair as they fell into line with one another from a single shot down in the pit. Robert was definitely suffering from a severe case of beginner's luck. Cure to be administered in a fortnight.
First place went to Patrick with a very respectable 40 (who also informed me that the Xmas shoot turkey is still taking up room in his freezer), closely followed by 'Big Issue Bradley' chalking up a storming 38. Andy, now a constant appearance in top tier BHCPSC results, brought home third place with 37 beating Bob into fourth.
Fitness fanatic Brendan Mills had a mare with a score of 20. Once again the workman was blaming his tools. However, showing Brendan the way this week with a score of 19 was our young newcomer Callum, who seems set to embarrass quite a few of us before long.
Our welcome and thanks also this week to Suzanne for her inaugural performance behind the grill pan to make Saturday sandwiches a reality again.
This shoot's guest reporter was Bradley while Stuart is being a poorly person.
194: Suzuki Moto GP Trophy – 15th February 2009
The aim of this week’s shoot was to make it simple with something for everyone........we failed!!
What looked simple in theory proved to be simply irritating in practice! Each stand concealed its own quirk; the overhead 90 and on report standard in the pit were probably the most straightforward whereas the going away 90 and standard on stand 4 should have been...........but wasn’t!
How difficult can it be? A few more of us now know.
The rabbit gave some respite but the quartering bird that went with it caught out more than a few, as did the on report teal shot from the tower. Never mind, the high quartering bird from over the hedge had to be the easiest of the day............wrong! That too seemed to catch out a good few shooters.
So what was intended to revive the flagging confidence only served to dent it yet again.
The scores reflected the day with Bob, Barry E and Phil tying for 5th place with a score of 28, Andy and Paul in joint 3rd with 30, Stuart in 2nd on 35, but this year’s Suzuki Moto GP champion, with a score of 36 is Dan.
Never mind, there’s always next time......................or did I say that last time!
193: Saturday 31st January 2009 - The Laurona Trophy
A bitterly cold morning saw our heroes from the shop set up a cracking shoot for the members. There were all our old favourites(!) the rising teal, the rabbits shot from the tower, the very missable left an right quartering outgoers and the pair of battue in the pit which were visible for all of a microsecond before slamming into the ground. Needless to say the 15 souls that braved the cold didn't average great scores! Excuses from George who used his side by side and from Brendan, who just had a very bad day! Coming in joint 6th place were Graham and Andy with a passable 25, Kevin and Bradley managed 27 for joint 4th, with Paul and Stuart on 34 for joint second; but coming through on the rails, by showing us all how to shoot the battue, was Bob to become this year's Laurona champion. Thanks, as always, to those who stayed to clear the field; and as a final thought remember that no matter how badly you shot this week there is always next time, and next time it will all be different..................again!
192: Sunday the 18th January 2009 – Sponsored by Bisley
The first Sunday shoot of 2009 saw all the regulars in attendance, plenty of newer faces and also some whose membership renewal reminded them how satisfying it can be to destroy bits of flying plastic!
The layout was somewhat less demanding than of late but still had some traps for the unwary. The pit had a quartering clay from the left followed by one overhead that looked simpler than it was. Shooting from the tower there was a simultaneous standard and mini and then there was the following pair of rising teal.
Why is it that such a simple clay causes so much bother to our members? Still practice make perfect, so look forward to seeing more of them till we get it right.
The score weren’t too bad for the club with Dan, Bob & Andy all tying to take the prizes. Thanks to Bisley for the cleaning kits; a hint, if ever there was one, for the winners to give their guns a treat!
Thanks also to all of the members who helped to clear the field at the end of the shoot and risked Sunday lunch waiting for them in the dog!
PS. Bradley and Brendan are canvassing members about forming a team and taking part in some competitive shooting against other clubs. Please have a chat and give them you views so they can progress the idea.
191: Saturday 3rd January 2009 - The Frostbite Trophy
Saturday morning saw the set-up team braving the frosty weather to implement Brendan's first at attempting a layout for the club. On the basis that we already have far too many pick-ups the team persuaded him that it had to be possible to shoot at least some of the clays!
So with some "slight" modifications we ended up with an entertaining (but now shootable) layout. Stand 1 was a teal and crosser combination, 2 saw a rabbit shot from the tower followed by a slow incomer, whilst stand 3 presented a pair of battue; at stand 4 there was a fast following pair of 90's and to top it off, in the pit there was a simultaneous overhead pair.
The results had some high points; Bradley came in a creditable 5th, just behind Bob, but the first surprise of the day was Barry E and the Peratzzi working in harmony (at last) to come in 3rd, Dan took the second spot but the 2009 Frostbite Champion, and the astounding surprise of the day, was Brendan.
Congratulations from us all..............but it could be the last time we ask you to set up and compete at the same shoot.......... not that we are at all suspicious!!!