THE Whitehill Archers had a record number of entries for their 11th annual St Nic Shoot.

Archers aged 12 to 70 from Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Sussex and Surrey enjoyed the festive competition at Whitehill Sports Club field last Sunday.

Organised and run by Ciaran Finn, this event is increasing in popularity to such an extent that this year, for the first time, demand for places exceeded the number available.

Whitehill Archers chairman Mike Daborn said: “The weather stayed fine and there was some great shooting with many archers choosing to wear Christmas hats for this festive-themed event.

“Special colour prizes, in the form of Christmas puddings, were awarded as a bonus for the first archers to hit specific areas on the targets. Unusually, most of these were awarded after the first six arrows were shot and the judges had to use tape measures to determine the nearest arrows to the centre of the colour target.

“After checking all the scores at the end there was an interesting and unusual situation with three gentlemen recurve archers who had the same score and number of hits, two of whom had the same number of golds too.

“Officiating judges for the day were Paul Richards and David Strong ,who were kept busy. The Lady Paramount this year was Maia Daborn who presented the awards following a barbecue and raffle.”

Whitehill Archers’ next competition will be their UK national record status shoot on March 26.

For more details on the club, visit whitehillarchers.org.uk or call Mike Daborn on 07768 390075.