Shooting Clays

On the 21st of November we had team training at Wyley Valley Shooting Ground. Lucky for me this was just 20 minutes down the A303. After a coffee and bacon sarnies we were split up into two groups with 50 cartridges each and some ear defenders. The two instructors Jeff and Ian took us through gun safety and handling; we were then taken onto various stands to have a go at shooting clays. Rob was definitely the expert in our group, but the three girls (Lucy, Lee and myself) were hitting clays consistently, even on the harder stand were the clay flew across from left to right at a very fast pace!

In the Arctic, are main danger is from polar bears, which are significantly bigger than your average clay. We are highly likely to see polar bears as we cross their migratory route. The primary objective of the gun is to scare them away if they get close; however if they are too nosey and try to get into our tent, then it is all about self protection.

After we had spent a couple of hours using up our 50 cartridges we then had a go shooting a pump action shot gun, which is like the gun we will carry in the arctic. This was great fun, and we all felt that we should be playing a part in some Schwarzenegger movie!

 Val the resident cook had made  lunch fit to feed an army. Having just been home to God’s Country, she had bought local ingredients for Yorkshire Stew with dumplings (Yum yum). This was followed by an equally filling pudding – bread & butter pudding!

After lunch we spent a couple of hours working with the GPS. Jock gave us four co-ordinates, which we had to plug into the GPS. We were all given a different start point, and had to visit all four points; recording the letter marked on the card fixed at the point, with a brief description. We whizzed round the four points, and were first home (Polar Slugs are the under dogs to watch .. as I’ve mentioned before, as a team we are quietly competitive!) Jock couldn’t believe quite how quick we had been. He’d reckoned on quite few hours catching up with a bit of admin. We finished the afternoon with tea and cake before heading home.

The next team training session is down on the beaches in Swansea, in January! We will be pulling our pulks up & down sand dunes, camping out in the tents, and cooking on our stoves… lets hope the weather is dry, don’t mind cold, just not wet and cold!

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