Results from May 2, 2009 in Camp Verde, AZ

We have had some strange weather in the past week, with rain in the high country and high winds reported. I got an email from one of the members stating that there was a 50% chance of rain and winds gusting to 35 MPH predicted. Did I have a back up plan for the match?

I wrote back: Bring rain gear!

Saturday morning was warm in Phoenix as Larry P and I carpooled for the 2 hour drive to the match. The skies to the north of us looked ominous, but as we got closer, it got sunnier but still “breezy”. The road leading into the area was rather interesting and we noticed some changes since the last time we were there, but we made it. For those who were there, you know what I mean.

All told, 14 of us showed up to shoot with blue skies, high puffy clouds that moved along at a brisk rate, and temps in the mid 60’s, but warming up nicely into the 70’s. Yeah, I know, this sounds like a broken record, but we really do have some great conditions in which to shoot, and the pines just west of Cherry was a beautiful setting for a field target match at 5000 feet elevation.

We had 2 new AZ shooters who are joining the club; Paul, and his wife Marie, traveled from Tucson, and Kerry and 2 of his sons, Kaleb and Cory, came from Mesa. In addition, Vince Pacheco brought Fan from CA, and Hector and Constance also made the trip from CA. Apparently we are having waaaaaay too much fun over here, and they wanted to join in on some of it. We thank them very much for making the trip to shoot with us, and welcome them back anytime.

The course was laid out and set up by Bobby, Dale, Larry P, Larry N, Ray and me, afterwhich we sighted in, assigned lanes and shooters at our safety meeting, and then proceeded to start shooting. We paired up the newer shooters with the experienced guys so that we were able to explain the workings on a one-to-one basis, which worked out just fine.

We had the course laid out in a large, 180 degree semi-circle with anywhere from 10 to 30 yards between lanes. This proved interesting when determining where to hold for the wind. It was swirling and coming from multiple directions all around the course. There is a very prominent hill just to the south that redirected the wind and made for a challenging match. Granted the wind was not nearly as bad as Temecula, but it made its presence known. We also had some fairly long shots also, with only a few close-up targets. Of course Bobby just had to use those tiny danged killzones for those.

I was paired up with Paul, and together we had a great time. This was his first time shooting a match with an air rifle, but he has hunted with it considerably. We also found out that we are both target archers and bowhunters, and agreed that field target is very similar in concept to shooting 3D archery. Although his score did not indicate it, he is a very good shot!

Despite the wind and tough course, some very good scores were turned in, with Scott Rogers shooting a blistering 35 out of 40 for Match winner. That is some amazing shooting from a great guy who is very laid-back, and shooting his 3 month old USFT!

Here are the scores:

We had some interesting developments from our troops. Turns out that Mary Ann was shooting a new gun, having purchased a Steyr LG100 from one of our long time members. Also, Larry N was shooting a new Steyr LG110. He may not have a Hershey’s lunch box, but after shooting in Temecula and meeting Tony I. from Diablo FT club, some of Tony must have rubbed off onto Larry. Not only did he recently buy the Steyr, he also placed an order for a new USFT! Must be nice to be retired and collecting goodies!

After the shooting was finished, we sat around and ate our lunches, talked over some club business, target purchases, the rifle raffle (which is going very well), and upcoming matches.

New shooter Kerry had his boys shooting on the sight in range and they were having a ball. Everyone else was talking shop and comparing guns and gear, taking and downloading pictures on Bobby’s laptop, and just enjoying the day, the weather, the surroundings, and each other. We have a great group of folks who just have a wonderful time shooting together.

For the next 4 months, we will be shooting at the Perry Lake pit location, which is one mile north of Mormon Lake. It is a nice area with lots of trees and at 7200 feet elevation. Saturday, June 6 is the next match, then in July and August we will shoot on the 3 rd Saturday, followed by the state championship on September 19 & 20.

For more information on all of our matches, check out our website at: www.airgunsofarizona.com/Airgunners.

I want to thank all who helped set up the course and also to Bobby, Vince, Fan, and Ray for taking and supplying me with pictures. Bobby burned me a disc that had over 100 pictures to sort through. It would be great to post them all, but space is limited.

Till next time…..

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman

Secretary / Airgunners of Arizona