Well the Gringa Coonabula bash has been run, won & washed out
Yes, yet another Gringa event has been cut short due to the weather. We had two sensational rounds of Strongbow's (Ferdy) awesome 3d course.
A rendezvous in Mundubbera with Terryzac sorted, we were on the road. We roll into Munduberra & have a look about, I do a few drive by's so I can take a walk down memory lane & we return to the water tower. Terry was still nowhere in sight. A few messages, some phone calls & eventually it appears we were going to settle in for an hour or so as it was a bit further than Terry remembered it.
Once they arrived we trekked the last bit out to Strongbow's (Ruff name Ferdy, I makes me think of women's alcohol)
We arrive safe & sound & as soon as the formalities are sorted it was time to hit the course & get down to business.
Well it started out little quieter than usual, I almost thought I had fallen in the wrong group. But there was only one group to shoot with, so I guessed I was in the right place.
It must have thrown my mojo, I hit rubber once in the first seven targets
I soon started to regather my package & gets things back on track. Somewhere around the 10th target Rod was mumbling something about it being too hot & the shed. Then we heard the quad. A few targets later we stroll around the corner & here is the glorious site of the blue esky packed full of icy cold drinks
With everyone now refreshed & raring to go, we continued on. There must have been something in those cold drinks, everyone started to loosen up a bit. The banter started, interesting shot windows were being picked & the arrows were still going anywhere
Round 1 of the 22 target coarse was all but sewn up as we returned to the shed for more cold drinks, lunch and a regroup.
Fran & Ferdy put on a cracker lunch & with full belly's it was time for the 2nd round. Somewhere on the walk out the shed, Rod called for it backwards, so that was just what we did. We shot the coarse backwards
Just to add to the entertainment, I dragged the camera along for 2nd round of the day.
In these couple of photos you can see the standing bear some 80 odd metres away, yes that is what we are shooting at
Rod in action. I think from memory there is an arrow in flight in these next 3 long shots.
Ferdy
Terry lets one loose
Well Keith was trying his dam-dest to break these couple of bamboo shafts. They seam to fly pretty well. Although if you can see the arrow in theses next two pics, it seems to be cutting some serious fish tails from side to side.
Ferd's arrow in motion.
Have a look at the paradox this arrow still has that far down the range
As usual, we had some interesting & entertaining shots that you wouldn't probably take while hunting, but always get a good laugh on the range.
Zac cutting loose with his ring in bow on the big in the creek.
Ferdy shows how its done, he owned this target both rounds & from both directions !!
This is shooting the same pig from the other side, you just had to drop an arrow over the edge
There's a bear down there
I took the opportunity to stand in the wash out for a couple of pics.
Now lets just say the next target was some serious entertainment, which resulted in some time looking for lost arrows. I am pretty sure the photo will explain it all
The next couple are a few consecutive shots of Ferdy's arrow in flight looking to just drop over the bank & land in some rubber
I hate deer
There is a little pig out there somewhere
This was to be the easy shot.
Here we shot through about a million twigs at a pig (I think) that was half hidden by a termite mound. We really do enjoy ourselves when we head out on these shoots.
I think this look just says it all. We were shooting at a pig on the dam bank. Might have been a little hard to see
A rare shot of Terry finding an anchor. He is a self admitted eagle when it comes to his anchor, it can flap about anywhere
Still, this a good shot for me. The concentration is clearly visible.
Here I am at the same pig on the dam target, I think I might have even had a winner here ... yay ..
It looks like a casual stroll between targets, but it's more like a mocking or a banter run for whoever stuffed the last target .... A thick skin & good sense of humour is essential to attend a Gringa Gathering.
Ferdy lets another canon loose
Hey Ferd, is that your arrow pulled up a bit short there
I am starting to get to know some of the shooting habits of this crownd pretty well. Which makes it easier to get an arrow in motion caught in a frame.
Well we were lucky old Keith hadn't organised another tree award for the Coonabula bash, or it would have been hotly contested just as the last one was.
We had a few lazy groupies that just followed Rod around for autographs
Then there was this bad boy. Ferdy's very own coarse horse for the Mongolian horseback archers. There was a trick to it for sure, your feet were not allowed to touch the ground when you shot.
It was great, I don't think I hit the target with my first arrow either round, but it was a hell of a lot of fun trying !!!!!
I sure reckon one of these up at Gladstone for the muster would be a good thing !!!!!
While we were mucking about taking horsey rides, Rod was busy sighting his pins in
I think he got there in the end.
Yet another challenging shot.
The man that has brought the archers from all walks of life together.
Ferdy pulls this 90# bow like it's a kids toy, but not just to his mouth, he wants the extra bit of grunt, so he pulls to his ear
Wabbits, waskilly wabbits ......
With that brought the end of the 2nd round. What a coarse, jammed packed full of great shots & heaps of variety. But that didn't mean it was all over. It was now time for the running targets
Ferdy is the MacGyver of the archery world, he can & will make anything he needs or dreams up.
His running rabbits are a hell of a lot of fun.
You stand up on the tank stand with a foot operated mechanism that delivers the next foam ball down the chute & along the ground for you to miss...... whoops I mean try & hit.
Ready boys
3 puffs of dust, 3 misses .....
Let's get this show on the road
Not long after the this photo, the heavens opened up & there were many cats & dogs fall from the sky in the coming hours.
After we copped some 70 odd millimetres in 2 hours, we were washed from our shed we were to call home for the night & had to retreat to Ferdy's games room which let me tell you was a damn good place to entertain a few blokes while the rain belted down outside. (Sorry about the mess we made Ferdy & Fran)
Ferd & Fran served up a cracking dinner. We all had a few beers, shared heaps of stories which may have lead to a few longer stories.
It was decided we would move the vehicles onto solid road base just in case it kept up all night. The Landy was right, the falcon ute, not so much.
It was stuck & stuck good, we had to leave it until morning.
Well it rained on & off all night with it still raining when we arose on Sunday. There would be no shooting today, but there was the issue of a stuck falcon.
We dug, we got the max trax into position & Ferdy gave his new Terffa hand winch a good work out.
Keith being the scorer must have known there was a tie for first place & made sure he didn't do an injury while we got the falcon out
Well when I said there was no shooting today, that wasn't really true, Ferdy had gone to allot of trouble to make some trophies & they had to be decided.
Keith & I had tied for first on the 3d rounds. So it was to be decided via a v- shoot from in the shed. But not just any old V-shoot, we had to shoot Frans bow
We were allowed 2 practice arrows each & then it was game on.
Keith being the only man to get an arrow in the V, taking the win for the 2nd Gringa Gathering in a row.
The attendees
One more for good luck (Lucky Ferdy built it strong !!!
Thanks to all those who attended & a Huge Thanks to Ferdy & Fran for hosting a sensational shoot regardless of what the weather threw at us
It was a great spread & I really look forward to getting out there to shoot with you guys again.Thanks again for a great time & sorry the report took so long for me to get it up here.
The parting shot was the road sign we stopped to take a photo of on the way home
