July-August 2010 - New Zealand Clay Target Association

Shoot Report:BLUE ROCKGUN CLUBThe first shoot for 2010 held by theBlue Rock Gun Club was held at theCraggy Range Vineyard, Te Muna Road,Martinborough, on 14 February 2010.This location is about 8 kilometerssoutheast of Martinborough, and the ideato hold a shoot at this location was thebrainchild of the late Pete Harvey.The concept was and still is to encouragethe vineyard bird shooters to get somepractice at trying to hit something flyingthrough the air (not just frightening thelittle blighters!!!).The day before the shoot a willing bandof helpers, in very gusty conditions, set thecourse which made for a number of thetargets being somewhat difficult to saythe least. Next day the course constructorsarrived early to discover that the wind hadchanged dramatically, and that yesterday’shard targets were impossible and the easyto moderate ones weren’t much better---after some lateral thinking all appeared tobe under control!!!The club organizer got things underwaythen skived off to a wedding, telling thosewho were to run the day that all was undercontrol—he indicated that he would beback at about 4pm all things being equal. His arrival back at the shoot was timely tosay the least, a number of good naturedcomments greeted him.By that stage of the day the wind haddropped considerably therefore he couldn’tsee what the fuss was about.By all accounts the shoot was enjoyedby most, shooting amongst the vines, thenstanding on the terrace to shoot at targetsas they sailed out over the vines down onthe bottom terraces.The local vineyards are encouraged toenter teams with each team bringing alonga bottle or two as prizes to supplement theprize table. As you can imagine the rivalryis quite strong.45 shooters for the day made theadministration relatively easy for theapprentice “office boy” who, by the way,did a sterling job.The HOA was Harry Harrison (Wellington)with 84/100, second was Dan Smith (local)with 82/100 and third was Adam Greene(Wellington) with 80/100. The leadinglady was Jane Davidson (Wellington) with74/100. Jamie Peryer (Hutt Valley) was thetop junior with 79/100.The club’s grateful thanks go to theowners of Craggy Range Vineyard and theirlocal manager Charles Simon who ensuredthat we had free rein of the vineyardamenities.MARCH SHOOTThe Wairarapa Hunt and Blue RockGun Club combined shoot was held on 7March 2010 at Middlerun near Gladstone(Wairarapa). The property is owned by theBooth family. The course was set up bymembers of the Wairarapa Hunt Inc alongwith James Martin (B.R.G.C.) .The area where the shoot took place isthe original homestead site, a large cleararea (about 2-3 acres) surrounded by a ringof large mature trees; this makes for somevery interesting targets.As this shoot is a fund raising eventfor the Hunt Club, most of the targetswere relatively straight forward, but bynecessity some targets were quite testing.This ensured that the more professionalshooters were kept honest.The weather for the day’s shooting wasideal, clear skies, a very gentle breeze,which meant that the day didn’t linger oninto the night!The Hunt Club provided all sustenanceas well as the staff to prepare and distributethe same. This was well received by allconcerned----thoroughly appreciated bythe Gun Club members.The HOA was Graham Peek (local) with89/100; second was Damien O’Leary with84/100; third was Greg Bentley (local) with80/100 (he was also the top junior). The toplady was Louise Robertson; (42 shooters forthe day).APRIL SHOOTThe club’s next shoot was held atWaitawa (the club’s home), which is 3kilometres north of Martinborough onApril 11, 2010.The course was set up on the Saturdayafternoon by a very willing band of helpers;the forecast was indifferent for the next daybut as one of the helpers said “we shootducks in inclement weather and it is theduck shooters’ special so don’t worry”.As this event is part of the “Beretta”circuit we had a stand where the shooterscould try out guns supplied by “Beretta”This particular stand is separate from thecompetition, therefore the targets don’tcount towards a shooter’s score. The clubis grateful to Bill McLeod who made thetrip down from Auckland (accompanied byhis wife) for his assistance and expertise.We had shooters from Whanganui, Levin,Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and all parts inbetween. Fortunately the weather waskind to us until the sun went down!As we only shoot simulated field at thisclub-- the course was made up with someeasy, some moderate, a couple quite hardand one difficult --- one shooter was heardto say “that’s impossible!” then proceedto shoot 4/5 during both rounds, thenconsequently have one of the easy stationscompletely baffle him .The local Playcentre once again dida sterling job with the catering, whileHunting & Fishing (Wairarapa) along withBeretta provided an excellent prize table (3out of 5 got a prize).Unfortunately the club’s rabbit trapdecided to give up the ghost half waythrough the second round so the shootwas shortened to a 94 target shoot whichcreated a few minor problems for the officeteam!The most gratifying aspect of the daywas the number of juniors who took part(10%) which we believe augers well for thesport’s future.The day’s results are as follows---HOAJamie Peryer with 84/94 (he was also thetop junior) second Brent Quin with 81/94while Steve Cates was third with 80/94.The top lady was Jude Manton andDavid Donald won the Peter HarveyMemorial Trophy.Tate Hayes (junior) from Levin had ahuge smile when he left as he collected theshotgun prize (supplied by Beretta)110 shooters for the dayFootnote;As the next day was the birthday ofsignificance for the landowner, the clubmembers made a presentation to him ofa duck shooter’s special (nibbles & port)and a large pair of glasses (made withbottoms of preserving jars and #8 wire) asa reflection of the fact that he seeminglycouldn’t see targets very well at a recentshoot. This gift might just be donated tothe club for future presentation for thosewith a similar problem.gunshot 27