Pistol Competition Results

Total Entries:  31 Guns

 

        Match Winner:  George Flaherty

            Junior Class: 2 guns - Kiel Marvik, winner

            Young Bucks & Does Class: 17 guns - James Austin, winner

            Senior Class: 5 guns - Mark Wuesthoff, winner

            Super Senior Class: 7 guns -  Hal Hansen, winner

 

It was a cool evening, 52 degrees at game time, but it felt colder.  We had all 3 heaters on and roaring, plus some of the guys had a campfire on the open ground at the top of the rifle side of the range.  The campfire sure looked and felt good, and we all hope it will become a tradition on chilly Tuesday evenings. 

    This reporter and Plate Match Director wishes to take this opportunity to thank the guys that get to the range early and set up the stage. Thanks to the guys who runs the board and the firing  line, and to all those guys & gals who pitch in to take the stage apart at the end of the evening.  All during the match each Tuesday whenever something needs doing, shooters are literally standing in line to jump in and do it.  Way to go shooters, We all appreciate it.

    The large field of shooters tonight necessitated limiting the match to 4 rounds and a sudden death finale.  We were able to get in that much shooting only because of everyone's willingness to help and the smooth and practiced efficiency of the various people doing all the many tasks inherent in putting on a match like this.

    We pick up the action in the midst of the finals.  I use the term "action" advisedly tonight, as the speed and accuracy of the shooters increased as the night went on.  Let's start in a duel between James and Ron, this one won by James.  Then Mark and Chris dueled with Mark winning, followed by George showing this reporter the door.  Mark then got by George and Ted followed up with a win over Mathew.

Mark then put Ted on the trailer in a fast duel.  James and George gave a preview of things to come, with James winning this one. 

    Mark then put Chris on the trailer, and George got some payback against James.  Mark followed up with a win against Mark, and then did it again back to back.  Mark decided enough was enough, and beat George in a rematch from earlier.  Folks we are just about there.

    At this point, we have 3 guns still standing:  George, James and Mark.  First, George duels with Mark, and is victorious, putting our Senior Class winner, Mark Wuesthoff on the trailer.  Now it's James and George, each with one number.  Shooters, Load and Make Ready!  Shooters Ready?  Stand By!!  At the horn, James and George go for it.  Not much time elapses, and we have a winner.  George Flaherty is not to be denied tonight.  James Austin comes away with a win in the Young Bucks and Does Class, and George Flaherty emerges as our Match Winner tonight.  Congratulations George.  Not to bad for a guy your age.  (this reporter will doubtless pay for that one)

    To catch everyone up on ancient history, Kiel Marvik was our Junior Class winner, and by virtue of George winning the match, Hal Hansen sort of backs into the Super Senior Class win.  This reporter will take it any way he can get it.  When he can get it::)

    Ok Folks, we'll see you here next Tuesday evening and we'll play this game again.  Just a reminder, our Monday night practices are becoming more and more popular, and we now have both racks set up so 2 shooters can shoot at the same time.  There is very little, if any, time wasted standing around.  Come on out and get tuned up for the Tuesday evening matches.  Remember, practices are held at 5pm Monday evenings, national holidays excluded.  This reporter wishes to leave you shooters with these words of wisdom:

 

                    SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL!

                             Larry Vickers

 

See you all next week

 

Hal

18 guns entered

11 Open Class Guns

7 Limited Class Guns

We start the month of March with our new, at least for our Clays Match, classes of gun entries. A brief review of said classes is in order. In the Open Class, the choices of equipment, as long as they are handguns, are OPEN. Optics, Compensators, any caliber, rather they are rim fire or center fire, and as long as the firearm is safe and dependable, bring it on.

In Limited Class, the choices of equipment are Limited, but not much. No optics; iron sights only, no compensators, and again, any caliber rather it be rim fire or center fire. And of course, the firearms must be safe and dependable, which allows a lot of leeway for light but safe triggers, whatever type of iron sights you may prefer, and pick a caliber to your preference.

18 guns started the month of March by entering our Clays Match, and welcome to you all. 11 of the handguns were Open Class, and 7 were Limited Class. The arrays were challenging and varied as usual, and thanks to OJ Kimura for arranging the target patterns. For rounds 1 & 2 we had 3 orange micros and green standard sized clays bracketing black micro center clays. For round3 we ditched the huge green standards, and went with 8 orange micros bracketing black micro center clays. For round 4 the arrays remained the same, but for round 5 we had 8 black micros bracketing orange micro center clays.

To top off the event today, it was 50 degrees at game time and with a couple of heaters going it was as warm as spring, which is coming the 20th of this month. Can summer be far behind?

At the end of regulation play we had a couple of winners. In the Open Class, with the high score for the day, Chuck Treat led the way. In the Limited Class Mark Wuesthoff and his hotrod revolver was the winner. OK everyone. The stage is set for a great summer of Clays Shooting, Plate Shooting and good times to be had by all. See you here next Sunday and we’ll do it again.

Webmeister's Note:  Daylight Savings Time starts next Sunday!  Really.

Hal

Match Winner:  Rob Potter

37 Guns entered                           Class Won By
    2 Juniors                                  Kiel Marvik
    25 Young Bucks & Does            James Austin
    6  Seniors                              Rebecca Potter
    4 Super Seniors                        Leon Potter

    It was a really dark, drizzly evening for our plate match.  46 degrees and all the heaters were on wide open.  It was warmer than usual, as one could go to the line and shoot without frost forming on one’s gun.  In other words, it was a perfect February evening for a plate match.  37 guns agreed and came out in all their glory to play.  We had several new shooters and welcome to you all.  We hope you had a great time and will return regularly. 

Welcome back to Will Reese from Paul Bunyon Rifle and Revolver Club.  Glad you made the trip Will.  For those of you new to competitive shooting around here, Will is the Match Director for his club’s Speed Steel event held the third Sunday of each month at 10am.  If you haven’t shot this match, you should.  It’s fun and really challenging.  

    There was a lot of very hot shooting on this cool evening, and as the finals began we had 5 shooters still in the fray;  James Austin, Mark Wuesthoff, Rob Potter, Leon Potter, and our announcer Rebecca Potter.  There was a flock predatory Nighthawks circling the range at the start of our “Sudden Death Finale”.  Rob, Reba, and Leon all were shooting Nighthawk Custom 1911 pistols, and shooting them very well indeed.  

    James unleashed his S&W revolver against Mark and his S&W revolver, and beat Mark to the line by a hair.  Rob then let fly his Nighthawk against James’ wheel gun, and outran him for the win in that duel.  Leon ran his Nighthawk against James’ revolver, but James got there first, so Leon retires for the evening as our Super Senior Class victor.

    James and Mark match revolvers, with James edging Mark. Rob & Reba then dueled with their Nighthawks with Rob winning.  Congratulations to our silver tongued announcer Rebecca Potter for her Senior Class win tonight.

    Rob and James dueled for the match victory tonight, and Rob gets there first by a hair.  Match win to Rob Potter, and James can be proud of his Young Bucks & Does Class victory tonight.  

    Thanks as always to Mathew and Nicholas Seagraves for setting up the stage, and to Rob and Rebecca Potter for running the line and the board.  Thanks as always to all those who pitched in and helped everyone during the match. Thanks to Carrie Marvik and her flying fingers for recording the finals.  We’ll see you all out here same time next week.  And remember:  Shoot Fast!  Shoot Accurately!  BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!

Hal

22 Guns with 2 new classes

                                                                       Class won by    Score

                        Iron sights (Limited Class)     Jim Skedd             44

                        Optics (Open Class)               Jay Schoonmaker  47

            Our GHSC Clays Match has entered a new evolution.  Now, instead of dividing the field between rimfire and centerfire guns, guns with optics compete against guns with optics while guns using iron sights compete only against guns also equipped with iron sights.  Given the propensity for the course designers to use the micro clays for so many arrays, optic sights are indicated for guns designed expressly for speed and open class competition. .  For those that use the matches to hone their skills with potential carry guns, the playing field is much more level with shooters using their “street” sights. Chuck, I like the call.  Well done.

            Jay Schoonmaker liked the call today too.  Jay used “open” class gun to shoot a score of 47, high score for the match.  Jim Skedd used his Nighthawk 1911 “Limited” Class gun to fire a score of 44. 

            The arrays changed as much as the classes today.  Combinations of green standard sized clays, coupled with orange and green and black micro clays really livened up the screens. The arrays changed for each round, and then took the “Great Circle” route to the black objective clay on round number 5.  The “Great Circle” route was comprised of four various colored micros describing roughly a circle and a black micro clay in the middle of the 2 circles. 

            Thanks go to Chuck Nicodemus for hosting the match, and to Doug Mclean for running it, as usual.  Thanks to Chuck Treat for keeping new wire on the screens and setting up the first round’s array each week. Thanks to Mark (OJ) Kimura for designing the arrays and keeping them colorful, challenging and different each round.  Thanks gents for your time and hard work.

            Well, as an observer of the weekly progress of the target arrays and formats for the clays match, I hesitate to say what is or isn’t permanent, but I can say that the match will continue to be challenging and educational.  It was 58degrees at game time today, so summer is almost here.  Come on out and enjoy our sport, and become a greatly improved handgun competitor in the process.  See you all next week.

Hal

   28 guns
        1 junior, class won by Kiel Marvik uncontested
       13 Young Bucks and Does, class won by Ted Austin
         8 Seniors, class won by Mark Wuesthoff
         6 Super Seniors, class won by George Flaherty

    It was quite cool tonight, but not really cold.  The heaters sure felt good though.  At game time the temperature was 46 degrees.  Thanks to OJ, George, and a bunch of others for running the board and line in Rob and Reba’s absence.  A special thanks to the flying fingers of Carrie Marvik for recording the results of the finals.  Carries work with her business “Flying Fingers Ink., inc.” make her especially well qualified for this task.
    We had 2 new shooters tonight, for which we are all grateful.  Welcome to Les Trummert and Brian Callogan.  We hope you had a good time and will return often.
    We join the finals with 5 shooters remaining. James & Ted Austin, OJ, George, and Mark trade wins and losses in increasingly fast, accurate duels as we head down the home stretch.  James and Mark duel, with James winning, putting our Senior Class winner, Mark Wuesthoff, on the trailer.  OJ and Ted duel with Ted winning, exit OJ.  George and James duel with James winning, and James follows up that winning string with another against brother Ted.  George and James duel with James continuing his winning streak, which is broken in a rematch against brother Ted.  James gets back on the winning track against George, and then puts brother Ted on the trailer for the evening as our Young Bucks and Does class winner.
    Now it’s just George and James.  Both have been having a great night, and they seem to be getting faster as the night progresses.  They square off, the horn sounds and James wins a squeaker.  On the rematch, James still having 2 numbers to Georges 1, the horn sounds, the guns bark, and James takes the checkered flag for the week. George has to “settle” for being the Super Senior Class winner again.  George, this is becoming a habit.
    So, congratulations to James, and to all our class winners and competitors.  See you all right here next week.

Hal
    
         
       
 

                                                  Class won by                  Score

    12 Guns today:    3 Center fires     Tim Anable                    36

                             9 Rim Fires        Jay Schoonmaker          46

    Good day sports fans, and welcome to today’s GHSC clays match report.

The weather was about typical for February around here, cloudy & cold.  At least the rain held off until after the match for a change.  12 guns showed up with jackets and hats for the match, a mix of 9 rim fires and 3 center fire handguns.  They faced a mixed array of standard green & red mini targets, with black objective minis.  These arrays lasted for the first 4 rounds, with the 5th round sporting 4 red minis on each side of a black mini.  
    This is a good time to thank Chuck Treat for designing our target arrays, and providing variety, challenge and an excellent learning experience for us all.  Thanks Chuck. And, of course, thanks as usual to Doug Mclean for running the match, and to Chuck Nicodemus for hosting it.  It was an excellent match as always.
    With the well-oiled format for our match, run by Doug and Chuck, the match finished in record time today.  And, during the course of the match, we had shooters looking for that magic “bullet”; in this case Tim Anable borrowed Chuck Nicodemus’ Kimber USA Match race gun, complete with optic, to take the center fire class.  Well, to paraphrase this reporter’s remarks about armament in this match, trying to win this match with a center fire handgun, with iron sights, is like trying to do brain surgery with a broadax.  This is a match devoted to the pursuit of accuracy, and optics are indicated.
This will be a good challenge for Rob Potter and Jim Skedd, both successful quite often with their .45ACP Nighthawks with iron sights.  Chuck is threatening to use his Kimber race gun next week, if he can talk Tim out of it. It just may be that, over time, other clays match competitors will turn out with center fire race guns.  
    Just remember shooters, whether you are focusing on iron sights or dots, know what sight picture you are trying to attain, and wait to achieve it before you break your shot.  Irregardless of your choice of armament, you can’t miss fast enough to win.
    Shoot Fast!  Shoot Accurately!!  But most of all, Shoot Safely!!!!

Hal

             24 Gun Field – This number of entries ties the all-time high for a clays match

                                         Class won by                    Score                          

                         Rimfires - Don Davies                      44 + 5

                    Centerfires – Dave Schinkel                 38

            It was an overcast, cold, dark day with the temperature hovering at 45degrees.  You can bet all the range lights and all the heaters were on and blazing.  Today our entry list tied an all-time high for most entries at 24 guns.  17 of those entries shot rimfire handguns, while 7 shot centerfires.  Our target arrays continued to evolve as well, and varied a little or a lot for almost each round.  Round 1 saw 4 orange micros on each side bracketing a black mini.  But today the outside 3 orange minis were in a descending line with another orange mini jinking up 45degrees coming to rest about midline, then the middle black clay jinking 45degrees again to rest in the middle but along the bottom line of the targets.

 

         Beside the challenge of shooting at the tiny targets, now one has to adjust for picking up and engaging targets on different lines on the screen.  This is great!  Right on Chuck!  Not only are we having fun shooting, but we’re getting excellent training.

            OK, that was round 1.  The array configuration stayed the same all day today, but on round 2 the outside 4 targets became standard sized green clays.  Refer to the report last week, but these targets require that proper technique be used as much as the mini clays.  Get in too much rush, and misses happen.  More than a few of the green standard clays survived this round, and were offered up again on the next round. Round 3 stayed the same, but on round 4 we were back to orange minis with a green objective mini, and on round 5 the orange minis bracketed a black mini.

            At the end of regulation play, Dave Schinkel took the centerfire class with a score of 38.  Welcome back Dave, it’s been a while.

            In the rimfire class we had a tie between Jay Schoonmaker and Don Davies, each with a score of 44.  SHOOTOFF!!  The target arrays were moved back to 44 feet, the array stayed the same, but the targets were all black minis.  The arrays looked like another of our Match Director’s astronomical black holes.  This didn’t seem to bother Don Davies though.  After one string of fire, Jay had managed to hit 2 targets, but Don cleaned his 5 targets quickly and thoroughly. 

            So, Jay ended up with a score of 46 for the day, and Don Davies took home the medallion with a score of 44+5.  Nice shooting Don.  All we need to do now is find a contest for you to use a rifle, and you can be a 3-gun champion.  You certainly have handguns and shotguns down pat.  We’ll see you all right here next Sunday at 4pm and see what deviousness Chuck and our announcer and scorekeeper Doug McLean can

dream up next. In the meantime remember:  Shoot Fast, Shoot Accurately, but most of all, Shoot Safely!!

 

Hal

30 guns – Match Won by Rob Potter                                                

                                                                    Class Won By

              2 Juniors                                         Kiel Marvik

            16 Young Bucks and Does               James Austin

              7 Seniors                                         Mark Wuesthoff

              5 Super Seniors                               George Flaherty

It was a cool 46 degrees at game time, with blue sky sporting a scattering of light cirrus clouds.  It was a beautiful evening for a plate match, and 30 guns came out to enjoy it.  Thanks to Rob Potter for running the line, with help of course.  Thanks to George Flaherty for running the board in Reba’s absence.  Thanks go to Carrie Marvik for recording the final duels for this reporter, and thanks to all the competitors for being ready and keeping the match moving smoothly.  This efficiency of shooters and match staff allowed us 5 rounds of competition and a sudden death finale, with time to spare.  Thanks folks, and keep up the good work.

            We pick up the action midway through the sudden death finale, with James and Rob putting on a show for us all.  These guys were hot tonight and really gave an exhibition of fast and accurate shooting.  In this duel James came out on top.  Then Mark pulls out all the stops and shuts down James.  Rob takes some payback by putting this reporter on the trailer.  George follows suit by ending Bryce’s night.  Mark gets by Rob in a fast duel, and then Rob gets revenge from James’ earlier victory by outrunning him.  Rob gets by George, and follows up this victory with a win over James.  This puts James Austin out as our Young Bucks and Does Class winner.  Rob then continues his carnage by getting by Mark Wuesthoff, our Senior Class winner this week.

            Finally, for all the marbles, it’s between Rob and George Flaherty.  Not tonight George.  Not against Rob the way he’s shooting.  George Flaherty is our Super Senior Class winner, and Rob Potter wins the whole match. 

            Hey folks! The weather is still cool, but the shooting at Gig Harbor Sportsman’s Club on Tuesday evenings is HOT!!  Come on out and play.  You’ll be in some elegant company.

Hal

16 guns entered                Class Winner               Score

 

12 Rimfires                         Hal Hansen                  48

 

4 Centerfires                        Rob Potter                   33

 

            Super Bowl
Sunday, cool, overcast, and still 16 guns showed up for our Clays Match.  We shooters do, after all, have our
priorities.  At game time it was a balmy
46degrees, however it was still full light outside.  Neither the daylight nor the 46degrees lasted
throughout the match, but at least it’s a sign of promise for the future.

            Out target
displays evolved again today with a challenging and provocative series of
arrays.  For the first four rounds, we
had a green micro clay, bracketed by 4 orange minis.  Then for round 5, Chuck threw a hard-breaking
curveball.  The middle orange mini was
bracketed by 4 standard sized, read: HUGE, green clay targets.  As is the case with many offerings that look
to good to be true, there was a hook imbedded in the big targets.  Shooters used to shooting at the tiny micros
would see the great big, “unmissable”, targets and throw caution to the
wind.  The sudden ability of shooters to
go fast played havoc with their technique causing poor sight pictures and
jerking triggers, and Misses.

How does one miss a target that big?  It’s easy. 
One is reminded that it’s impossible to miss fast enough to win, so
remember your fundamentals and proper technique.

            In the
hand-cannon class Rob Potter continued his winning ways.  Rob had his predatory Nighthawk flying high,
steely-eyed and hungry.  Rob’s class-winning
score of 33 tells its own story of how challenging the matches have become.

            In the
mouse-gun class, Hal Hansen re-entered the winners circle after a long and
well-deserved absence, with a score of 48. 
Hal put an end to Jay Schoonmakers string of victories at 3.  Mighty fine string, Jay. 

            Well, no
football games next week and I hope the weather will continue to improve.  Thanks to Chuck as usual for hosting the
match, and thanks to Doug for running it. 
We’ll see you all right here next Sunday and we’ll see who the top guns
are then. 

 

Hal     

Falling Plate Match Reported by: George Flaherty January 27, 2009   The Monday night snow may have scared some folks away, but 21 hardy guns were at the range at start time on Tuesday. The drizzle of earlier in the day had stopped and it was a balmy 38 degrees with the heaters on full as we start the action. We shoot six qualifying rounds plus a sudden death final with time to spare. An efficient line crew and score keeper obviously made this all possible.   We welcomed two new shooters tonight. Loren and Tim did themselves proud for their first night at plates. Kiel Marvik was having a very good night with his wheel gun as was Mark Wuesthoff with his Hi-power. We pickup the action with four shooters remaining in the race, Ted Austin, George Flaherty, Mark Wuesthoff and Rob Potter. Although Ted had been having his way with his opponents all night, George put an end to his dreams and Ted was gone. Mark, Rob and George trade wins and losses back and forth until Rob uses up Markʼs last number. Rob and George shoot to a tie and Rob wins the rematch. George takes two from Rob. We all know it is hard to keep Rob down when the big prize is at stake and Rob does it again by beating George. Congratulation Rob on another match win.     Match Winner: Rob Potter Youth Winner: Kiel Marvik Young Bucks & Does Winner: Ted Austin Senior Winner: Mark Wuesthoff Super Senior Winner: George Flaherty (uncontested)

 

14 guns entered

                                                                              
Score                

Rimfire Class Winner -10 - 
Jay Schoonmaker       45

 

Centerfire Class Winner – 4 - Rob Potter                33

 

            It was a
grey, overcast and cold day for our clays match today.  At game time today our thermometer in the
range building hovered at 38degrees, and felt colder than that.  All the heaters were out, and on, and no one
got too far away from them during the match. 
Still, 14 guns entered the fray, 10 rimfires and 4 centerfires.   I believe Chuck got the message across last
week that our clays match is now a precision event, with the emphasis on
accuracy and not speed.  Speed is fine,
but first one has to hit the targets. 
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, shooting a centerfire
handgun in this event is like doing brain surgery with a broad Ax.

 It’s possible that the competitors saw the
future of our target arrays today too. 
The first 4 rounds found 4 orange minis bracketing a lone green
mini.  The 5^th round saw the 4
orange minis bracketing a black mini. 
The last round with the black mini turned out to be just as good as the
first 4 with the green center mini, because by then the lights at the range
were on and we could still see the targets, orange or black.

            In
the mouse gun class, Jay Schoonmaker turned in his usual sterling performance
to take the class win.  Jay shot a 45
this week.  It doesn’t seem to matter to
Jay, or Rob Potter with his hand cannon what the target arrays are.  They just bear down and break’em.  As you may have noticed, Rob Potter took the
center fire class with a score of 33. 
Both Jay and Rob had scores a mere 1 target higher than their next
closest competitor.  The game is a bit
more demanding now, what with all the targets being minis, but the shooters
have taken the challenge and we can expect the scores to rise steadily in the
future, and that’s the way it is supposed to be.  Thanks to Chuck Nicodemus and Doug McLean for
putting on a great contest.  See you all
next week, and may the best gun win.

Hal

27 Guns Entered            Match Won by: James Austin

                                                   Class Won by

# Juniors -   2                               Kiel Marvik                             

# Young Bucks & Does -             Rob Potter

# Seniors -                                    Mark Wuesthoff

# Super Seniors -                          George Flaherty

 

            Well hello, sports fans.  Hal Hansen here, and it’s good to be back in the press box again.  I had a lot of help during my absence and I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people.  Thanks to Mark Wuesthoff for assuming my Match Director duties.  It’s good to know that he will be handy if I need help in the future.

            Thanks to George Flaherty for taking over writing my reports.  After reading his reports during my leave, I expected when I came back to have people say: “Have you been gone?”  “We thought maybe the match ran a little smoother and the reports were a little better.”  Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate you, both, keeping the ship of state running straight and true in my absence.

            Thanks as always to Rob & Reba for running the score board and firing line, tonight as well as when I wasn’t there.  Thanks to Nick and Mathew Seagraves for helping set up the match and doing the “grunt” work tonight, as well as when I was gone.  To the folks mentioned, as well as to all the others who pitched in and kept things running smoothly, thank you.  Thanks from me, and thanks from the match entries for keeping the fun flowing.

            One more thank you is in order, tonight and on-going, to Carrie Marvik.  Carrie has, uh, “volunteered” to watch the duels during the final minutes of the match, and to give me an accurate and complete accounting of who won what, and when and how.  This is a talent Carrie has in her daily toils, in her capacity as a stenographer in her business: FLYING FINGERS, INK, INC.  Thanks Carrie, and we fully expect to benefit from your flying fingers that give me something to write about after the matches. 

            Oh yeah, the match. I almost forgot.  Give me a few weeks off and I have to be retrained.  After I was sent to the showers, we are down to 4 names that by now are familiar to everyone:  Mark Wuesthoff, James Austin, George Flaherty & Rob Potter.

            We start the final finals with a duel between Mark and James.  Mark gets there first this time.  George and Rob duel, with George winning.  Mark then draws Rob for a rematch and again wins the duel.  James draws George and puts to rest his bid for the match win.  Exit George, our Super Senior Class winner tonight. 

            Rob and Mark duel with Rob winning this one.  Exit Mark Wuesthoff, our Senior Class winner tonight.  And this duel, folks, segues into the last pairing of the evening, the big one for all the marbles.  It’s Rob Potter against James Austin.  Both these shooters have had a great evening, and it ends with James Austin having another fast smooth run and taking the string, the class, and the match.  Good shooting James, and good shooting to all the guns entered.  See you all next week right here, same time and same station.  Good night and God Bless.

 

Hal Hansen

14 Guns Entered           
Class won by             Score

              8 Rim
Fires                   Jay
Schoonmaker       44

              6 Center Fires               Jim Skedd                   39    

            Todays
match dawned cool, clear and sunny, with the temperature hovering at
48degrees.  It got cooler as the match
went on, as darkness fell, but with our heaters all on it was manageable.  Once the match got underway today, no one
really thought much about the cool temps, although from time to time everyone
spent some time in front of the heaters. 
Today’s match could very properly be titled:  “Ask and Ye Shall Receive”.

Some time ago the clays shooters requested orange minis to
replace the black minis we were shooting at for lone center targets, and for
shoot offs.  So, Chuck put in an order
for a few orange minis, as did the trap range. 
When the shipment arrived, both the trap range and the rifle/pistol
range received an ENTIRE PALLET, EACH of orange minis.  We absolutely HAVE orange minis.  I believe my 3yr old grandson will be
shooting at orange minis from this shipment. 
And of course this largess challenged our clays Match Director to find
entertaining and devious ways to utilize our supply.

            Round 1
found the clays shooters beginning to peck away at the orange mini supply, with
the 4 outside clays being orange minis, bracketing the standard sized green
clay.  Not a bad array.  Even in the slowly dimming light the array
showed up well, and for the first 2 rounds presented viable challenging
targets.  Could Chuck leave well enough
alone?

            NO!! For
the 3^rd round we saw 4 orange minis bracketing a black mini.  Hmmmmm. 
It’s getting dark too.  That
center black mini is visible but only just.

Still, the array was still viable, if still more
challenging.

            For round 4
Chuck’s creative juices were running rampant. 
Now the shooters were facing the 4 outside orange minis with a green
micro in the middle.  Well, green is in
the middle of the spectral range and the eye picks up the color well.  We could still see it well enough, so the
array was still viable.  You can all no
doubt see where round #5 is headed.  Yep!

            For round
5, the array sported the outside minis all black, with a lone center orange
mini.  At this point it was pitch black
dark, all the range lights had been on for a good while, but with the lights
and shadows even the clothespins were hard to see.  Some of the black minis bracketing the orange
center bird just virtually disappeared. 
Some were hard to see even with the handgun laid down on the deck and
the shooter just staring at the arrays. 
The orange center minis still made pretty good targets I imagine, if one
were able to hit the 4 black minis bracketing them.  I assure you, it didn’t happen often.

            Well,
challenge and variety are the purpose of firearms matches.  The gauntlet has been thrown.  Now it is the job of the shooters to do
whatever is necessary to meet the challenge. 
Chuck is doing us clays shooters a favor by demanding that extra step in
developing good technique and fundamental skills.  So folks, let us accept this challenge and
put the onus back on the match management to accelerate the challenges and
training we are getting.  Thanks Chuck,
and, Say Chuck!  I don’t care how many
entries you have for each clays match now. 
You need to enter each match and learn and improve with the rest of
us.  It is your sacred duty to lead from
the front.  Thanks to Doug McLean for
running the mic and the score sheet, and for further motivating our clays
shooters.  See ya next week.

Hal

Falling Plate Match

Reported by: George Flaherty

January 13, 2009

 

It was a cool 42 degrees at game time, but unlike last week it was dry. We shoot 5 qualifying rounds in the standard configuration. 31 guns came to play and it was good to see Kiel, Carrie and Ted back after a couple on months away. A special thanks to Mark Wuesthoff and James Austin for repairing the plate rack overnight. The practice boys beat up on one of the racks Monday.

 

The match went smoothly and we are down to 5 shooters. Rebecca ends Hal Hansenʼs dream of making the finals and we are down to four, Rebecca Potter, Mark Wuesthoff, James Austin and George Flaherty. James beats Rebecca in the first of two matches. George sends Mark home as Mark misses a plate. James is showing no mercy as he beats Rebecca again in a very close match. Good shooting Rebecca, our senior class winner. That leaves James with 1 number and George with 3. James beats George 2 straight as George misses a plate on each rack. Now we are down to all the marbles and James and George go at it for the third time. This time it is Jamesʼs turn to miss a plate and George runs the rack. George is the match winner.

 

 

Match Winner: George Flaherty

Youth Winner: Kiel Marvik (uncontested)

Young Bucks & Does Winner: James Austin

Senior Winner: Rebecca Potter

Super Senior Winner: Hal Hansen

22 Guns Entered Today            Class Won By                    Score

                        10 Rim fires -             Jay Schoonmaker                    49

 

                        12 Center fires -            Dave Schinkel                       41

 

            Welcome back to the GHSC Clays Matches, where great big guns and little bitty guns shoot at assorted clay targets, and sometimes even hit them, big and small.  22 shooters bundled up and came out today, and included in the entries were 10 mouse guns and 12 hand cannons. 

            The temperature at game time today was a balmy 50degrees, which compared to last week appeared to be heralding the coming of summer.  Still, it was a grey, overcast day that threatened rain, and did rain lightly during the match.  Imagine 22 hardy shooters braving the elements to come out and shoot clays today.  Of course, the weather does limit other activities.  I mean, what else is there to do, stay home and mow the lawn?

            Jay Schoonmaker came within 1 target today of getting a ride on Hotshot, our clubs official mascot Unicorn.  You folks should have heard the yarns Jay was spinning about why he missed that one clay target.  The universal handgun shooters nemesis, Mr. Murphy, would have been proud.  Well Jay, take Hotshot a carrot and try again next week.

            In the hand cannon class, Dave Schinkel took the honors with a score of 41.  Right behind him was a score of 40 and 4 shooters tied for 3rd with scores of 39.  Dave, don’t look back, we are all gaining on you. 

            A casual observation is in order today.  This reporter has been shooting this match for several years now, and well remembers when much lower scores won the clays matches, and the winners were usually from a relatively small group.  Well, not anymore.  Now, most all the shooters entered each Sunday have a chance at winning, as their technique and abilities have continued to grow over the years.  Now, shooters that were the weekly favorites that take a bit of extra time to make their shots more accurate, can get their backsides kicked by “slower”, but obviously more determined, shooters.  DO YOU HEAR THAT MARLA??!!  That run was very well done, girl.  Carry on, see you all next week.

 

Hal