2008 Arizona State Field Target Championship Results

November 15 & 16, 2008 Prescott, AZ


Left to right: Robin, Ric, Steve, Sandy with puppies, Bobby, Larry P., Mark, Scott, and Larry N. Missing from picture are Vince and Eddie. Check out our nifty club shirts with embroidered logo.

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 70s 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!


Sight in lanes.

The unfortunate thing was that we only had 11 competitors. Work constraints, or lack thereof, various maladies, 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. Sandys seals decided to give up the ghost in her gun, my scope took a crap on me, Rics 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!

Arizona State Championship Match Results:

Position	Shooter	Sat /48	Sun /32	Total /80	Class	Airgun	Scope	Pellet
State Champion	Steve Montgomery	43	24	67	PCP	USFT	Bushnell 4200 8-32	JSBEH
1	Bobby Corcorran	42	23	65	PCP	USFT	Bushnell 4200 8-32	CPH
High Out of State	Vince Pacheco	37	24	61	PCP	USFT	Bushnell 4200 8-32	JSBEH
2	Larry Piercy	35	24	59	PCP	Daystate CRX	Nightforce 8-40	CP 14.3
3	Mark Kauffman	37	21	58	PCP	Daystate CRX ST	MTC Viper 8-32	CPH
4	Sandy Corcorran	32	24	56	PCP	Steyr LG100	Bushnell 4200 8-32	JSBEH
5	Larry Nelson	36	19	55	PCP	Daystate Timberwolf	Bushnell 4200 8-32	JSBEH
6	Robin Montgomery	31	19	50	PCP	USFT	Bushnell 4200 8-32	JSBEH
7	Rick Grassmick	18	9	27	PCP	BSA Ultra	Bushnell 6-24	CPL
1	Scott Rogers	27	14	41	S/P	AA TX-200	Nikko 10-50	JSBE
2	EddieOlguin	13	10	23	S/P	HW97	Bushnell 6-24	CPL

 

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.


The peanut gallery. Robert Buchanan's son and nephew watch Scott Rogers on the prone lane.

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.

 
State Champion Steve Montgomery with club President, Larry Piercy


Larry Piercy presenting 1st place Piston medal to Scott Rogers

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 Saturdays completion of shooting. Thanks to Ric Grassmick, Vince Pacheco, and Dan Jones for providing pictures.


Yours truly shooting on the rocks. That is a really awesome borrowed Daystate CRX-ST. Thanks, Bobby!

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.

Next months 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.

Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark Kauffman
Sec, Airgunners of Arizona