Please Welcome Sophie Bryeans (13 years old) to 600 Yard Benchrest
Sophie shot her first registered 600 yard match at the St Louis Benchrest rifle club this past weekend. Sophie is the daughter of Gaylon Bryeans 2017 600 yard Shooter of The Year! Both Father and Daughter doubled up on Gaylons 6BR with Gaylon preforming coaching duties for Sophie as needed. The amazing thing is right out of the gate Sophie placed 4Th in Heavy Gun Score against a field of seasoned shooters, picking up her first Shooter of the Year Point! Words cannot describe how happy and proud we are that Sophie got off to a fantastic start.
Match Director Steve Wilson had a ring-side seat to watch the interaction between father and daughter and he summed it up much better then I can,
" Sophie shared a bench with her dad, Gaylon. They were next to the bench I shared with my nephew, Scott Knight. Sophie and Scott were on the same relay. I was fortunate to stand behind the firing line and witness the interaction between Sophie and Gaylon as he coached her during the sighter and record fire periods.
Gaylon was standing next to her, looking through a spotting scope as she took her sighters. He would give her instructions on where to aim at the sighter plate and how to adjust the scope for her follow up shots after a bullet strike. Things like, "2 clicks clockwise on the top knob." He also assisted her timing of shooting, as the sighter periods progressed. For instance, say there was about 40 seconds left, she would pick up a round, hold it near the loading port and turn to look at her dad for guidance. He shook his head NO. When the tape announced "30 Seconds" he would nod at her. She grabbed another round, in preparation for her last sighter. Again turning to look at him for guidance. And again another head shake NO. "15 Seconds," A head nod YES.
There was one particular record fire period where she didn't pull the bolt back fast enough and the empty case spun around in the action but didn't eject. She took a loaded round and poked it out of the ejection port, after a few attempts. Gaylon looked through the spotting scope and saw that she had too much horizontal on her record target. The following conversation ensued. Gaylon: "You shot too slow that time, the wind changed and you got horizontal." Sophie responded with exasperation: "Well, you saw that my bullet got stuck."
It was priceless and heart warming to watch the interaction between father and daughter during her very first match. It was a privilege to witness it.
Congratulations to Miss Sophie for her performance. She has a future in 600 Yard competition. And my praises to Gaylon for his tender guidance to his lovely daughter. They made quite the team!
Sophie in action
As you can see Sophie is quite a young lady, she loves sports such as volleyball and basketball. She also enjoys traveling and SHOOTING with her dad and is an avid deer hunter. Sophie has already bagged two bucks (4 pointer and the other an 8). If we roll the clock back to Friday night, Robby Miles brought Sophie a surprise from Memphis to ensure her continued hunting success. Robby and Mike Moses put together a Custom built 6x47 Tac-driver for Sophie that fits her perfectly!
So Congratulations Miss Sophie Bryeans! We are very much looking forward to following your shooting career! There are no limits to what you can achieve!
Bart
Sophie shot her first registered 600 yard match at the St Louis Benchrest rifle club this past weekend. Sophie is the daughter of Gaylon Bryeans 2017 600 yard Shooter of The Year! Both Father and Daughter doubled up on Gaylons 6BR with Gaylon preforming coaching duties for Sophie as needed. The amazing thing is right out of the gate Sophie placed 4Th in Heavy Gun Score against a field of seasoned shooters, picking up her first Shooter of the Year Point! Words cannot describe how happy and proud we are that Sophie got off to a fantastic start.
Match Director Steve Wilson had a ring-side seat to watch the interaction between father and daughter and he summed it up much better then I can,
" Sophie shared a bench with her dad, Gaylon. They were next to the bench I shared with my nephew, Scott Knight. Sophie and Scott were on the same relay. I was fortunate to stand behind the firing line and witness the interaction between Sophie and Gaylon as he coached her during the sighter and record fire periods.
Gaylon was standing next to her, looking through a spotting scope as she took her sighters. He would give her instructions on where to aim at the sighter plate and how to adjust the scope for her follow up shots after a bullet strike. Things like, "2 clicks clockwise on the top knob." He also assisted her timing of shooting, as the sighter periods progressed. For instance, say there was about 40 seconds left, she would pick up a round, hold it near the loading port and turn to look at her dad for guidance. He shook his head NO. When the tape announced "30 Seconds" he would nod at her. She grabbed another round, in preparation for her last sighter. Again turning to look at him for guidance. And again another head shake NO. "15 Seconds," A head nod YES.
There was one particular record fire period where she didn't pull the bolt back fast enough and the empty case spun around in the action but didn't eject. She took a loaded round and poked it out of the ejection port, after a few attempts. Gaylon looked through the spotting scope and saw that she had too much horizontal on her record target. The following conversation ensued. Gaylon: "You shot too slow that time, the wind changed and you got horizontal." Sophie responded with exasperation: "Well, you saw that my bullet got stuck."
It was priceless and heart warming to watch the interaction between father and daughter during her very first match. It was a privilege to witness it.
Congratulations to Miss Sophie for her performance. She has a future in 600 Yard competition. And my praises to Gaylon for his tender guidance to his lovely daughter. They made quite the team!
Sophie in action
As you can see Sophie is quite a young lady, she loves sports such as volleyball and basketball. She also enjoys traveling and SHOOTING with her dad and is an avid deer hunter. Sophie has already bagged two bucks (4 pointer and the other an 8). If we roll the clock back to Friday night, Robby Miles brought Sophie a surprise from Memphis to ensure her continued hunting success. Robby and Mike Moses put together a Custom built 6x47 Tac-driver for Sophie that fits her perfectly!
So Congratulations Miss Sophie Bryeans! We are very much looking forward to following your shooting career! There are no limits to what you can achieve!
Bart
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