May 31, 2009 Clays Match Report

14 guns were entered today. 10 were in the Limited Class, and 4 were in the Open Class

Hal Hansen won the Open Class with a score of 45

Jim Skedd won the Limited Class with a score of 39

First, a correction on last week's clays match, held May 24, 2009. Due to a mistake discovered in the addition of the scores of the 5 rounds of the Open Class, It was discovered that Hal Hansen hit 45 targets, not 47. Sadly for Hal, but happily for Ken Bagley Sr., Ken hit 46 targets, and therefore beat Hal Hansen by 1 target. Congratulations Ken, too bad you weren't here today to repossess my medallion. Well, I won Open Class today so I'll put the medallion back on my wall where it has been residing all week. Hunt down Chuck Nicodemus for your May 24, 2009 medallion.

I guess it's still required to be able to count all the way to 50 to score this game, even if you are Ex-Air Force Special Forces.

Summer is truly here at the club now. Today at gametime, the temperature hit 76degrees, in the range building, in the shade. 14 guns came out to enjoy the sunshine, and the shooting was about as hot as the temperatures. We shot the D series of clays arrays today, and Chuck Treat, our "Arrays Impressario" really outdid himself.

Round 1, "Grapefruits and Oranges".

This array featured 3 standard Green Clays, bordering one orange micro clay, with the usual black micro clay in the middle. This array definitely called for fire discipline and patience. The 3 "giant" green clays get the shooters relaxed, and they punch holes in them fairly easily. The shooters then realize, often too late, that the little bitty orange micro clay takes some serious aiming. If one succeeds in hitting those, then the shooter can acquire and engage the black micro in the middle. It calls for speed, but more importantly, accuracy.

Round 2, "Fewer Grapefruits, more oranges."

2 standard sized Green clay targets bordering 2 orange micro targets. Hidden in the middle is one black micro, smugly unconcerned about getting perforated. Does anyone see a trend starting here. It doesn't get any easier later in the match either.

Round 3, "More oranges, darn few Grapefruits."

If one can negotiate the three little bitty orange micros on the outside, one can engage the standard sized Green just outside of the black micro in the middle. So far, the order of acquiring the targets is fairly apparent, though not easy. The object of the game is to go fast enough to get there first, but carefully enough to be able to get there eventually.

Round 4, "Orange Grove"

Now its all micros, 4 orange ones on the outside, and a black one in the middle. Now we start to need a clear path to the black micro, one that doesn't require too much movement up and down, nor too much movement back and forth. One can either take the top two going outbound then drop down and take the bottom 2 enroute to the middle black micro, or vise versa. Either way, one needs a clear path to the black micro.

Round 5, " A larger Orange Grove, so just pick 5"

I don't know if it's fair to have to shoot fast, accurately, and still have to think during the string of fire, but that sure is what is required in round 5. First, the shooter picks which 5 targets gives him/her the route with the fewest course changes to the black objective micro, then he/she has to negotiate that path quickly and accurately. The thinking part is that one has to pick out just 4 orange micros, leaving the 5th shot for the black micro in the middle. (One should be so lucky!). Rather one takes the high road or the low road, he had better get there before his opponent, as there is only 1 black micro in the middle, and one needs to hit it first, or LOSE that string of fire. Y'all be real careful out there!!

At the end of regulation play we have 2 winners. Hal Hansen takes the Open Class Medallion (well ok, I just kept the one I thought I won last week :) )) with a score of 45, same as I actually got last week.

Jim Skedd won the Limited Class, with a Mark 3 Ruger this time. Is your Nighthawk at home resting today, Jim? Jim and his Ruger perforated 39 targets, so it was still a productive day, and his Nighthawk won't feel as overstuffed as usual tonight.

A couple of final notes from todays match. Many thanks to Jon Lagerquist for running the scoresheet and the microphone in Doug's absence. Jon and this reporter also covered for Chuck Nicodemus who stayed home sick today. I haven't heard that Chuck's condition caused him to feel akin to a pork chop, so stay in, stay quiet and recuperate quickly Chuck. Oh yeah Chuck, you owe Ken Bagley Sr. a medallion from last week's match. Next Sunday will do. Wherever Doug is today, have fun, drive safely, and don't bring any germs home from wherever you went. Thank you. Oh, you might want to get another new battery for your adding machine too. We'll see you all next week.

Hal