SIXTY-EIGHT archers took part in a two-day field archery competition organised by Overton Black Arrows.

The Watership Down world record status competition was held on July 1 and 2 at the Warren near Kingsclere.

The course designers had planned a completely new course for the archers using the steep hills of the Warren itself and the adjacent woods.

The participants included world number one recurve archer Bryony Pitman and other Olympic team and GB field archers like Patrick Huston, Tom Hall, Conor Hall, Alex Wise, Vic Williams, Zach Ball, James Annall and Ollie Hicks.

On day one there was a 24-target mixed course with marked and unmarked targets.

This included a number of tricky cross slope shots and some steep up and down shots with a few gullies and dead ground designed to trick the archers and their distance estimations.

The weather went from a rainy morning to a sun-baked afternoon with plenty of cake and drink to keep the archers refreshed.

Once the first day’s shooting was completed, the organisers unveiled ‘Phil the Minion’, high on a hill and gave the archers a chance to shoot him from a distance of 100m. 

Also back was the Overton Black Arrows’ ‘Olympic challenge’ shot with a 20cm face set at 70m.

Day two was dry and bright, but the wind whipped around the warren and the woods, providing another level of uncertainty. 

Again 24 targets were in place with subtle differences from day one, including a long very steep cross slope shot designed to test the archers abilities as well as a very tricky 20m ‘bunny’ shot in the woods.

The winners included John Davies (Gents Flatbow), Katy Hawley (Junior Ladies Flatbow), James Annall (Gents Barebow), Vic Williams (Ladies Barebow), Ruby Davies (Junior Ladies Barebow), Dave Mahers (Gents Asiatic), Zach Ball (Gents Compound), Susan Corless (Ladies Compound), Dan Hawley (Gents Longbow), Freya Wise (Ladies Longbow), Tom Hall (Gents Recurve), Zac Dickenson (Junior Gents Recurve), Emma Davis (Ladies Recurve), Ceri Thomas (Gents Trad) and Michaela Lake (Ladies Trad)

The event raised £400 for Autism Hampshire, the club’s chose charity for 2023-24.