January Smithmoor Big Bore Write-Up

[jackrabbit]

Fellow Shooters,

We had a great match today! I wasn't sure if it was going to be a good idea to hold it or not as the weather forecast was a little cool, but it turned out well. The temperatures varied from the upper teens to the low 40's, but the wind stayed down. It was absolutely still until about ten, and then the wind camp up to a few mph. Target visibility was excellent, and the fire was burning hot in the club house. We had nine shooters make it out yesterday, and we had a good time shooting and giving each other a hard time. Momma Lorraine brought out some great vegetable beef stew with cheese and crackers, along with a vegetable tray and some fresh, homemade cookies. It sure hit the spot on the cool day!

It was a good day to try out a different gun or load, as well as maybe try out a scope instead of your normal iron sights, and we had several shooters do just that. The success was varying.....lol! This match was a great place to do such a thing and I am glad to give shooters a place to work out the bugs before heading off to a big match. Joe Kapler shot particularly well this month with is 35-40 Maynard. Joe shot a 29 with three chickens to be our first place in the High Half. Travis spotted for both Joe and myself and did a super job as usual. I was able to edge out Joe for the Match Winner pin by managing one more ram. We were neck in neck the whole day and it was fun. Good shooting Joe! In our 2nd Half Class, we saw Steve Anderson and Greg Bybee shoot well this month. Greg has been most of this past year trying to figure out his rifle and loads, while Steve changed rifles a few months ago and is working on finding a great load. Steve was also seen trying out Dick's scoped rifle after the match, so we may see him ordering a scope soon. Greg was able to edge out Steve by one animal with a 20 to win 1st place in our 2nd Half Class. Good Shooting!

All of the money dropped into our donation can over the last year has been particularly appreciated lately as our range insurance is due soon. It is our largest regular expense and all of the help in paying it is greatly appreciated! We were also low on row and match winner pins and re-ordered a bunch of them with some of the money. Thank you!! NRA score books for 2017 have been ordered, but were not here quite yet for this match. I will have them soon and can get you one however we can. Email me if you need or want one. Also, we discussed our two day Memorial Weekend Spring Match we are planning. We will be shooting two 40 shot days of big bore NRA silhouette here at Smithmoor West. Travis and Dawna are planning on doing a Cal-Graf appreciation dinner on Saturday night. It promises to be a good time. Look for match flyer to be coming out soon. Please remember, there is no big bore match planned for February, and the 22 match has been moved from the 2nd Saturday to the 3rd Saturday for February only. The schedule will resume to normal for March. Hopefully we will have good weather and we can have a big bore match in March. We are planning on shooting a Historic Target Rifle Match next Saturday, the 28th. We have a couple of guys that are going to be trying it out for the first time. I am glad to have the interest! We are also shooting 50 ft offhand, indoor matches at Cody's shooting shed on Thursday nights starting about 5 o'clock. They last a couple hours and have proven to be great practice, and a lot of fun. Come on over if you are interested. Weather dependent, there will also be a match at Watkins on the 4th. I hope to see everyone out shooting!
Take care, Cody

Shooter Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place

Cody Smith 3 10 8 9 30 MW
Joe Kapler 3 10 8 29 High 1st Half
Travis Purdum 1 4 4 6 15
Kevin Finney 1 7 5 8 21

2nd Half
Dick Hennebry 1 6 2 5 14
Steve Anderson 2 7 5 5 19 2nd 2nd Half
Greg Bybee 2 8 6 4 20 1st 2nd Half
Gary Smith 0 5 2 6 13
Jim Rodebaugh 1 9 - -