ILAA Roving Marks Yattendon

Ah, well, a bit of a curate's egg of a day, but most enjoyable.
It was raining hard on the drive down, but we mostly go away with drizzle in the morning which held off in the afternoon. The shoot was over undulating parkland with a good deal of shooting over huge Oaks and Chestnuts in the afternoon.
My day went well for the first two shots, but the bow exploded on the third! I'd taken my light weight takedown bow, which had already had a chequered career, having failed at the joint previously.
Before the shoot I'd shown how it pulled apart and JT was sceptical that it could hold up... "Of course it will, solid as a rock!" I assured him... whoops. Ironically, one of the arrows was a scoring shot.
The limbs have survived, so maybe I can make it into a kids bow or use a limb from a primitive to make a "Frankenstein's Bow". (I've already started on it!)
The only injury was to my pride, which rather lasted through the shoot as I was somewhat anxious about the flight bow and it's untested arrows.
Brian Mooyaart (the organiser and driving force of the ILAA ) most generously lent me his Osage bellied Bickerstaffe bow (60# @28") which served me well through the day.
I tired a bit through the afternoon and my left elbow was giving me a bit of gyp so I sat out a few shots and saved myself for the flight shoot. Again a bit of a curate's egg, the good thing was that neither bow nor arrows exploded, although one arrow broke at the tip having found a stone.
Whilst waiting on the shoot line I was being wound up by one chap, suggesting the bow was too short to meet the criteria for a longbow. I wasn't much amused having had a bow explode on me earlier, but once we'd finished I was chatting to him about flight shooting most amicably. He'd won the flight, but I think I was second, although neither of us made 300 yards (I stand to be corrected on all this if anyone has better info). The flight bow seemed easier to pull than expected, now this could be because I'd been pulling 60# all day and was nicely warmed up, it could be the damp weather or maybe the bow was starting to give up. Only cold hard figures from the tiller will tell the full story.
The good news is that the arrows showed up really well!
So you see it was all a bit up and down, but a roast chicken dinner and a good night's kip has left me nicely loose and refreshed and full of enthusiasm.

I don't do many roving marks shoot, but what I do enjoy is that it's more sociable than field shooting, you are wanding round en masse rather than just a group of 3 or 4.
Many thanks to Brian and Catherine Mooyaart (and their marshalls) for a most enjoyable day out. I don't hold them accountable for the rain!

Here's a link to a short video clip:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTAwu8e-vf4