Okay, match report is complete now. Sorry about the premature submission of incomplete version.
The third monthly Extreme American Field Target match took place yesterday, and this little gem of a pic is a pretty good encapsulation of how all the competitors seemed to feel about it:
Phoenix Rod and Gun Club was nice enough to share their facility with us, located at 915 W Olney Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85041
An aerial view of PHX Rod and Gun with the Extreme FT sight in area marked in red, the pre and post match meeting area marked in blue, and the course area marked in green (course area extends south towards south mountain for about 200 yards ish?).
For anyone considering coming in the future, Ben (the Match Director) tells me he is planning to set this sign up on match days. So, if you're coming for the first time, keep an eye out for the sign and you'll be in the right place.
That's him and Robert Buchanan, owner of Airguns of Arizona. This sign was commissioned? by Robert and gifted to this venture.
(Before I forget, here's credit to the artist.)
In addition to the sign, Robert has very graciously sponsored these matches in various ways. In fact, he put up some prize money again for yesterday's match, $100 to the winner of each class (pellet and slug). That prize money really ups the ante and increases the competitive spirit. Robert's contributions are noticed and greatly appreciated. Quite characteristic of Mr. Buchanan in all of my dealings and knowledge of him: the guy just loves airguns and wants others to enjoy them as well.
Quick recap of what we're doing out here.
Here's an example of an odd-shaped kz taken from the October match video (screen grab) that AOA put out (notice all the hits around the kz-wind was coming from the right for most of these shots eh?)
Here are a couple more examples (again, credit to AOA's vid as these are screen grabs from there).
Here is a less magnified image showing typical placement.
These targets are placed out in the wild. Some of them require shooting over a wash, others are uphill, some are downhill. The wind is an unforgiving B in this area-switches back and forth, dies completely unexpectedly, thermals going up and coming down the slope where targets are placed, etc. Really, an incredibly challenging endeavor. It looks easy, but it sure ain't anything resembling easy.
Here's the struggle to get the biggest of these beefcakes pulled back up. Yeah, that's a ROPE, no sub 20fpe reset string here.
We had 16 shooters yesterday. I think 3 came from as far away as San Diego (yeah it's that fun). I have a 3hr drive each way and I didn't/don't regret it for a minute. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, the camaraderie, seeing old friends, and making new ones. And then just the personal challenge of doing better than last time, as well as the entire competitive spirit surrounding the event.
Here's the target breakdown of yesterday's match.
It was very interesting to compile all that data from info Ben provided. We're texting as I work on this and here's a couple little excerpts from that conversation.
As an aside, I will be taking the incredible work done by Brad Troyer in his creation of the "Troyer Factor" chart for regular sub 20fpe ft and hopefully extending it for larger KZs and distances. It will be really cool to be able to be able to calculate the average difficulty factor of a course or a specific target for Extreme FT the way we do for sub 20fpe FT. As these matches continue it'll be cool to be able to go back and compare. Rather than saying this month seemed harder than last month, a modified Troyer chart that encompasses these distances and kill zones will supply actual numerical values to target and course difficulties. The odd kz shapes complicates it some, but I'm thinking a horizontal width oof the kz should be a decent proxy for overall kz size. Should be fun and informative going forward. (Any of you Excel gurus feel free to help me out with this one. The Troyer chart has some obviously repeating formulas. If we can figure those out, it should be as easy as creating a kz and distance appropriate chart. The numbers may not correlate to the sub 20fpe version, but should fulfill the same role, intent, and purpose that Brad was hoping to do when he created the original Troyer factor).
Yesterday's conditions:
Man it was a beautiful day! I started out with a light jacket but got rid of that quickly and a short sleeved shirt was just fine. I'm guessing it was 75 or so degrees? Winds were predominantly out of the northeast, which would put it coming in from around 10:00-11:00 for most of the targets. Kent and I were watching the winds swirl around during the pre-match meeting and were CONCERNED. The wind was doing wild things around those backstop/dirt berms. By the time the match started it had reduced in intensity quite a bit, which was quite the relief from what it looked like we were going to deal with. Winds would nearly stop completely at times during the match. There were also times when it would pick up a bit from around 2:00 and push the pellet the other direction. It was a challenge, but I don't feel like the majority of my misses were wind induced, maybe 5 of them, the other 9 were simply poor trigger control (yanking shots, etc).
The results:
(Holes in the equipment list were blanks left unanswered on the sign-in sheet)
Congrats to Bobby C. and Ben S. for their first place finishes. Great shooting!
.22s, .25s, and .30s. I was pushing the .22 25.4s at only 850fps for around 41fpe. So, it doesn't require a cannon to compete, but a good BC pellet or slug is really necessary. 100 yards for a non big-bore sub 100fpe airgun is tough, lots of accounting for the wind is necessary. I will say that I tried to do this with a 18.1gr .22 JSB two months ago at about 35fpe and was second to last. So, BC is a huge component of Extreme Field Target.
Ben was match high score with the 29.5gr NSA slugs. He wasn't planning on shooting slugs but when Centercut was the only slug shooter Ben spent about 10 minutes pre-match with the slugs and decided to jump to them to keep Mike from being a lone slug shooter.
It's been fun to follow the whole slug vs pellet debate. It's been going back and forth for the high score coming from a slug or pellet.
I also want to point out that one competitor was using a .25 Marauder, and was only 6 shots down from first place. I've said it before but will again here. The rules and general configuration of this competition makes it anybody's game. A $3000 airgun is not required to be competitive here. Yes, we are shooting very nice (expensive) airguns, but that's only cuz we're nuts about airguns and willing to spend that kind of money. The format of the competition is much less of an equipment race than regular sub 20fpe field target. You do not need a $500-1000 telescope on top of your gun for distance ranging (by focus) to come and be competitive in Extreme Field Target, like you pretty much have to have to be competitive in sub 20fpe field target.
In closing, this pic was taken by Peykan right at the end of the match. (Van in the left, me in the middle, and Peykan on the right). Big fun = big smiles.
Come out and and enjoy it with us some time. When I first started attending regular FT matches a couple of years ago I emailed back and forth with one of the match directors prior to my first match (actually Bobby C that was first place pellet shooter yesterday). He told me, "if you enjoy shooting, you'll enjoy field target." I make that same promise to anybody interested enough in shooting to be reading this.
Fourth Saturday of every month.
(Thanks to Van and Peykan and Ben for getting me some last-minute pics to include in this write-up. Also much thanks to Ben for all the behind the scenes work he put in to create this, and continues to put in for each month's event. Lots of fun is being had on the back of all of his hard work. Thank you Ben.)
Check out this video if you haven't seen it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2lD8kdPEx8
The third monthly Extreme American Field Target match took place yesterday, and this little gem of a pic is a pretty good encapsulation of how all the competitors seemed to feel about it:
Phoenix Rod and Gun Club was nice enough to share their facility with us, located at 915 W Olney Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85041
An aerial view of PHX Rod and Gun with the Extreme FT sight in area marked in red, the pre and post match meeting area marked in blue, and the course area marked in green (course area extends south towards south mountain for about 200 yards ish?).
For anyone considering coming in the future, Ben (the Match Director) tells me he is planning to set this sign up on match days. So, if you're coming for the first time, keep an eye out for the sign and you'll be in the right place.
That's him and Robert Buchanan, owner of Airguns of Arizona. This sign was commissioned? by Robert and gifted to this venture.
(Before I forget, here's credit to the artist.)
In addition to the sign, Robert has very graciously sponsored these matches in various ways. In fact, he put up some prize money again for yesterday's match, $100 to the winner of each class (pellet and slug). That prize money really ups the ante and increases the competitive spirit. Robert's contributions are noticed and greatly appreciated. Quite characteristic of Mr. Buchanan in all of my dealings and knowledge of him: the guy just loves airguns and wants others to enjoy them as well.
Quick recap of what we're doing out here.
- Targets placed from 25-100 yards
- Caliber up to .30 allowed
- FPE up to 100 allowed
- No shooting harnesses or strap allowed
- All distances are known (provided by match director to each shooting squad)
- Competitors are shooting from a stool or bucket and using shooting sticks (provided or bring your own, just need to be v shaped yoke and can't clamp the gun in)
- Kill zone sizes from 0.75 to 3.25 inches (distances measured horizontally as some are not round like traditional sub 20fpe field target kzs)
- BEEFY targets (these aren't your regular field targets, as I think some of these guns would kill a regular field target in short order)
Here's an example of an odd-shaped kz taken from the October match video (screen grab) that AOA put out (notice all the hits around the kz-wind was coming from the right for most of these shots eh?)
Here are a couple more examples (again, credit to AOA's vid as these are screen grabs from there).
Here is a less magnified image showing typical placement.
These targets are placed out in the wild. Some of them require shooting over a wash, others are uphill, some are downhill. The wind is an unforgiving B in this area-switches back and forth, dies completely unexpectedly, thermals going up and coming down the slope where targets are placed, etc. Really, an incredibly challenging endeavor. It looks easy, but it sure ain't anything resembling easy.
Here's the struggle to get the biggest of these beefcakes pulled back up. Yeah, that's a ROPE, no sub 20fpe reset string here.
We had 16 shooters yesterday. I think 3 came from as far away as San Diego (yeah it's that fun). I have a 3hr drive each way and I didn't/don't regret it for a minute. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, the camaraderie, seeing old friends, and making new ones. And then just the personal challenge of doing better than last time, as well as the entire competitive spirit surrounding the event.
Here's the target breakdown of yesterday's match.
It was very interesting to compile all that data from info Ben provided. We're texting as I work on this and here's a couple little excerpts from that conversation.
As an aside, I will be taking the incredible work done by Brad Troyer in his creation of the "Troyer Factor" chart for regular sub 20fpe ft and hopefully extending it for larger KZs and distances. It will be really cool to be able to be able to calculate the average difficulty factor of a course or a specific target for Extreme FT the way we do for sub 20fpe FT. As these matches continue it'll be cool to be able to go back and compare. Rather than saying this month seemed harder than last month, a modified Troyer chart that encompasses these distances and kill zones will supply actual numerical values to target and course difficulties. The odd kz shapes complicates it some, but I'm thinking a horizontal width oof the kz should be a decent proxy for overall kz size. Should be fun and informative going forward. (Any of you Excel gurus feel free to help me out with this one. The Troyer chart has some obviously repeating formulas. If we can figure those out, it should be as easy as creating a kz and distance appropriate chart. The numbers may not correlate to the sub 20fpe version, but should fulfill the same role, intent, and purpose that Brad was hoping to do when he created the original Troyer factor).
Yesterday's conditions:
Man it was a beautiful day! I started out with a light jacket but got rid of that quickly and a short sleeved shirt was just fine. I'm guessing it was 75 or so degrees? Winds were predominantly out of the northeast, which would put it coming in from around 10:00-11:00 for most of the targets. Kent and I were watching the winds swirl around during the pre-match meeting and were CONCERNED. The wind was doing wild things around those backstop/dirt berms. By the time the match started it had reduced in intensity quite a bit, which was quite the relief from what it looked like we were going to deal with. Winds would nearly stop completely at times during the match. There were also times when it would pick up a bit from around 2:00 and push the pellet the other direction. It was a challenge, but I don't feel like the majority of my misses were wind induced, maybe 5 of them, the other 9 were simply poor trigger control (yanking shots, etc).
The results:
(Holes in the equipment list were blanks left unanswered on the sign-in sheet)
Congrats to Bobby C. and Ben S. for their first place finishes. Great shooting!
.22s, .25s, and .30s. I was pushing the .22 25.4s at only 850fps for around 41fpe. So, it doesn't require a cannon to compete, but a good BC pellet or slug is really necessary. 100 yards for a non big-bore sub 100fpe airgun is tough, lots of accounting for the wind is necessary. I will say that I tried to do this with a 18.1gr .22 JSB two months ago at about 35fpe and was second to last. So, BC is a huge component of Extreme Field Target.
Ben was match high score with the 29.5gr NSA slugs. He wasn't planning on shooting slugs but when Centercut was the only slug shooter Ben spent about 10 minutes pre-match with the slugs and decided to jump to them to keep Mike from being a lone slug shooter.
It's been fun to follow the whole slug vs pellet debate. It's been going back and forth for the high score coming from a slug or pellet.
I also want to point out that one competitor was using a .25 Marauder, and was only 6 shots down from first place. I've said it before but will again here. The rules and general configuration of this competition makes it anybody's game. A $3000 airgun is not required to be competitive here. Yes, we are shooting very nice (expensive) airguns, but that's only cuz we're nuts about airguns and willing to spend that kind of money. The format of the competition is much less of an equipment race than regular sub 20fpe field target. You do not need a $500-1000 telescope on top of your gun for distance ranging (by focus) to come and be competitive in Extreme Field Target, like you pretty much have to have to be competitive in sub 20fpe field target.
In closing, this pic was taken by Peykan right at the end of the match. (Van in the left, me in the middle, and Peykan on the right). Big fun = big smiles.
Come out and and enjoy it with us some time. When I first started attending regular FT matches a couple of years ago I emailed back and forth with one of the match directors prior to my first match (actually Bobby C that was first place pellet shooter yesterday). He told me, "if you enjoy shooting, you'll enjoy field target." I make that same promise to anybody interested enough in shooting to be reading this.
Fourth Saturday of every month.
(Thanks to Van and Peykan and Ben for getting me some last-minute pics to include in this write-up. Also much thanks to Ben for all the behind the scenes work he put in to create this, and continues to put in for each month's event. Lots of fun is being had on the back of all of his hard work. Thank you Ben.)
Check out this video if you haven't seen it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2lD8kdPEx8
to a Duplex girl.