Not a gambler by choice, when Match Director responsibilities demand it, occasionally a man is forced to roll the dice. That being the case, I do so based on the best information available at the moment a decision is required.
The weather wizards having lost any credibility they might have had left by erroneously forecasting 40-70% chances of rain every day for the last month, this beleaguered Match Director decided to call their bluff by not cancelling the second Extreme Field Target competition ever staged in Texas.
That the forecasters would have been correct had they been forecasting 10-15% chances of rain the last several weeks, my ‘thought’ processes translated that into an 85-90% chance that yesterdays match would see NO precipitation; and if any, not enough to be more than a minor inconvenience. That leap of logic proved spot-on, as six hours of TEXtreme Field Target competitions saw only a couple light sprinkles. Not enough precipitation to even briefly interrupt the airgun bliss of 11 competitors.
Somewhat surprisingly, all 11 shooters contested both 32 shot extreme field target matches. Not surprisingly, both matches and the 64 shot aggregate competition provided hotly contested shoot-outs between the defending champion and a perennial favorite.
After the 32 shot Match 1, the favorites were separated by only a single point with Derrick Wall posting a 30/32 score and Jeff Cloud turning in a 29/32. Testament to their competitive natures, both guys buckled down to improve their scores in the second match.
When the dust settled, both posted Match 2 scores one point higher than their Match One scores. Hence, Derrick captured the 32 Shot Match Winner awards and the 64 Shot (aggregate) Match Winner awards in another sweep of Ranchito Robinson events; a troubling trend that seems to be becoming habit!
Derrick used a .30 FX Bobcat Mk 2 to capture both the 32 Shot Match Winner and 64 Shot Match Winner award certificates and hat-pins with 31/32 and 61/64 scores (respectively). His weapon of choice (this weekend) shoots 44.75 grain JSB pellets 870 FPS, and is topped with a 6-24X Bushnell Nitro scope.
Apparently that laser-accurate Bobcat Mk2 has gone neglected and unused in the several months since DW cheated some poor guy out of it, decided to bring it out of the mothballs Friday, and use it to such great effect Saturday. AWESOME SHOOTING, Derrick! Again. Try not to let falling one point short of a perfect score in Match Two haunt you too much, Bud.
Jeff used the same .25 caliber RAW HM1000X he captured the Inaugural TEXtreme Field Target Champion title with in March. His HM is topped with a 10-50X Sightron scope, and shoots 34 grain JSB Mk1s at 915 FPS.
Both Derrick and Jeff being gracious-in-the-extreme humans, it was nevertheless obvious at last nights group dinner that Jeff will be extremely motivated when these fine competitors next meet on the field of competition. Doubtful Derrick will be “unprepared” for the challenge. It’s a real treat to witness such high level shooting skills, and equally high level of sportsmanship these gentlemen marksmen display.
Paul Bracaglia produced strong third-place performances in both the 32 Shot Match competition, and 64 Shot aggregate competition. His impressive 28/32 in Match Two propelled Paul to a 52/64 aggregate, five points clear of the rest of the field. Paul used a .22 caliber AGT Uragan (that he cheated me out of a few months ago), shooting 24.39 grain JSB Redesigns (I think). Great shooting, Pablo!
Honorable mentions to John Tafoya and Jim Martin. JT’s 47/52 aggregate placed him fourth in the 64 Shot competition, and Jim’s 27/32 in Match One nabbed him fourth place in the 32 Shot competition. Good shooting, Men.
Tafoya used a Tract Optics equipped .22 Daystate Red Wolf, shooting 24.39 grain JSB Redesign pellets (fast). Jim used a .25 FX Impact, 33.95 grain JSB Mk 1 pellets, and a Sightron S3 scope.
Though some of us were pretty danged whipped after six hours of field target shooting, it seems as if everyone enjoyed themselves quite a lot. However, extreme field targets being quite a challenge to tune for consistently dependable function, especially the larger, heavier targets, most shooters yesterday understandably wondered how many points they lost to target malfunctions. My (Match Director) self included. So having invested no small amount of time and energy, and some amount of frustration tuning the targets beforehand, it occurred to me (today) there might be a way to check that (target function). So I hatched a strategy to not only conduct a forensic investigation, but also a methodology to insure the most possible accuracy virtue of what might best be described as “blind taste testing”.
That investigation now complete and the results INTENSELY INTERESTING, I’ll be transposing the results into what I believe should be mandatory reading for all field target shooters; even more-so for all field target match directors!
Upon completion of that report I’ll post it in the Discussion section of this Field Target section. TRUST ME, YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!
Happy Shooting, Y’all!
Ron
The combatants basking in the glory of victories past-
The weather wizards having lost any credibility they might have had left by erroneously forecasting 40-70% chances of rain every day for the last month, this beleaguered Match Director decided to call their bluff by not cancelling the second Extreme Field Target competition ever staged in Texas.
That the forecasters would have been correct had they been forecasting 10-15% chances of rain the last several weeks, my ‘thought’ processes translated that into an 85-90% chance that yesterdays match would see NO precipitation; and if any, not enough to be more than a minor inconvenience. That leap of logic proved spot-on, as six hours of TEXtreme Field Target competitions saw only a couple light sprinkles. Not enough precipitation to even briefly interrupt the airgun bliss of 11 competitors.
Somewhat surprisingly, all 11 shooters contested both 32 shot extreme field target matches. Not surprisingly, both matches and the 64 shot aggregate competition provided hotly contested shoot-outs between the defending champion and a perennial favorite.
After the 32 shot Match 1, the favorites were separated by only a single point with Derrick Wall posting a 30/32 score and Jeff Cloud turning in a 29/32. Testament to their competitive natures, both guys buckled down to improve their scores in the second match.
When the dust settled, both posted Match 2 scores one point higher than their Match One scores. Hence, Derrick captured the 32 Shot Match Winner awards and the 64 Shot (aggregate) Match Winner awards in another sweep of Ranchito Robinson events; a troubling trend that seems to be becoming habit!
Derrick used a .30 FX Bobcat Mk 2 to capture both the 32 Shot Match Winner and 64 Shot Match Winner award certificates and hat-pins with 31/32 and 61/64 scores (respectively). His weapon of choice (this weekend) shoots 44.75 grain JSB pellets 870 FPS, and is topped with a 6-24X Bushnell Nitro scope.
Apparently that laser-accurate Bobcat Mk2 has gone neglected and unused in the several months since DW cheated some poor guy out of it, decided to bring it out of the mothballs Friday, and use it to such great effect Saturday. AWESOME SHOOTING, Derrick! Again. Try not to let falling one point short of a perfect score in Match Two haunt you too much, Bud.
Jeff used the same .25 caliber RAW HM1000X he captured the Inaugural TEXtreme Field Target Champion title with in March. His HM is topped with a 10-50X Sightron scope, and shoots 34 grain JSB Mk1s at 915 FPS.
Both Derrick and Jeff being gracious-in-the-extreme humans, it was nevertheless obvious at last nights group dinner that Jeff will be extremely motivated when these fine competitors next meet on the field of competition. Doubtful Derrick will be “unprepared” for the challenge. It’s a real treat to witness such high level shooting skills, and equally high level of sportsmanship these gentlemen marksmen display.
Paul Bracaglia produced strong third-place performances in both the 32 Shot Match competition, and 64 Shot aggregate competition. His impressive 28/32 in Match Two propelled Paul to a 52/64 aggregate, five points clear of the rest of the field. Paul used a .22 caliber AGT Uragan (that he cheated me out of a few months ago), shooting 24.39 grain JSB Redesigns (I think). Great shooting, Pablo!
Honorable mentions to John Tafoya and Jim Martin. JT’s 47/52 aggregate placed him fourth in the 64 Shot competition, and Jim’s 27/32 in Match One nabbed him fourth place in the 32 Shot competition. Good shooting, Men.
Tafoya used a Tract Optics equipped .22 Daystate Red Wolf, shooting 24.39 grain JSB Redesign pellets (fast). Jim used a .25 FX Impact, 33.95 grain JSB Mk 1 pellets, and a Sightron S3 scope.
Though some of us were pretty danged whipped after six hours of field target shooting, it seems as if everyone enjoyed themselves quite a lot. However, extreme field targets being quite a challenge to tune for consistently dependable function, especially the larger, heavier targets, most shooters yesterday understandably wondered how many points they lost to target malfunctions. My (Match Director) self included. So having invested no small amount of time and energy, and some amount of frustration tuning the targets beforehand, it occurred to me (today) there might be a way to check that (target function). So I hatched a strategy to not only conduct a forensic investigation, but also a methodology to insure the most possible accuracy virtue of what might best be described as “blind taste testing”.
That investigation now complete and the results INTENSELY INTERESTING, I’ll be transposing the results into what I believe should be mandatory reading for all field target shooters; even more-so for all field target match directors!
Upon completion of that report I’ll post it in the Discussion section of this Field Target section. TRUST ME, YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!
Happy Shooting, Y’all!
Ron
The combatants basking in the glory of victories past-
I think his nickname should be the Dream Crusher…
