Summer Shoots 2023

We have decided to re-introduce the summer Sunday shoots to help build the club and allow those who are able to gain Bowman status as this is now only possible at recognised club events and tournaments.

From May to September, the first and third Sunday of each month will be an official club day, with shooting commencing promptly at 10am. The rounds we will be shooting are set out below and precedence will be given to members shooting variations of the relevant rounds (i.e. whichever distance they are most comfortable with). This will allow everyone to join in but no-one will be forced to shoot the round and will be welcome to shoot whatever they wish to but they will need to adhere to the cadence of the official rounds being shot by others.

MonthRoundsNo. of DozenLongest Distance Range for Rounds
MayShort Metrics616-50 metres
JuneNationals660-30 yards
JulyLong Metrics630-90 metres
AugustLong National6100-30 yards
SeptemberWarwicks4100-30 yards

Please ensure you use paper score sheets and that they are completed when scoring each end – you should not transfer scores from an app to the paper sheet after the arrows have been pulled, and in line with normal tournament rules, you should not score your own arrows. Please leave score sheets in the box on the veranda for collection later (John and I will be away for the first shoot but will collect the score sheets when we are back).

Please note that if you arrive late or you want to shoot anything other than a variation of the official round, you will only be able to do so if there are any spaces or spare bosses, and as long as you will not delay the shooting of the main field. Targets will be moved to the shorter distance as soon as the main field has completed the longer distance so if you arrive late and are shooting the round, you may not be able to complete the longer distance.

Work Party – Spring 2023

A big thank you to everyone that turned out for the work party on Saturday 15th April. A few of the bosses required TLC, there was a general clean up and the shooting line now has rubber tiles for easier identification.

Open Tournaments for 2023

We are please to announce that we will be running 2 UK record status tournaments this year. Dates and entry forms below.

Longbow Tournament – Double National

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled for 2023 – all those who have entered have been contacted. If you have not received an email please do get in touch with the tournaments officer.

UKRS York / Hereford / Bristols

14 May 2023
Venue: Whiteleaf Bowmen, New Road, High Wycombe, HP27 0PP
Rounds: York, Hereford and Bristols
Closing date for entries: 28 April 2023
For further information please download the entry form:

Winter Frostbite 2022/23

As the temperature drops and shooting time reduces it is time for the Whiteleaf Frostbite shoots. The shoots this winter season will be:

Sunday 6th November
Sunday 4th December
Sunday 8th January
Sunday 5th February
Sunday 5th March

Time: Shooting to start at 10:00 so arrive earlier to help set up the field and your equipment. Round usually takes less than 90 minutes to complete

Round: 36 arrows @ 30m (A 20m Frostbite or 10m Frostbite can be shot for those not shooting as far as 30m)

Scoring on 80cm face will be X, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, M

As in previous years Whiteleaf has entered teams in the Selby Postal League and I will submit the scores each month. This year there will be 2 Recurve Teams of 3 archers, 1 Compound Team, 1 Barebow Team and 1 Longbow Team (all of 2 archers).

IMPORTANT
This year, as discussed at the AGM, in an attempt to bring the club closer together with archers shooting at the same time, we will only be submitting scores shot by archers who shoot at the Club Shoot on the dates listed above for that particular month. If any archer present is able to shoot a higher score during the same month the higher score will entered for the postal shoot. Any frostbite rounds shot by an archer not shooting at the Club Frostbite will not be eligible for the postal shoot in that month.

There will also be a club handicap related tournament based on Frostbite scores each month. This will be based only on scores shot at the Club Frostbite shoots above. At the end of each month I will let you know who made each team for the league and the points for the Club Handicap Trophy.

Summer County Postal Results 2022

The Summer County Postal was run from May to September with the following rounds shot in each month

  • May – Short metric (Short metric III)
  • June – National (Junior National)
  • July –    Long Metric I (Long Metric III)
  • Aug –    WA70 (Metric 122-50)
  • Sept –   Warwick (Junior Warwick)

Scores were collated by the records secretary and the best scores for the month were submitted to the county.

The results are in and congratulations are in order for the following club members:

Longbow Team Gold:  John O’Keeffe, Jan O’Keeffe, Valerie Davey, Paul Field
Bowman Handicap Gold:  John O’Keeffe
Bowman Handicap Silver:  Paul Davis
Lady Recurve Silver:  Julie Morling
Longbow Silver:  Alun Pugh
Barebow Lady Gold:  Rukhsana Latif

Indoor Calendar 2022/2023

Indoor archery is back on at Lacey Green Village hall, the dates are below

Sessions (ready to shoot) are at: 1730, 1930, and, with prior notification on the Whiteleaf Indoor WhatsApp Group, at 2130. If you are not already a member of the group and would like to be added, please contact Paul with your name and phone number: treasurer@whiteleafbowmen.org.uk

Cost per session is: £3 adult club members, £2 junior and £5 visitor (please bring proof of AGB membership.

This year we are dispensing with cash payments. You will need to sign in for every session that you shoot (please make sure your full name is clearly written). You will be billed twice – once at the end of December, and again at the end of the season, electronic bank transfer is the preferred method of payment.

Club Longbow and Barebow Champs 2022

On Sunday 28th August 2022 eight archers from Whiteleaf Bowmen gathered for the Club Longbow Championships. This year the competition was also opened up to Barebow archers from the club, recognising the growing number of Barebow archers within the club.

The day started fairly sedately with a National competition, 4 dozen arrows at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 50 yards. In traditional format the Longbow competition was judged by the number of hits, with score used as a tie break, whereas barebow were placed based on scores. With everyone warmed up and getting settled into a groove the next element of the competition would shake things up a bit.

This was a variation on the theme of a “Pope and Young” shoot. Five paper animal targets were placed downrange, and five shooting positions established. Each archer then had the opportunity to shoot five arrows from the one position, rotating round until they had shot five arrows from all of the positions. For the first stage of this each archer had 100 seconds to shoot all five arrows. Everyone was comfortably loosing all of their arrows within this time, so when the time for the next stage was dropped to 50 seconds the pressure was on. Subsequent stages saw the time drop to 40 seconds, and with the final stage only 30 seconds the pressure was on.

The final element of the day was a “Wand” shoot, which was one final chance for everyone to demonstrate their skill in hitting a 4” wide and 5’ tall stick placed at 40 yards. Andraes managed to hit this on his very first shot, with the longbows taking a bit more time to gauge the target. Both Paul and Julie managed a hit after a few attempts by everyone, but after a couple more arrows Paul managed to claim the prize.

Overall results

Gents Barebow Champion – Imran Rehman
Ladies Barebow Champion – Rukhsana Latif
Gents Longbow Champion – Paul Field
Ladies Longbow Champion – Julie Morling

Longbow Pope & Young Champion – Julie Morling

Wand Champion Longbow – Paul Field
Wand Champion Barebow – Andraes Kirschner

Best Unrewarded Score – John O’Keeffe

Overall Results

Club Champs and Longbow/Barebow Champs 2022

A few dates for your diaries

The Longbow/Barebow championship will take place on the 28th of August – further details at http://www.whiteleafbowmen.org.uk/events/whiteleaf-longbow-barebow-championship-2022/

The Whiteleaf Club Championship will take place on the 4th of September – further details are at http://www.whiteleafbowmen.org.uk/events/whiteleaf-club-championship-2022/

Medals and Trophy at the “Diana” Tournament

A number of club members entered 57th “Diana” Tournament held at Harlequin Bowmen on the 4th of June 2022. Well done to the medal winners

Brenda Godfrey – Silver – Senior Ladies Compound

John O’Keefe – Bronze – Senior Gents Longbow

Julie Morling – Bronze – Senior Ladies Recurve

Also the team comprising of John O’Keefe, Julie Morling, Kevin Jones and Neil Ovenden ended up second place and returned with the small Diana Trophy.