Masters done

After some good practice on friday afternoon I was feeling fairly confident for the Masters however I was disappointed to wake up to horrendous weather. It was raining heavily .

I started on the Black course which I had heard was slightly harder than the red , however started well with an 8 . I then went onto miss a few early on on some straightable stands however shot some of the tougher stand okay. I finished on the extreme stand shooting 3/4 which left me on 73/100. 11 clays better than last year so far.

After a very short break and a squad split I started on Red course and started a bit slow with a 6. However I steadily improved up until the driven where I kissed a couple of birds then missed 3 on a simmo pair of incoming orange birds .

I then picked up again missing the odd one right up until stand 13 where I only shot 1/4. This left me on 82 which I was pleased with.

155 total meant I was just outside B class prizes ; twelve was joint on 160. 

Realistically with some better weather I think I could have shot another 6-8 clays in total but I am pleased with how I shot and my progress over the last few months .

Next competition is the Suffolk skeet championships at Eriswell Lodge. I would  like to put in a decent score there to attempt to make the Suffolk squad . Last year I missed out because I was on holiday .

Masters prep

So my London working week is finished , a day and a half to go before prep starts. 

The last two years I have shot 142 at the masters . I am setting out to shoot well and feel confident . Leading B class is 170, technically two 85s.  Tough yes but definitely not impossible with my recent form .

I'm heading over to Eriswell Friday afternoon to just get swinging the gun before I head down to shoot it Saturday morning .

I look forward to seeing one of my sponsors Gamebore down there and thank them and GBS builders in advance for their support . 

Update

So after a poor run of form through the Autumn I have found a bit of form the last couple of shoots and shot an 82 and an 80 both at Barrow Heath .

GBS have kindly sponsored me again this year as have Gamebore and look forward to repaying them with more good scores and hopefully some medals.

I have now booked the world sporting and sportrap and will shortly be booking the Essex masters and the Cpsa skeet and sporting majors .

Roll on Sunday for another trip to Barrow.

Happy shooting !

Sam

British open skeet and DSG Cambridge

Wow what a weekend of shooting!

Friday afternoon Adrian and I headed to bisley to shoot the British skeet . I started a bit slowly missing 3 on my layout . I was well aware that C class was being won on 96 and had in my head I would like to get near to that . 

The second layout I picked up my performance and really focused shooting a 24 . I was then in the zone and was feeling very confident.  I then went onto shoot the next 25 straight. The first time I had shot a 25 in an English skeet which was registered . I was now in reach of a good score if I could hold my nerve and I did just that. I shot another 25 meaning I had shot my first 50 straight and finishing on 96.

I was really pleased and very emotional , I also was even more pleased that Adrian also shot his first 50 on exactly the same clays . It was great to shoot with Adrian and Neil . Neil kept me on my toes to start and finished on 85 and Adrian on 93.

The day was topped off with being offered a part sponsorship by tom starkey of Starkey Headsets for some Pilla lenses . He kindly allowed me to wear some during the shoot.

On Saturday we travelled to Cambridge for the DSG monthly shoot and to contest for the high lodge challenge shields. We started on the skeet and I let myself down a bit only shooting a 22 however the slight delay on the traps was a hinderence. I woke up when we got to the dtl and managed a 24. 

We finished on a tricky sporting and a took a while to get going . Stand 1 and 2 I dropped 2 clays on each . Stands 3 and 4 I straighted then I completed on stand 5 just dropping one clay . It was enough to secure the standing title in 71/80 . Darrel win the sitting in an identical score.

I got back Saturday evening to look at the skeet scores and saw that 98 was winning class . It was a relief to be honest as I was unlikely to make it Sunday. Sunday came and there was a further 98 . It meant I was equal third in class . I won the disabled standing which I was delighted to retain the title . Adrian won the sitting for the first time also.

Thank you to everyone for their support including joe Garnham of gbs contracts , all the team at Gamebore and to new sponsor tom starkey of starkey headsets for their support .

Lots of practice now for the British open sporting and sportrap . 

British skeet tomorrow

Really excited to get the gun out for a major championship tomorrow . Adrian and I are often to bisley to shoot the British skeet . Last year I won the disabled standing on an 85 at dartford . I have stepped up a gear since then thanks to my sponsors support (gamebore and GBS).

I have shot skeet well this year and narrowly missed out on the county team .  I have averaged 91 between English and nssa however I haven't shot too much in the last 8 weeks due to major work commitments and a holiday so the pressure will be on if I start slowly .

Fingers crossed for a good start and for some good weather.

Saturday we have a DSG shoot at Cambridge .

Latest

So I have had a week or so off after a fair bit of shooting.

Had some really decent results . I came second behind Jamie Gutteridge at the English with a 92/120 . Was really pleased with my score and felt I shot consistent with just one stand letting me down.

I then shot an open shoot the following weekend at the grove and came third behind the Clarke brothers missing out by one clay . I shot A 41 first round then improved with a 45. Was pleased with my shooting especially considering I had left my chokes at home . 

The following week I went upto cloudside with the DSG and shot immediately after a 4 hour drive . Considering this I was happy with my shooting . 65/75. Starting with an 18 on a tricky sportrap. Then a 23 on dtl and 24 on skeet .

English open week

So I got the gun out on Saturday for practice and took a trip upto eriswell lodge lakenheath for the first time since it opened the week prior. 

I started by shooting the sportrap with Aaron Harvey and shot reasonably well apart from one target which was even causing the England junior trouble .

I then shot a few tricky stands of sporting and shot well missing the odd one here and there .

I finished shooting some skeet birds and again only missed the odd one or two so left there in confident mood .

Monday I went over to clacton in my new car and shot the Suffolk skeet championships . I started well missing 1 low on station 6 . I then had a blip and dropped to a 22 dropping on stations 1,2 and 4. The third round I only missed the high house on station 1 . I finished badly missing the simmo pair on station 1 and then one on station 6. So finished on a 92 . A respectable score however I was hoping for 94 to keep up my improvement .

This week I shoot the English open sporting at my local ground of high lodge. .  I am the current disabled standing champion of this one and am desperate to retain my title. I shoot on the second last squad on the Sunday.

Fingers crossed I have a good day . I know if I keep my head down the black gold will do the business.

Happy shooting

Sam

Dartford Ironman Skeet

I must admit after not shooting fantastically the week before at the Masters I was very nervous of shooting the Ironman especially against my pal Darrel White who shoots skeet fantastically. When we register I shot mid 30s ex 50 and he managed 46 ex 50. Over 400 the gap could have been embarrassing.

I decided to travel up and come home both days to keep cost's down and so I could sleep in my own bed rather than a hotel bed. I set off early Saturday morning leaving at 6:45 and arriving just after 8am to start shooting at 9. A quick sandwich from the Dartford kitchen and I headed over to the ranges.

I started very slowly and timing wasn't great. Peg 8 I blanked which didn't surprise me as I hadn't shot a target like that since February. I still managed to escape with a 20. I kicked on from there and shot two 24s then a 22. meaning a shot 90 on layout 2. Darrel was shooting on layout one and we exchanged scores. he had managed a 92 so immediately he had a 2 clay lead on me. However I think this helped me focus and concentrate even harder.

layout 1 the clays seemed to be moving around more however I managed a 24. Suddenly fatigue really kicked in and I dropped down to a 21. I managed to take on some drink and some food and jumped back up to complete with a 23 and 24. Meaning a 92 and an improvement. Darrel equally improved though putting in a massive 95.

That meant after day 1 he had a 5 shot gap on me. I was absolutely shattered and gave it my all but was still extatic with how I shot and the adrenaline meant I had a good drive home to see Kath & Jack.


DAY 2

Fortunately I wasn't on until 11:45 sunday. I had a soak in a hot bath in the morning as I ached still from the day before and it helped me relax.  I collected my gun from mum and dad then headed back down to Dartford at 9:15. I had a smooth and traffic free trip and pulled into Dartford for 10:40am.

I caught up with Darrel and Mick Kirby who also shot well on his first day. We were all tired however all determined to match and beat our previous days shooting. It was nice to catch-up with Kelly & Scott from Dartford also and promised Tony who runs the pool I would have a go after I shot the skeet.

I started on layout 4 , the wind from yesterday had gone and I started steadily with 23. With confidence I then managed my First NSSA 25 straight. I had only ever managed 1 straight in skeet before and that was almost a year ago also at Dartford. For me I had achieved something that I never expected to do over the weekend with this alone. The excitement of it though did affect me and my next 2 rounds I dropped down to a 22 and 23. Leaving me with a 93 which was an improvement on the Day before.

By now I was exhausted , I was hoping I may have caught Darrel up by a clay or two however he had other ideas and put in a 94 which gave him a further clay gap now. Realistically I had to now shoot four 25's to stand any chance at all and hope he would drop some.

I started the round superb and got round to 6 straight however i then dropped 3 clays on the low house. This really was unforgiveable and let it get to me the next round also dropping another 3 clays. I now knew i had no chance realistically of catching Darrel and calmed right down. I managed a second straight 25 then finished on a 24. Therefore finished on another 93.

Darrel also shot a 93 so we ended up day 2 one clay apart which for me was an achievement on it own.

Final scores therefore Darrel 374  Sam 368  ; only a 6 shot gap.

It was a fantastic weekend and i am very pleased for Darrel who shoots a lot of skeet and has put a lot of work into it..

I finished the day shooting both pool shoots which were very tricky but very enjoyable then headed home to Suffolk for a well earnt rest with my family.

I ended up in the top two of my Class and await the outcome due to some admin problems with others classifications. Fingers crossed some monies are to follow.

Thanks to all my supporters and sponsors especially Joe Garnham of GBS Contracts & Lydia Abdelaoui of Gamebore cartridges for their support.


happy shooting

Sam

NEW Gun & The Masters

So I collected my new gun a week today ; the Caesar Guerini Syren 30 inch barrels . After a successful trip out with one in February.

Simpsons of Newmarket was where I bought it from and they did I sensible price. I picked it up around midday and headed to High lodge for some practice with Adrian. I shot around 110 cartridges and didn't miss too many. I then got the gun back out just before dark to shoot some off with Josh.

Saturday morning we headed down to Hepworth Hall to shoot the Essex Masters. Adrian kindly drove Josh and I down and we met Stu & Joe Clarke. Also on our squad was Eddie Wilkinson.

Unfortunately I was not well organised with my clothing going with just shorts and a short sleeve polo and this was put to the test immediately as on our way out to RED stand one it started hammering down with rain. With a 15 minute wait on the stand we were soaked before we started.

I started very slowly with a 5/8 on a L-R rabbit and a quartering looper. This then followed an even worse 4/8 on a sensible high quartering L-R then a high R-L arguably one of the hardest bird of the weekend in my opinion as it was slow therefore hard to read. I only managed a 4/8.

I continued very poor form throughout the RED course and finished on a poor 62/100 meaning at the half way stage I was almost certainly not going to be in the prizes. In comparison Josh shot a fantastic 77 which was I believe the highest on our squad.

The weather improved drastically at lunch and finally dried out we all went out just to improve on our generally poor showing on the RED (Josh excluded).

Again I started reasonably slowly missing 3 on my first stand however I soon got my head back into it and shot the stuff I should be hitting really well. I had a few slip up on some of the longer birds however finished on an 80 which I was pleased with considering I was using the new gun ad had not done much with it.

I need to do a lot of improving on this to get in the top 3 at the English in May, but firstly comes the BSSA Ironman skeet this weekend. This event is 200 skeet Saturday and 200 skeet sunday at Dartford SG. They have put Disabled Trophies up and being in E Class I feel I stand a good chance of being In the cash prizes if I can start well and not over lead everything.

Fingers crossed...

Exciting week ahead

I hAve a really exciting week to look forward to after the Easter break. The Caesar guerini 30in tempio syren I have ordered is due in stock at Simpsons of Newmarket Thursday . After 8 weeks of not having my own gun and borrowing guns this  be a massive relief . 

Once I have picked it up it will be two sessions of intense practice before I go to the Essex masters Saturday with the gun . The masters was one of my favourite shoots last year . I shot either 142 or 144 there last year so will be looking for 147 plus . 

It's been aucky found for me , my first shoot there I managed to get third In the British open standing . Then last year I managed a top 12 in C class and shot my best round of last year with 103/120 at the ambassador services supersporting .

Fingers crossed...

Updates on my shooting

So a lot has changed since my last blog . After going to the shooting show and picking up a Caesar guerini I decided to try a demo one from Simpsons of Newmarket . It was tempio syren 30inch . I took it on a training day shooting BSSA / NSSA skeet at cosford with the DSG and was lead by Greg Sutton . I had never shot the discipline so was two new things to contend with .

I wanted up on their compak shooting a steady 16 , not too bad considering not shooting the gun and not shooting clays for a month .

We then went onto the skeet and I was surprised at the little differences in the skeet but the speed did affect gun hold position and caught me out a few times . Stand 8 took me a whole to master but eventually I sussed it out .

After the training I phoned Paul Simpson up to order the syren as he had warned me of upto 6 weeks lead in.

I then went onto the compak again and managed a 24 after changing to 1/2 1/2 chokes which I was chuffed with.

We then registered 50 nssa targets . I only managed a 17 and 16 however I was still shooting half chokes so was not too disappointed . 

I heard back from Paul Simpson last week who confirmed the Syren was due around Easter so it is now a waiting game. Time is ticking with the Rsse masters the same week so I hope to get it and out a few hundred through it before the masters.

A week after that I have the ironman skeet at dartford .

This week we start the DSG season at Orston an will be using Adrian's dt10 .

Thank you to Gamebore and GBS support so far this season lets hope it's a good one ...

Good to be back ...

So my blog is back for 2015 after a couple of months away.

I am now upto B class in sporting with my average where I targeted it this time last year at 70%.

Just before Christmas Gamebore kindly sponsored me so I am now officially shooting their shells , clarkes I Walsham are storing them for me which is a blessing with Jacks toys filling the house to the brim.

I shot a couple of registered shoots over the Christmas break mid Norfolk I managed a 75 which I was chuffed with. The following week I only managed a 71 at Barrow having a blip on a single stand costing me 7 clays.

Last Saturday I had a session with Phil Gray and after a slow start I managed to get into the swing of things.

Preparations are now fully focused on the Essex Masters were I am going to look at  putting in something over 148. 

Well done to mark winser on winning the stratstone and a range rover I have voted for him as cpsa shooter of the year.

Finally thank you to joe Garnham of GBS builders for sponsoring me for my major shoots for the year including the masters , British and English opens and the bssa skeet ironman challenge ...

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

I

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 !