DAILY, persistent, and
ongoing forecasts for high possibilities of rain and storms virtually every hour not only over the last several weeks, but throughout our three-day competition weekend certainly suppressed turn-out for the TEXtreme leg of the 2024 Extreme Field Target Grand Prix.
Of course, considering the match director invested countless hours of heart, soul, blood and sweat
preparing for the biggest event in TEXtreme history.
But despite paranoid meteorologists’ doom-and-gloom forecasts, the suppressed turnout nevertheless equalled TEXtreme’s attendance record. That we experienced
not a single drop of precipitation during any of the the three matches not only reinforces my distrust of weather forecasts, but lends some credibility to my refusal to cancel or postpone this Grand Prix.
Not to suggest pre-match rains didn’t transform some lanes into an obstacle course of mud-holes and treacherous footing. Nor wasn’t the heat/humidity index also challenging enough in itself. Neither will I infer said mud-holes lent any advantage to the smallest, lightest,
most buoyant competitor; surely that results phenomenon is pure happenstance/coincidence.
I should apologize in advance for making this match report as short as possible. The alternative would be delaying a more detailed report until I recover from the exhausting three-day weekend.
That several much younger competitors confessed their exhaustion yesterday gives perspective to the septuagenarian match director’s physical and mental state after not only slogging through the three-day obstacle courses of shooting competitions, but doing so after three weeks of similarly-‘taxing’ course preparation and grooming WORK. So in order to not further delay the match report, I’ll rely heavily on Art Womack’s selfless assemblage of spread-sheets detailing “the rest of the story”.
A million thanks, Art! In SUPERHUMAN fashion, Derrick Wall won all three weekend matches! His 57/60 Friday pistol match score was one point better enough to capture the
Pistol Match Winner $350 Airguns Of Arizona gift certificate, Match Winner gong, custom gold (colored) pellet pouch, Match Winner engraved TEXtreme pellet-tin set, and Match Winner hat pin.
Caleb Dickinson was close behind with a 56/60 to capture the
Second Place $250 AoA gift certificate, silver(ish) colored custom pellet pouch, and Second Place engraved TEXtreme pellet-tin set. Billy Davison’s 54/60 got him the
Third Place $150 AOA gift certificate, a bronze(ish) custom pellet pouch, and set of three Third Place engraved TEXtreme pellet tins. Good show, Pistoleros!
Derrick Wall went on to also post the highest scores in both rifle matches; shooting a perfect 60/60 in Saturday’s uncharacteristically light-winded match, and a near-perfect 59/60 in Sunday’s characteristically-windy match. For those superhuman, 119/120 aggregate efforts Derrick captured
$1000 in Airguns Of Arizona Rifle Champion CASH, an $899 Athlon Heras SPR 15-60X56 rifle scope, the Rifle Champion engraved gong, gold (colored) custom pellet pouch, set of three Rifle Champion engraved TEXtreme pellet tins, a Match Winner hat pin, three 2024 EFT Grand Prix points, and as I understand it, the Extreme Field Target 60 and 120 shot NATIONAL RECORD scores. UTTERLY PHENOMENAL SHOOTING, DERRICK! Reigning Extreme Field Target National Champion Caleb Dickinson came second in both rifle matches with a 55 on Saturday and 53 on Sunday; his 108/120 aggregate good for the Second Place Rifle bounty-
$500 in Airguns Of Arizona Second Place CASH, a $250 Airguns Of Arizona Second Place gift certificate, a custom silver(ish) pellet pouch, a set of three Second Place engraved TEXtreme pellet tins, and two 2024 EFT Grand Prix points. Great shooting, Champ! Paul Bracaglia, aka- Pablo, shot a 55 on Saturday and 51 on Sunday for a 106/120 aggregate Rifle score. Pablo’s fine effort was good for the
$250 Airguns Of Arizona Third Place CASH, $250 Third Place AoA gift certificate, a custom bronze(ish) pellet pouch, a set of three Second Place engraved TEXtreme pellet tins, and one 2024 EFT Grand Prix point. Fine shooting, Pablo. Brian Stafford captured Fourth Place in the Rifle competition virtue of impressive consistency demonstrated with excellent scores in both rifle matches; 53/60 on Saturday and 52/60 on Sunday for an excellent 105/120 aggregate. Brian came away with the
$250 Airguns Of Arizona Fourth Place gift certificate, and $150 in Airguns Of Arizona Fourth Place CASH for his efforts. Excellent shooting, Brian. David Turner also exhibited excellent consistency in the Rifle competition to capture the Fifth Place podium position. His 51/60, 50/60, and 101/120 aggregate got David the
$150 Airguns Of Arizona Fifth Place gift certificate, and $100 in Airguns Of Arizona Fifth Place CASH. Good Shooting, DT. Although our schwag-bags were small, good things often come in small packages. Star of the schwag were Patch Worm bore cleaning kits provided by my buddy Joe Peacock. Unfortunately Joe’s website is currently experiencing technical issues, but I’ll provide the link as soon as his airgun products website is accessible. Many thanks, Joe!
A mutual buddy of Joe’s and ongoing TEXtreme sponsor, Jerry Cupples provided PelletGage notebooks for schwag. TEXtreme Airgun Sports provided sets of three engraved gold (colored) pellet tins. Jim Martin donated Trailers Plus Sales (in Weatherford, Texas) ballpoint pens. Caleb Dickenson provided ear-plugs, to avoid hearing-damage litigation resulting from his rifle’s muzzle report.
And Airguns Of Arizona provided AoA stickers. That’s a lotta neat stuff in little schwag bags; but reminds me we not only ran short of schwag bags, but I forgot to assemble more (as promised). Anyone shorted should
PLEASE remind me so I can make reparations!
I can’t thank Airguns Of Arizona ENOUGH for their most generous and ongoing sponsorship from TEXtreme get-go. In this case alone AoA stepped up with over $3000 in cash and gift certificate donations. THANK YOU, AIRGUNS OF ARIZONA!!! For the second year in a row sponsoring the TEXtreme leg of the Extreme Field Target Grand Prix series, Athlon Optics stepped up with a generous donation of an Athlon Heras SPR 15-60X56 rifle scope; an outstanding Field Target specific scope.
MANY THANKS, ATHLON! Friends, please support the generous sponsors that support your airgunning passion. Without their support these excellent airgun competitions would be much less, if existing at all.
Lastly I want to thank everyone else that helped in so many ways, as well as everyone that attended the TEXtreme leg of the 2024 Extreme Field Target Grand Prix national competition series. Maggyy and I had a ball, and hope you all enjoyed yourselves despite less than ideal shooting conditions. We love you all!
Happy Shooting,
Ron & Maggyy
P.S.- Art will follow with detailed spread-sheets.
Thanks again, Bud!
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