April BPCR Write-Up

[jackrabbit]

Fellow Shooters,

Happy Easter! I hope everyone is enjoying the day with friends and family. We had a great BPCR silhouette match yesterday at Smithmoor west. Dad and I were tickled pink to have the turnout that we did. 19 riflemen and women made it out. We had to run five relays! Everyone showed up around 8:30 to find me pacing around wondering what to do as the wind was howling at 35 mph. Only the chickens would remain standing. After a brief survey of the crowd, I was relieved to find the shooters enthusiastically wanted to shoot. "It is what it is," JD Farmer said "Let's see if we can hit some of them!" Obviously there is nothing I can do about the wind, but it sure made my day to have such an optimistic and enthusiastic crowd in the face of such a crummy shooting condition. Thank you all for the that! Dad and Dave Purdum ran to the shop and came up with an armful of clamps of various types. They clamped down three or four of each animal so we at least had something to shoot at other than the swinger. The first relays had it the toughest as the wind slowly decreased over the day with some of the last relays being shot in some pretty great conditions. The middle of the day had some challenging but shootable winds that made for great practice. I had to smile as Travis was unlucky enough to be the first guy out of the start box for his relay. I am not sure if that position was drawn or appointed, but either way, it was definitely the toughest shooting condition of the day. Travis didn't let that bother him and he laid down with his trusty (and beautiful!) Shiloh 45-90 and smacked 7 turkeys pretty well in the middle. It was truly an impressive feat in the 30-40 mph gusting winds! No whining, just get 'er done! That's how we do it out West!

We had the fire burning hot in the stove of the clubhouse and we saw the shooters hovering around it in the morning. By mid-day it had warmed up enough we opened the doors to let it cool off. Momma Lorraine showed up around 11:30 with lunch. Since we had five relays and were a little slow getting started due to the wind, we opted to not break for lunch in order to get the match over with at a reasonable time. There was plenty of time for folks not shooting to come in and eat while the rest of the relay were out on the firing line. Lunch was thoroughly enjoyed! It consisted of hot roast beef on some great bread with potato chips and a cauliflower and bacon salad. Tom Wengh blessed us with a wonderful carrot cake with cream cheese icing! It was super! Thank you Mom and Tom for the great food!

Dad and I were visiting after the match yesterday about how much satisfaction being able to put on these matches gives us. Both having a group of many of the best riflemen in the region support us, and seeing new shooters come back, enjoy themselves, and improve each month are equally rewarding. Dad spent much of the week puttering around fixing and working on the range. Dick Hennebry had purchased a PA system and Dad was able to install it. I have to admit to not thinking it was that important, but now after using it, think it is great. It took quite a bit of work mounting the speakers and running the wires to make it nice. It worked very well and made my day as match director much easier. My voice was not worn out at the end of the day and it reduced stress in that the shooters were able to better hear what was going on. A fellow shooter and friend, Dave Lozori, from Ohio, shipped us out an ear plug dispenser and several big jugs of ear plugs to fill it. Dad mounted it on the wall in the shooting shed and now anytime anyone is short of hearing protection, they can just turn the wheel on the dispenser and two nice, clean, new ear plugs fall into your hand. It was very thoughtful and very much appreciated, Dave, thank you!

I broke the shooter into two groups which consisted of a Master/AAA class and a AA/A class. Scopes and irons shot against each other. With this many shooters, I will probably go ahead and break the group into each class next time. AAA shooter Mark Pachares ended up 3rd in the top class. He actually tied with Bryan Youngberg, but Bryan had to head out on the three hour drive home and was not able to stay for the shoot off, leaving Mark with the win. I struggled in the wind yesterday, but was very happy how my rifle performed, and ended up 2nd with a 25. Multiple time past and current National Champion, Brad Rice, has been stuck working most of the winter and had not been able to shoot since November. After blowing a few cobwebs out of the barrel, he was able to shoot a 26 for first place in Master/AAA class. I was pleased to award our match winner pin this month to super riflemen and all around great guy, Michael Rix. Besides performing well in the wind on the lay downs, he calmly knocked down an impressive 5 chickens in the 30 mph winds! Wow! Jack Odor also shot an impressive 5 chickens, but since the match went late, Jack had to hurry off to a family function and skip the shoot off. This left Michael with the coveted golden chicken High Chicken Pin. Great shooting fellas!!

In the AA/A class we saw some relatively good scores shot in spite of the wind. Third place went to Dick Farmer with a 20, and 2nd went to Steve Anderson with a 21. Steve recently made the switch from iron sights to scope and his shooting has shown a dramatic improvement. His MVA scope looks great on his Shiloh, and the smile on Steve's face looks even better! I was pleased to give Jim Rodebaugh the first place pin this month for winning the AA/A class. Jim has really been working hard on improving his shooting and we are seeing him steadily improve. Great Shooting Dick, Steve, and Jim!

A few announcements include there is no big bore match scheduled for the third Saturday in May as we are hosting the Memorial Weekend Smithmoor Spring Championship the following weekend. Anyone wanting to get some practice in is welcome to come out. Just let Dad or I know. We will probably even be able to spot for you. As you probably know, we don't need much of an excuse to go the range! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can shoot down at Watkins on the 6th of May. Anyone wanting to carpool down, just let me know. It is a great match and one of my favorite places to shoot. The Rocky Mountain Regional 22 match is coming up and I have been working on the target racks. When I get them done, we will need to test them out before the big match. I will let everyone know and we may have a bit of a spontaneous match.

Thank you to everyone that supports our range and comes out to shoot!
take care, Cody


Shooter Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place
Master/AAA
Brad Rice 2 10 7 7 26 1st
Michael Rix 5 9 8 7 29 Match Winner!
Cody Smith 2 10 7 6 25 2nd
Travis Purdum 2 - 7 6
Mark Pachares 1 10 6 6 23 3rd
JD Farmer 0 7 6 7 20
Jack Odor 5 5 7 4 21
Bryan Youngberg 2 8 5 8 23

AA/A
Gary Smith 0 6 2 4 12
Brian Mallin 2 8 3 5 18
Don McDowell (barrel sights) 0 0 0 1 1
Carol McDowell 0 6 4 4 14
Dick Farmer 1 10 4 5 20 3rd
Steve Anderson 0 8 6 7 21 2nd
Greg Bybee 2 7 1 - 10
Dick Hennebry 2 6 3 4 15
Tom Wengh 1 6 3 4 14
Kevin Finney 1 6 2 6 15
Jim Rodebaugh 2 7 9 4 22 1st

[CO]

Good shooting for everyone at your match. It's good to know you have to shoot in the wind once in awhile. It's monthly for us, but not a huge problem. Our target setters just hold the targets on the rail as we shoot. Works lots better than magnets or clamps. Faster also. CO

[jackrabbit]

I thought I read where they had freed the slaves....apparently not yet in Georgia..

Thanks for the kind comments CO!

[COBPTR]

If the setters are next to the targets in Georgia they should be safe Cody.

Robert G.

[bryany]

I think that's a semi skilled trade in Georgia. Kinda like lawyers.