Airgunners of Arizona Field Target Match Report

December 5, 2009 Wickenburg, AZ

The pond behind Deb & Dales home in Wickenburg

When I lived back in Pennsylvania, I remember vividly (well, after 22 years in AZ, it is not THAT vivid) what it felt like just before the snow started to fall. It was cold, the air was calm, the sky was overcast with high clouds that started to close in, and it got very quiet. That is exactly how our December match day started, but the snow did not come. When I left Phoenix at O-dark-thirty on Saturday morning, the temperature was 32 degrees. It was colder in Wickenburg, but fortunately warmed during the day. It felt pretty good wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt.


The sight in range looking south through the wash. Lane 1 is off to the left, lane 2 is straight ahead and the remainder of the lanes work their way up the wash off to the right (west) side.

Only 9 members converged to participate in the pellet games today, but we had a great time nonetheless. Steve Timarac joined me on Friday (I had a vacation day I had to use or lose, and Steve is retired) to set up 10 lanes with 2 targets per lane. We had them nestled in some of the trickiest locations that we could creep into. With Debbie and Dale Keiser directing, we laid out quite a challenging little course of fire. We intentionally tried to get as many obstructions in the way as possible, but still have a clear path to the kill zones. When we could not do that, we stretched small KZ targets waaaaay out there.


Here is Jay on lane one setting up on the buzzard out through the tunnel.


Yours truly on lane 2. That black speck to the left of the bush in the distance is a crow at around 50 yards. To the right and just a bit closer is a pig target. There was a tricky wind swirling through the wash but I still nailed the crow with my first shot. We won't talk about the 3 O'clock split for my second shot.

After our brief shooters meeting and lane assignments, we took off to shoot. I was paired for the first time with our only junior shooter of the day. Perry may be only 14 years old, but this young man can shoot! His scores may not indicate it, but he was hitting some of the trickiest shots and doping the wind pretty good for a kid his age. I was impressed and would not hesitate to have him for a shooting partner anytime. He came real close to whooping his dad and was shooting a Benji Disco to boot. They are neat little guns.


Here is Perry shooting at the gopher targets on lane 9

Veteran shooter Sandy Corcorran beat up on all of us with a blistering 38 out of a possible 40 shots and was the days match winner. About the course layout, she commented that she kept going from target to target wondering when they were going to get easier! With the swirling wind moving in one direction at the firing line and a completely different direction at the target, it did not get any easier, and the cold air created the need for sighting adjustments. I noticed a marked drop in POI past 20 yards, but made note of the differences and compensated accordingly.


Sandy shooting in the "snake pit" on lane 4. The KZ is just barely visible over the top of the fallen tree branch in the distance.


Debbie shooting the offhand shot in the "snake pit" on lane 4

We had one shooter shooting HFT class (Jay), and one shooting Piston class (me), but because of no other shooters in these classes, everyone was grouped together. We had several members listed on injured reserve, too. Dale is recuperating nicely from triple by-pass surgery, and Larry Nelson is suffering with shingles and could not make it for the match. We all hope for speedy recoveries for both. Dale did, however, take all the pictures of this match, for which I am thankful. Hard to keep a good man down even if he is not allowed to lift anything for a while. It should be interesting hearing the excuses from some of our other regular attendees for not participating. Hopefully, next month will bring them back out.


Bobby shooting on lane 9. Wife Sandy cleaned his clock with her shooting prowess. He taught her well!

Anyway, here are the scores: Take note that we had a tie for 3rd place that was decided via a shoot off between Ray and Steve. It took a while to shoot it off, but in the end Ray prevailed. Congratulations to both shooters for great scores.

Results

Place	Shooter	Score/40	Class	Gun	Scope	Pellet
1	Sandy Corcorran	38	PCP	Air Arms Pro Target	Bushnell 8-32	CPH
2	Bobby Corcorran	36	PCP	Daystate CR-X ST	MTC Viper	CPH
3	Debbie Keiser	35	PCP	Daystate CR97 SE	Burris 8-32	CPH
4	Ray Horneman	30	PCP	Daystate Air Wolf	MTC Viper	CPH
5	Steve Timarac	30	PCP	FX Typhoon	Bushnell 6-24	CPH
6	Mark Kauffman	26	Piston	Air Arms TX-200	Bushnell 6-24	JSBEH
7	Jay Bronaugh	22	PCP	Benjamin Discovery	Centerpoint 12X
8	Perry Bronaugh	20	Junior	Benjamin Discovery	Centerpoint 16X

 


Ray (Professor Gadget) setting up to shoot through the tangle on lane 6.


Steve shooting on lane 8 through a "window" of vegetation at a distant rabbit target.

After we shot, we gathered back inside where Deb and Sandy provided lunch for us. BBQ, brats with caramelized onions, fruit salad, and a bunch of other goodies were pounced upon by our hungry hoard. For those who missed the shoot; too bad. That just left more for us! Many thanks to both Deb and Sandy for providing lunch for all of us.


I had fun shooting my TX-200 today, but no one else was present to shoot piston class with me.

After lunch we had a short club meeting and then attended to collecting the targets and putting everything away until next month. One of the great things about this group is that everyone pitches in to help. It is certainly appreciated and I thank everyone present for assisting.


Deb shooting at the distant javelina targets from atop the rise, with Bobby scoring.

Next month we will be back here in Wickenburg on Saturday, January 2, 2010. Yeah, it is the day after New Years Day, but what better way to start off a new year than shooting with like minded airgunners. Until then, Airgunners of Arizona would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and healthy and Happy New Year.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark Kauffman
Sec / Airgunners of Arizona