2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

This is where you can place your scores from the matches. It uses an excel spread sheet! If you send me your sheet of scores I can put it on the forum and provide a link where everyone can view it.

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Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

We finished the 2019 Montana NW Regional Championships this past week/weekend shooting two 40 shot Iron Sight matches on Thursday and Friday and finishing with two 40 shot Scope matches on Saturday and Sunday. We had 41 Iron Sight shooters arriving from as far away as North Carolina and Florida on the east to California and Washington on the west to Arizona on the south. Over the weekend we lost two Iron shooters but gained eight Scope shooters for a total of 47 for both days.

A great turnout for the match as this was the first year after moving the match to September which is always risky as it messes with people's schedules. I apologize to those faithful attendees that were not able to make the changes required to attend this year as I know that it changed some people's summer significantly. We did, however pick up a significant number of new shooters that have never attended before so our number of attendees was about the same. A number of our attendees were at the Quigley Match last June which was the primary reason for moving the match. Hopefully it will work out for the other shooters to be able to attend in a few years again.

The weather leading up to the match was rainy and cold but was improving as the match started. We turned the targets to white for the first day of Iron Sights as the berms were still pretty wet. With very little wind, the smoke lingered and made visibility difficult but competition was good. At the end of the day, I was high overall with a 33, Johnny Spratling from Idaho was 2nd overall with a 30 winning in a shootout, and Dave Toavs from Kalispell was 3rd overall with a 30.

With just a sprinkle during the night, the berms were pretty dry Friday so we took a vote and changed the animal colors to black for this day. Good or bad, the day was more overcast for the day than the weather report was forecasting and again with minimal wind and smoke issues, visibility was tough but scores were still good. Jim Brannon from Idaho (coming back from a many year hiatus from shooting) was 1st overall with a 31, my son, Brad Niemeyer from Scottsdale, Arizona, was 2nd overall with a 30, and Toby Crisler from Anaconda, MT was 3rd with a 29.

The overall winners for the Iron Sight aggregate were Jim Brannon in 1st overall with a 60, Johnny Spratling in 2nd overall with a 58 (winning in a shootout), Dave Toavs in 3rd overall with a 58. Master class winners: Steve Neustrom from Stevensville, MT was 1st Master with a 55, Toby Crisler was 2nd Master with a 52, and Dave Eichenlaub as 3rd Master with a 52. AAA class winners: Brad Niemeyer was 1st AAA with a 56 (winning in a shootout), Jonathan Currey from Idaho was 2nd AAA with a 56, and I was 3rd AAA with a 54. AA class winners: Don Johnson from Idaho was 1st AA overall with a 54, Blair Svihra from Florida was 2nd AA with a 50, and Ryan Trickett from Washington was 3rd AA overall with a 47. A overall class winner was Gale Boyle from Idaho with a 31 and B overall class winner was Chris Steinmetz from Washington with a 36.

Weather for the weekend was better with more sunshine, which brought it's own issues. The Missoula Deep Creek Range is situated in a small valley facing mostly north with trees on both sides of the range. As a result, shadows can be an issue for banks 3 and 4 early in the match. As we were shooting scopes, it wasn't a big issue but some of the animals were ghosts when looking with the naked eye. As the morning progressed, the shadows abated and the bright white was great from crosshairs to see on it.

Saturday's overall shooters were myself in 1st overall with a 35, Dave Eichenlaub was 2nd overall (winning in a shootout) with a 31, and Dave Yount from Washington was 3rd overall with a 31. Sunday's overall shooters were John King from Kalispell, MT with a 35, Blair Svihra was 2nd overall with a 34 (AA shooter that shot all his laydowns and hit 4 chickens and pushed him up to AAA!!), and myself in 3rd overall with a 32.

The overall winners for the Scope aggregate were myself in 1st overall with a 67, John King in 2nd overall with a 65, and Blair Svihra was 3rd overall with a 64. Master class winners: Dave Yount was 1st Master with a 62, Dave Eichenlaub was 2nd Master with a 61, and Darrell Smithson was 3rd overall with a 60. AAA class winners: Dan Smrdel from Seely Lake, MT was 1st AAA with a 57, Jonathan Currey was 2nd AAA with a 56, and Gaylen Merrell from Jackson Hole, WY was 3rd AAA with a 55. AA class winners: Dan Steinmetz from Washington was 1st AA with a 57, Ritchie Tilton from Col. Falls, MT was 2nd AA with a 55, and Brad Niemeyer was 3rd AA with a 52. A Class winner was Chris Steinmetz with a 39 and B class winner was Rob Allen with a 25.

We also presented an "Ironman" award for the overall of both Iron and Scope this year which was also myself with a score of 121.

Our club supported potluck dinner on Saturday was great with lots and lots of food. Following the dinner, we drew tickets from door prizes from the following supporters: Quiltworx/Judy Niemeyer Quilting, Montana Vintage Arms, Buffalo Arms, Shiloh Rifle, Redding Reloading Equipment, Starline Brass, Schuetzen Powder Energetics, Walter's Wads, John King Wads, Treebone Carving, MidwayUSA, Wyoming Sight Drifter, John Venhous, and Green Mountain Barrels. Thanks so much for their participation in our regional match!

URL addresses from all the scores:
Iron Sight Match: http://www.mtbpcr.com/2019NWRegionalIronFinal.pdf
Scope Sight Match: http://www.mtbpcr.com/2019NWRegionalScopeFinal.pdf
Fortune Favors the Bold...
jackrabbit
Posts: 1792
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:04 pm
Location: Carpenter Wyoming

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by jackrabbit »

Holy Smokes Del!! A 35 with 7 chickens!! Wow!!! Great Shooting!

Looks like it was a great match and you had a great turnout. Wish I could have been there.
take care, Cody
Raymond Hanson
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:02 pm

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Raymond Hanson »

Great shooting Del and a great write up on the match! Congratulations to all the shooters. Raymond Hanson
John Bly
Posts: 1078
Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 12:32 pm
Location: Stephens City, VA

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by John Bly »

Great write up there Del. Cody set the bar high on write ups and some like you are stepping up close to his attention to detail.

It sounds like a great match also with some high scores. Good matches and good write ups are what is needed to promote our sport and make folks want to come out and participate. Thanks for doing both.
"Perfection consists not so much in doing extraordinary things as in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well"
jackrabbit
Posts: 1792
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:04 pm
Location: Carpenter Wyoming

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by jackrabbit »

Yes, super write-up Del! I really appreciate all of the details, it almost feels like I was there. It allows some of us to live vicariously through the shooters that were there. One day I'll have more time and money to go, I hope :lol: :lol:

It is also good to know that others enjoy the write ups as well. They take more time to do than one would think. What a grand sport we play!
take care, Cody
BFD
Posts: 2789
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:36 pm

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by BFD »

Way to go Del! Now tell me you aren't still in AAA, at least in scope! That must have pushed you over the top a last.

Thanks for the write up. One day, I'll make it again.
SSShooter
Posts: 2910
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:06 am
Location: Jersey Shore

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by SSShooter »

Sounds like a great match & defintely a good write-up. Any chance it will be the weekend or two after Raton in 2020? NM is a 4500mi round-trip. Adding the distance from NM to MT isn't a big deal as there is plenty see in between. But two 4500mi round-trips in a season would be a bit much.
Glenn
COBPTR
Posts: 279
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:18 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by COBPTR »

Sounds like a great match Del!
Congrats to you and Mr. Brannon and all the competitors.
Y'all did some great shooting and sounds like a great time!

Robert G.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Dan O
Posts: 737
Joined: Sun May 01, 2005 3:05 pm
Location: Great Falls Montana

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Dan O »

Del,

Great write up you covered it very well. This match ran smooth and on schedule. This time of year there is not much extra daylight to waste. The target setters did a great job on Sat & Sun. The one problem having a match this time of year is finding target setters during the week days. Next year I would recommend anyone thinking about attending this shoot to stop thinking about it and just sign up you won't regret it. The range is great for camping and not very far from Missoula.

Dan
Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

jackrabbit wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 6:04 pm Holy Smokes Del!! A 35 with 7 chickens!! Wow!!! Great Shooting!

Looks like it was a great match and you had a great turnout. Wish I could have been there.

Yes, super write-up Del! I really appreciate all of the details, it almost feels like I was there. It allows some of us to live vicariously through the shooters that were there. One day I'll have more time and money to go, I hope :lol: :lol:

It is also good to know that others enjoy the write ups as well. They take more time to do than one would think. What a grand sport we play!
take care, Cody
Thanks Cody! Killing chickens is fun when you're killin' em! Everybody loves to whale on chickens... The little rotten buggers get what they deserve! I spent awhile on the writeup so I'm glad it was appreciated. Got to do it fresh while you can still remember. Took several hours. I sure hope you make it up here sometime. Will the new match date the third weekend in Sept. work out for you and your farming? Kind of tough when the kids are in school, though.
Raymond Hanson wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 5:54 am
Great shooting Del and a great write up on the match! Congratulations to all the shooters. Raymond Hanson
Thanks Ray. Maybe you and Margo and Rick might make it again?
BFD wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:36 am Way to go Del! Now tell me you aren't still in AAA, at least in scope! That must have pushed you over the top a last.

Thanks for the write up. One day, I'll make it again.
Thanks, Brent. I thought that I had shot a third Master score in Scope in the past two years but it isn't in my book and I have looked through the scores that I have pictures of that I shot at this year but can't find a third. I have one Iron Sight Master score that I shot at the State Championship last June at Butte but don't have a third in Iron either. Should be able to make up one Master score in each venue next year if I don't shoot again this year. Where a lot of the places aren't turning their scores into the NRA, I'm not sure how to determine what I shot this year...?
Fortune Favors the Bold...
Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

COBPTR wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:38 am Sounds like a great match Del!
Congrats to you and Mr. Brannon and all the competitors.
Y'all did some great shooting and sounds like a great time!

Robert G.
Thanks Robert! It was good to see you at the Shiloh match. Jim did a great job shooting for being off for so long!
Fortune Favors the Bold...
Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

SSShooter wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 10:55 am Sounds like a great match & defintely a good write-up. Any chance it will be the weekend or two after Raton in 2020? NM is a 4500mi round-trip. Adding the distance from NM to MT isn't a big deal as there is plenty see in between. But two 4500mi round-trips in a season would be a bit much.
We are stuck with the third weekend of each month so any possible timing with Raton would not be possible. They move each year due to the timing of a youth event and we don't have that flexibility. Maybe fly in for the match? A fellow from North Carolina flew in this year and his buddy drove.
Fortune Favors the Bold...
Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

Dan O wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:20 pm Del,

Great write up you covered it very well. This match ran smooth and on schedule. This time of year there is not much extra daylight to waste. The target setters did a great job on Sat & Sun. The one problem having a match this time of year is finding target setters during the week days. Next year I would recommend anyone thinking about attending this shoot to stop thinking about it and just sign up you won't regret it. The range is great for camping and not very far from Missoula.

Dan

Thanks for spotting for me this weekend, Dan! Without your help, I wouldn't have shot as well as I did!

As far as next year, we were pretty full in the Iron class as we only shot three relays due to the short day and shadows, so if anyone is wanting to shoot next year, particularly in Iron Sight, you should get your entry in early as there may not be room!
Fortune Favors the Bold...
Del
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:29 am

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by Del »

I also have to apologize to Lyman Products and Steve Baldwin (Baldwin Sights) for missing their names as contributors to our door prizes. I feel terrible about this as I didn't make a list as I received the prizes and used my piss-poor memory to do the write up on the match. I double checked with Mike Venturino and discovered my error, so please accept my apology and my thanks for helping us with our match by providing prizes!
Fortune Favors the Bold...
rebsr52339
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:16 pm
Location: Mebane NC

Re: 2019 Montana NW Regional Championship

Post by rebsr52339 »

Great post op report Del. Although I did not do well, my fault, :oops: we will be back next year again There may be 3 or 4 of us from NC and hope to give a better showing. Again a great match, well run.

Dick Bernier
Mebane NC
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