(Match Report by Tyler Patner)
After having to cancel our April match due to weather, we were fortunate to break off the rust and start the 2023 Field Target season at NOA on a beautiful Sunday. The 21st of May was a sunny day, starting in the mid 50’s and eventually warming up into the low 70s. The heavy canopy of our woods course kept shooters cool and shaded during the match. But as is typical, creates some interesting lighting situations, particularly for darker targets. Many shooters commented about the difficulty of ranging some of the targets, particularly those painted black, grey and brown.
We had 33 shooters join us for the day, with a few spectators that also came to check things out. The course was long, with 17 of 30 targets at or over 45 yards. Interestingly enough, there was actually a fair amount of wind coming through the woods, which is a bit abnormal, but definitely kept shooters on their toes. The troyer for the course was just a hair under 33T, without taking lighting and some of that tricky wind into account. I can tell you that the 12 FPE shooters (myself included) definitely had some challenges on their hands when it came to reading and shooting the breeze.
Shooters began to come off the course around 2:30 PM, making this a very long day. But there’s no better way to spend an afternoon than on an FT course in my opinion, and I know many of our shooters agreed. Shooters were treated to a pizza lunch back in our clubhouse and we also had a visit from RX Target Systems, demonstrating their new speed silo target system. This system will be used at the 2023 Pyramyd Air Cup in August, and many shooters had a lot of fun speeding through the 1/10th scale silhouettes.
In Hunter PCP, we saw a number of shooters in the high 40s and low 50s, but two stood above the rest. Bill Rabbitt posted a 56/60 with his Thomas and Nightforce, but was edged out by just one shot as Justin Roberts turned in an impressive 57 to take the top spot. On the Piston side of Hunter, Al Duster came in with a 37/60 which was enough to earn first place.
In Unlimited, Rick Smelko dominated with a 56. Lucas Marusiak posted a solid 50 to come in second place in WFTF PCP with his new Thomas, after experiencing some scope issues just prior to starting the match. Tyler Patner took the top spot in WFTF PCP with a 57. In Open PCP, Ted Andro posted a 53, just a few shots behind Joe Edwards on 56. But Keith Walters ended up on top for the day, with an impressive 58. Great shooting Keith!
Thanks to everyone that helped set up the course and tear it down after the match and more importantly thank you to all of the shooters that came out and spent their Sunday with us. We hope you enjoyed the course and look forward to seeing you at our next match on June 18th.
Also, as a general note, the club has purchased a compressor for filling tanks. This is free to members and $5 per fill for non-members, so if you are in need of air for your tank, bring it along to a match and we will get you filled up!
Until next time, stay safe and we will see you on the lanes.
