Dannevirke clay shoot in gusty conditions
What a great day was had at the club by all those present. The main shoots for the day were for the last three disciplines remaining in the club champs programme these being Skeet, Handicap by Distance and Continental. The programme was filled up with 25 single rise and 10 pair of double rise.
Gusty mid-winter weather conditions played their part in proceedings in the morning but settled by the afternoon with many scores getting better as the day went on.
The first up event for the day was a round of 25 skeet. The gusty conditions made for some really interesting targets. The clays were bouncing, flying high or diving quickly to the ground depending on the wind conditions and the direction of the target. When conditions are like this the need to focus on the target and have good gun mounting techniques are paramount to achieving top results. In the A grade: Tug O’Brien put on a great display in trying conditions and produced the only perfect round of 25/25; Dave Smith took out the B grade with a respectable 23/25; and Jim Morton won the C grade.
Handicap by Distance was also shot in gusty conditions producing some incredibly challenging targets. Some clays were chased around the sky and were shot with a great amount skill. Yet others were missed and were followed by various levels of amusement as the shooter was left wondering what it was they were looking at down the barrel and questioning how on earth shooting them was even possible. Brian Smith came out on top with 23/25 followed closely by Jim Morton 22/25. There was a four way shoot-off for third having shot 21/25 This was between Tug O’Brien, Rob Means, Vance Butcher and the eventual winner of the shoot-off for third position David Pollard.
25 Continental saw two possibles and a shoot-off in the A grade between Tug O’Brien and Dave Smith. After some challenging targets Dave Smith came out on top. There was a shoot-off in the B grade between Jim Morton and Tony Curran after both shot commendable 22/25 scores. The shoot-off for this was a little shorter than that of the A grade with Jim Morton coming out on top. Russell Archey put up the best result of the day in the C grade.