January 16, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

 

20 Guns Entered

 

      4 Ladies Contested the Women's Division - class won by Giti Anable with a score of 32

         2nd Place Lady - Lydia Caron with a score of 29

         3rd Place Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 19

         4th Place Lady - Shirley Treat

 

     13 Guns Entered in the Open Class - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 45

          2nd Open won by Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 44

          3rd Open won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 43

 

      7 Guns Entered in the Limited Class - Class won by Alan Caron with a Match High Score of 47

          2nd Limited won by Tim Anable with a score of 33

          3rd Limited won by Chuck Treat with a score of 32

 

     Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to another Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match.  It's a typical January afternoon here in the Pacific Northwest, temperatures in the lower 50s, way overcast, and a light drizzling rain as the match progressed.  It makes one think longingly for the days of summers past, and take heart in the coming of spring and summer next up on the calendar.  The heaters were on and roaring today, the range is dry and well lit inside, so summer can just take it's sweet time getting here.

 

     We had a great turnout of 20 Guns today, with 4 Ladies sharing in the competition.  Welcome to Lydia Caron, daughter of Alan Caron.  Lydia is new to shooting clays, and presented today with a Ruger Single Six in keeping with the family tradition of Single Action Revolvers.  Lydia started her Clays shooting career today with a 2nd Place finish in the Ladies Class, shooting a very respectable score indeed of 29.  As often happens to new competitors, and more well-experienced competitors than any of us want to admit, one lapse of attention during a string of fire dropped her out of contention with our Ladies Class Winner, Giti Anable.  Well done Lydia, and welcome to our sport. 

     We were priveleged to have several new shooters enter our match today.  Welcome to Limited Class entry Bernie Peterson, Open Class entries Bryce Bartelme and Dylan Peterson.  as well as our new Ladies Class competitor Lydia.  Uh, Bernie, your son Dylan beat you today 37 to 21. Better practice a lot Dad, those youthful eyes and reflexes will get ya.

    

     We started another Great Equalizer Series today, with Page 1.  Our Arrays Impressarios

Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman were on the job and kept the match challenging as usual.

Thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus for another Safe, well run and efficient match and a big Thank You also to our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean.  With 20 guns entered, believe it, Doug had his hands full. Let's take a look at Page 1 from the shooters perspective.

 

Round 1

     4 orange micros form the top row on each side of the screen.  The bottom row is comprised of 4 Green Standards.  If the competitor is entered in the Open Class, engage the

orange micros.  If entered in the Limited Class, engage the Green Standards. In either case,

if the shooter is successful in breaking ALL of their primary clays, then go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

 

Round 2

     Round 2 is a repeat of Round 1.  This gives the clays shooter a false sense of accomplishment and security and sets them up for an attention-getting

 

Round 3

     The top row still starts our with 3 orange micros, but the last orange micro and the last

Green Standard on the bottom row have changed places.  Now the need for strategy becomes apparent, as the shooter needs to plan the fastest route through the arrays.  Now some upping and downing is necessary before engaging, if thus far successful, the black micro in the middle.

 

Round 4

     Again round 4 replicates Round 3.  This lulls the shooter into a feeling of complacency and a feeling that this is easy.  What could happen?  Then suddenly they are looking at

 

Round 5

     The first and last clays of each row are now switched from the top to the bottom row, and vice versa.  Start a racetract route that ends up closest to the black micro in the middle.

Let's take a look at who did what today.

 

     In the Ladies Class, Giti Anable continued her winning ways by turning in a score of 32.

In 2nd Place in the Ladies Class, our new competitive Lady, Lydia Caron, shot a score of 29.  Rounding out the top 3 ladies today was Carrie Morton. shooting a score of 19. 

 

     In the Open Class, we had one of the closest finishes in recent memory.  This reporter,

Hal Hansen won it by a hairsbredth with a score of 45.  2nd Open was taken by Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 44.  3rd Open was claimed by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 43.

 

     In the Limited Class, Allen Caron turned in the high score for the match with 47. In 2nd Place in the Limited Class today, Tim Anable shot a score of 33. Rounding out the Limited Class winners today was Chuck Treat, who shot a score of 32.  Congratulations to all of our successful competitors today, both for their skill, and most especially for their Safe Gun Handling.

 

     OK Folks, that's the match for today.  Don't forget the Plate Match right here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, Monday January 17, 2011 at 6:00PM.  Next Sunday, January 23, 2011

at 4PM we'll meet right here again and see who the hot guns are next week.  In the meantime, practice a lot and practice properly, and always remember:

 

"SHOOT FAST!  SHOOT ACCURATELY!!  BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, SHOOT SAFELY!!!

 

Hal