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Running a Clay Pigeon Shoot


webber
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Many clay shooting clubs are run virtually on a shoe string.  Rixton  & Aslley Shooting Club is no exception.

We shoot on a fortnightly basis; on the none shooting Sunday we usually run a work party manned by a small group of willing volunteers.

A few of them commented today that prior to getting involved with the work parties they had no idea just how much work it took to keep a ground and equipment in decent order and set up a shoot; then put it all away.

Today Bill has been planting hundreds of Boxwood bushes that I propagated; Tony assisted by his wife has been flagging; Tommo and Bob have been sheeting the canopy; whilst I finished off the timber structure and wasted my time going to Screwfix for self drilling screws.  Sadly but for the screw up phase A of the canopy would have been finished today.

It won't be long before the mowers are being serviced ready for the almost endless task of grass cutting, and not forgetting to battle with Himalayan Balsam and other weeds where required.

Shooters rarely appreciate the effort expended, but thankfully some do, and their kind comments are appreciated and shared.

webber

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40 minutes ago, webber said:

Many clay shooting clubs are run virtually on a shoe string.  Rixton  & Aslley Shooting Club is no exception.

We shoot on a fortnightly basis; on the none shooting Sunday we usually run a work party manned by a small group of willing volunteers.

A few of them commented today that prior to getting involved with the work parties they had no idea just how much work it took to keep a ground and equipment in decent order and set up a shoot; then put it all away.

Today Bill has been planting hundreds of Boxwood bushes that I propagated; Tony assisted by his wife has been flagging; Tommo and Bob have been sheeting the canopy; whilst I finished off the timber structure and wasted my time going to Screwfix for self drilling screws.  Sadly but for the screw up phase A of the canopy would have been finished today.

It won't be long before the mowers are being serviced ready for the almost endless task of grass cutting, and not forgetting to battle with Himalayan Balsam and other weeds where required.

Shooters rarely appreciate the effort expended, but thankfully some do, and their kind comments are appreciated and shared.

webber

17 years of that, but we shot every week  !   Thankfully the ground maintenance was taken care of by the Landlords, although we had to have a clean up of wads every so often. I heard just about every excuse for missing targets,  that has ever been invented, including one person who reckoned that he could not hit the Compak targets because we used numbers and NOT letters. Apparently another ground that used letters and not numbers (but easier targets) he always shot well at   ??  The only reason we used numbered  traps was because we had access to large stencil numbers  !

I do not envy you John, but for the sake of your membership, keep up the good work.

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same for GYWA......(wildfowlers association')..........alot of the shooting was on RSPB land.....working parties were often the name of the day ....digging ...clearing...lock making ..repairing.....to keep the water levels right for all birds....reed cutting...etc........all the folk involved were GYWA members 'cept one ...who was the RSPB manager....the RSPB members looked upon us with distain and continually made excuses why they were unable to help....

Edited by ditchman
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The last time I was in a DIY syndicate, in the ‘80’s, there were ten members. Over the four years I was a member the organiser returned my subscription every year because, as he said, “you are basically the only one who has done anything.”
Strangely, all the others could always make it on a shoot day.

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21 hours ago, webber said:

Many clay shooting clubs are run virtually on a shoe string.  Rixton  & Aslley Shooting Club is no exception.

We shoot on a fortnightly basis; on the none shooting Sunday we usually run a work party manned by a small group of willing volunteers.

A few of them commented today that prior to getting involved with the work parties they had no idea just how much work it took to keep a ground and equipment in decent order and set up a shoot; then put it all away.

Today Bill has been planting hundreds of Boxwood bushes that I propagated; Tony assisted by his wife has been flagging; Tommo and Bob have been sheeting the canopy; whilst I finished off the timber structure and wasted my time going to Screwfix for self drilling screws.  Sadly but for the screw up phase A of the canopy would have been finished today.

It won't be long before the mowers are being serviced ready for the almost endless task of grass cutting, and not forgetting to battle with Himalayan Balsam and other weeds where required.

Shooters rarely appreciate the effort expended, but thankfully some do, and their kind comments are appreciated and shared.

webber

I couldn't agree more with you Webber, I've been running a club in North Yorkshire now for many years and we started off with a couple of manual traps and have now built it up to nearly 50 Automatic Traps and before Coronavirus Restrictions, we were getting up to 150 guns through on our fortnightly Sunday Sporting Shoots.

I would not have been unable to achieve this without a dedicated few who help with maintaining the equipment and assisting setting up and clearing up after the shoot. Most of the people who turn up to shoot think that it all just happens without any graft going on behind the scenes.

Sometimes you scratch your head in disbelieve at the attitude of some shooters when they complain because you ask them not to take extra clays or to pick up their empty cases after them. On the other hand though, you feel its all worthwhile when people thank you for the day and compliment the shoot on the standard of targets on offer or a thankyou letter off a charity the members have raised money to support.

We do it because we are passionate about our sport.   

Northern Gunner

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On 22/02/2021 at 17:47, Northern Gunner said:

I couldn't agree more with you Webber, I've been running a club in North Yorkshire now for many years and we started off with a couple of manual traps and have now built it up to nearly 50 Automatic Traps and before Coronavirus Restrictions, we were getting up to 150 guns through on our fortnightly Sunday Sporting Shoots.

I would not have been unable to achieve this without a dedicated few who help with maintaining the equipment and assisting setting up and clearing up after the shoot. Most of the people who turn up to shoot think that it all just happens without any graft going on behind the scenes.

Sometimes you scratch your head in disbelieve at the attitude of some shooters when they complain because you ask them not to take extra clays or to pick up their empty cases after them. On the other hand though, you feel its all worthwhile when people thank you for the day and compliment the shoot on the standard of targets on offer or a thankyou letter off a charity the members have raised money to support.

We do it because we are passionate about our sport.   

Northern Gunner

i have a friend who has just sold a good ground near me, when he put Claymate in after years of having just score cards, he got some real nasty abuse on social media. obviously from the bad counting members. luckily more good members than bad

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I'm very lucky in some respect as I have a very supportive son who always helps out and others who bring skills such as repairing equipment I break and dealing with mandate tasks which occur with every shoot.

Nobody can run a successful shoot without the backing of a good team behind them and although we have a few shooters come through who I could do without, we are very fortunate to have a great bunch who enjoy the banter of a good day out shooting different targets every time they come to the ground for a very fair price.

I always try to look after the shooters and i find they then look after the shoot.

  

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7 hours ago, Northern Gunner said:

I'm very lucky in some respect as I have a very supportive son who always helps out and others who bring skills such as repairing equipment I break and dealing with mandate tasks which occur with every shoot.

Nobody can run a successful shoot without the backing of a good team behind them and although we have a few shooters come through who I could do without, we are very fortunate to have a great bunch who enjoy the banter of a good day out shooting different targets every time they come to the ground for a very fair price.

I always try to look after the shooters and i find they then look after the shoot.

  

Absolutely spot on.

Without the help of my son and  dedicated band, the shoot simply couldn't happen.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

webber

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On 24/02/2021 at 11:05, Northern Gunner said:

I'm very lucky in some respect as I have a very supportive son who always helps out and others who bring skills such as repairing equipment I break and dealing with mandate tasks which occur with every shoot.

Nobody can run a successful shoot without the backing of a good team behind them and although we have a few shooters come through who I could do without, we are very fortunate to have a great bunch who enjoy the banter of a good day out shooting different targets every time they come to the ground for a very fair price.

I always try to look after the shooters and i find they then look after the shoot.

  

Tony, your shoot at Marne is better than some of the CPSA premier grounds.Target wise and price wise it is streets ahead of many grounds all over the country and I have visited most of them over the years. 

From your Auntie.

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On 21/02/2021 at 19:47, webber said:

Many clay shooting clubs are run virtually on a shoe string.  Rixton  & Aslley Shooting Club is no exception.

We shoot on a fortnightly basis; on the none shooting Sunday we usually run a work party manned by a small group of willing volunteers.

A few of them commented today that prior to getting involved with the work parties they had no idea just how much work it took to keep a ground and equipment in decent order and set up a shoot; then put it all away.

Today Bill has been planting hundreds of Boxwood bushes that I propagated; Tony assisted by his wife has been flagging; Tommo and Bob have been sheeting the canopy; whilst I finished off the timber structure and wasted my time going to Screwfix for self drilling screws.  Sadly but for the screw up phase A of the canopy would have been finished today.

It won't be long before the mowers are being serviced ready for the almost endless task of grass cutting, and not forgetting to battle with Himalayan Balsam and other weeds where required.

Shooters rarely appreciate the effort expended, but thankfully some do, and their kind comments are appreciated and shared.

webber

 

On 23/02/2021 at 19:53, flycoy said:

i have a friend who has just sold a good ground near me, when he put Claymate in after years of having just score cards, he got some real nasty abuse on social media. obviously from the bad counting members. luckily more good members than bad

 

Kind words Auntie, but like I say, its the shooters that make the day for me and we at Marne are lucky to have a good following of loyal and more importantly, shooters who just enjoy the day out and the banter. If they couldn't handle banter then they wouldn't put up with us lot anyway!!!    

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On 03/03/2021 at 15:23, Northern Gunner said:

 

 

Kind words Auntie, but like I say, its the shooters that make the day for me and we at Marne are lucky to have a good following of loyal and more importantly, shooters who just enjoy the day out and the banter. If they couldn't handle banter then they wouldn't put up with us lot anyway!!!    

Been many years since I was in Catterick but must say I did enjoy my visits to Marne back then.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
25 minutes ago, TRINITY said:

I know this is topic drift. But why are the vast majority of small grounds that only shoot weekly or fortnightly so obsessed with Sundsy shooting. What's up with Saturdays ? They are fighting for the same custom.

In the case of Rixton & Astley Shooting Club its simply tradition.

However many of the clubs were formed in the sixties and seventies when most working men were also required to work Saturday morning as part of their normal working week.  Hence football and rugby matches played on a Saturday afternoon

webber

 

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39 minutes ago, webber said:

In the case of Rixton & Astley Shooting Club its simply tradition.

However many of the clubs were formed in the sixties and seventies when most working men were also required to work Saturday morning as part of their normal working week.  Hence football and rugby matches played on a Saturday afternoon

webber

 

I agree, you are totally correct. But it's about time they realised the world has moved on. Leisure is a 7 day a week activity . I think it's down right stupidity that the vast majority of grounds are limiting their activities to a few hours on Sunday morning. 

Where I live I can go to a good half a dozen or more grounds within 30 minute drive, BUT ONLY ON SUNDAY MORNING!!

That means that only one can get my custom. It also means they are all fighting for the same customers, stupid,stupid,stupid. 

Do they all think that from Monday to Saturday we are not interested in shooting. If they spread their times around more rather than visiting one a week ,i could visit at least two,probably three.

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I can only speak from my own experience. I shoot 2 or 3 times a week. The majority of shooters that I know also do the same. Many think nothing of driving 50 ,60 miles or more in order to do so. Yet by far the vast majority of grounds decide to squeeze their activity into the same couple of hours every Sunday. Some within 3 or 4 miles between themselves, just seems crazy.

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8 minutes ago, webber said:

Many grounds operate under the 28 day rule, and are therefore limited to 28 shoots per year.

 

Webber,

I am aware of the 28 day rule, but surely you could do that saturday. I am also sure volunteers could volunteer on Saturday.  

In fact what a great idea, volunteer and work at a clay ground Saturday, then leaves Sunday free to go clay shooting 😃

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 17/03/2021 at 20:55, TRINITY said:

Webber,

I am aware of the 28 day rule, but surely you could do that saturday. I am also sure volunteers could volunteer on Saturday.  

In fact what a great idea, volunteer and work at a clay ground Saturday, then leaves Sunday free to go clay shooting 😃

I think you will also find that a lot of smaller non commercial grounds are run and set up by people who work elsewhere Monday to Friday and so the hard work at the shoot of setting up and maintenance and all other tasks take place on the Saturday so the shoot is ready to operate on the Sunday.

  

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Lots of people work Monday - Friday / Saturday. 
 

Often Saturdays are a family day, most people take their kids to sports or a day out etc. 
 

Sunday is a day of leisure and most blokes shoot get the morning to get out and do something for themselves. 
 

It’s all going being open on a Wednesday but it’s pointless if no one turns up to shoot. 

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