A 7.30a.m. start to Mid Wales for the skeet final, with lovely sunny weather until we got to the Llanbrynmair area, where it got rather overcast.

It was rather cold at Mid Wales with a strong gusting wind which seemed to change direction on each layout, but thankfully it stayed dry throughout the day.

Traps worked faultlessly throughout the day, but the wind played havoc with some of the targets, giving shooters targets 6 feet off the floor one minute and a teal the next.

Staff worked tirelessly throughout the day to keep all the shooters happy on the ground and in the clubhouse, and a big thank you to Arthur and all the staff  for a wonderful job.

A big thank you to Asa Bailey and Steve Williams from Clwyd for joining Gwynedd on the day to assure we had 9 scores to put in. Both seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and have applied to become Gwynedd residents so they can do it again and again.

Some superb scores were recorded on the day (95+) and they deserve a mention:

Natalie Davies and Rhys Evans, who both shot a superb 99 in difficult conditions.

Alun Evans and junior Joe Gizzi from Clwyd, both shooting a 95.

Richard Hughes from Powys with an excellent 97.

Chris Ingram 96, P Williams 95, John Kendall 97, and Gareth Griffiths 98, from Gwent.

And last but not least, LLoyd Handley 95, Andrew Davey 96, and Mark Davie 98,  from West Glamorgan.

With another 26 shooters scoring between 90 and 94 (too many to mention).

A special mention to one young man, George Ingram, with a super score of 92, 15 targets clear of the next colt. All those lessons from dad must be paying off

Natalie Davies and Rhys Evans shot off for overall high gun, which made for an exciting end to the day. After 25 birds both were equal on 23, so a sudden death shoot off on station 4 was needed, which ended up with Natalie taking the honours. Well done to both for thrilling the gathered crowd.

A 2nd shoot off was needed for Veteran high gun, between Roy Hughes, Alan Parkin, and Geoff Seabourne, with Roy Hughes taking the honours.

Congratulations to Clwyd who took the honours on the day..

As they only won by 5 birds, I bet they’re glad that Natalie shot for them on the day ..

Click on Photos to Expand:

Please Click on Photos to Expand.

Winning Sporting Team, Dyfed.

It’s promising to be a really nice day tomorrow, so there should be some good scores for the first International Skeet Qualifier at SW2000.

Good luck to you all, and have a great time.

Wish I could be there with you, but alas, the cost of travelling on my own, means I can’t afford to do it.

Had a great day at Fauxdegla today with Huw and Alun, and judging by the way they shot, they should do well tomorrow.

See you all at the next one hopefully.

Yes, after just a week, the blog is back looking a bit different..

Not quite finished yet, with a few tweaks to do over the coming days

And believe it or not, the pic above is not from the Gwynedd Gurning Championships

I predict by next year, there will be no Gwynedd Teams in Sporting or Skeet.

We’re getting less and less shooters every year, and some present members are already talking about giving up altogether, due to the expense.

Used to be a laugh with 3 or 4 (sometimes 5) people travelling together all over Wales, nowadays there’s rarely more than one or two per car.

Sad I know, but that’s the way it goes.

Next Sunday is the very first Welsh Skeet Club shoot in North Wales, held at the fantastic newly refurbished Fauxdegla Ground.

We need  North wales shooters to come out in they’re droves to support this newly established club.

We all complain that most shoots are held down South for the benefit of South Walian shooters (as seen in next years County Finals),  well this is our chance to have regular skeet shooting up here.

Everyone who takes part has a chance of winning something whatever class their in.

I hope that the weather is kind, and that there will be at least 4 or more squads for what could end up as a monthly event,  shared between Fauxdegla and Mid Wales Shooting Ground.

This is proper competition shooting, but in a friendly environment, at a very reasonable cost.

As usually having to referee puts a lot of people off, the skeet club provides refs so no shooter has to.

So come on (weather permitting) lets get skeet shooting and support Huw Evans the North’s organiser.

The Beckham boot as it's called in the medical profession..

This is what I have to wear for the next month.

Doubt it’ll do much for my shooting though

It’s real name is is an Equalizer Walker, but they call it the Beckham boot because he was the first to wear one (apparently).

It’s like a torture implement and very uncomfortable to walk in, and I certainly can’t drive with it on.

A guest post by Ray Agate.

Attracting young people to clay shooting, and incentives and ideas for doing so.

Bring up clay shooting in a conversation with a good number of young people and chances are that you’ll be given a funny look and the topic will disappear quite quickly. There is a potential issue with the image of clay shooting with young people. In this age of video games, iPhones and music videos, the idea of shooting clay pigeons in a field for a hobby seems rather alien , why bother going someplace to shoot when you can simply load up Modern Warfare 3 on your Xbox 360 and shoot targets from the comfort of your bedroom ?

I have found that a good way of introducing the excitement and enjoyment of clay shooting is using a company that offers laser shooting, which combines modern technology that young people are familiar with along with the skills and attributes required with real shooting. I have been to a number of events where a laser shoot has been set up and the level of interest and enthusiasm that this facility generated with the youngsters, is a positive that can be harnessed and used to introduce them to real clay shooting.

The experienced shooting enthusiasts that run these events generally portray the sport in a very positive light and show youngsters how to handle the guns as well as shoot at targets. As with a lot of sports and pursuits, if you engage your audience at an early age, you potentially have a life long fan of clay shooting, which can only be a positive step for the future of the sport.

The 2012 London Olympics should also help clay shooting’s image. Next year, over 400 competitors will participate in 15 shooting events at the Royal Artillery Barracks. One of England’s hopes for a gold medal is 20-year-old James Huckle. He has already enjoyed success in the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in India, winning three gold medals. He collected three silvers and two bronze in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. His passion and success should encourage young people to have a go at the sport. Huckle says that shooting has a potential image problem: “In Britain, we’ve got this stereotyped view of people with guns as villains, as a nasty person,” he says. “That you can only possibly want to own a gun to hurt someone. But that’s not the case.”

Incentives such as National Shooting Week encourage young people to try clay shooting and find out if it’s for them. Created by the British Shooting Sports Council, it aims to dispel myths about shooting and get more kids onto the ranges.

A guest post by Ray Agate from Wish.co.uk – for more details on their clay shooting experience days click here.

Sporting Home Countries International Tournament 2011, Mill Hill CPSC      

Wales    6    8    8    6    8    6    8    6    6    6    6    6    6    6    8    100
Senior Team:-    S1    S2    S3    S4    S5    S6    S7    S8    S9    S10    S11    S12    S13    S14    S15    Total
1    Julian Morris    3    7    5    4    6    6    8    4    5    6    5    5    6    6    4                                    80.

2    Nigel Hart ( C )    5    4    5    5    6    2    6    6    6    6    6    4    3    6    7                                 77.

3    Dorian Evans    4    5    7    2    7    4    7    5    5    5    5    5    3    6    5                                   75.

4    Jerry Preece    3    4    6    6    6    2    8    4    6    6    4    5    5    5    5                                     75.

5    Paul Griffiths    5    5    8    5    2    4    5    3    4    5    5    5    5    6    7                                    74.

6    Gareth Griffiths    6    7    6    4    5    3    5    4    4    5    3    5    4    5    6                               72.

7    Andrew White    3    6    4    5    2    4    8    4    4    3    5    6    5    5    7                                 71.

8    Ray Webb    5    4    5    4    7    3    7    3    6    3    4    6    4    5    5                                         71.

9    Mike Harding    6    5    7    3    5    4    7    3    3    6    3    4    5    4    3                                   68.

10    Peter Humphries    6    5    5    2    7    5    6    3    3    5    5    5    3    5    3                          68.

11    John Kendall    6    3    7    4    5    4    7    2    4    5    3    4    4    5    4                                  67.

12    Daniel Morgan    2    4    7    3    7    0    5    5    4    6    5    6    3    6    3                               66.

13    Tony King    4    6    6    1    3    3    5    3    1    6    5    5    5    4    6                                         63.

14    Richard Hughes    3    3    4    3    5    2    7    4    5    6    2    5    5    6    1                              61.

15    Bleddyn Lewis    2    2    6    3    4    1    7    4    2    5    5    6    3    2    1                                 53.

Junior Team:-    S1    S2    S3    S4    S5    S6    S7    S8    S9    S10    S11    S12    S13    S14    S15    Total
1    David Kidner    4    7    7    4    7    4    5    3    5    6    2    4    5    4    4                                     71.

2    Luke Lewellen    3    6    5    3    7    2    6    3    3    4    5    6    3    2    4                                   62.

3    John Preece    3    5    2    1    1    3    6    4    4    6    5    4    6    6    3                                        59.
Ladies Team:-    S1    S2    S3    S4    S5    S6    S7    S8    S9    S10    S11    S12    S13    S14    S15    Total
1    Janine Preece    3    6    5    5    6    5    6    3    5    6    5    5    5    6    6                                   77.

2    Nikky Evans    4    3    6    5    5    1    5    2    3    6    3    5    5    4    5                                       62.

3    Lucy Pitt    2    4    6    2    4    3    5    4    4    4    2    4    3    5    6                                             58.
Veteran Team:-    S1    S2    S3    S4    S5    S6    S7    S8    S9    S10    S11    S12    S13    S14    S15    Total

1    Richard James    1    6    4    3    5    3    8    4    4    6    4    5    5    3    4                                    65.

2    Roy Hughes    4    4    8    2    4    1    5    1    4    3    5    6    3    5    3                                          58.

3    Norman Jones    3    2    6    1    5    4    6    1    4    6    3    5    2    5    3                                     56.

Manager:-
Julie Hart

My thanks to tk for the pictures.

Yes today, the yearly Gwyndegla skeet challenge was held at this most famous of grounds.

Weather was diabolical, and although 15 to 20 shooters were expected, only 8 hardy souls turned up to brave the wind and rain.

High and low birds had a mind of they’re own,  bopping about all over the place,  which made for very interesting scores.

50 birds in the morning an enormous lunch followed by 50 birds in the afternoon was the schedule of the day.

At the 50 stage it was very close at the top with Gwyn, Keith, Dave, and I within one or two birds.

Then lunch, a fantastic eat as much as you want Chicken Curry, ‘Lobscows’, strawberry trifle, and apple pie and cream.  With 8 people eating enough food for 20,  you can imagine how we were on the final 50

Our thanks to Gwyn, Elfyn, and especially their hard working mum,  for giving us this superb feast.

On the third round, the weather was worse than ever,  and the leading shots struggled,  with Keith hitting 16, me 18, Gwyn a 19,  and Dave to his credit a superb 22.

Going to the last round, Dave and I were on 61/75,  and Gwyn and Keith on 59/75.

So it was all to shoot for, with a lovely trophy for the winner and bottles of wine to be awarded to the first three.

Keith and Gwyn went first,  and ended the round on 76/100 and 81/100 respectively.

To beat Gwyn, Dave and I needed a 21/25,  no easy feat considering the terrible weather.

We reached stand 7 with Dave  having missed 4 birds, and me missing 2, and I was shooting first.

Bl****y h**l, I just couldn’t believe it as low 7 single flew away untouched, and I was so glad to see the last 3 birds turn into dust.

Dave went on to clear the stand to get the 21 he needed,  but it just wasn’t enough as my 22 meant I was high gun.

Although the scores were poor overall,  and taking into consideration the atrocious conditions,  no one were too disappointed with the way it finished.

Score at the end were as follows:

Elfyn 52/100, J.R. 54/100,   Hefin 61/100, Robin 65/100, Keith 76/100, Gwyn 81/100, Dave 82/100, and myself on  83/100.

Well done to Dave, and at this rate it won’t be long before your winning competitions in your own right.

Gwyn being the gentleman he is,  gave away his 3rd place bottle of wine to 4th placed Keith.

Our thanks to everyone at Gwyndegla,  for a wonderful days shooting and feast..

Click on pics for full size.

It wasn’t promising good weather, but the welcome by the Williams family at Mid Wales today certainly made for a fantastic day out despite the wind and occasional heavy shower.

I’ve never hidden my feelings about Mid Wales Shooting Ground as I absolutely love the place,  but today proved to many why I feel the way I do.

A truly excellent shoot that ran perfectly from start to finish with no breakdowns that I know of (someone might correct me on this)..

All the shooters and staff were in a charitable mood, and although numbers were fairly low, everyone I spoke to were enjoying the shooting and the friendly banter.

We (Gwynedd) held our County Qualifier at the same time, and although there was only 8 of us, it didn’t dampen our spirits.

Some fantastic shooting in difficult conditions

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The Gwynedd scores were as follows:

Scores            Sporting            Skeet                  DTL               ABT

Keith Hill              20                        24                    24                20                      88

Gwyn Richards    18                         23                    23                20                      84

Ken Griffiths         15                        24                    25                18                      82

Dennis Evans       15                        21                    24                 19                     79

Sion Evans            12                        20                    24                19                     75

W.G. Jones            12                        21                    20                15                    68

David Jones           8                         19                     21                13                     61

Elfyn Richards       4                         15                    14                 13                    46

Congratulations to Keith for being high gun in the qualifier on an excellent 88.

As to the charity shoot, there were some exceptional scores recorded, with a total of  6  people in the nineties.

Mick Harding on a 98, only dropping two birds on the skeet layout, what a masterful display of shooting.

Martin Myers in second place on a 97, only dropping two on the difficult sporting layout and one on ABT.

Then Richard Arthur Hughes on 94,  Ian Jones 92, Dorian Evans 92, and Roy Gudrat 91.

Well done to all, and all the shooters just behind in the eighties, just too many to mention.

Our own TK and Dan Morgan finished on 83 and 87 respectively.

Our grateful thanks to the dedicated people who ran this charity event, and to Mid Wales Shooting Ground for being so generous, in respect of the Welsh Air Ambulance.

A very successful raffle and auction was held at the end, all prizes gratefully donated to this most worthy of causes.

Some more pics below:

Great ground, great people, sunny weather, what more could a shooter want

Whilst none of our crowd (Gwynedd) shot all that well today,  we all had a fantastic time at what is our home ground (two hours away).

I was in a squad with Henry Bales, Gwynedd’s Keith Hill, eventual joint high gun Alan Parkin, and Chris Ingram.

As I’d shot with them all at previous qualifiers, and everyone knew each other,  it was a good squad to be in.

Alan was on top form and shot a wonderful (his first I think) 99, to end up on joint high gun with Nigel Hodson and Pete Collins from  Scotland.  Close on his heels was Chris, with a (disappointing for him) 94.

Keith started better than me, and after the first 50 was in front of me by a few birds, but I managed to catch up and pass him on the final 50 by shooting a 49/50.

I needed a good kick up the backside for dropping high 6, which deprived me of a 50 straight.

I was quite surprised not to see a 100 straight  as the conditions were good, as were the birds, but a shoot off was needed to decide the overall high Gun.

After 25, Alan and Nigel were straight, and the Pete Collins had dropped out,  so it needed a shoot off on stand 4 to decide the 2011 champion.  Nigel shot first and smashed all 4 birds, whilst Alan missed the low bird on his second pair, leaving him runner up with Pete Collins in third place

So Nigel a well deserved winner took the trophy home for another year.

I must admit I was rooting for Alan to win, as we’d shot all four rounds together, and he’s truly a gentleman who won the respect of the rest of the squad with his superb shooting. Glad to see him getting runner up and veterans high gun.

I believe 4th place was taken by Huw Evans on 97.

Our lot’s scores at the end, Gwyn 84/100, Glyn (2nd in C class) 89/100, Keith 91/100, and myself 92/100.  Not all that great, but for a bunch of sporting shooters not all that bad.

Ladies high gun was taken by Helena Stewart from Scotland, with Natalie Davies as ladies runner up and top junior,  well shot ladies.

Glad to say I was in good company on 92/100, as Angie and Rob English finished on the same score.  Angie just missed out on a ladies placing by a single bird, which was a real pity as she shot really well.

Yes on Saturday 6 of us went to M.W. for some much needed skeet practise.

3 shot five rounds of skeet (Me, Dave, and Barry) and three shot 3 rounds of skeet and 50 sporting (Keith, Gwyn, and Elfyn).

Also there were Huw Evans and Alun Evans to show us how it’s done.  .

Conditions were testing with a blustery wind and showers, but as always the birds were first rate with no breakdowns.

As to the scores, I only have the scores of Dave, Barry, and myself, but I do know that Keith shot the only straight of the day, and Gwyn shot two 24′s. No idea what they’re other scores were.

Barry shot, 14, 14, 18, 19, 20.

Dave shot 20, 20, 21, 23, 23, best he’s ever done, so well done indeed.

And Myself, a crappy 21, 22, 23, 23, 24.

Birds seemed faster than usual, and low bird seemed to get a jump on everybody.

Traps worked faultlessly, and staff were helpful and cheery, especially Ernie

Next weekend should be fun, and  lets hope the weather’s kind for a change.

Pity we’re self refereeing again at what is the most important skeet shoot of the year.

My thanks to Dave for the photo’s taken on his iPhone..