Clay shoot. 26th October 2008.

Having left our 16th century characters to fend for themselves in the forests over the winter period we returned to the 21st century where some of our troup still have pseudonyms.             Among our merry troupe we have "The Molecatcher", so called because of his swanky waistcoat, "The Doc" for his superior qualifications and "Hot Shot Howell", probably our best shot when he wants to be ! And, on her first ever clay shooting experience, we were joined by "Lucky shot Lydia" because she was lucky if she shot anything !

The day arrived and the weather was atrocious. It was raining cats and dogs and it looked as if the event was going to be cancelled, but Hot Shot Howell was first to arrive at the farm with Lucky Lydia in tow, The Molecatcher was next to arrive with The Doc skulking up at the rear.

By the time we had trundled up the track and set up the clay trap the weather had decided to be kind to us. We started to organise ourselves and decided who was shooting first and who would be trapper, how many practise clays before the competition for the much sought after wooden cup etc: Practice started and we all had a good run down the line and at crossing birds, some showing that they hadn't shot at a moving target for some time.

               

Lunch was next, then we got down to the competition in earnest. Down the line was the first discipline. The Molecatcher went first and scored a maximum. Could it last we asked ourselves or was it start of the season luck? Crossing birds showed that it was a flash in the pan as he missed 2 birds.

The Doc thought he was going to show the Molecatcher a thing or two about shooting clays down the line, but this was short lived as he missed the first bird, then went on to miss another 5 on crossing birds.

Lucky Lydia showed that she was not to be messed with and meant business at down the line. She hit one clay with a single lead shot putting a neat hole straight through the clay without even breaking it. Some would say that was the best shot of the day. It was lucky for Lydia.

Hot Shot Howell made a big impression on down the line, missing only one bird. Pressure was on for crossing birds  and nerves of steel were needed. All were on edge until the fifth bird when the sun must have caught Hot Shot in the eye for he missed and this meant that Molecathcer was the winner of the cup.  

Lucky Lydia (above) looking sad while holding the cup she didn't win, and the Molcatcher looking rather pleased with himself.Beware Molecatcher. Weather permitting the next Shoot we'll have longbow archery as well as clay shooting. It could be interesting.