Results from 2008 Arizona State Championships - November 15th & 16th  in Prescott, AZ

HI!  My name is Mark and I live in air gun heaven, or so it seems.  In this case it was the Prescott National forest just south of Prescott, AZ and the site of the 2008 state field target championship.  It could not have been any better considering the weather.  The skies were a pale sapphire blue, clear with not a cloud in sight, and no wind for Saturday, and only slightly breezy on Sunday.  The temperatures were cool, but not cold in the mornings, and warming nicely to the low 70’s by noon.

The dispersed camping area, south of Lynx Lake was openly populated with mid growth pines, some low scrub and a pine needle floor.  We set up the lanes along a dry, rocky stream bed that wandered through the woodlands, with firing lines on one side and target placement on the other side, using the natural hillsides as a backstop.  Targets were placed in the streambed, up the long, gradual slopes, amongst the rocks, and on top of the steeper rock outcroppings.

We had a prone lane under a fallen tree, kneeling lanes behind boulders, uphill, downhill shots, targets in trees, and even one lane shooting through a tangle of vines.  The sight-in range was set up on a secluded campsite, while the actual scoring range was several hundred yards away.  I heard all kinds of complaints about those who came to shoot, not hike, and why were the lanes so far apart?  Wusses!  It was perfect!

The unfortunate thing was that we only had 11 competitors.  Work constraints, or lack thereof, various maladays, a new baby in one family, and other (ahem) “commitments”,  all contributed to the usual suspects not being able to attend.  Vince and Eddie made the trek from California to come and shoot with us, too.  We did have one uninvited “guest” show up.  Mr. Murphy snuck in and decided to play havoc with some equipment.  Sandy’s seals decided to give up the ghost in her gun, my scope took a crap on me, Ric’s scope would not center, and several other assorted problems occurred.  Our resident superhero, Bobby Corcorran was there to provide backup equipment to those in need, and we were deeply gratified.  Heck, I got to shoot a very rare (only 5 ever made) Daystate CRX-ST, and did rather well with it.

After the first day of shooting, Steve Montgomery, the defending state champ, was leading, with Bobby only 1 point back.  Steve would hang onto that lead, barely, but persevered to take the title again this year.  The rest of us battled back and forth on both days and had an absolute ball doing it!

Robert Buchanan, owner of Airguns of Arizona, stopped in with his dad, his son and nephew, and was responsible for obtaining all of the raffle prizes.  Even with so few shooters, we made a sizable profit from raffle ticket sales, which helps pay our insurance, other expenses, and will go a long way in procuring much needed target replacements.  Many thanks go to Airguns of Arizona, Beeman, Umarex, Daystate, Crosman, FX, BSA, Eddie Olguin, and Woods and Water Outdoors, for their generous support.  Raffled off were several rifles, a scope, targets, a rifle stock, various cleaning tools and accessories, and a bunch of pellets, hats, and other goodies.

After the match on Sunday, Vince and Eddie had to leave in order to make the long drive back to CA, and could not stay for the awards ceremony.  The medals presented this year, featured the club logo in the center and engraving on the reverse, and looked great!  As stated earlier, Steve Montgomery took match winner, with Bobby Corcorran taking first in Precharged class, and Scott Rogers taking first in Piston class.

Many thanks go Bobby, Sandy and Scott, who helped set up the course, and to everyone who helped take down and pack up the targets afterwards.  Thanks to Sandy for providing a snack after Saturday’s completion of shooting.  Thanks to Ric Grassmick, Vince Pacheco, and Dan Jones for providing the photographic duties.

A number of shooters camped together for the weekend, while the rest of us lodged in town.  Spending the weekend together with friends while shooting, or getting together at a local restaurant, or sitting around a campfire in the evening makes me believe that I really do live in airgun heaven.  For those of you in other parts of the country who had to deal with fires, snow, wet, cold, and other nasty weather, you really need to consider joining us sometime.

Here are the scores:

Next month’s shoot (yes, December for all of you snowbound types), we will be shooting in Wickenburg.  With Dale getting healthy again, it will be good to be able to shoot with him and Debbie. Check the clubs website at www.airgunsofarizona.com/Airgunners for updates.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman