Texas State LR - Day 2 and final results

[skiutah02]

Great job everyone! A deep bench at that match and looked to be quite a shootout. On my bucket list. Drew

 

[Down South]

Congrats to all the winners, good job!......

Always a good time at this match, was really good seeing/shooting with everyone and meeting new folks from different areas around the country. The match was well run as usual and weather was nice, big shout out to everyone involved in putting it on as I know it's a lot of work............Look forward to seeing everyone again in Raton at Nationals later in the year.......

 

[Down South]

Great job everyone! A deep bench at that match and looked to be quite a shootout. On my bucket list. Drew

You'll enjoy it Drew, hope to see you there in the future.

 

[Down South]

Yes Larry did kick some tail today! And he was on the rotation to shoot first and last rounds of the day... 3 down on that last relay of the day was brilliant shooting

I was on the last string of the day as well, only dropping 3 points was outstanding shooting in that crazy stuff, that was by far the toughest string all weekend to shoot on........

 

[Down South]

you Texans are a class act and the match was first rate in every way. I never did figure out your range, so will have to come back and try again next year

Hope to see you and Christine again next year there Scott..............You'll have a better grasp on it next time.......

 

[Down South]

Scott I can tell you I was shocked as heck about getting 2nd. I had to take 4or5 double looks at that and ask a few people if I was seeing that right.I was thinking 5th or 6th.I know I was more interested in the show down between Ray and Jason.PJ told me no more shooting what the NRA has me registered as or he’s going to protest..he’s a good team mate.

Good seeing you again Otis, nice shooting with you and Jason this weekend.......

 

[Steve Blair]

I was on the last string of the day as well, only dropping 3 points was outstanding shooting in that crazy stuff, that was by far the toughest string all weekend to shoot on........

Did you notice Erik's clean in that match? Erik recovered from a disappointing match 2, only dropping one point Sunday, to take second.

 

[Down South]

Did you notice Erik's clean in that match? Erik recovered from a disappointing match 2, only dropping one point Sunday, to take second.

I thought Erik shot on a different relay? May be wrong on that though? If he did shoot on that last string of the day and clean it that is amazing!.......

 

[BP1]

I thought Erik shot on a different relay? May be wrong on that though? If he did shoot on that last string of the day and clean it that is amazing!.......

I think Erik was on the 2nd relay..and that last relay was nasty I was scoring Ray and thinking to myself that I was glad I wasn’t shooting it was definitely a relay that made a person feel good inside to shoot a 9.Jade it’s always good to shoot and talk with you and soak up some of the knowledge.

 

[johnnyi]

I thought Erik shot on a different relay? May be wrong on that though? If he did shoot on that last string of the day and clean it that is amazing!.......

Nope he got on relay 2 for the second day. hard to compare, relay 1 we had a cup cake Match 1 and a barn burner Match 2. Relay 2 a little challenging conditions both times and still slippery enough to challenge everyone. Erik is phenomenal shooter, I'm certain he would have done amazingly well in the final match either way. Looking forward to the next one... see you guys there!

 

[BP1]

Otis,
The NRA needs 120 shots for record before they issue a classification card. I think by now you've gone over 120 shots, so next time they update their records, and they are slow, they'll issue you a new card and classification. I'm willing to bet that it will say High Master, so you're sandbagging days are over.

Joe

I wouldn’t call it sandbagging..more like burger barn money and for the record I donated my $56 to the junior team..I signed up in the division the NRA has me classified as because I didn’t want to have to listen to anyone cry about why the MD put me on the first relay and not him.

 

[Eric Wuestenhoefer]

That was a great weekend. A big thanks to the organizers. Very well run event and good paid target pullers . I will be back for next years shoot.

 

[Lbart]

Yes Larry did kick some tail today! And he was on the rotation to shoot first and last rounds of the day... 3 down on that last relay of the day was brilliant shooting

Thanks Johnny, but you know that if you play the lottery enough times you can win if you are lucky! This match was for sure first rate! Super Job!

 

[Southern shooter 59]

Great match. My first time at Bayou. Professionally run. Thanks to all who made it happen. I am glad that I am in this sport. Great people to be around.

 

[Stingray]

you Texans are a class act and the match was first rate in every way. I never did figure out your range, so will have to come back and try again next year

Scott our club members can't figure it out either. Congrats again to Christine
Ray Potter

 

[DirtySteve]

Congrats to Jason and Otis.. Good job Jason, shooting well even with out my help. lol..

 

[johnnyi]

Video credit @Erik Cortina

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Let me see if I can explain the conditions a little bit, or at least provide some visual.

The 3-day competition had different conditions from day to day but they had some similarities. It was a beautiful weekend with plenty of sunshine, low humidity (for Texas gulf coast) and very few clouds. The weather forecast on Thursday indicated winds from the North on Friday and then switching to the SSE on Saturday and more windy but still from SSE on Sunday. This is the Texas Gulf Coast in the spring, changing conditions, usually accompanied with copious rain but Match Management had ordered plenty of sunshine long in advance.



When we got to the team matches on Friday morning, it was dead calm, and most everyone figured it would be a trigger-pulling exercise. It was not going to remain that way.

The scores do show that the conditions were great for the first match but the wind was starting to manifest itself after the first pit change. I coached the team almost exclusively by flags on Friday knowing that a north wind at our range would not let the mirage reveal the true conditions.

Let me pause here to explain that the Juliff Range at Bayou Rifles in oriented south to north. We shoot virtually due north. From the 1000 yard firing line the first 3-400 yards are closely guarded on both sides by trees which were pretty much in bloom in late April. At the 600 yard firing line, the trees on the right side (East) come to an end and it's fields as far as human eye can see. On the left hand side (West) the tree line is another 100 yards or so further in but there is a tree line all the way to the targets. Behind the 1000 yard line, we have a full line of big trees, “sheltering” us from the south wind.

So on Friday, the wind was coming into our faces, but would alternate from NNW to NNE and sometimes, pretty quickly. We have flags on both sides of the range at 800, 600, 400 and 200 yards or so. The first two sets of flag are pretty useless as they are in the protected area and our bullets are fast and low to the ground, rising slowly. I never look at those unless they are standing up.

The second match started and by that time, people had forgotten how gorgeous the conditions were at the start, like it had been a dream. I continued to stay away from the scope and concentrated on the flags. The few times that I looked through the scope I was just confused as the mirage would disagree with the flags for a while, then start agreeing and shortly after, the flags would change their tune. I mostly ignored the mirage and did everything on flags. Those last three shots of the match after a 10 minute pause reinforced my belief in the flags.

The next morning, Saturday, the first match took place under near-immaculate conditions. I promptly shot myself out of the competition by cross firing midway through my first match and that set the tone for my weekend. As the day progressed the conditions worsened somewhat with the wind coming more from the east than from the southeast or SSE. It was variable and it created elevation issues, something for which, Bayou is well known. I spent the rest of my day shipping meticulously prepared, expensive jacketed lead to the 1000 yard line 210grains at a time. Don’t crossfire on the first match.

On Sunday morning, I found that I was squadded in lane 21, the furthest one on the right hand side, shooting along the tree line. The first match was OK. I was still dejected by my performance (or lack thereof) of the prior day, but hey, “I’m alive, I’m shooting rifles in competition and I’m surrounded by friends.” Conditions were pretty good and the scores reflected that.

Some even thought we would get away with decent conditions for the last match and we would avoid what was to come. Silly people, this is Bayou Rifles we’re talking about; Juliff Range.

When I got on the line for my last match, I placed my spotting scope on my left as usual and I aimed it so it would present the line of flags on my right, just like I had done during the first match in the morning. I would look through the spotting scope and verify that the flags were in the position I had decided was “my condition,” take the shot and come back to confirm the flags were the same. Easy peasy.

When I got behind the rifle for the second and final match, I positioned my spotting scope the same way and then looked through it to confirm that I was seeing the flag line as before. That’s when I noticed something I had not seen in a long time. The way the scope was lined up presented me the flags near the bottom of the scope, meaning the scope was angled up a bit. That was fine because I just wanted a glimpse of the flags just like during the first match. I had the scope focused at about 650 yards so I would have the 600 and 800 yard flags in focus due to depth of field. However, that also gave me an image of the mirage at about noon on Sunday, and I saw the mirage waves going 30-50 feet in the air coming in from the right (east) in a torrent. We all think of mirage as that river that flows quickly on the target line, either above it or below it. Here I was watching a veritable monsoon coming in from the right, from the bottom of the scope to the top of the scope. To give you an idea, if you saw the movie Independence Day, when the alien spaceship destroyed New York and we saw sheets of flames traveling down 5th Avenue, from street level to the top of the buildings and beyond; well this was the same thing but without flames and with cows instead of cars being blown around.

With that vision seared into my mind, I went ahead and shot one of my worst scopes ever. Soon enough, the other relays followed and they got to play in those conditions also. Flags, mirage, tree branches; they were all meaningless and I salute those who conquered it. When I actually called the wind right, I was rewarded with elevation issues that threw me into the 8-ring with a sardonic chuckle. My very last shot of the competition was my single solitary X for that relay.

My congratulations to the winners and my thanks to everyone for coming out to play with us at Bayou Rifles. I hope you come back against next year, when we will try once again to come up with perplexing conditions to keep everyone on their toes.

And a hearty “well done!” to the match management; Ben Brooks, Glenn Edgard, Don Diffey, Peter Ackerson, Joe Regina and “Go Go” Daniels, the pitmaster and all the volunteers. If I omitted someone, my apologies; it's age.

 

[ShootDots]

Let me see if I can explain the conditions a little bit, or at least provide some visual.

The 3-day competition had different conditions from day to day but they had some similarities. It was a beautiful weekend with plenty of sunshine, low humidity (for Texas gulf coast) and very few clouds. The weather forecast on Thursday indicated winds from the North on Friday and then switching to the SSE on Saturday and more windy but still from SSE on Sunday. This is the Texas Gulf Coast in the spring, changing conditions, usually accompanied with copious rain but Match Management had ordered plenty of sunshine long in advance.



When we got to the team matches on Friday morning, it was dead calm, and most everyone figured it would be a trigger-pulling exercise. It was not going to remain that way.

The scores do show that the conditions were great for the first match but the wind was starting to manifest itself after the first pit change. I coached the team almost exclusively by flags on Friday knowing that a north wind at our range would not let the mirage reveal the true conditions.

Let me pause here to explain that the Juliff Range at Bayou Rifles in oriented south to north. We shoot virtually due north. From the 1000 yard firing line the first 3-400 yards are closely guarded on both sides by trees which were pretty much in bloom in late April. At the 600 yard firing line, the trees on the right side (East) come to an end and it's fields as far as human eye can see. On the left hand side (West) the tree line is another 100 yards or so further in but there is a tree line all the way to the targets. Behind the 1000 yard line, we have a full line of big trees, “sheltering” us from the south wind.

So on Friday, the wind was coming into our faces, but would alternate from NNW to NNE and sometimes, pretty quickly. We have flags on both sides of the range at 800, 600, 400 and 200 yards or so. The first two sets of flag are pretty useless as they are in the protected area and our bullets are fast and low to the ground, rising slowly. I never look at those unless they are standing up.

The second match started and by that time, people had forgotten how gorgeous the conditions were at the start, like it had been a dream. I continued to stay away from the scope and concentrated on the flags. The few times that I looked through the scope I was just confused as the mirage would disagree with the flags for a while, then start agreeing and shortly after, the flags would change their tune. I mostly ignored the mirage and did everything on flags. Those last three shots of the match after a 10 minute pause reinforced my belief in the flags.

The next morning, Saturday, the first match took place under near-immaculate conditions. I promptly shot myself out of the competition by cross firing midway through my first match and that set the tone for my weekend. As the day progressed the conditions worsened somewhat with the wind coming more from the east than from the southeast or SSE. It was variable and it created elevation issues, something for which, Bayou is well known. I spent the rest of my day shipping meticulously prepared, expensive jacketed lead to the 1000 yard line 210grains at a time. Don’t crossfire on the first match.

On Sunday morning, I found that I was squadded in lane 21, the furthest one on the right hand side, shooting along the tree line. The first match was OK. I was still dejected by my performance (or lack thereof) of the prior day, but hey, “I’m alive, I’m shooting rifles in competition and I’m surrounded by friends.” Conditions were pretty good and the scores reflected that.

Some even thought we would get away with decent conditions for the last match and we would avoid what was to come. Silly people, this is Bayou Rifles we’re talking about; Juliff Range.

When I got on the line for my last match, I placed my spotting scope on my left as usual and I aimed it so it would present the line of flags on my right, just like I had done during the first match in the morning. I would look through the spotting scope and verify that the flags were in the position I had decided was “my condition,” take the shot and come back to confirm the flags were the same. Easy peasy.

When I got behind the rifle for the second and final match, I positioned my spotting scope the same way and then looked through it to confirm that I was seeing the flag line as before. That’s when I noticed something I had not seen in a long time. The way the scope was lined up presented me the flags near the bottom of the scope, meaning the scope was angled up a bit. That was fine because I just wanted a glimpse of the flags just like during the first match. I had the scope focused at about 650 yards so I would have the 600 and 800 yard flags in focus due to depth of field. However, that also gave me an image of the mirage at about noon on Sunday, and I saw the mirage waves going 30-50 feet in the air coming in from the right (east) in a torrent. We all think of mirage as that river that flows quickly on the target line, either above it or below it. Here I was watching a veritable monsoon coming in from the right, from the bottom of the scope to the top of the scope. To give you an idea, if you saw the movie Independence Day, when the alien spaceship destroyed New York and we saw sheets of flames traveling down 5th Avenue, from street level to the top of the buildings and beyond; well this was the same thing but without flames and with cows instead of cars being blown around.

With that vision seared into my mind, I went ahead and shot one of my worst scopes ever. Soon enough, the other relays followed and they got to play in those conditions also. Flags, mirage, tree branches; they were all meaningless and I salute those who conquered it. When I actually called the wind right, I was rewarded with elevation issues that threw me into the 8-ring with a sardonic chuckle. My very last shot of the competition was my single solitary X for that relay.

My congratulations to the winners and my thanks to everyone for coming out to play with us at Bayou Rifles. I hope you come back against next year, when we will try once again to come up with perplexing conditions to keep everyone on their toes.

And a hearty “well done!” to the match management; Ben Brooks, Glenn Edgard, Don Diffey, Peter Ackerson, Joe Regina and “Go Go” Daniels, the pitmaster and all the volunteers. If I omitted someone, my apologies; it's age.

Hello Denys! I love the prose! You accomplished the goal of painting a picture in my mind's eye of how it was! AND it was very good to see you and everyone again!

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Hello Denys! I love the prose! You accomplished the goal of painting a picture in my mind's eye of how it was! AND it was very good to see you and everyone again!

It was great seeing you also. I wish I could have stayed behind after the matches and gone with you guys to eat and trade sob stories but my daughter was always tired after pulling and needed to go home ASAP.