It has been more than ten weeks since I last shot* and I'm not that good at the best of times, so I was expecting to be absolutely appalling after two and half months without laying a finger on a shotgun. There was also going to be the novelty of the new social distancing procedures that had been implemented to minimise the risk of infection. It was going to be a strange mix of familiar and new routines.
It was quite reassuring to go through the pre-shoot routine. 110 fibre wad cartridges in the bag ... check. Ear plugs and shooting glasses ... check. Hat, shooting gilet and licence ... check. Finally I unlocked the gun safe, pulled my Browning out of her "sock" and zipped her in to a gun slip. I was ready to go out and smash some clays.
Today's shooting ground of choice was the Hereford & Worcester ground over on the other side of Redditch. Bubbles had got us booked in for a 10.15 start and we navigated our way through the new one-way system to pay and enter the ground.
I volunteered to shoot first at stand #1 and was somewhat apprehensive as I loaded and shouldered my gun. I called "pull" and Bubbles released the first clay. I tracked the clay's path, fired and missed. There was no time to think as the sound of the first shot was the signal for Bubbles to release the second clay. I picked up the path of the second clay, took aim and fired. I was rewarded with the sight of clay fragments raining down.
It is fair to say that I was somewhat relieved that I had managed to "get my eye in" and hit one of the targets. Eight more clays followed in quick succession and my score for the first stand was 5/10. It's not a great score, but after a ten week gap I was happy enough ... it could have been a whole lot worse.
Before lockdown my percentage score was mid to high fifties on a good day and forties on a not so good day. Today I managed 56% and was quite chuffed. Bubbles is a far better shot than I, and scored a solid 81%.
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| Bubbles did say "You'd better check my maths" |
The thing is, we both agreed that the shooting was great. What can't you love about using a shotgun to blow targets to smithereens? However, the camaraderie was equally as important. It was lovely to wander around in the sun talking bullshit, catching up on each other's news and alternating between congratulating great shots and ripping the piss when we missed the easy ones.
Now I've got to clean my gun.
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* 14th March at Hailes Shooting Ground
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