It never ceases to amaze me how our club continues to grow. When we started OAFTSA in 2015, we figured we would be lucky to get 15-20 people per match. Last year, we started to see attendance over 20….and now in July, we have hit another milestone for the club. 31 competitors turned out for our July 16th match! Fortunately, after a week of rain, the weekend came with nothing but sunshine and moderate temps in the low 80s.
Bill Rabbitt and Jeff Paddock were given control of the course layout for this match after having built 6 more tree-stands since our last match. I must say, they were not kind as many targets were pushed out further and kill zone sizes shrank on many targets. We got creative with some new target placements that really made for a completely different feel on the course. The Troyer ended up at 33T without wind and lighting. After those factors were applied, the Troyer stood at a 36T, making it the toughest match I can recall us putting on. While the wind wasn’t very harsh during the match, there were a few times where holding off was required but the lighting is the real difficulty on the course. With some targets painted brown and black, they become nearly invisible against the dark backdrop of the woods, which makes ranging a real challenge.
A special thanks to Larry Justinus for setting up his camera with a remote on lane 8 to get pictures of all of the shooters. We really have a great group that go above and beyond to make the matches top quality. The extra effort is greatly appreciated.
In WFTF PCP, we had 4 competitors as Dan Putz came out with an Air Arms S510 in a very cool FT stock to shoot 12 FPE. Tyler took top honors in the class with a 54/60 using his Steyr LG100 and March 10-60. A special shout out to Bruce Scott, who put up a great score and personal best of 48/60 with his EV2. He was neck and neck with Tyler until the last few lanes and has shown he is ready to make some moves in the class. We look forward to seeing what he can do at the PA Cup next month.
With Crosman’s annual Grand Prix match coming up, Hunter PCP saw a ton of participants with 13 shooters. The Himes brothers made the match and it was great to see them. Tom posted an impressive 55/60 but that wasn’t quite enough to beat reigning national champ, Bill Rabbitt. He tied our course high score record with a 57/60. Great shooting Bill! Tim Baylor shot a very impressive 50/60 which is his personal best with his Steyr. It was great to see Tim put up such a good score, especially since he brought a few friends along to impress! Dave and Steve Kovoch came out with Tim for their first FT match and shot very good scores of 27 and 31 respectively. We also had a few new guys from PA show up; Jeff Little, Carl Lucas and Ken Gilcrest all came out sporting Air Arms S500/510’s and posted very good scores! Jeff posted a 48, and this was just his second FT match as far as I know. Awesome shooting guys.
In Open PCP, Roger Barker had a tough challenge from Dave Hitchcock who was only shooting 12 FPE. This was Roger’s first match using his new Air Arms Pro Target and it did him good! He shot a very respectable 42 with Dave just one shot behind on 41. Mark Oehlberg also showed some improvement with a 14.
WFTF Piston was a class of one, with Jeff Paddock shooting an impressive 51. Looks like he has some good preperation for the Crosman match. I’m excited to see how he does!
Hunter Piston was a tight battle as well. Eric Jones came up from Columbus having just shot an FT match the day before at their club. I know he wasn’t super pleased with his score, but he seemed to enjoy the match and it is always great to get him out in the woods! Mark Evans continued his dominance in the class though, taking out Paul Manktelow by just one shot with a 34/60. Paul came all the way from New York to shoot with us, and we appreciate him and his wife coming such a long way.
In the special Junior class, we saw Natalie and Gwen Putz return with a new 1720T set up that seems to be doing great! Gwen shot an impressive 55 and Natalie shot a stellar 50. Great shooting ladies! Using springers, Demitry Navarro was very good with a 28. Brandon and Camille were not too far behind though, shooting 23 and 21 respectively.
Last but not least, I do want to mention one new shooter, Jim Donahue. He gets the man of the match award from me. He brought out a Benjamin 397 multi-pump gun and shot the novice course. He posted a respectable 32 for his first time out, but just watching him pump up that gun…..well he’s a better man that I. Good to have you out Jim and we hope to see you back again next month.
It was a record setting day for us at OAFTSA and it seemed that the course changes were enjoyed by most everyone. Thanks to all who attended and we look forward to seeing everyone back on August 6th for our monthly match before the PA Cup.
Hunter PCP
Bill Rabbitt - Marauder - Hawke 6.5-20 - JSB 10.3 - 57/60
Tom Himes - Daystate Air Wolf - Hawke 10-50 - Air Arms 10.3 - 55/60
Tim Baylor - Steyr LG110 - Hawke 4-16 - JSB 10.3 - 50/60
Jeff Little - AA S500 - Hawke - JSB 10.3 - 48/60
Dennis Himes - Daystate - Hawke 4-16 - 47/60
Ken Gilcrest - AA S510 - Hawke - 35/60
Joe Tricomi - Marauder - Hawke - JSB 18.1 - 34/60
Alan Barker - Marauder - Hawke 4-12 - JSB 10.3 - 32/60
Carl Lucas - AA S500 - Hawke - ??? - 32/60
Steve Kovoch - Marauder - ??? - ??? - 31/60
Dave Kovoch - Marauder - ??? - ??? - 27/60
Don Ellsworth - Marauder - UTG 4-12 - AA 8.4 - 18/60
Ted Andro - Marauder - Hawke - JSB 10.3 - DNF
Hunter Piston
Mark Evans - Beeman R9 - Hawke Airmax - H&N FTT 14.66 - 34/60
Paul Manktelow - AA TX200 - Hawke 3-12x50 - H&N Sniper 8.5 - 33/60
Eric Jones - Diana 54 - UTG 10x50 - AA10.3 - 25/60
Bill Sizemore - RWS 34 - Bushnell 4-12 - CPH 10.5 - 5/60
Open PCP
Roger Barker - AA Pro Target - Sightron 10-50 - AA 10.3 - 42/60
Dave Hitchcock - AA FTP 900 - Hawke 10-50 - JSB 8.4 - 41/60
Mark Oehlberg - Steyr LG110 - Sightron 10-50 - HN Baracuda 10.65 - 14/60
WFTF PCP
Tyler Patner - Steyr LG100 - March 10-60 - AA 7.9 - 54/60
Bruce Scott - AA EV2 - Nikko 10-50 - JSB 8.4 - 48/60
Larry Justinus - AA Ev2 - Leupold Comp 40x - AA 7.9 - 32/60
Dan Putz - AA S510 - Hawke 6-24 Airmax - JSB 10.3 - 28/60
WFTF Piston
Jeff Paddock - HW97k - Leupold Comp 35x - CPL 7.9 - 51/60
Novice
Jim Donahue - Benjamin 397 - Leapers 4x - JSB 8.4 - 32/60
Novice/Special Junior PCP
Gwen Putz - Crosman 1720T - Hawke 4-16 - H&N Sniper 8.5 - 55/60
Natalie Putz - Crosman 1720T - Hawke 4-16 - H&N Sniper 8.5 - 50/60
Novice/Special Junior Piston
Demitry Navarro - RWS 34 - Bushnell 4-12 - CPH 10.5 - 28/60
Brandon Navarro - R7 - Beeman 4x - CPL 7.9 - 23/60
Camille Sizemore - R7 - Beeman 4x - CPL 7.9 - 21/60