(Match Report by Tyler Patner)
22 Shooters joined us for a beautiful day of Field Target in Northeast Ohio. After a week of dark clouds and rain, mother nature blessed us with a magnificent day for our August match. With temps in the high 70s / low 80s, blue skies and moderate cloud cover, a lot of fun was had on the 60 shot woods course.
On a somber note, we recently lost one of our founding members, Mark Oehlberg. Mark was always a joy to be around and his love for airguns ran deep. Thinking back to the early days of our club, Mark was consistently a part of our “winter FT training” which consisted of drinking beer and shooting bell target in Bill Rabbitt’s basement. Mark introduced us to proper vintage 10m airguns, and even parted with a few so we could all share in the enjoyment. He was a wealth of airgun knowledge and was always happy to spread the good news of airguns, whether at our club or during work hours as one of the technical support reps at Pyramyd Air. You will be missed my friend, and your memory will live on in the club you helped build, each and every time we hit the lanes.
While the weather was gorgeous, I must say, this was probably the windiest match we have had so far this year. The wind and the shadows (or in some cases, the near blinding direct sunlight) were certainly both factors for the shooters. Without wind and lighting, the course shot at a little over a 31T, with 13 targets over 40 yards. The wind was deceptive, particularly through the middle of the course where there are a number of far targets. Your windicator would begin to move, and as you looked through your scope, nothing down range would be moving. Other times, you would see foliage waving in the breeze while your windicator was still as can be. Between that, and the shadows causing some difficulty range finding, it was a tough day for many.
As scores came in, many familiar faces were at the top of the leaderboard. In Hunter Piston, Dan Putz was the lone shooter, but as usual delivered a great score of 43/60 with his trusty Walther LGV. In Open PCP, Keith Walters continued his impressive run this season posting a 55/60 using his Thomas. In Hunter PCP, Bill Rabbitt turned in a fantastic 57/60, followed by Jeff Little who shot a 53. Both great scores for the day. In WFTF PCP, Tyler Patner and Jeff Paddock tied on 57. You know there’s only one way to settle that, SHOOT OFF!
Bill set a 1.25” KZ target somewhere in the mid 50 yard range on our site in range, which is in the middle of an open field. Remember how I said it was windy in the woods? Well the field was on another level! Jeff went first, holding about 1” off the left edge of the kill, and his pellet hit nearly dead on where he was aiming. Strange, as both his windicator and the grass in the field was moving left to right. Tyler held left edge, and the pellet traveled about 1.5” across the kill zone, landing just on the right side of it. Clearly the wind was doing some weird stuff out in that field. Jeff took aim again, and dropped the target, putting the pressure on. Tyler was able to match the knockdown, and we went to kneeling. Jeff took the target down on his first shot, and Tyler was unable to match as the wind took his pellet into another zip code. Way to go Jeff!
We also had a fun shoot off between Dan and Kristin Putz, as the husband and wife scored the same despite being in different divisions. After 3-4 rounds of back and forth and both knocking the target over from the sitting position, Dan was able to take the target out on a kneeler in the high 30 yard range, and Kristin was not able to match.
Thanks to all who attended. We look forward to seeing you all for our last match of the year on October 4th.
See you all on the lanes!