Clout Shooting

3 November 2007 - Middlesex Clout Championships

Now playing: How Much Fun - Robert Palmer

Clout shooting - hmmm.... Last year it was "just a bit of fun", and a way to spend a relaxing day shooting arrows high into the air and 180 yards into the distance. This year was all a little bit different! The Helix (being almost the same as the Eclipse) was perfect for viewing the flag through the join of the Tec bar, and the sight mark worked well, aiming off somewhere between the top two coloured pins. 

We had the usual "warm up" GOA clout shoot last weekend, and we shot in cloudy, slightly breezy conditions, with the usual GOA banter being exchanged around the field. I came away feeling pretty pleased with myself, with a score of 85, a definite sight mark that works, and quite looking forward to the Middlesex Clout today. All I had to do was repeat that score again and I'd earn myself a white tassel for my efforts. And this was all with one end of zero scored...!

Today we were blessed with bright autumn sunshine, no wind whatsoever, and apart from the sun in your eyes coming up the field, it was perfect conditions. A fairly large turnout, and I was well placed on target 3 between the ladies one side of me, and a load of Spelthorne archers on the other - all of whom were a great laugh. Got my sight mark fairly quickly and settled into scoring about 6-7 per end, with a few ends into the low teens, which I was fairly happy with, and would keep me on track for the tassel I wanted. Then, for some bizarre reason I started going too long on the target, and put in two ends of zero, which I couldn't account for at all. These made a big dent in my score, and I ended the day on a final total of 70, missing the tassel by only 5 points! A little bit hacked off about that but still, it was a great day shooting with perfect weather, the company was excellent, and a great laugh all round. I did come away with a "hidden score" prize of a bottle of wine, which was consolation. Everyone seemed to have a great day, and Matt won his age / category (with his longbow this year), and retained his status as County Clout Champion for his age group! 

Must find a way to practice shooting 180 yards before next year's shoot - I want that tassel!!

27 January 2007- Greenwood Osterley "Informal" Clout Shoot

Now playing: Anything but Ordinary - Avril Lavigne

Not such an early start this time, but just as cold as it was in November! Clear blue skies, not a breath of wind, and bright sunshine shining in our eyes from the bottom end of the field meant that the shoot was changed to a single (one way) clout, rather than a two way. 

I remembered my sighting hole through the bridge on the back of the riser (called a Tec Bridge, apparently, as I discovered on AIUK recently), and with the trusty B&Q sight on the side of the bow meant that it was far less of a lottery this time. Sighters went 2 too short, 2 just right, and 2 too long, but all more or less in line with the flag. This was pretty much what I was expecting as I was shooting to 3 different sight marks. Must remember this method next time!

What I couldn't quite work out though, was that despite using a clicker which gives me the same draw length every shot, and using roughly the same sight mark every time (the same coloured pin on the horizon for each shot), was that there could be the occasional arrow that would go so far from where the group was landing? Usually too long. It was only a 3 dozen shoot, and by the time we were on the last dozen this problem had more or less gone, but it meant that I probably dropped a few points. Still, each end came in around the 6 - 7 mark, giving me a total of 38 for the 3 dozen. Quite pleased with that as a score, beating my last (double) clout which would have been 25 for a single.  And what was more satisfying was that *had* it been a double clout, it would have been a score somewhere near 75, which would have got me a white tassel. Looking forward to the Middlesex Clout Championships later in the year now!

I still can't work out though, why no one shoots a clout in the summer?  

4 November 2006 - Middlesex Clout Championships  

Now playing: Embrace the Chaos - Ozomatli

I can’t believe we were on the range at 8:30am, setting up for a 9:00am assembly, with frost on the ground and a white sheen to everything around us – the car thermometer read 2 Degrees C on the way there – pretty chilly!  A fair number had turned out from Middlesex clubs, and also a few from further afield like Richmond, shooting a mixture of bows, but it’s always the longbows that are best to watch, just for the sheer height they get, to reach the distance.  

No briefings this time, just straight in – and with my newly built sight courtesy of B&Q and some map pins from WH Smith, it was pretty easy to get sight marks on the sighter ends. Still using the method of viewing the flag through the bottom joint of the bridge and riser, and using a coloured pin on the sight to gauge the elevation against the horizon, I was able to get some reasonable ends in – indeed only once do I recall having to shout “All Away” to register 6 misses!  

Each end was coming in at around 4 or 5, with one fantastic end of 14, which really boosted my score considerably.  

Ended the day with a score of 50, which was over double my previous effort, so the sight clearly works, and I was very happy with how things went over all. Didn’t win anything, but I didn’t expect to, so that was fine.  Although Matthew won the juniors, and came home with a shiny gold medal!

21 October 2006 Clout Shooting

Now playing: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Well this one was always going to be a total lottery as far as results were concerned!  No amount of practice or preparation can make you realise how different Clout shooting is compared to normal target shooting at your regular distances.   

Once the field was set up we got a brief talk from the field captain on which flag we were aiming at, and how to score. (assuming our arrows get that far!!)  The idea was we aimed at the yellow flags going up the field, and the red flags coming back down again. THAT yellow flag?? All the way down there??  Geez, that’s MILES away!  

So, with some cursory instruction about not aiming at clouds or passing planes, I tried my best to get my little plastic bodged triangle thing that I’d bolted onto the v-bar as a sight, lined up with the trees in the far off distance.  Man, this is a long way to shoot!  Let loose the first sighters in a volley that resembled how medieval archers must have shot at castles – I’m sure some of them came down with snow on them! Two ends of sighters, and not one arrow anywhere near the target – most of them were going too long, but the line with the flag was pretty good, so something was going right!

After about 3 dozen had been shot I had reached the grand total of about 5 points scored – fantastic fun, but a lot of effort for very little return. Having to shout “All Away” (all misses) end after end was a little bit boring! Then I realised that the bridge on the back of my bow, where it meets the handle at the bottom, was forming a V through which I could see the target when my arm was raised high enough, and I could get a rough idea on line and length. All of a sudden my scores started coming up by 5 or 6 per end, and I was thinking to myself “this is much more fun now!”  Using the clicker was important here I think too, as it gives a much more consistent draw length, which is important when the target is 180 yards away.  

So, ended the shoot with a grand total of 24 from six dozen – not exactly what I was expecting from a 72 arrow shoot!  

But I got some great new ideas on how to build a sight and attach it to the bow from some of the others that were shooting there, and I truly believe that Heath Robinson was a genius! Middlesex Clout Championships next weekend – that should be a hoot!  I’d better get down to B&Q to find some ideas on how to build that sight!