Good End to a Great Year of Shooting

We had the final DSG shoot of the season on Saturday which was 100 bird Sporting at Sporting Targets.

It was a fairly stiff round however I started fairly well only missing the odd one or two until I got to and evil quartering left to right and a mini that really wasn't doing to much. I let it get to me and only scored a 2/8.  The nest few stands I struggled to get back to my  early form whilst everyone else including Adrian were shooting very consistently. I did finish the round much stronger with my last 3 stands scoring 7,7,7. I hadn't been counting my score at all however I did expect I had struggled to break 70 when people asked what I finished on. When the scores came through I had finished on a 72. I was chuffed with this considering I had missed 6 on a fairly straightforward stand. It was enough to get equal high gun with Adrian & Graham Long however Adrian pipped us on countback. Meaning I finished equal second and winning B Class. It was refreshing to have a new member shoot with us and a hopeful new member.

The DSG also held their AGM and I was very proud to be re-elected as secretary for a further year. After the AGM we had our presentations for the season and I was fortunate enough to win the Sporting & Skeet shield and get Second in the DTL shields. These shields were for overall high gun for the DSG over the season based on the 4 best shoots. I managed 106/120 on sporting, 94/100 on skeet and 90/100 on DTL.

Next season's DSG shields will be hotly contested with new members like Graham Long, Darrel White & Jamie Gutteridge taking more of an interest and also our existing members determined to get some honours.

So what a season; I never imagined in October last year that my shooting would come on so much and got so many honours. The confidence of winning the CPSA disabled shooter of the year has certainly spurred me onto do so well and the support of sponsors like Puff Baker & Joe Garnham of GBS have been terrific then the coaching that Phil Gray has given me has taken me to the next level.

I will certainly be looking to take a further step again next year and defend all my trophies and am going to attempt to add more disabled honours and able bodied honours to my trophy shelf.

I am likely to be going up a class into B and the aim for next year will to be pushing to get into A class.

Dsg & Hepworth ...

So 2 lots of shooting. Firstly a quick trip to Hepworth hall to shoot 120 bird supersporting, sir George had shot a 119 and several others between 105 and 114 so thought it must be a sensible round then to my surprise saw a 107/8 in C class . That would take some Beating and told mr Dyson I'm going after 100. 

I started on stand 5 half way through the round and joined a team shooting the auto layout . Those who haven't shot supersporting it's 3 targets per stand . Generally a o/r b , a o/r c then you repeat those combinations then finish with b and c simmo. Historically I haven't shot simmo well however it seemed to be my day. I had one or two targets throughout the round I struggled with. Notably a quartering right to left rabbit on 8 or 9 . Also I struggled with a white going away bird over the pond and then a left to right close white bird for the better of me a couple of times . Other than that I was delighted with my shooting and finished with a 103. That left me second Saturday morning and it kept me there for the rest of the weekend. It was good to shoot with some new people notably Natasha and to shoot with Phil moss for the first time.

Saturday afternoon I shot at Nottingham with the DSG . It was a really disappointing turn out to be honest only 6 turning up. Just 4 members. 

We started on skeet and I started really goo getting to peg 4 not missing a bird then I missed the right to left single. I then missed peg 6 single right to left and also missed low house on peg 7 single . All silly birds and a 22 which really should have been a 23 minimum. Darrel and Jamie pipped me by 1 and Adrian tied with me.

We then went onto dtl and I changed to 1/4 1/4 choke . I probably should have gone tighter but stuck them in thinkin I wouldn't have to change for the rest of the day. Again I started strong shooting my first 6 with first barrell. Then had a couple of  second barrells and a couple I misses. However I finished appalling missing 3 of my last 4 birds ending on a 20. Jamie shot a 21. 

Onto the most exciting the sporting . It wa very steady and shot over 4 stands. I only dropped 2 clays giving me a 28/30 . Adrian and Darrel shot mid twenties and Jamie tied with me on 28. So we shot another stand to decide and i pipped him.

After a short break we shot the sportrap which was difficult mainly down to having more than 5 targets so you really had to think about the combinations . Again started well with a 5 and a 5 but then some tricky birds meant I slipped down to a 20/25 in the end . Again Jamie pipped me with a 21.

The 4 disabled shooters shot very strong it was just a shame more didn't manor the effort to attend Nottingham really looked after us with good reffing and targets.

So all in all a successful weekend .

Roll on dartford on 27th sept

Cpsa awards

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In march this year I was very Unexpectantly nominated for one of these very prestigious awards , I hadn't been shooting registered competitions for even a year and when i received my invite in the post I was shocked and very excited . Even more amazing was that I won the award and it's safe to say it really put me on a pedestal to perform this year . The ceremony itself was full of people I didn't know apart from seeing their faces in the pull magazines but after shooting a full year now I would know exactly who they are.

So here's my interpretation and opinions on each of this years categories; forgive me for being a little biased however I am only being honest ...

School of the year: I have not come across any schools in my shooting experience however I would class Phillip thorold a shooting academy a school of shooting but not sure that counts ? The academy has done amazing and it's nice to see it reaping the rewards with so many young shots getting podiums and wearing thise very recogniseable orange and black hats.

Initiative of the year  : for me without a shadow of a doubt this has to be Julie Sperling and Nicola herons efforts getting a group of disabled shooters over to Germany from scratch in such a short amount of time to represent GB to attempt getting clay shooting in the Paralympics . This would have not happened without the efforts of all in our clay shooting family that we all love so dearly and without Matt Rutherfords shootclay forum auction and the crowd funding. . So many people pulled together to raise huge sums it is refreshing and I was gob smacked that the figure was achieved and surpassed . 

Volunteer of the year : for their efforts above I am going to go joint Julie Sperling, Nicola heron and Matt Rutherford 

Special contribution award : I am now going to pick one if the above and it has to be Nicola . She was so focused and driven on the project and still is. Shooting needs more of her. .

Ground of the year : It's hard to make a decision as in my DSG capacity we go to so many grounds and are so warmly welcomed of all these the 2 I have most enjoyed this year are dartford and Orston  . Practise wise I like Cambridge a lot and have my coaching there with phill Gray. However for my personal  registered shooting experience and locality I have to go with barrow Heath . The targets are always different and testing and I always struggle to get a good score there which means I am learning something. Phil and Marie are always welcoming and recognise their local shots also which is refreshing . Those 4 for me take some beating.

Disabled shooter of the year : it's a tough one to suggest anyone however there has been some top shooting this year. Sitting wise there are 4 people that must be considered ; Paul Bailey who won the world sportrap earlier in the year after a shootoff with Adrian last. Paul has also medaled at the British open sporting and sportrap. Alec Sperling who has excelled in OT this year but on top of this won the English skeet at bisley. Newbie Darrel white who has shot skeet and dtl particularly well his year and won the British open wih an incredible 90 and finally my good friend Adrian last who has continued to shoot well winning the English open sporting , been runner up at both skeet championships , runner up in the world sportrap and medaled at the British open this weekend. He's so been consistent in the DSG shoots throughout the year.

Standing wise I am sure Andy Womble from the OT will be a contender however Jamie Gutteridge and graham Evans have shot well this year both in disabled and able bodied categories . Jamie has won the British and worlds sporting and graham the british and world sportrAp both putting in good scores. The one to mention for me is mick Kirby though who has entered the British and English opens for sporting and skeet. His enthusiasm and desire should be noted .

Young shot: whilst I would love to say Joshy after him improving immensely this year gong from an average c class shot , into a top b class shot I have to go with his suffolk team mate Aaron Harvey who for me he just pips Taylor Hedgecock . Aaron's shooting superb at the moment and I was proud to shoot off alongside him. At the British last weekend and get to wear his dads pilla glasses for the weekend after my own glasses were taken.

Coach of the year : whilst Philip thorold has been amazing with the 2 lads above this is an easy decision for me and is phill Gray . He has improved josh and I as shooters this year with just a handful of lessons and he has to take a lot of the credit. All you need to do is look at our scores . They say it all. His professional beyond his years at the same time he makes you feel comfortable and at one stage I felt unbeatable this year because of him .

Shooter of the year:  there's a few for me . Steve Scott was awesome on the TV at the commonwealth games , Joy Hirons in the ladies skeet has been untouchable and is also a great person with it. But sporting wise there have been 3 terrific shooters and well known names and hope one of then wins the accolade ; sir George , mark winser and ed solomons. George was a class above the rest at the worlds , an mark and ed hasve had their share also at majors this year . I would like to see mark get it as he had a real purple patch and it takes someone special To win then win again in a short time.

Hopefully I haven't offended anyone and not sent anyone to sleep :)

Back to work & reality

So it's back to work and reality after a few days of being a serious clay pigeon shooter.

In reflection from the weekend I honestly don't feel I could have done any more than I did on the targets and am pleased with my score. This week the only shooting I may do will be on the foreshore with my pal Stuart Clarke on the River Stour.  I then head up to Nottingham the following weekend with the DSG to shoot our final all round of the season.

I have shot the DSG season well generally and should have some silverware coming my way as long as I can put some steady scores together. I am aware Adrian and I are in competition for the Sporting challenge shield so hoping I can pip him to that.

Our trophy presentation is on Saturday the 18th October and that's at Sporting Targets where we will shoot 100 bird sporting. I love it there as they put on several different targets and always look after us. Hopefully we have good attendance from members , guests and friends of the DSG. We will all be staying for a bite to eat afterwards also.

Have a good week everyone.  I probably wont be writing again until the weekend.

Happy shooting!

British Open all done !

After a good nights sleep at a hotel in tamworth we headed to garlands to shoot . I felt in confident mood after my shoot out last night and started very steadily with a 6 on  stand 12 which was a left to right crosser and a teal. 

Stands 13 and 14 well also with two 7s on two tricky stands . Josh was also shooting well and it was definitely beneficial and inspirational shooting with Paul Simpson on our squad. 

I dropped 3 on the simmo left to right on stand 15 foolishly missing the first pair shooting them the wrong way round. However it was the next stand 1 that really let me down . The two overhead birds . I missed 7 on there and came to the conclusion I was under leading the longer one and over lead the closer one . Fail !

I did bounce back on stand 2 with a good 6 on the simmo battues however this was a brief recovery as went on to shoot a 4,3,4 on the next three stands . What I needed was an easy stand to recover and fortunately that came on 6 with a simmo pair of crows and managed an 8.

Stand 7 was one of my favourites of the round;  a driven from the right then some nifty footwork to shoot a quartering looper/battues going over a bank and my first straight of the day . I quickly wanted to get to stand 8 now I had found some form again and was presentated with a high quartering left to right followed by a steady teal- this time a 6 missing one pair completely but also happy .

The next  2 stands were a bit more steady and shot an 8 then 6 and finally finished on stand 11 with a battue and rabbit and foolishly missed all 4 rabbits . Rabbits always seem to let me down at majors !

So I finished with an 82 /120 which I was delighted with to be honest. This time last year I shot a 74 at Hepworth and it shows how far I have come.

I only managed joint 4th with mike burnand in disabled standing however did manage to also tie with him in C Class also in joint 5th which was definitely the better achievement on the day . I was also proud of josh who shot an 87 compared to his mid 60s at Hepworth last year .

Was great seeing new and old faces and look forward to my next shoot even better was seeing Kath and jack tonight :)

Sportrap completed

So finally in bed after a busy day.

63 was the score to beat in disabled standing and after a good trip up from Suffolk i was quietly confident of shooting well despite hearing that it was a tough round .

I shot the first layout well with a 23 but it went down hill from there shooting just 12 on he next 2 layouts. Layout 2 was certainly easier than 3 however I shot my word on there. I finished with a 15 on layout 4 and came off knowing I hadn't quite done enough to secure gold but wasn't sure if I had done enough for silver. 

I had shot closer to the winning score than expected with a 62 so one off however I had got equal second . After a chat with mike burnand we agreed on a shoot off . However there would be a several hour wait . Well done to graham Evans for winning.

Some of the targets on layouts 2,3 & 4 I had never shot at especially as simmo birds and what I got very frustrated in the middle I certainly learnt something and realised what real targets were . Well done to Steve lovatt and his team.

So the shoot off eventually came and mike and I shared the 5 stands with the junior shoot off where fellow suffolk man are on have had shot into the 80s to secure a shoot off . A tremendous score.

I started awful missing my first 3 clays. Steve lovatt had made a new 5th layout for the round. It was as hard if not harder than layout 3. Anyway I steadily got into it and highlight was a tough simmo pair and the crowd roared. The feeling was immense and I would put it over any goal I had scored in a football match.

I really hadn't a clue how I had scored and equally what mike had scored however expected he might have got me by one . However to my surprise I had popper him by 1 shooting a 12 and him 11. Securing me the silver medal.

Aaron smashed his competition with a 20 compared to his oppos 13. 

And in the high gun final George beat me Faulds 20-19 .

It was a fantastic experience shooting I front of a crowd and loved it. Though hope tomorrow's sporting doesn't come to that (unless it is for the gold).

Sleep well and good luck to everyone tomorrow .

Hours to go...

So it's the last sleep before we head up to the British . Had a lovely relaxing evening with Kath at the cinema and was a giggle watching the inbetweeners followed by a Chinese buffet . 

Some good scores have been posted in both disabled categories . I'm really keen to shoot the sportrap well tomorrow and now very confident . Hopefully jack sleeps well tonight and doesn't break my sleep up to much as got to be up for 6 am to pack and prepare for the 3hr drive.

Hope to see you all there tomorrow , good luck to everyone especially josh Adrian Alec and team panda'a Phil Alan and dan .

Days training at Cambridge & whispers from the open

Josh and I shot at Cambridge gun club today with Phill Gray who was sharpening us up with final preparation before the weekend. We shot several different targets including a round of skeet and some long distance stuff which Phill said will certainly be on show the weekend . 

After nearly 2 weeks without gun in hand it was great to get back into it and hitting clays . I struggled with a quartering rabbit but eventually we ironed the problem out.

I decided to shoot with1/2 and 3/4 the whole day to make sure I was bang on the targets and the combination certainly benefitted me on the longer birds . 

Overall we shot 250 clays each and by the end of the day I was pretty tired but felt ready and confident for the open . 

We started hearing some scores via Facebook on the way home and people moaning it was a bit hard . However it is a British open and you have to expect it to be tough .

I'm going back on my targets I set earlier in the week and just going there in confidence and with an open mind to enjoy myself ..., but beat Josh .

We called into Simpsons on way home to have a nose at guns then headed back to the Shotley peninsular to rest up now until Saturday morning .

Good luck to everyone shooting and most importantly enjoy it !

Last full day at work before the British

So it's my last full day at work before I start my preparation for this weekends British open . Some shooters will be competing tomorrow however I will be heading to Cambridge Gun Club to meet up with my coach Phill Gray to get my eye back in after nearly 2 weeks without shooting.

Not being at work after tomorrow morning means I can fully focus for the weekend and get my head in a relaxed state and also spend sometime with Kath and Jack Friday before travelling up to Staffordshire from Suffolk earlybsaturday morning.

Yesterday I spoke to a few people shooting wise ; Adrian to sort out hotel arrangements , Phil to sort times for thursday and heard via text from my good shooting friend Stuart Clarke and from Graham Long who advised he sadly won't make the British .

People who have helped for the British are puff baker whose helped josh and I , joe Garnham of GBS who has sponsored my vest and hat for the year and bob cheetham if macwet who sponsor my gloves . 

Hopefully I can repay them at the weekend.

Sam

Preparing for the British open

So no shooting this weekend just gone and spent the weekend with Kath and jack .

This week is all about the British Open sportrap then sporting . I will be heading up there Saturday early morning with josh and my good friend Adrian and am not sure what to expect target wise as never shot garlands . However in recent past this has benefitted me shooting at new grounds.

Before we travel up josh and I have a warm up lesson with our coach phill Gray who has helped us this year to both improve. This will be on Thursday at Cambridge gun club where there are always some tricky targets .

I haven't shot since last Sunday at Colchester garrison so expect to start Thursday slowly . Fingers crossed I can get back in the zone as need to be on top of my game for the weekend as there will be some awesome competition against me.

Earlier in the year I shot the world sporting and put too much pressure on myself so when I shot the English in May I went there just to enjoy myself and ended up shooting my strongest score of the yeR to date with a 76.

Regardless of how easy or hard the layout is on the sporting I will be looming to shoot 75% which will be 90/120 on the sportrap anything more than 73%.

Fingers crossed the weather stays fine for the weekend