GHSC Pistol and Practical Shotgun Competition Results

November 6, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-11-06T21:25:00.001-08:00

14 Guns this week showed despite chillier and chillier temps. Our starting temp of 49 degrees soon warmed in the shooting lanes to a tropical mid 50's with the first firing of the propane heaters this season. On to the HOT scores:

3 Ladies today: Gitti once again out in front with 40
Carrie Morton taking 2nd with 21
Stephanie Stevens returning and turning in a score of... 1! Must have been the ammo.

      3 Junior Class Entries - Class won by Kirk Foreman with a score of 40 + 3

            2nd Junior - Brian Tinner with 40 + 2
Mary Stevens in 3rd with 30 after also some firearms issues today

      3 Open Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a match winning score of 49!

            2nd Open - Richard Soulam with 42

            3rd Open - Ge (sorry I didn't get your last name but since I also didn't get your email address, you're not reading this anyway) with a respectable 27

     5 Limited Guns - Class won by Don Gardner with a score of 44. Don, you didn't even wait for your Medal, er, I mean plastic.

            2nd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 33

            3rd Limited - Jeff Morton with a score of 27

Wow, what a wide range of scores today. Thanks again to out announcer Tim Anable for another fantastic week of scorekeeping, etc.

Officially reporting stuff: Our only shootout today was the Junior class. Kirk Foreman and Brian Tinner battling for the... plastic. Tied at 40, they face off with smaller targets and bigger audiences. After the dust settles, Brian bows to Kirk, as Kirk takes the win 3 clays to 2. Well done Gentlemen.

And now, the lesser official stuff. A TEST. I'm conducting a test. For those of you who have actually read this far, please aid me in my endeavors. By simply clicking reply and send (no reply comments needed), I will know that SOMEONE actually reads this crap. I'm willing to be that I get less than 5 reply's. We will see. Over 90 emails are currently on the list to receive these weekly reports and I bet that of the 60% that ACTUALLY open it, only 30% of those read beyond the colored scores above.

So prove me wrong or prove me right, read through my schtick and I'll be yours tonight.
When the shooting is done and all have gone home, I write my report and sent it to roam.
Read this or not, I may sound like a sap, but read this or not, I don't give a...

Steve

GHSC Clay Pistol Results for Oct 30, 2011

2011-10-30T21:55:00.001-07:00

Greetings and salutations,

10 guns entered into competition this week as we faced Week 2 of the Tai Chi Equalizer series. A brisk 54 degrees yet rain-free skies reminded us that Autumn is upon us and winter is not far behind. But as always, the shooting was hot with another week of impressive 40+ scores.

And the winners are:

The Ladies Division The Gold: Gitti Anable, score of 43

The Silver: Carrie Morton, score of 29

The Junior Division Gold to Mary Stevens, score of 42

Silver to Brian Tinner, score of 38

Open Division Gold goes to Richard Soulam with a tied personal best of 46

Silver goes to Richard Soulam with a tied personal best of 46

Bronze goes to Richard Soulam with a tied personal best of 46

The Limited Division The Gold: Your HUMBLE reporter, Steve Tinner, 44

The Silver: George Stevens, 41

The Bronze: John Iverson, 40

As you can see, only 2 ladies, 2 juniors, and Richard, in a class by himself. Yet Richard takes top honors today but still 4 clays short of that elusive 50! Alas, Hotshot, our trusty steed remains corralled for at least another week.

Again another superb job by Tim Anable emcee-ing in Dougs absence. Thank you Tim. No Chuck Treat this week so we have Darren as our Arrays Officianado. Thank you Darren for setting up our clays and our favorite bottle caps. Chuck Nickodemus continues on extended leave taking care of family matters. Chuck, we all hope Caroline's recovery continues in the direction of the wonderful reports we have had from you.

And there you have another week's clay shooting. With the scores rising to be consistantly in the mid 40's, I have no doubt that very soon Hotshot and his kin will be strutting their stuff. Congrats again to all our top guns this week: Gitti, Mary, Richard and myself. Well done everyone. Let us raise our glasses in victory as we defend our titles in just 7 days.

Until next week, dear readers...

Count your hits, count your misses, but be safe so that you never have to count your toes!

Steve

Re: October 23, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-10-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

Word I received was unanimous; all loved the change. Hope to see some variation of it on Sunday!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: Steve Tinner <cat.scan@yahoo.com>

Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:17:39 -0700 (PDT)

To: Hal Hansen<hal98333@gmail.com>; `Matt Carrasco<docfong@yahoo.com>; Alan Caron<caronalan@yahoo.com>; Alex Hazelton<kougyramone@gmail.com>; Andrew Thibeault<ajthibeault@earthlink.net>; Ben Overly<boverly@gmail.com>; Benjamin Foss<bfcrazyactives@yahoo.com>; Betty Blondin<blondinbetty@yahoo.com>; Brian Tinner<flush_gordan@yahoo.com>; Buck Buchanan<bucanacorn@comcast.net>; Carrie Giacolone<ffi@centurytel.net>; Chris Johnson<runningarcher@wavecable.com>; Chuck Nicodemus<nicodemus@centurytel.net>; Chuck Treat<charlestreat@aol.com>; Dan Fatt<lilikoi57@yahoo.com>; Dan Moore<captuglydan@msn.com>; Darren Foreman<sigger@comcast.net>; Dave Anderson<dave@westbayautoparts.com>; Dave Bingham<bingmda@comcast.net>; David Barker<davidbarker@comcast.net>; David Lee<giglees@comcast.net>; Dawn Wilcox<fr8dogseattle@wavecable.com>; Debra Kurre<hudsonkurre@msn.com>; Marla, Devon & Dee Crouch<dee.crouch@crouch-tech.com>; Don Gardner<donaldlgardner@comcast.net>; Dylan Peterson<dpeterson@thirstyduck.net>; E.J. Corich<ejcorich@aol.com>; Ed Brook<edbrookisnow@yahoo.com>; Ed Miller<epmiller1158@aol.com>; Gary Varous<cushlake3@netzero.net>; George Flaherty<hiflyer60@yahoo.com>; George Prudden<george.prudden.pistol@blogger.com>; George Stevens<gafstevens@hotmail.com>; Gifford Silver<gsilver@copiersnw.com>; Greg Asche<gasche@comcast.net>; Greg Yonkers<gregyonkers@yahoo.com>; Hal Hansen<hal2005@centurytel.net>; Jackie Frank<frank.jacquelyn@gmail.com>; Jacob Lunde<JKRSLM@gmail.com>; James Austin<catmandozer@comcast.net>; Jeff & Carrie Morton<jmorton125@aol.com>; Jeremy Weintraub<jeremyw426@msn.com>; Jessica Spadoni<daisybell4-17-1981@hotmail.com>; Jody McNamer<jody@paraissance.com>; John Iverson<iversonbtwks@yahoo.com>; John Murren<j-d-murren@msn.com>; John Redal<solsavr@comcast.net>; Johnny Williams<williamj87@yahoo.com>; Jon Hastings<maj.hastings@gmail.com>; Kaitlyn Robert<kaitlynprobert@gmail.com>; Ken Bagley Sr.<kbagley@harbornet.com>; Krystal Wasson<krystal.wasson@hotmail.com>; Le Rodenberg<lerodenberg@hotmail.com>; Lee Lewis<siwel@telebyte.com>; Les Trummert<mambipambi@yahoo.com>; Loren DeShon<dbd3ranch@aol.com>; Lydia Caron<booyagrandma182@yahoo.com>; Mary Stevens<poon-cie@hotmail.com>; Mathew Seagraves<klausrommel@hotmail.com>; Matt Gordy<mattgordy@hotmail.com>; Maureen Randles<polishii@yahoo.com>; Mike Blondin<michaelrblondin@yahoo.com>; Nathan Bailey<nathan.bailey@gmail.com>; Paul Ries<skywriter2002@gmail.com>; Phillip Grauer<gunrunner101@yahoo.com>; Randa Aho<aho_282@msn.com>; Richard Barnes<thebigdb@hotmail.com>; Richard Ottak<rottak1@wavecable.com>; Rick Soulam<soulam11@yahoo.com>; Rob & Rebecca Potter<robnighthawk@wavecable.com>; Rolf & Rochell Lunde<k9cougar@gmail.com>; Ron Behrbaum<rjbehrbaum@comcast.net>; Sandy Hansen<sandyh2005@centurytel.net>; Scott Scheitzach<smscheitzach1@comcast.net>; Stephanie Stevens<stephymeister@hotmail.com>; Steve & Aubrie Guenther<sfdgunny@hotmail.com>; Steve Link<st3v3link@gmail.com>; Steve Washington<stephen.g.washington@navy.mil>; Susan Frank<susanfrankgma@yahoo.com>; Tawnya Weintraub<tawnyaw_4@msn.com>; Thomas Craft<crafthfc@comcast.net>; Thor Palm<nordicwargod@msn.com>; Tim & Gitti Anable<sinewsworn@q.com>; Tim Kopp<tkopp@hotmail.com>; Todd Anderson<tanders@centurytel.net>; Trever Dodson<navynucgoose@aol.com>

ReplyTo: Steve Tinner <cat.scan@yahoo.com>

Subject: October 23, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

12 Guns this week under mostly cloudy skies; a brisk, yet mild 56 degrees with 75% relative humidity. Winds out of the southwest gusting to 4 miles per hour. A small craft advisory has been posted just outside the bathroom due to an ill wind near the archery range.

One entry in the Ladies class today so Gitti gets bumped to the Open Class

      2 Junior Class Entries - Class won by Kirk Foreman with a score of 42

            2nd Junior - Mary Stevens with a very close 41 clays

      5 Open Guns - Class won by Darren Foreman with a score of 45

            2nd Open - Gitti Anable with a score of 43

            3rd Open - Richard Soulam with a score of 41

     5 Limited Guns - Class won by George Stevens with a score of 44

            2nd Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 43

            3rd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 42

Wow, what a bunch of high scores today. Before that, a BIG thank you to Tim Anable. Tim stepped up to the plate, or should I say stool, and filled in for Doug "Off with my big gun" McLean. Tim, many mentioned how well you performed today (and called out our scorekeeping duties too!)

So, as you can see by todays scores, none of which were under 40, we had a lot of clays to change. Chuck and Darren, brought us a new set of challenges with todays array that I'll call the TAI CHI EQUALIZER. Tai Chi, loosely translates into English as "The Supreme Ultimate". As far as equalizers go, todays array set was indeed The Supreme Ultimate in equalization.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, started out with 4 large green 4" clays. Then the equalization begins. For Open shooters: a 2" clay with a black center. For the Limited class: a 3" orange.

As the rounds progress, the primary 4" greens remain the same... tough enough for some. But then for rounds 4 and 5, out comes the next level of equalization for shot number 5: 2" orange for limited and the beloved bottle caps for optics/22's.

And thus we have the Tai Chi Equalizer where all pistols face a target at the end that warrants that class.

Great shooting today by all. Let us know what you thought of todays arrays, especially the dual center targets. Our thanks to Chuck Treat for a welcome variation, to Darren Foreman getting us on paper and getting us organized before our shoot out begins. Chuck Nicodemus; we hope to see you soon as we all continue to send our best thoughts to you and Caroline. Tim, one more big thank you for an outstanding job in Doug's absence. And lastly, to myself, for stepping up to the keyboard when Hal is absent.

So alas my good friends, til next week, when the temperature may be another degree colder, the skies may hold another percent of humidity, but the shooting will be one notch hotter as we long to see what our next clay challenge will be.

Insert shooting mantra here...

Steve

October 23, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-10-23T21:17:00.001-07:00

12 Guns this week under mostly cloudy skies; a brisk, yet mild 56 degrees with 75% relative humidity. Winds out of the southwest gusting to 4 miles per hour. A small craft advisory has been posted just outside the bathroom due to an ill wind near the archery range.

One entry in the Ladies class today so Gitti gets bumped to the Open Class

      2 Junior Class Entries - Class won by Kirk Foreman with a score of 42

            2nd Junior - Mary Stevens with a very close 41 clays

      5 Open Guns - Class won by Darren Foreman with a score of 45

            2nd Open - Gitti Anable with a score of 43

            3rd Open - Richard Soulam with a score of 41

     5 Limited Guns - Class won by George Stevens with a score of 44

            2nd Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 43

            3rd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 42

Wow, what a bunch of high scores today. Before that, a BIG thank you to Tim Anable. Tim stepped up to the plate, or should I say stool, and filled in for Doug "Off with my big gun" McLean. Tim, many mentioned how well you performed today (and called out our scorekeeping duties too!)

So, as you can see by todays scores, none of which were under 40, we had a lot of clays to change. Chuck and Darren, brought us a new set of challenges with todays array that I'll call the TAI CHI EQUALIZER. Tai Chi, loosely translates into English as "The Supreme Ultimate". As far as equalizers go, todays array set was indeed The Supreme Ultimate in equalization.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, started out with 4 large green 4" clays. Then the equalization begins. For Open shooters: a 2" clay with a black center. For the Limited class: a 3" orange.

As the rounds progress, the primary 4" greens remain the same... tough enough for some. But then for rounds 4 and 5, out comes the next level of equalization for shot number 5: 2" orange for limited and the beloved bottle caps for optics/22's.

And thus we have the Tai Chi Equalizer where all pistols face a target at the end that warrants that class.

Great shooting today by all. Let us know what you thought of todays arrays, especially the dual center targets. Our thanks to Chuck Treat for a welcome variation, to Darren Foreman getting us on paper and getting us organized before our shoot out begins. Chuck Nicodemus; we hope to see you soon as we all continue to send our best thoughts to you and Caroline. Tim, one more big thank you for an outstanding job in Doug's absence. And lastly, to myself, for stepping up to the keyboard when Hal is absent.

So alas my good friends, til next week, when the temperature may be another degree colder, the skies may hold another percent of humidity, but the shooting will be one notch hotter as we long to see what our next clay challenge will be.

Insert shooting mantra here...

Steve

October 16, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-10-16T23:02:00.001-07:00

18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Carrie Morton with a score of 23 + 4

2nd Place Lady - Carrie Anable with a score of 23 + 2

3 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 45

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 44

3rd Junior - Brian Tinner with a score of 41

3 Open Guns - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 46

2nd Open - Richard Soulam with a score of 42

3rd Open - Dave Anderson with a score of 35

10 Limited Guns - Class won by David Lee with a score of 42

2nd Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 40

3rd Limited - George Stevens with a score of 34

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to this week's clays match at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. Fall has fell, and the temperatures will soon dictate that the heaters be set out and lit. Today's temperature of the very low 50s, the overcast sky, and the constant threat of rain made the air feel cooler than it really was. The match staff hosted 18 Guns today, and the competition was even closer and more focused than the weather. Doug McLean had the Conn for this match, our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus being at home taking care of wife, Carolyn. Carolyn's condition is improving rapidly, and word has it that she was able to come home a couple of days ago. Now comes the recovery, with the attendant physical therapy. Carolyn, take it from one who has been there, albeit not from a stroke. Always remember Hal's axiom: One has to be alive to complain. Carolyn, You just won a round of life's lottery, so get your money's worth.

Doug was joined in his efforts today by Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Chuck & Darren brought us an all orange array today, well almost all orange, anyway. The arrays were shaped like inverted Vs, with the bottom of the inverted V being 4" Orange Standards, the next clays up being 3" orange midis, then followed 2" orange micros which immediately preceded 2" black micros with orange centers, and then of course the 2" black micro in the middle.

First the Ladies, whose class was comprised of Carrie Morton and Gitti Anable. At the end of regular play, the ladies scores were tied at 23. Shootoff!! The screens displayed the fact of all the clays now being 2" orange micros. Doug McLean made the call, and when the smoke cleared, Carrie Morton had broken 4 of the orange micros, to Gitti's 2. Carrie Morton takes the Ladies Class. Well done Carrie. That Glock was working for you today.

Now comes the closest, hardest fought class of the day, the Juniors. 3 Juniors shot it out today, Mary Stevens taking the class win with a score of 45.

Kirk Foreman took 2nd Junior with just one fewer broken clays, at 44. Brian Tinner came 3rd Junior with a score of 41. On most Clays Match Sundays in the past, any one of those scores would have been good enough to win. Not today. Folks, it is my prediction that these Juniors are going to be leading the way to the winner's circle just any week now. None of their scores are giving away anything to anyone anymore, and they are just going to continue to improve, probably at a much faster rate than the "old fogies" in the match. Juniors, congratulations and keep on doing what you're doing to post such improved scores every week. Soon it'll be you Juniors that are looking furtively over your shoulders, instead of us Seniors. Way to go. Keep it up.

Only 3 Open Class Guns competed for the honors today, and the class was won by this reporter, Hal Hansen with a score of 46. You may note that that high score for today's match was only one target higher than Mary Stevens' Junior winning score. Yeah, that gives me a nice secure feeling. NOT!

2nd Open today was taken by Richard Soulam with a score of 42. 3rd Open was claimed by Dave Anderson with a score of 35.

In the Limited Class today, 10 guns contested the win, with David Lee claiming victory with a score of 42. In 2nd Limited, Jay Schoonmaker shot a score of 40. I guess it's going to take a little time before Jay dominates the Limited Class as he sometimes does in the Open Class. Just keep working at it Jay, it might happen. Taking 3rd Limited today was George Stevens with a score of 34. Uh, George, just in case you forgot, your young daughter

Mary WON the Junior Class today. Just wanted to remind you.

OK Folks, that's it for today. Next Sunday at 4:00PM we'll play this game again, and we'll see if the Junior Class Shooters continue to improve as much as they have recently. Until then, don't let up. Keep practicing, and keep improving. Remember, you get out of this sport exactly what you put into it. Remember the immortal words of the pros:

"SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL."

Hal

October 9, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-10-10T00:33:00.001-07:00

16 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 29

2nd Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 27

3 Junior Class Entries - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 35

2nd Junior - Brian Tinner with a score of 25

3rd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 20

3 Open Guns - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 43

2nd Open - Richard Soulan with a score of 41

3rd Open - Mary Stevens with a score of 35

13 Limited Guns - Class won by Steve Tinner with a personal best score of 46, high score for the match

2nd Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 41

3rd Limited - George Stevens with a score of 35

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and a pretty typical early-fall Sunday afternoon. It wasn't raining for the match today, but it had been. The ground outside was wet, the sky, while blue in places, was in large part covered by large white Cumulus clouds, broken, but threatening. The temperature was only 56degrees in the range building at game time, and it's just about time to get the propane heaters revved up and checked out.

Many thanks to our match staff today for hosting 16 Guns, and putting on another smooth, fun-filled and especially a SAFE match. Many thanks to Doug McLean for Directing, Scoring and running the line today in Chuck Nicodemus' absence. Chuck is spending most of his time with his wife Carolyn, who is just beginning her recovery from a stroke suffered last week. Chuck & Carolyn, the very best wishes for your speedy recovery come to you from everyone at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. GET WELL SOON!!!! Doug, thanks for stepping in at this time when Chuck needed a break. Thanks also go to our Arrays

Impressios, Chuck Treat & Darren Foreman for bringing us another challenging base array, with "touch-ups". The basic array was Page 5, Round 3 of The Great Equalizer Series. However, this series is more challenging, it being accentuated with various sizes and color of middle of the screen clays, today ranging in size from Black 4" Standard Sporting Clays to 2" black micros, to the ever popular 1" wide red, but mostly black bottle caps in Round number 5. Let's see how the shooters in today's match did against this challenging array.

In the Ladies Class, only two shooters were in attendance, and the class was won by Gitti Anable who shot a score of 29. 2nd Place Lady was Carrie Morton, who turned in a score of 27. Very close Carrie, you just have to let that Glock have it's head and follow it closely. It'll get you there.

In the Junior Class we had three shooters come out to play. The class was won by Mary Stevens, who shot a score of 35. 2nd Place Junior was Brian Tinner, who turned in a score of 25. 3rd Place Junior was Kirk Foreman who shot a score of 20.

In the Open Class, this reporter, Hal Hansen, one of only 3 entrants, took the honors with a score of 43. Second Place Open was claimed by Richard Soulam with a score of 41. Mary Stevens placed 3rd in the Open Class with her Junior Class winning score of 35.

The undisputed Primere Class of the day was the Limited Class, which sported 13 Guns. The winner of the class was Steve Tinner who turned in the high score for the match with his personal best score of 46. Congratulations Steve. This reporter owes Steve a debt of gratitude for steppng in and writing the match reports while I was out lame. Thank you Steve. I was very surprised today that no one asked "Hal who?" while I was gone.

2nd Limited went to Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 41. 3rd Limited resulted in a tie between George Stevens and David Lee, both with scores of 38.

OK Folks, that's it for this edition of the Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match. We'll meet right back here next week and we'll see whether we need the heaters or not. For very sure, it won't be long. In the meantime, you know the drill. Practice a lot, and practice safely. Remember the mantra:

SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!!!!

Hal

GHSC Pistol Clay Shoot

2011-10-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

Greetings everyone. Under mostly rainy skies, 20 shooters showed up for todays match.

Our clays today featured a consistent pattern (minus evolutionary changes from one round to another), of straight lines of clays at slight angles, guiding us to the infamous center nemesis. Only round 5 gave us the increasingly popular bottle caps. And yet the scores remain worthy of National Champions, well, would you believe the best shooters in all of Gig Harbor? I think so since 5 of our top 12 scored 40 and above today.

So, under the gray skies, the rain, the 60 degree day with 66% relative humidity at 4pm, we went a full 2 1/2 hours today to get our final scores.

In the ladies class, Carrie Morton does us proud taking top honors with 28 clays. Not far behind Gitti Anable kills 24 birds. Rounding out the Ladies top three, Stephanie Stevens and her semi-auto finish out with 21. Nicely done ladies. Betty, next week I'll be posting your name without the honorable mention of this week.

Juniors: Mary Stevens (no surprise here) takes top honors with 37 out of 50. In second place, Kirk Foreman records a 25 into the record books. Rounding out the Junior class Cody with 15. Sorry Cody, I didn't catch your last name.

The Open Class: Our own arrays aficionado Chuck Treat with an impressive, near perfect, 47. Tim Kopp right behind him with 45 and Richard Soulam also in the "Fourty Somethings" with a 40. Nicely done, gents.

Which brings us to THE LIMITEDS! (pause for effect)...

Ah the Limited Class, iron sights, iron guts, wheel guns, wheel shooters? (sorry, couldn't resist). Yes, I know I'm prejudiced to the limited class simply because that's where your humble back-up reporter likes to shoot. So... we have, taking top honors here, Tim "I Ain't Doin the Dishes Tonight" Anable, posting a very nice 41. Steve "Still Ain't Mike Blondin" Tinner breathing down Tim's neck with a 40. I'm sure Tim would say that tickles to have me breath down his neck but luckily I'm shorter. Gitti, take care of that please? But I digress. Right behind me, completing the Limited class, Todd Anderson with a very respectable 37 points.

Once again, our trusty stead, Hotshot, remains corralled until such time as a perfect score of 50 allows him to see the sunshine... or be it liquid sunshine... or at least daylight.

Until next week, dear friends...

Shoot accurately, shoot fast, but above all shoot safely.

TTFN,

Steve

GHSC Sunday Clay Pistol Shoot

2011-09-18T20:50:00.001-07:00

I'm pleased to report that after last weeks horse accident, Slapshot, is doing fine.

This week, under cooler, drizzly, 62 degree skies, the shooting was as hot as ever. 18 of Gig Harbors finest competitors braved a smattering of rain to raise their weapons once again.

Once again this week we faced our favorite 4" greens and 2" oranges with unwavering randomness. Rounds 4 and 5 however, brought us Chuck Treats favorite new nemesis': THE DREADED BOTTLE CAPS!

And so, In the Limited Class, the return of Loren DeShon is acknowledged in first place with a excellent score of 47. Nice shooting Loren. A 3 way tie for second place between Steve Tinner, Todd Anderson, and John Iverson, all with respectable scores of 41.

The Open Class was equally divided as Jay Schoonmaker also posts a 47. But here, only a two way tie for second place between Ken Bagley Sr and Uncle Bob from Tennessee, both coming in with scores of 40. Sorry Bob, I didn't catch your last name but we were glad to have you here on vacation with us. You're welcome to come shoot anytime.

Without Mary Stevens on the range this week, Brian and Kirk shot it out amongst themselves as the only two Junior shooters. Brian Tinner taking the win with a personal best of 33. Kirk in second place with 24. Keep shootin' boys, it won't be long til that 18th birthday rolls around and you get kicked up to the big leagues.

Bringing us to the Ladies Division. Gitti Anable taking top honors today with a very nice 40. Second place goes to Mellisa Iverson with 23 and Stephanie Stevens in her debut appearance with her new 9mm posting a 17.

And so our four winners, Loren, Jay, Brian, and Gitti, have the sunshine of victory smiling upon them once again. Thanks to all our wonderful peeps for making these events possible: Doug McCleen whose bounding voice keeps us in line and on track, Darren Foreman for his organizational skills and penmanship, Chuck Treat for keeping our clays coming (and the bottle caps too). Uncle Chuck Nickodemus, even though you weren't there today, we thank you for all you do and Mike Blondin, our benevolent R/P Range leader. Your usual reporter, Hal Hanson, will probably be back in two weeks.

Next week is PITA Competition so NO CLAYS NEXT WEEK! So see you all October 2nd.

Until then... shoot accurately, shoot safely, but just shoot.

Your reporter of the week,

Steve Tinner

GHSC Sunday Clay Pistol Shoot

2011-09-11T18:53:00.001-07:00

As the summer begins to wane, kids return to school, a moderate 79 degree day commemorates our fallen comrades of 9/11 and a modest turnout for our Sunday Clay Shoot.

Only eight shooters today and only two classes as there was only one fair lady and one young lad. So four and four in Limited and Open Classes. And heeeeeeeeere they are:

Limited Class George Stevens 45
Steve Tinner 40
Todd Anderson 39
Chuck N. 34

Open Class Richard Soulam 45
Chuck Treat 43
Brian Tinner 32
Stephanie Stevens 21

Round 1: We have alternating big green and small orange with black in the middle.
Round 2: We have alternating big green and small orange with black in the middle.
Round 3: We have alternating big green and small orange with black in the middle.
Round 4: We have alternating big green and small orange with black in the middle.
Round 5: We have alternating big green and small orange with black in the middle.

Anyone besides me notice a pattern here? Yet, notice the omission of red or green 1" caps or bottle caps, or Cheetoes or 16p nails or any other micro target that might eventually show up on a Sunday.

Congratulations to both Richard and George for fine displays of marksmanship today. Each scoring nicely with 45 points but alas that perfect 50 eludes them. Hence, Hotshot, our trusty Range Steed, remains coral-ed. No free carrot for him today nor a free range trot around the park. However, as a special event in honor of 9/11, Hotshots children stopped by for a special treat (not Chuck Treat) for todays hot shots.

To begin the first victory lap, George and Richard mount up on Slapshot and Topshot. They take off at a modest rate heading towards the practical shotgun range. At a respectable distance, Flushot and TetnusShot bring Steve and Chuck Treat into view. As the leaders prance (well, their horses anyway) through the recently unleaded shotgun grounds, Slapshot found a gopher hole and tripped. As tradition dictates, Slapshot will have to be shot. He seems to be ok but now we have a horse with a broken leg and a gun shot wound. If he's not better by next Sunday, we'll shoot him again (thank you Larry the Cable Guy!).

Even with todays warm temps and "horsing around", we were done and gone by 17:30.

Don't forget next Saturday: our GHSC Swap Meet.

So until next Sunday when "Randomness, Baby" comes our way again,

Shoot accurately, shoot quickly, but above all, shoot safely.

Steve T.

September 4, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-09-05T00:25:00.001-07:00

14 Guns Entered

2 Juniors - Class won by Kirk Foreman with a score of 30 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 3

2nd Junior - Mary Stevens with a score of 30 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 1

8 Open Guns - Class won by Chuck Treat with a score of 43

2nd Open - Hal Hansen with a score of 42

3rd Open - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 39 (with the able assistance of a cast on his primary shooting hand)

6 Limited Guns - Class won by Todd Anderson with a score of 40 + 3

2nd Limited - Darren Foreman with a score of 40 + 1

3rd Limited - George Stevens tied with Richard Soulam, both with scores of 38

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to a hot, sunny September afternoon at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. Welcome. You're just in time for a review of today's Clays Match. Indeed, the weather on this September afternoon was hot and sunny with the temperature just nudging 80 Degrees. The sky was blue and cloudless, truly a day to remember in a few months when we break out the heaters.

14 Guns came out to bask in the sunshine, and our Match Management put forth another great match. Many thanks for the great event go to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, to our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug Mclean and to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. For our target array today,

Chuck & Darren brought us Page 3 Round 1 of The Great Equalizer Series. In this array the top row starts with an orange micro followed by 2 Green Standards followed by another orange micro. That pattern is repeated on the bottom row and mirrored on the opposite side of the screen. Of course, the catch is the omnipresent black micro in the middle, occasionally switched out for an all white, but mostly black, bottle cap. Actually it's a white bottle cap festooned with a black Shoot N C Dot in the middle. Let's see how the competitors did today.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens & Kirk Foreman ended up with tie scores of 30 at the end of regulation play. The Juniors are going to shoot off for the class victory. The screens stay at 10 yds, and since both Mary & Kirk are shooting Open Class guns, the screen is hung with 8 black micros all in a line with

an all white, but mostly black bottle cap in the middle. Our Scorekeep and DJ Doug McLean makes the call. Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds.

Shooters ready? Fire!! Mary & Kirk engage the array at 10 yds, and shoot a tie score of 4 & 4. Let's do this again. Again the line is set, Mary & Kirk are loaded and ready, and Doug shouts Fire!! over the microphone. When the .22LR thunder ebbs, both Mary & Kirk have each scored 3. Another tie. And string number 3 is set up. Again Doug gets the line set, and once again he commands Fire!! When silence returns to the range, both Mary & Kirk have once again tied at 4. This could go on forever. Apparently Chuck Nicodemus thinks so too, so he decides to make it just a smidge more challenging. He directs that the screens

be moved out to 44FT, just shy of 15 yds, and the line was prepped once again. Once again Mary & Kirk are loaded and ready, and once again Doug shouts the command to Fire!! Once again the black micros start to explode, and when silence returns to the range, we have a winner!! Kirk Foreman has broken 3 black micros while Mary Stevens has broken but 1. Kirk Foreman is today's Junior Class Winner. Now it's on to the Limited Class.

At the end of regulation play in the Limited Class, we have another tie score. This one is between Todd Anderson & Darren Foreman, both having shot scores of 40. Folks, it's time for another shootoff. Just to keep it interesting, the Limited Class shootoff will also sport 4 black micros on each side of the screen with an all white, but mostly black bottle cap in the middle. Darren & Todd are called to the line by Doug Mclean, they are told to load 5 rounds. They are then directed to Fire!!. Todd & Darren engage the clays, and when silence returns to the line, once again we have a winner!! Todd Anderson has broken 3 of the black micros, while Darren Foreman has only broken 1. The Limited Class Victory today goes to Todd Anderson. 2nd Limited goes to Darren Foreman, and 3rd Limited goes to George Stevens who shot a score of 38. Now it's on to the Open Class competition.

In the Open Class, 8 Guns vied for the class win. At the end of regulation play, we have a winner without a shootoff. Chuck Treat pulled out a win by 1 clay,

with a score of 43. This reporter, Hal Hansen, finished 2nd Open with a score of 42, while Jay Schoonmaker, replete with a cast on his strong left arm from Carpal Tunnel Surgery Friday, placed 3rd Open with a score of 39. Jay, this is a pistol match, and extra gear isn't allowed. Just your pistol, magazines and ammo. Casts on your arm just aren't fair. I want that cast removed in a couple of weeks, or at least as soon as possible. Next you'll be wanting to put Duct Tape on your pistol, Or On Your Arm!!!!

OK Folks, we have another week to enjoy the heat and blue skies of our Indian Summer, then we'll meet right here next Sunday, 9/11/11, for another match.

Enjoy it while you can, Fall is coming and soon weather like this will just visit us in our dreams. We'll see you next Sunday, and in the meantime always remember:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

Hal

Aug 28, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-08-28T22:51:00.001-07:00

A18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Shawn Anderson with a score of 33

2nd Lady - Stephanie Stevens with a score of 15

3 Juniors -- Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 38 + 4

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 38 + 3

3rd Junior - Brian Tinner with a score of 27

8 Open Guns - Class won by Chuck Treat with a score of 43

2nd Open - Richard Sovlam with a score of 38

3rd Open - Thor Palm with a score of 37

10 Limited Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 43

2nd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 40

3rd Limited - George Stevens with a score of 39

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and the last Clays Match of August 2011. The sky was a bright

blue, the sun was really quite warm, and the competition was hot!! Many thanks to our match staff for bringing us today's match, in which 18 Guns participated.

Thanks specifically to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Today's match was Page 2 Round 4 of The Great Equalizer Series. The catch of course was that after Round 3 of today's match, the black micro in the middle was replaced by a solid, bright white, but mostly black bottle cap. In the interests of time, the arrays were the same all day.

No matter, while the arrays stayed the same, the fundamentals, techniques, accuracy requirements stayed the same as well. The speed requirement changed a bit depending on one's opponent, but these days the standard is high, and it's getting higher. Let's see who took the medallions today.

In the ladies Class, a newcomer Shawn Anderson shot a score of 33 to take the win. This young lady may be new to our clays matches, but she isn't new to shooting. She is going to be a challenge to us all very shortly. 2nd Place Lady today is Stephanie Stevens who shot a score of 15.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens tied with Kirk Foreman during regulation play with a score of 38. Folks, we're going to have a Shootoff!!

The screen stayed at 10yds, and the screen was arrayed with 2 straight lines of black micros, with a bright white, but mostly black, bottlecap joining the line in the middle. Our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug McLean calls the action. Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Having confirmed that Mary & Kirk are ready, the next command is FIRE!!! .22 caliber Thunder Rolls, then silence returns to the range. The gallery peers downrange and sees that Mary has broken all of her black micros, leaving only the all white, but mostly black bottle cap in the middle untouched. Kirk by contrast has broken only 3 black micros, so Mary Stevens is today's Junior Class Winner!! Kirk Foreman is 2nd and Brian Tinner is today's 3rd Place Junior.

In the Open Class, Chuck Treat took the win with a score of 43. Richard Sovlam took 2nd Open with a score of 38 and Thor Palm took 3rd Open with a score of 37.

In the limited Class, Jay Schoonmaker continued his winning ways with a score of 43. A Note to Jay from this reporter: "Bring your Open Gun next week. I got a brand new roll of duct tape, with you in mind!! 2nd Place Limited went to Steve Tinner, shooting a score of 40, while George Stevens trailed by 1 into 3rd Limited with a score of 39.

That's it for today, Folks. Next Sunday at 4PM we'll start September off with a bang!! Actually a loud series of Bangs!!! Come on out and join in the fun!!

Practice a lot, and while doing so remember your fundamentals, remember your technique, and above all, remember to Shoot Safely!! See you next Sunday,

and in the meantime always remember:

"SPEED MAY BE FUN FOR AWHILE, BUT ACCURACY IS FOREVER!!" "TO SHOOT WELL IS SUBLIME, TO DO IT SAFELY IS MAGNIFICENT!!!"

Hal

Aug 21, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-08-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

8 Guns Entered

2 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 33

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 27

4 Open Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 46

2nd Open - Darren Foreman with a score of 42

3rd Open - Mary Stevens with a score of 33

4 Limited Guns - Class won by George Stevens with a score of 44

2nd Limited - Chuck Treat with a score of 41

3rd Limited - David Lee with a score of 40

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. It's just plain hot! outside today. The sky is a clear blue, not a cloud to contrast the color, and the temperature is in the low 80s. For citizens of Western Washington, that's hot!! The entry list reflected the summer weather today with only 8 entrants; 4 in Open and 4 in Limited, who grudgingly left their air conditioners to come out in the summer sunshine. It appeared that the shooter's fundamentals were taking a summer siesta today as well, as the scores were generally a bit lower than normal.

First, as always and with equal enthusiasm we wish to thank our Match Staff. Many thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impesarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. The arrays today were all Round 1, Page 1 of The Great Equalizer Series. The repetition was designed to give the shooters a false sense of security, therefore making the shooters relax and let their attention to detail go a bit lax.

Apparently the stategy worked, because the scores were down a bit today. Let's see who paid the best attention.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens took the victory with a score of 33. Kirk Foreman was the only other Junior, and he turned in a score of 27.

In the Open Class, Jay Schoonmaker took the victory with a score of 46. Darren Foreman followed with a score of 42. Mary Stevens took 3rd Open with her Junior Class winning score of 33.

In the Limited Class, George Stevens won it with a score of 44. Chuck Treat took 2nd Limited with a score of 41 and David Lee took the 3rd Limited Spot with a score of 40.

That's it for today folks. Next Sunday at 4:00PM we'll meet right back here again and if the regular shooters will pull themselves away from their ACs and their BBQs long enough to shoot clays, our field of entries will regain most of it's original size. Practice a lot, practice properly, and always remember:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL,

SHOOT SAFELY!!!!"

Hal

August 14, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-08-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

12 Guns Entered

5 Open Class Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 48

2nd Open - Hal Hansen with a score of 47

3rd Open - Chuck Treat with a score of 45

7 limited Guns - Class won by Steve Tinner with a score of 38

2nd Limited - David Lee with a score of 34

3rd Limited - Tim Anable with a score of 32

Good evening, Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and this week's edition of the Clays Match. As has become a trend lately, this match was a bit different. There are probably several monikers that could be used to identify this week's match; V is for victory.... but out of 12

competitors, only 2 did the winning. Another title for the match might be V is for Vibrant. All the clay targets in the match were a bright Red, with maybe a hint of bright orange. The clays were of every size; micros, midis, standards, micros with red center dots, shiny black micros in the middle through the first 3 rounds after which really bright red, but mostly black, bottle caps festooned the screens in the middle. All the arrays were in the shape of a large V, starting from the outside of the screens with bright red Standards, followed by bright red midis, followed by bright red micros, followed with shiny black micros with red centers, followed by black micros in the middle for the first three rounds, and concluding in the last two rounds with bright red, but mostly black bottle caps.

The colors were Vibrant to be sure, but I think I'll name this match: V is for Victim.

If a competitor starts out with the Red Standard on the outside and then, proceding inward, engages the red midi, in short order one finds him or herself sweeping the muzzle over "easy" targets, then suddenly having to jam on the brakes and carefully engage the micros, and immediately thereafter, the tiny bright red but mostly black bottle caps. One becomes the victim of one's overconfidence. Hence the name, V is for victim.

If there is one attribute for which credit should be showered on our match staff, it is creativity. For this trait we owe our match staff a real vote of Thanks!!

Thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, Thanks to our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug Mclean, and thanks to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and, although absent today, Darren Foreman. The Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Staff keep the matches varied, competitive, challenging, and most importantly, SAFE!! THANKS, Match Staff, one and all.

Only one Lady, Giti Anable, and one Junior, Brian Tinner, showed up for the match today, so no Ladys or Juniors Classes. In the Open Class, 5 guns competed, and Jay Schoonmaker won it with a score of 48. This reporter, Hal Hansen, took 2nd Open with a score of 47 and our Arrays Impressario Chuck Treat took 3rd Open with a score of 45. Imagine getting scores of 47 & 45, and losing. When shooting against Jay Schoonmaker, a Clays Match Competitor better not miss much, NOT MUCH AT ALL!!

In the Limited Class, Steve Tinner showed the way with a score of 38. 2nd Limited was claimed by David Lee with a score of 34. Tim Anable took 3rd Limited with a score of 32. Congratulations to all our shooters, in both our classes, for a fun, competitive and especially, a SAFE match. We'll meet right back here next Sunday a 4PM for the next edition of our clays match, so shoot a lot, shoot properly, and shoot safely!! Until next week, remember the mantra of the Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Matches:

" SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!

Hal

August 7, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-08-08T01:06:00.001-07:00

16 Guns Entered

3 Ladies - Class won by Marla Crouch with a score of 26

2nd Place Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 21

3rd Place Lady - Alexis Crouch with a score of 11

2 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a personal best score of 40

2nd Place Junior - Christy Iverson with a score of 15

9 Open Guns - Class won by George Stevens with a score of 43 + 5

2nd Place Open - Darren Foreman with a score of 43 + 3

3rd place Open - Hal Hanse with a score of 42

7 Limited Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with the high score for the match of 45

2nd Place Limited - John Iverson with a score of 44

3rd Place Limited - Chuck Treat with a score of 37

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and a beautiful summer afternoon for a Clays Match. The sky was clear and blue, the temperature was in the mid-seventies, and 16 clays shooters came out to enjoy the match, in all it's splendor. Many thanks as usual to our Match Staff, including our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat & Darren Foreman. Our match today featured fiery red--orange primary clays, with black micros in the middle for 3 rounds and variously colored bottle caps in the middle for 2 rounds. The one constant for the bottle caps was that no matter what color they were, they had a shoot N See dot in the middle, for increased visibility, of course....

Today's match was Helter-Skelter right from the start, with the only limitations in the arrays the presentation of 4 standards, 4 micros, and either a black micro in the middle or a variously colored, but mostly black bottle cap, in the middle. At the end of 5 rounds, we have some winners. Let's see who they are......

In the Ladies Class, Marla Crouch took the honors with a score of 26. Carrie Morton followed closely with a score of 21, and

Alexis Crouch made her clays match debut with a score of 11. Welcome to our clays matches, Alexis. Perservere M'Lady and your scores will rise as have Dee's and Marla's.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens set a personal best score of 40 today. Mary's scores have risen steadily as her involvement in the clays matches has continued, and will undoubtedly continue to climb from here. Well Done Mary!! 2nd Place Junior today was Christy Iverson with a score of 15. Christy, welcome to our clays matches, and a fine debut you made today. The Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Matches are becoming a real family outing for several of our families, and we are sure pleased that so many families are shooting together.

In the Open Class, George Stevens & Darren Foreman tied for the high score with 43. This reporter, Hal Hansen, trailed by 1 with a score of 42. A tie score in the clays matches means only one thing, SHOOTOFF!!!! George & Darren see the target screens

stay at 10yds, and 4 black micros form a line with a brightly colored, but mostly black bottle cap in the middle. Our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean makes the call. "Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Ready..... Fire!! George & Darren engage their targets, .22 caliber thunder rolls, quiet returns to the range, the gallery looks at the screens, and a cheer breaks out for George Stevens who has broken ALL 5 of his targets, while Darren Foreman has broken but 3. George Stevens has won today's Open Class with a score of 43 + 5. Darren Foreman takes 2nd Open with a score of 43 + 3, and Hal Hansen takes 3rd Open with a score of 42.

In the Limited Class, Jay Schoonmaker turned in today's high score with a Limited Class winning score of 45. John Iverson took 2nd Limited with a score of 44. 3rd Limited today went to Chuck Treat with a score of 37. It should be noted happily right here today that John Iverson's son Jacob is recovering well from his eye injury. Jacob still has another laser procedure to go through, but all indications are that his vision in the injured eye will return fully. You are in our prayers, Jacob. From all of us here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, GET WELL SOON!!!!!

OK Folks, that's it for today's clays match. Next Sunday, right here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, we'll do it again. Until then, practice a lot and concentrate on fundamentals. Always remember:

"IT'S ALL ABOUT SIGHT PICTURE AND TRIGGER CONTROL. THE REST IS JUST THERE TO CONFUSE YOU."

Hal

July 31, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-08-01T00:18:00.001-07:00

14 Guns Entered

3 Guns Entered In The Ladies Class - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 38

2nd Place Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 35

3rd Place Lady - Mary Stevens with a score of 34

No Junior Shooters entered in today's match

6 Guns Entered in the Open Class - Class won by George Stevens with a score of 45

2nd Place Open - Chuck Treat with a score of 42

3rd Place Open - Rick Soulam with a score of 39

8 Guns Entered in the Limited Class - Class won by Tim Anable with a score of 42 + 4

2nd Place Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 42 + 2

3rd Place Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 41

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club on this very last day of July 2011. It was a beautiful summer day with a temperature of 70 degrees and a very light breeze blowing at the start of the match. By the end of today's match, the breeze had stilled, and it started to feel somewhat hot. It's the middle of the summer in Washington's Pacific Northwest.

14 Guns came out to enjoy the fine weather today, and our Match Staff presented another fine match, to match the fine day. Many thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, thanks to our DJ & Scorekeeper Doug Mclean, and thanks to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman for presenting the arrays for today's match. And on the subject of the arrays, there is a change of format starting today. Be advised, no longer will The Great Equalizer Series continue it's standard rotation. From now on, Round 1 will always present as usual from the rotation of The Great Equalizer Series, but from then until the end of each match will be the variety of Helter Skelter. It is felt that with the growing number of Clays match competitors, it was necessary and desirable to allow the match to move along a bit faster if a set array wasn't required. In addition to that happy fact, The Great Equalizer Series has been around for long enough, and the variety and spontaneity of Helter Skelter keeps everyone on their toes.

Of course, some things just never change. At the whim of the Arrays Impressarios, the bright red, but mostly black bottle caps will find their way to the center of the screen, just to keep things challenging. So, after 5 Rounds of Helter Skelter, let's see how everyone did.

In the Ladies Class, Gitti Anable took the honors with a score of 38. Close behind was Carrie Morton who turned in a score of 35. Only 1 target behind, at 34, Mary Stevens took the 3rd Place finish.

In the Open Class, George Stevens won it with a score of 45. 2nd Open went to Chuck Treat with a score of 42. A brand new Clays Match Competitor,

Rick Soulam made his presence known to all today with a 3rd Place score of 39. A hearty welcome to new Clays Match Competitor Rick Soulam.

The Limited Class required a shootoff today between Tim Anable and Steve Tinner, both with scores of 42. 3rd Limited went to Jay Schoonmaker

who shot a score of 41. For our shootoff, the screens stayed at 10 yds, but the arrays consisted of 4 black micros on each side of the screen and a bright red,

but mostly black bottle cap right in the middle. Our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug Mclean makes the call. "Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Shooters ready? FIRE!!! Tim and Steve engage the clays, Thunder Rolls, clay targets explode, and quiet returns to the range. As the gallery looks out at the screens a cheer goes up for Tim Anable who has broken 4 black micros while Steve Tinner has broken but 2. Today's Open Class Victory goes to Tim Anable with a score of 42 + 4. 2nd Place goes to Steve Tinner with a score of 42 + 2 and 3rd Limited goes to Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 41.

That's it for today's match folks. It was a beautiful day and we hope it will be beautiful again next Sunday when we play this game again. Practice a lot and we'll see you on the firing line right here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club at 4PM next Sunday, when it will be August 7th, 2011. Until then, remember the mantra:

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

Hal

RE: Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Matches on Hiatus

2011-07-31T23:17:00.001-07:00

JUST A REMINDER EVERYONE, THE GIG HARBOR SPORTSMANS CLUB PLATE

MATCHES ARE STILL SUSPENDED. WHEN THEY RESUME A NOTICE WILL BE POSTED

HERE ADVISING EVERYONE OF THE FACT. CURRENTLY, NO TIME FRAME IS

AVAILABLE PREDICTING WHEN THE MATCHES WILL RESUME. STAY TUNED.

Hal

Fw: GHSC Clay Pistol Shoot July 24,2011

2011-07-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Pistol Packin' Folk,

As Hal, your usual reporter, was MIA for todays shoot, I stepped up to the plate. So here we go:

18 Guns Total Today

4 Open Guns, Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a resounding 49

2nd Open won by Darren Foreman with a score of 45

         3rd Open won by George Stevens with 43

7 Limited Guns, Class won by Steve Tinner, your humble reporter pro tem, with a score of 44

         2nd Limited won by Tim Anable with a score of 41

         3rd Limited won by Rolf Lunde with a score of 36

4 in todays Ladies Class, won by Giti Anable with a score of 33

2nd place to Carrie Morton with a respectable score of 31

3rd place to Marla Crouch scoring a 21

3 Junior Shooters today, class won by Brian Tinner with a 32

2nd place to Mary Stevens with a score of 30

3rd place to Kirk Foreman posting a 23

     Good afternoon all you fans of Clays Shooting. It's was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with bright BLUE skies and a temperature, in the range building, in the upper 70's  Many thanks to our match staff, comprised of our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and dealer of the duels, Doug McLean, our Arrays Impressario, Chuck Treat, and lastly, Co-AI and Executive Assistant to the Match, Darren Forman. Chuck and Darren brought us another Helter Skelter Match today, with the arrangement of the clays up to whoever was resetting the arrays. The only limiting factor was simply that there must be 4 orange micros, and 4 Green Standards on either side of the black micro in the middle. But yet again we fell victims to our new nemesis for 5th target madness, THE DREADED BOTTLE CAPS! Outside of that proviso, the arrays are limited only by the imagination and energy of whoever is setting the clays.



At the end of 5 Rounds of shooting, we have a winner in the Limited Class.  This reporter, Steve Tinner has turned in a score of 44 and taken the win.  Steve was shooting his beloved Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum Revolver.  Third straight win but still feeling the elusiveness of scores in the upper 40's. In 2nd Place in the Limited Class was Tim Anable with a score of 41.  Sorry Tim, close but no cigar. In 3rd Place in the Limited Class today was Rolf Lunde, with a score of 36. Welcome back, Rolf.

     In the Open Class today, at the end of 5 Rounds of shooting, Jay "Top Gun" Schoonemaker, came in just one clay short of that perfect 50. As we say, there's always next week. Rounding out the Open Class, Darren Foreman and George Stevens right on Jays tail.

The Juniors shot very well today, lead shooter Brian Tinner, bringing Team Tinner the dual Golds of Victory today. His 32 clays broke slightly ahead of Mary Stevens' 30, followed by Kirk Foreman in 3^rd.

The Ladies also presented tough competition with only 2 clays separating 1^st and 2^nd. Giti's not doing the dishes tonight since she claimed victory with a nice 33. Carrie Morton right there with her scoring 31. Rounding out todays Ladies Class, a big welcome back to Marla Crouch, taking 3^rd place.

Congratulations on a SAFE, clean and challenging match. Until next week always remember:

                  "SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL"

Steve

July 18, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-07-18T23:26:00.001-07:00

22 Guns MATCH WON BY THOR PALM

2nd Place - Ron Behrbaum

3rd Place - Mathew Reid

FIRST A SAD ANNOUNCEMENT:

TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE THE LAST IN THIS SERIES. OUR PLATE MATCH HAS GONE ON HIATUS FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD OF TIME WHILE GIG HARBOR SPORTSMANS CLUB BRINGS ITSELF IN LINE WITH ORDNANCES PUT IN PLACE BY THE GIG HARBOR CITY COUNCIL. WE DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THIS WILL TAKE, BUT WHEN ALL THE CITY'S REGULATIONS HAVE BEEN SATISFIED, OUR MATCH WILL RESUME. STAY IN TOUCH WITH THIS WEBSITE FOR NOTIFICATION OF THE RESUMPTION OF OUR PLATE MATCHES.

BE FURTHER ADVISED THAT THE SUNDAY'S CLAYS MATCHES WILL CONTINUE AS USUAL, AS WELL AS THE DEFENSIVE SHOTGUN MATCH, ALSO HELD ON SUNDAYS. THE ONLY MATCH ON HIATUS IS OUR PLATE MATCH, AND AS SOON AS THE CLUB SATISFIES THE CITY'S ORDNANCES, WE'LL BE BACK. STAY TUNED!!

Welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and while the mood is a somber one due to this being the last match in this series, this series of matches ended with a shout and not a whimper. 22 guns came out to celebrate this match's Memorial, and it was held under beautiful blue skies,

a very few scattered clouds, and in 70 degree temperatures.

Thanks to our match staff that has brought us this match for so long, and done so efficiently and SAFELY!!. Thanks to our Match Director Mike Blondin for producing and directing this match series. Thanks to our ScoreKeeper and DJ George Flaherty for keeping the duels organized and the match running smoothly. Thanks to Mathew Seagraves and his crew for always having the stage set up on time. We owe these folks a sincere thank you for putting this fine match together and bringing it to us almost two years.

22 guns entered tonight's match, and after three preliminary rounds there were 8 left. After George Flaherty put this reporter on the trailer, there were 7. A fast accurate duel between Ron Behrbaum and Mike Blondin left Ron with another win, and then Mike got back on the winning track in a duel with George Flaherty. Mathew Reid then put Paid!! to Mike's evening. Now it was time for a duel between Thor Palm and Ron. Thor's steady methodical approach to the plates paid off, as he led Ron to the finish line. Mathew Reid was feeling his oats by this time, and in back to back duels with George, triumphed in both duels and left George with but 1 number on the board. Thor dueled successfully with Reid next, and set the stage for a duel to the finish line, but in this duel Thor triumphed. Ron dueled next with George and put paid!! to George's evening. Exit George.

Thor Palm then started a string of wins that led him straight to the winner's circle for tonight's match. He still had to put both Mathew Reid and Ron Behrbaum on the trailer, and in four duels in which he alternated between Ron and Reid, he did just that. In his final duel before stepping into the

winner's circle, his opponent was Ron. The challenge was for 5 + 1, and when all five plus the popper were down, Thor Palm was tonight's Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Winner!!

Congratulations to Thor Palm, and congratulations to all the shooters in tonight's match for a challenging, smoothly run and especially a SAFE match. Well, with Thor's win tonight, we bring down the curtain on our plate matches until further notice. We hope it won't be in hiatus for long, but however long it takes, when Series Three of the of Gig Harbor Sportsmans Clubs plate matches begins, You'll read about it first right here on our website. Until then, stay in shape and practice and develop your fundamentals. Whether shooting in matches or practicing at the range, always remember:

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

Hal

July 17, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-07-18T01:15:00.001-07:00

22 Entries in Today's Match

2 Entries in the Ladies Class - Class won by Carrie Morton with a score of 32

2nd Place Lady - Melissa Iverson with a score of 27

6 Entries in the Junior Class - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 31

2nd Place Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 28

3rd Place Junior - Jacob Iverson with a score of 22

12 Entries in the Open Class - Class won by Tim Kopp with a score of 46+5

2nd Place Open - Darren Foreman with a score of 46 + 4

3rd Place Open - George Stevens with a score of 39

10 Entries in the Limited Class - Class won by Steve Tinner with a score of 42+3

2nd Place Limited - John Iverson with a score of 42+2

3rd Place Limited - Todd Anderson with a score of 39

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club for our Sunday afternoon Clays Match. Today didn't represent Summer, or even Spring, as temperatures were in the very low 60s and the day saw a light steady rain all through the match.

Before I go any further, I wish to welcome Jacob Iverson back to our clays matches. Jacob very recently suffered a serious eye injury, and as of this report the use of his injured eye is still in doubt. Jacob has adapted to adversity well enough that today he won a hard-fought 3rd place finish in the Junior Class. Congratulations Jacob, our prayers and good wishes are with you for the return of the full use of your injured eye.

Many thanks to our Match Staff for today's match. Thanks specifically to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, to our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Gentlemen, each week we all enjoy a fun, efficient and SAFE match, and to you folks we offer our sincere thanks. Chuck & Darren brought us Page 2 of The Great Equalizer Series today. Let's take a look at the arrays from the firing line.

Round 1

Simply two straight lines of clays, with the orange micros on the top row, and the Green Standards on the bottom row. If entered in the Open Class, your targets are the orange micros. If entered in the Limited Class, your targets are the Green Standards. If the shooter is successful in breaking all their primary targets, then go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 2

Now the clays on both the top row and the bottom row, in the 2nd position from the outside of the screens, switch places. Now the rows start, on the top row, with an orange micro, followed by a Green Standard, followed by 2 orange micros. The bottom row

begins with a Green Standard, followed by an orange micro, followed by 2 Green Standards. Of course, if you are successful in breaking all of your primary targets, the black micro in the middle awaits.

Round 3

Now the top row begins with an orange micro, followed by 2 Green Standards, and followed by another orange micro. The bottom row is now comprised of a Green Standard, 2 orange micros, followed by another Green Standard. Now comes the change, and the challenge. If successful in breaking all of your primary targets, instead of the black micro in the middle, now you have the red, but mostly black bottle cap. At just over 1" wide, red with a black shoot N see dot on the face, this is a very challenging target, and worthy of one's respect and concentration. Look at the bright side, shooters. First you have to break all of your primary targets, then for the successful shooters, it's the same for everyone; Really challenging.

Round 4

Now both the top row and the bottom row alternate colors and sizes of clays. The top rows start with an orange micro while the bottom row starts with a Green Standard. All the clays on both rows all alternate in a collage of color. Of course, speaking of color;

the red, but mostly black bottle cap in the middle awaits your attentions.

Round 5

This array can only be labeled X Marks The Spot. From the top left of each X to the bottom right, we see 4 Green Standards

in a diagonal, with a row of orange micros bisecting the array from the top right to the bottom left. If successful in eliminating your half of the X, the red but mostly black bottlecap in the center of the screen awaits. Let's look at the results of today's match.

In the ladies Class, Carrie Morton led Mellissa Iverson to the wire by only 5 targets, 32 to 27. In the Junior Class,

Mary Stevens won it again with a score of 31. 2nd Place Junior went to Kirk Foreman, shooting a score of 28. Jacob Iverson

finished 3rd Junior with a score of 22.

In the Open Class, Tim Kopp & Darren Foreman each turned in scores of 46. George Stevens shot an Open Class score of

39 for a solid 3rd Place Finish. In the meantime, Tim & Darren are going to shoot off for the class victory. Darren and Tim will both be using Ruger .22s with, in Tim's case a scope sight, and in Darren's case a Red Dot Optic. The screens will stay at 10 yds. but will have a diagonal line of black micros on each side of the screen, and the red but mostly black bottlecap in the center.

Our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug Mclean will make the call. "Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds." "Shooters ready?" "Fire!!"

Tim & Darren engage the black micros, .22s clatter, the black micros all break, and Tim Kopp engages and breaks the red, but

mostly black bottle cap in the center. Tim Kopp takes the Open Class Victory Today with a score of 46+5.

In the limited Class we have another tie score between John Iverson & Steve Tinner, both shooting scores of 42. Todd Anderson clinched 3rd Limited with a score of 39. John Iverson will enter the shootoff with his Ruger Model 345 1911 in .45ACP, while Steve Tinner will shoot his Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum Revolver. Interestingly, all 4 handguns in our shootoffs today are made by Ruger. Good, dependable firearms, Rugers.

Once again our screens will stay at 10yds, and once again the arrays will be diagonal black micros with a red, but mostly black bottlecap in the middle of the screen. And, once again, our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug McLean makes the call: Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Shooters ready? Fire!! Now this time, with these heavy caliber handguns, The Thunder Rolls. In this string of fire no one gets to engage the red, but mostly black bottlecap. John Iverson's 1911 .45ACP hits two of his primary clays, while Steve Tinner and his Ruger .44 Magnum has hit 3. Today's Limited Class has been won by Steve Tinner with a score of 42+3.

OK Folks, that's it for today's clays match at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. We hope you enjoyed it and will return next Sunday at 4:00pm, and we'll do it again. In the meantime practice hard, and practice propertly. Always remember the mantra:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

Hal

July 10, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-07-11T00:51:00.001-07:00

22 Guns entered in today's match

3 Ladies - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 37

2nd Place Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 35

3rd Place Lady - Jennifer Iverson with a score of 13

3 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 35

2nd Place Junior - Brian Tinner with a score of 27

3rd Place Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 24

11 Open Guns - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 46 + 5

2nd Place Open - Darren Foreman with a score of 46 + 4

3rd Place Open - George Stevens with a score of 45

11 Limited Guns - Class won by Steve Tinner with a score of 44

Tie for 2nd Place Limited between Todd Anderson and John Iverson, both with scores of 38

Tie for 3rd Place Limited between Tim Anable and Dan Redmonds, both with scores of 35

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to a truly beautiful Summer Sunday afternoon at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. The temperature is 70 degrees, the sky is blue with a few puffy white, non-threatening, clouds and short sleeves and just plain shorts are the order of the day.

Thanks to our Match Staff for a great match. Thanks particularly to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus for organizing and presenting such a great event. Thanks to our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug McLean for scoring and running the line, and keeping the event moving smoothly, and most importantly, Safely. Thanks as well to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman for bringing us Page 1 of the Great Equalizer Series. Of course, Chuck & Darren added a twist today, and for future matches into the future, just to keep the challenges interesting. Henceforth, until further notice, the black micro in the middle will sometimes be replaced by a bottle cap 1 3/16 in wide. Now, the good news. The bottle cap will be Red. The mediocre news is that, on the face of the cap will be a black Shoot N See Dot, so everyone can see if a round has struck the bottle cap, just in case it doesn't break. The caps are made of plastic, and often the round will just go straight through. With the Shoot N See Dot, it will be pretty obvious if the round struck the target. The bottle caps will replace the black micro in the middle anytime the Arrays Impressarios get the urge, and will remain in place for as many rounds as is deemed appropriate by Chuck & Darren. At a distance of 10yds , a 1 3/16" plastic bottle cap requires a bit of attention to hit. So, let the fun begin.

Round 1

The round starts with 4 orange micros in a line on the top row, and 4 Green Standards on the bottom row. If entered in the Limited Class, the Green Standards are your targets. If entered in the Open Class, then the orange micros should draw your rounds. Either way, in this round at least, if you are successful in breaking all of your primary targets, the black micro in the middle

is your ultimate goal.

Round 2

Round 2 remains exactly the same. This gives the shooter a false sense of security, causing a mild case of complacency. Don't do that!! These targets are hard enough to hit without starting to daydream.

Round 3

Now the top row has 3 orange micros and the innermost clay is a Green Standard. On the bottom row, the first three targets

are Green Standards, but the innermost target is an orange micro. And now in the middle of the screen, for the thus-far successful shooter, is a red bottle cap with a black dot on it's face. After shooting the primary clays so quickly, the shooter best slow way down and concentrate fully on a good sight picture, good trigger prep, and a smooooth trigger pull. Good luck.

Round 4

Round 4 remains exactly the same as round 3, complete with the bottle cap in the middle. Go fast, then go slow. Now it's on to round 5.

Round 5

The top row now starts with a Green Standard Clay target. The next two clay targets are orange micros, followed by another Green Standard. On the bottom row, an orange micro leads the parade, followed by 2 Green Standards, followed by one more orange micro. The Red, but mostly black bottlecap remains anchored in the middle. Well, let's see how the shooters did with this challenging course of fire.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens took the honors, shooting a score of 35. Brian Tinner followed with a score of 27, and Kirk Foreman finished 3rd with a score of 24.

In the Limited Class, Steve Tinner won it all with a score of 44. We had a tie for 2nd Limited between Todd Anderson and John Iverson, both with scores of 38. Tim Anable & Dan Redmonds tied for 3rd Limited, both turning in scores of 35.

In the Open Class, we had a tie between this reporter, Hal Hansen & Darren Foreman, both shooting scores of 46. It looks like we are going to have a shootoff. The target screens stay at 10yds, but on each side of the screen are 4 black micros. In the middle of the screen is a Red Bottle cap, that is mostly black. Our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug McLean makes the call: Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Shooters Ready? FIRE!! Darren quickly engages the black micros, while Hal takes a breath and concentrates on trigger squeeze. Each round breaks as a surprise to Hal, and with each round fired, a black micro clay explodes.

Finally, only the bottle cap in the middle remains, and no more shooting comes from Darrens side of the screen. Hal takes a deep breath, exhales, and focuses on the Dot in the optic, keeping it pinned to the bottle cap. The trigger seems to take forever to break, but when it does, the bottle cap explodes just as the micros all had done. Hal Hansen takes the Open Class Victory Today with a score of 46 + 5. Darren Foreman takes 2nd Open with a score of 46 + 4, and George Stevens take 3rd Open with a score of 45.

As I said earlier in this report, those bottle caps take a bit of effort to hit. No sense getting in a hurry. One cannot miss fast enough to win.

OK folks, that's it for today. You know what you have to do to compete successfully in this match. Make sure your pistol is sighted in perfectly. Know what your sight picture is supposed to look like. Concentrate on trigger prep and trigger squeeze, and when the shot breaks, concentrate on follow through, virtually willing that bullet to hit your target. Practice a lot, and practice properly.

Remember your priorities:

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

Hal

July 3, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-07-04T00:42:00.001-07:00

18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 34

2nd Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 27

2 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 38

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 15

7 Open Class Entries - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 47

2nd Open - George Stevens with a score of 43

3rd Open - Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 40

11 Limited Entries - Class won by Dan Richards with a score of 36

2nd Limited - Chuck Treat with a score of 33

3rd Limited - Tim Anable with a score of 31

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. It's the 4TH of July weekend and because it's Sunday, it's time for a Clays Match. Before we get into the match itself, join with me in thanking the Match Staff of our

Clays Matches for a job well done. Thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, for organizing and directing the match. Thanks to our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean for cooking the books and announcing the duels. Finally, join me in thanking

our Arrays Impressarios for designing and preparing the arrays, for maintenance on the target screens and for keeping the match challenging and original. Speaking of originality, today was the transition match from Page 6 back to Page 1 of The Great Equalizer Series. Usually this match is titled: Helter Skelter. Today however, in honor of the devious minds of both Chuck & Darren, this reporter has named this match: THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. The arrays began with 4 Standards in the top row,

and 4 micros on the bottom row. Now here's a twist. The clay targets are turned around on the screen so that only the black sides are facing the shooters. In the place of the black micro in the middle, there is a bottle cap screwed onto the screen, the bottle cap being about the same size as a quarter.

As the match progressed, the Standards on the top row were interspersed with an assortment of midis, micros, and regular sized standards, All with the black sides to the shooters. The same held true for the micros on the bottom row. Occasionally one was switched for a standard, and occasionally a standard was turned around with the Green Side facing the shooters. Likewise, occasionally an orange micro or an orange mini was turned around with the bright side facing the shooters. Not very often.

More often than one would suspect, all of the primaries were broken, and the successful shooter had the opportunity to shoot at the bottle cap in the middle. The supply of bottle caps held up quite well today, with only a few incurring perforation. Let's take a look at the results of this match.

In the Ladies Class, Gitti Anable took the win with a score of 34. 2nd Place Lady was Carrie Morton who shot a score of 27.

In the Junior Class, Mary Stevens won it all with a score of 38, edging out Kirk Foreman who shot a score of 15.

In the Open Class, Jay Schoonmaker took the honors with the high score for the match of 47. 2nd Open went to George Stevens with a score of 43. 3rd Open went to Ken Bagley Sr. who shot a score of 40.

In the Limited Class, Dan Richards won it with a score of 36. Chuck Treat followed with a score of 33, just edging out Tim Anable who shot a score of 31.

Well, that's the action from Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club today. Next week is, barring devious and unscrupulous planning by our Arrays Impressarios, Page 1 of the Great Equalizer Series will return. Who knows from week to week what our Arrays Impressarios will devine, so practice hard and be ready for anything. Remember the motto:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

Hal

June 20, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-06-21T01:31:00.001-07:00

36 Guns Entered Match Won By Loren DeShon

2nd Place - Scott Scheitzach

3rd Place - John Iverson

36 Guns Entered, Ladies & Gentlemen, Welcome to Summer. By the time you faithful readers get this report, it will be

June 21, 2011, and the first day of summer. Summer is shaping up quite well so far, with a new high number of entries for our Match Director, Mike Blondin's, Plate Matches. We expect the number of entries to rise during the summer, and to become The Place to be the First & Third Monday of each month!!

With the great turnout for the matches this summer though, Our Match Director, Mike Blondin as well as our Scorekeeper and DJ, George Flaherty have asked me to advise all the shooters this summer that punctuality to the match, as well as at the firing line when it's your turn to shoot, IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. We still have a cutoff requirement of 8:30PM, so it's critical that each shooter is signed up for the match on time, and at the firing line immediately when called to shoot. End of Sermon.

Thanks for a great match to our Match Director Mike Blondin, our Scorekeeper & DJ George Flaherty, our Line Marshall's

Dan Moore and Matt Seagraves, and everyone who helped set up and take down the stage at each end of the match.

It was a great match, and it will get better and better with good help like we had tonight. Thanks, Match Staff.

It sure was a beautiful night for a plate match. It was approaching 70 degrees at gametime, it was dry with a very high and very light overcast. What a segue to Summer. Tonight we want to welcome back some faces we haven't seen for way too long. Welcome back Carrie Giacolone and Ted Austin. We hope you folks had a great time and will make this event a regular fixture on your calendar. Carrie was the only Lady in the field of shooters tonight, but she shot well and we hope there will be many more ladies either coming to the match for the first time or returning to shoot. We also had several young men who came to the match for the first time, as well as some returning after a hiatus from plate shooting. Now that school is out, we hope to see you all return here regularly this summer.

36 Guns entered the match tonight, and with this large a field we were still able to get in 3 Rounds of preliminaries, as well as the

Sudden Death Final. By the latter part of the Sudden Death Final, we were down to 6 finalists. After Loren DeShon put this reporter, Hal Hansen on the trailer, the spotlight turned to Scott Scheitzach & George Flaherty. George took this duel, and set the stage for Kiel Marvik & John Iverson who had a fast accurate duel which was won by Kiel. Loren & Scott had a rematch then, and this time Loren took a close one. Loren had that H&K P7 smoking tonight. But then, he usually does. Loren & George then dueled, with Loren crossing the line first, and Scott put PAID!! to Kiel's bid tonight. Loren & John Iverson dueled again with Loren winning, giving John Iverson a hardwon 3rd Place Finish tonight. Now it's down to a duel, one duel, for all the marbles between Scott Scheitzach & Loren DeShon.

Loren & Scott are at the line, they are loaded and ready, and the challenge is for All Five Plates and the Popper. Our Line Marshall Matt Seagraves asks if the shooters are ready, and we have *TONE*. The targets are engaged, Thunder Rolls, all the plates drop consecutively, the poppers fall, And We Have A Winner!! Loren DeShon's popper lies tight to the ground, and Loren DeShon wins it all tonight!! Scott Scheitzach takes 2nd Place, and John Iverson takes 3rd. Congratulations to our winners, and congratulations to all the shooters in our field for a competitive, fun and most especially SAFE match. It's summertime now, and a great season of the year to shoot plates.

NOW, A REMINDER!! IN TWO WEEKS, MONDAY JULY 4, 2011 we will all be celebrating America's

Independence. There will be no match that night. America's Freedom may have been won by using large quantities of powder & shot, but in 2011 we do it a bit quieter, in the peaceful settings of our homes with our families. Stay tuned for announcements of makeup matches to substitute for the match missed on July 4, 2011. For sure however, on July 18, 2011 at 6:00PM, right here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, we'll have our regularly scheduled plate match. Take the extra time to practice and get your tools of combat tuned up and ready to rock. Always remember the mantra:

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

Hal

June 19, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-06-19T22:48:00.001-07:00

4 Entries In the Ladies Class - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 33

2nd Lady - Gitti Anable with a score of 32

3rd Lady - Melissa (verson with a score of 20

1 Junior, Brian Tinner, with a score of 15

4 Entries in the Open Class - Class won by Chuck Treat with a score of 44

We had a tie for 2nd Open between George Stevens & Hal Hansen, both with scores of 40

3rd Open - Steve Tinner, with a score of 35

12 Entries in the Limited Class - Class won by Jeff Guenther with a score of 41

2nd Limited - John Iverson with a score of 38

3rd Limited - Chuck Nicodemus with a score of 37

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to a Father's Day Clays Match at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. A most happy day of honor for all the Father's that came to our match today. It was great to see a couple of Father's bringing their daughters & sons to the match, and the daughters & sons returned the honor by shooting very well indeed. Congratulations to George Stevens & John Iverson for bringing Mary and Melissa. Congrats to Steve Tinner for bringing Brian, Congrats to Jeff for bringing Kylie, and if I missed anyone, congrats to them, too.

Speaking of congratulations, congrats to all the match staff for another fine match. Thanks to Chuck Nicodemus for Directing the Match, Thanks to Doug McLean for running the Scoretable & the microphone. Thanks to Chuck Treat for bringing us Page 5 of The Great Equalizer Series. Our 2nd Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman, was absent today, along with his son Kirk, probably out celebrating Dad's Day together. We know you were both here in spirit. Page 5 was on the screens today, so let's review what the shooters saw from the firing line.

Round 1

Round 1 presented as 2 straight lines. The top row was 4 Green Standards, and the bottom row was 4 orange micros. If entered in the Open Class, shoot at the orange micros. If entered in the Limited Class, shoot at the Green Standards. If you are successful in hitting all of your primarys, go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 2

The transition begins with the first clays, the first orange micro and the first Green Standard changing places. The black micro in the middle, however, stays right there, in the middle.

Round 3

Now the second clays in line change place also. This puts the top row starting with 2 orange micros, the bottom row starting with 2 Green Standards, and the last two clays in each row just the opposite. The black micro in the middle remains right there.

Round 4

Now the top row starts with 3 orange micros, ending with 1 Green Standard. The bottom row starts with 3 Green Standards and ends with an orange micro. In the center of the screen though is the ubiquitous black micro in the middle.

Round 5

Now the transition is complete. On the top row are 4 orange micros. On the bottom row are 4 Green Standards. In the middle of the screen is the black micro in the middle. Let's see how our shooters did today.

In the Ladies Class we had 4 Entries. Mary Stevens won the class with a score of 33. Only 1 target back, Gitti Anable had a score of 32. Rounding out the top 3, Melissa Iverson turned in a score of 20. We are very pleased to welcome a new Lady to our matches, Kylie Guenther. Kylie made her debut to the clays matches today, in the company of Dad, Jeff Guenther. Welcome Kylie, we hope you had a good time and will accompany Dad all the time. Welcome.

Brian Tinner was our only Junior shooter today, and he turned in a fine score of 15.

We had 4 Open Class entrants today, and all 4 placed in the top 3. Chuck Treat won the class with a score of 44. We had a tie for 2nd Open today between George Stevens and this reporter, Hal Hansen, both with scores of 40. Steve Tinner rounded out the Top 3 Open finishers with a score of 35.

In the Limited Class, Jeff Guenther took the honors with a score of 41. John Iverson took 2nd Limited with a score of 38. Chuck Nicodemus took 3rd Limited with a score of 37.

OK Folks, that's it for this Father's Day Clays Match. We'll see you right here next Sunday, June 26, 2011, when it will be

Summer. This will bring at least 3 Months of Great Weather, Great Shooting, and Page 6 of The Great Equalizer Series.

I was informed today by our Arrays Impressario, Chuck Treat, that there are going to be some curve balls thrown into the mix from time to time. So be ready. It seems that the 2 inch micros are becoming perceived as too easy, so there will be changes made.

The fundamentals are all the same. It's all about sight picture and trigger squeeze. The rest is just there to confuse you. However hard you practice though, make FireArms Safety Job #1. Then Accuracy. When those requirements are second nature, then start concerning yourself with Speed. Remember:

SPEED WILL COME. ACCURACY AND SAFETY ARE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!!

Hal

June 12, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-06-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 34

2nd Lady - Carrie Morton with a score of 22

4 Juniors - Class won by Brian Tinner with a score of 26

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 14

3rd Junior - Thomas Craft with a score of 12

4th Junior - Stephan Craft with a score of 7

5 Open Guns - Class won by Ken Bagley Sr. with a score of 42 + 4

2nd Open - Chuck Treat with a score of 42 + 3

3rd Open - Thor Palm with a score of 34

13 Limited Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 48

2nd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 44

3rd Limited - Hal Hansen with a score of 38

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and another of our weekly Clays Matches.

It was a beautiful spring day in the Pacific Northwest, with a bit of a variety of weather for our match today. It was alternately sunny,

a light hazy overcast, almost 70degrees warm, then a light misty rain came out of the overcast, but not hard enough to even settle the dust. All in all, a great day for a clays match. But then, aren't they all??!!

Our match management once again presented a great match, and for that we thank them. Thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, thanks to our ScoreKeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and thanks to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman, who brought us Page 4 of The Great Equalizer Series today. Let's take a look at what the shooters were engaging in this match. The arrays took on a 3 line dimension, with the clays forming vague shapes over 3 lines instead of just 2.

Round 1

On the top row, from the outside in, we see an orange micro, then after an open area a Green Standard.

In the middle row, we see 2 Green Standards followed by 2 orange micros. On the third and bottom row, we see repeated an

orange micro, an open area and then another Green Standard. If entered in the Open Class your targets are the orange micros.

If entered in the Limited Class, your targets are the Green Standards. If successful in breaking all of your primarys, go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 2

The top row remains the same, but now the middle row begins with an orange micro, then a Green Standard, followed by 2

more orange micros. On the bottom row your targets, if entered in the Limited Class, are two Green standards, about a foot apart.

If successful in breaking all of your primarys, engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 3

The top and bottom row now are identical, with 2 Green Standards spread about a foot apart. The center row is comprised of 4 orange micros, all in a row. Waiting in the middle of the screen for the thus-far successful shooter is the black micro in the middle.

Round 4

The top row again begins with a Green Standard, about 18" of open area, and then an orange micro. The middle row begins with 2 orange micros followed by a Green Standard followed by an orange micro. The bottom row now consists of 2 Green Standards about 18" apart. The one constant of the match, well, almost constant, well, usually constant, but not today, is the Black micro in the middle.

Round 5

The top row again consists of a Green Standard, an open area about 18" wide, then an orange micro. The middle row starts with 2 orange micros followed by 2 Green Standards. The bottom row begins with a Green Standard, an open area, followed by an orange micro. At this point a curve ball is thrown at the shooters. Instead of the ubiquitous black micro in the middle, what to our wondering eyes does appear but a pale orange bottle cap, about half the size of the black micro in the middle!!!!

An Editorial: It was quite a surprise looking out at the screens and seeing such a tiny target, and not even black, but sort of pale orange. "Is this a legitimate target???!!!" In modern handgun competition, a legitimate target is: "Whatever the Match Director says it is." So, yes, it was/is a legitimate target. Can we successfully engage it? Well, today, usually not. I guess the challenge is to learn to be able to successfully engage it. This reporter is reminded of some years back when the micro clays were introduced. they were very challenging, and more than a little frustrating. Still, the bar was raised to the point where the shooters were required to improve their skills sufficiently to successfully engage those micros. Today, the micros aren't that difficult. Our skill level has risen to meet the challenge. Now, the bar is, at least for today, raised again. The challenge once again is to accelerate our training sufficiently to meet the challenge.

Generally in life, the standard of easy isn't usually worth the trouble. Marksmanship sufficient to efficiently and successfully engage bottle caps under the stress

of competition should stand the shooter in good stead if, God Please Forbid, the trumpets ever sound and the health and safety of ourselves or our loved ones is at risk on the street. If we can hit a bottle cap at 10yds under the stress of competition etc. etc. etc. Thus endeth the sermon.

On such a pleasant thought, let's review today's results.

We had two competitors in the ladies Class. Mary Stevens chose this class over the Junior Class in which to compete today, and she won it with a score of

34. Carrie Morton finished 2nd with a score of 22.

In the Junior Class, we had 4 shooters. Brian Tinner took the win with a score of 26. Kirk Foreman finished 2nd with a score of 14. The brothers Thomas & Steven Kraft finished 3rd & 4th with scores of 12 & 7 respectively.

In the Limited Class, Jay Schoonmaker took the win with a score of 48. It should be noted that Jay went into the final round with a perfect score of 40. Close Jay, probably done in by a couple of bottle caps. Steve Tinner was close behind in 2nd spot with a score of 44. In Third Limited was this reporter, Hal Hansen with a score of 38, and very lucky indeed to notice the loose front sight flopping around on my Glock, before it fell off onto the floor. Once home, with an application of Loc Tite, I'll bet it doesn't come loose again.

In the Open Class, we had a tie score between Ken Bagley Sr. & Chuck Treat, both with scores of 42. Thor Palm followed with a score of 34. It's tme for a shootoff between Ken and Chuck. For this shootoff the screen stayed at 10yds, and a line of 4 orange micros and a black micro in the middle constituted the array. Doug Mclean calls the shooters to the line with the instructions to load 5 rounds. The shooters were alerted to be ready, and the command was given to

Fire!! Chuck & Ken go for it, .22 caliber thunder rolls quietly, orange micros explode, the black micro in the middle ducks, laughing, and silence returns to the range. The gallery peers downrange, and a cheer goes up from the crowd. We have a winner. Ken Bagley Sr. has broken 4 micros, while Chuck Treat has broken 3, Ken Bagley Sr. takes today's Open Class at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club with a score of 42 + 4. Chuck Treat takes 2nd Open with a score of

42 + 3 and Thor palm takes 3rd Open with a score of 34.

So that's the Clays Match for today folks. The bar has been raised, and the gauntlet thrown. Now it's up to the field to meet the challenge. One can only wonder what will come next, but for now, Bring on the bottle caps!! While striving to meet the latest challenge, always remember:

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

Hal

June 6, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-06-06T23:29:00.001-07:00

15 Guns Entered Match won by George Flaherty

2nd Place - Hal Hansen

3rd Place - Thor Palm

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to a delightful spring evening at Gig Harbor Sporsmans Club. The skies were lightly overcast, and the temperature at gametime was 70degrees. It was beautiful and it stayed that way for the entire match.

Many thanks to our Match Staff for another fine match. Thanks in particular to our Match Director Mike Blondin, our Scorekeeper and DJ George Flaherty and our setup crew, tonight consisting of Mike, Thor, George and Rolf. The stage was set up and ready to rock on time and in it's entirety. And rock it did. We were priveleged to have two of our young ladies from our clays matches in attendance tonight. Welcome to plate shooting Mary and Stephanie Stevens, accompanied by their Dad George. Shooting plate is a great family sport, isn't it folks? Welcome to our sport also, Dave Anderson. Dave made his debut into shooting falling plates tonight, and Dave, welcome to our sport. Welcome to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, one and all, and we hope to see each and every one of you just as often as possible.

Fifteen guns turned out for the match tonight, and by the end of the Sudden Death Finale, the number was down to three; George Flaherty, Thor Palm and Hal Hansen. George and Hal each had 4 numbers, and Thor had two. At this point good and bad fortune arrived for Hal. It had been a pretty good night of shooting tonight, and Hal had 4 numbers on the board, as did George. As is often the case in sports, at the finale of a good effort, suddenly the machine quits. Hal's Kimber just would not go into battery when feeding ammo. At first a squib was suspected, but upon checking the bore, it was clear. Dirty but clear. Later, at home, a case gauge was used, apparently for the first time on a handful of the ammo supply, and ammo was discovered that just wouldn't drop into the gauge. One can empathize with an Indy Car Driver entering the final few laps, only to blow an engine.

Now is when good fortune appeared. Thor Palm had a Glock model 22 that took the same ammo that Hal was using. It may not have fit into the chamber of Hal's Kimber, but it ran just fine in Thor's Glock. Thor's Glock ran well, and Hal kept the duels close, but by now it was down to George Flaherty and Hal, and against George, close just isn't close enough. Hal went down in four, and made a promise to the God's of the Plate Matches to be darn sure of the quality of his ammo next time. And every time. The match finished with George Flaherty winning the match, Hal Hansen finishing 2nd, and Thor Palm finishing 3rd. Not a bad evening. And an educational one. As the mantra of many sports events follows: "There's always next time."

OK Folks, that's it for tonight's match. We'll see you right back here in two weeks - Monday June 20, 2011 at 6:00PM. Make sure your gear runs properly, and always remember:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

Hal

June 5, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-06-05T21:12:00.001-07:00

18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Carrie Morton with a score of 20 + 2 + 3

2nd Lady - Stephanie Stevens with a score of 20 + 2 + 1

3 Juniors - Class won by Trian Tinner with a score of 44

2nd Junior - won by Mary Stevens with a score of 40

3rd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 14

10 Open Guns - Class won by Darren Foreman with a score of 47

2nd Open - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 46

3rd Open - Brian Tinner with a score of 44

8 Limited Guns - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 42 + 4

2nd Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 42 + 3

3rd Limited - Todd Anderson with a score of 40

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and a beautiful Spring afternoon.

20 Guns showed up at the range this afternoon, and a Clays Match broke out. We sure had a beautiful day for it, too. The temperature in the range building was a warm 65 degrees, it was dry, and short sleeves were the order of the day. Many thanks to our match staff for hosting such a successful series of matches each week. Many thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman. I guess Chuck Treat must have gone back to Hawaii again, since he wasn't at the match today. Darren had it under control though, and presented Page 3 of The Great Equalizer Series. Before we get into the specifics of the match, our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, has some announcements.

Effective with this match, No More Shutouts. All competitors get credit for all the clays they break. Only one shooter can break the Black Micro In The Middle, and that shooter will get the 5. So, from now on if you break it, you get credit for it. Now the 2nd announcement. Open Class Shooters, Listen Up! This one applies to you. Starting next week, June 12, 2011, if you shoot an Open Gun in the Clays Match, you shoot at the micros. The quality of the competition in the Open Class has improved to the point where everyone has the ability to hit the micros, so from next week's match forward, all Open Class Competitors will be required to prove it. Finally, one last announcement.............

This one's on your shoulders, Mary Stevens. No Clays Match Competitor can win but one class. Last week Mary won the Junior Class, had high score for the Ladies Class, and placed 3rd in the Open Class. Mary chose to take her win in the Junior Class, as our Match Director didn't want to encourage Mary to be picking on the entire field. Mary placed 2nd in the Junior Class today, but Brian Tinner only beat her by 4 Clays, so she kept it close. OK, let's get on to the match.

Our Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman brought us Page 3 of The Great Equalizer Series today. Let's review it from the firing line.

Round 1

The top rows start with an orange micro, followed by 2 Green Standards, ending with another orange micro. The same pattern is repeated on the bottom row, and the effect is that of a Green Square inside an orange square. If entered in the Open Class, the orange micros are your targets. If entered in the Limited Class, it's the Green Standards. Either way, if successful in breaking all of your primary targets, go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 2

The top row remains the same, but the bottom row now starts with a Green Standard, followed by an orange micro, with the pairing repeated. If successful in breaking all of your primarys, move to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 3

Now both the top rows and the bottom rows are the same, starting with Green Standards, followed by orange micros, with the pairing repeated. If successful so far in this round, head to the center of the screens and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 4

In this round the top rows start with a Green Standard, followed by 2 orange micros, followed by another Green Standard. The bottom row now appears with a Green Standard followed by an orange micro, with the pairing repeated. If thusfar successful, the black micro in the middle awaits.

Round 5

For round 5, the pairings from round 1 are reversed. Now both rows start with a Green Standard followed by 2 orange micros followed by a Green Standard. If all your primarys are broken, the black micro in the middle awaits. So let's see what the results look like today.

In the Ladies Class, we have a tie between our two entrants, Carrie Morton & Stephanie Stevens, both having shot scores of 20. Stephanie shot in the Open Class today, so her targets at 10yds were 4 orange micros. Carrie Morton shot in the Limited Class, so her targets were 4 Green Standards.

Carrie & Stephanie are ready, and our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean makes the call. "Shooters to the line, load 5 rounds. Shooters ready?

Fire!! Carrie and Stephanie both light up the racks, thunder rolls, and when the dust settles and silence returns, both Stephanie and Carrie have broken two of their targets. Let's try this again. Once again Doug calls the shooters to the line and tells them to load 5 rounds. Once again the screens are ready, as are

Stephanie and Carrie. Once again, Doug asks if the shooters are ready, and once again Carrie & Stephanie are told to Fire!! Once again Thunder Rolls,

then the dust settles, and silence returns to the range. Once again the gallery looks out at the screens, but this time We Have A Winner. Carrie Morton has broken 3 of her targets, while Stephanie has broken but 1. String & Class to Carrie Morton and her Glock 19.

In the Junior Class, they kept it simple. Brian Tinner was hot today, shooting a score of 44 with his Ruger .22 . Mary Stevens shot a score of 40 and placed 2nd. Our remaining Junior, Kirk Foreman, shot a score of 14.

In the Open Class we had 10 Entries, and the scores were CLOSE!! Darren Foreman took the win with a score of 47. Jay Schoonmaker was one target behind with a score of 46, and our class winning Junior, Brian Tinner placed 3rd with a score of 44. Like I said, that was Close!!

In the Limited Class, we had a tie score of 42 between this reporter, Hal Hansen and Steve Tinner. We're going to have another Shootoff!! This time all the screens stay at 10yds, but all the clays are now the orange micros. Hal & Steve are called to the line and told to Load 5 Rounds. Now they are both ready,

and our Scorekeeper and DJ makes the call to FIRE!! The primary targets are all orange micros, and Hal hits all 4 of his, while Steve hits but 3. Hal takes a shot at the black micro in the middle, to no avail. After the thunder ebbs, the black micro in the middle is still there and the gallery swears it is laughing.

Well, in this instance 4 orange micros is enough to give the Limited Class Victory to Hal Hansen today. Steve Tinner takes 2nd Limited with a score of 32 + 3, and Todd Anderson take 3rd Limited with a score of 40. Those scores were pretty close as well.

OK Folks, that's it for this match. Don't forget the GHSC Plate Match right here at 6:00PM Monday Night June 6, 2011. That's tomorrow!! We'll see you right here next Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 4:00PM. Practice hard, all the competitors at GHSC LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE!! Always remember your priorities in competition: 1st) Safety 2nd) Accuracy and not until you have those fundamentals firmly ingrained do you worry about 3rd) SPEED!! Remember how it always is in handgun competition:

"YOU CANNOT MISS FAST ENOUGH TO WIN, TRY AS YOU MAY!!"

Hal

May 29, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-05-30T09:06:00.001-07:00

20 Guns Entered In Match

5 Ladies - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 35

2nd Lady - Gitti Anable with a score of 34

3rd Lady - Kathy Robert with a score of 24

2 Juniors - Class won by Mary Stevens with a score of 35

2nd Junior - Brian Tinner with a score of 26

8 Open Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 46

2nd Open - Thor Palm with a score of 36

3rd Open - Mary Stevens with a score of 35

12 Limited Guns - Class won by Jim Skedd with a score of 46

2nd Limited - Todd Anderson with a score of 39

3rd Limited - Hal Hansen with a score of 38

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to the last Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match of May 2011. It was a great Spring day for a Clays match with a warm 62degrees, a light overcast, it was dry, and certainly no heaters were needed today,

First, before we even get started, our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, has an announcement. The Clays matches have become so popular that our entries are approaching the max number of 24. Today, for example, we had 20 guns entered, with several new shooters, and that is Great! But this increased attendance has made it necessary to observe a strict cutoff time for entries of 4PM. If you are signed up by 4:00PM, Great!! Our Scorekeeper & DJ, Doug McLean, will have time to set his lineup without having to start over repeatedly and the match can begin on time and conclude in a timely manner. So, in the future, if you are signed up for the Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match by 4PM, then Welcome!! If anyone arrives after 4PM, they can still watch, but not enter the match.

Thanks to our Match Staff for another great match. We had 20 Guns enter the match today, and it went off very smoothly.

Thanks for this success to our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus; our Scorekeeper and DJ, Doug McLean; and to our Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman, for another fine match. It should be noted that Darren handled the arrays duties by himself today, as Chuck Treat is in Hawaii. Match Staff, one and all, Thanks for a great match.

As mentioned earlier, we had several new shooters today, and welcome to you all. Mary Stevens made her debut today, and for her opening act took the Ladies & the Junior Class, and finished 3rd in Open. Kathy Robert made her entrance with a 3rd Place Finish in the Ladies Class, and Todd Anderson made his entrance with a 2nd Place finish in the Limited Class. Welcome to you all and we hope you had a great time and will make the Sunday Clays Matches a regular feature of your calendar.

Our Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman, bought us Page 2 of The Great Equalizer Series today. Let's see what Page 2

looks like.

Round One

Round 1 has 4 orange micros on the top row, 4 White Standards on the bottom row, and the black micro in the middle, in the middle.

Round Two

On the top row we see one orange micro, followed by one White Standard, followed by 2 orange micros. On the bottom row we see a White Standard, then an orange micro, followed by 2 more White Standards. The Black Micro In The Middle is right there, in the middle.

Round Three

On the top row we see an orange micro, followed by two white Standards, followed by another orange micro. On the bottom row, a White Standard leads 2 orange micros, followed by another White Standard. In the middle of the screen lies the Black Micro In The Middle.

Round Four

The clays now alternate, beginning on the top row with an orange micro, and on the bottom row with a White Standard.

Though the clays all alternate, as usual in the middle is The Black Micro.

Round Five

Euphemistically dubbed X Marks The Spot!! From the outside top of the screens to the bottom inside lie the White Standards.

From the outside bottom to the inside top lie the four orange micros. In the middle of the screens, as always, lies the black micro in the middle. So let's see who did what today.

In the Ladies Class, Mary Stevens, our new Junior Lady took the honors with a score of 35. Gitti Anable placed 2nd in the

Ladies Class, with a score of 34. Another new Clays Match Competitor, Kathy Robert, placed 3rd with a score of 24.

In the Junior Class, our new Junior Lady shooter, Mary Stevens took the honors, with the same score of 35. 2nd Place Junior, Brian Tinner, shot a score of 26.

In the Open Class, Jay Schoonmaker won it with a score of 46. 2nd Open was claimed by Thor Palm who shot a score of 36.

Mary Stevens again appears on the leader board with, again, a score of 35, giving her a solid third place in the Open Class.

In the Limited Class, Jim Skedd made a triumphal return to the matches with a score of 46. Todd Anderson, another new Clays Match competitor, took 2nd Limited with a score of 39. This reporter, Hal Hansen, took 3rd Limited with a score of 38.

And that's the good news for today folks. We'll see you right back here at 4:00PM next Sunday afternoon for another Clays Match. Welcome once again to the new shooters, we hope you enjoyed the match and will return often in the future. Until next Sunday then, always remember:

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

Hal

May 22, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-05-22T20:49:00.001-07:00

16 Entries in Match

2 Ladies - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 29

2nd Place Lady - Laura Stevens with a score of 23

2 Juniors - Class won by Brian Tinner with a score of 25

2nd Place Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 11

5 Open Entries - Class won by Chuck Treat with a score of 43

2nd Place Open - Darren Foreman with a score of 36

3rd Place Open - Thor Palm with a score of 33

11 Limited Class Entries - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 45

2nd Place Limited - Steve Tinner with a score of 44

3rd Place Limited - Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 41

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to a beautiful Spring Day at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. The world apparently didn't come to an end, we're all still here, so as usual we had a Clays Match. It was a beautiful day too, with the temperature at 61 degrees, a light overcast, it was dry, and warm, and no heaters were necessary today. As previously mentioned, the world as we know it didn't end yesterday, so let's see what our club's survivors accomplished as we return to another set of clays matches.

First things first. Many thanks to our Match Staff for another great match. For all I know, maybe we should thank them for the great weather. Nahhhh....... Thanks though to our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, for directing the match, Thanks to our

Scorekeeper and DJ, Doug McLean for running the line, keeping score, and helping to ensure the Safety of the match. Thanks finally to our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat & Darren Foreman, for presenting Page 1 of a brand new series. Let's see what the shooters faced today.

Round 1

Pretty straightforward, 4 orange micros on the top row, 4 Green Standards on the bottom row. If entered in the Open Class,

the orange micros are your targets. If entered in the Limited Class, it's the Green Standards. In either case, if successful in breaking all of your primary targets, go to the center of the screen and engage the black micro in the middle.

Round 2

This is a repeat of Round 1. The repitition serves two purposes, If successful in Round 1, it gives the shooters a false sense of security, leading to complacency which will result in misses. If Round 1 presented problems, it affords the shooter the opportunity to bear down and try it again.

Round 3

The stack of clays nearest the middle now invert, putting the Green Standard on top, and the orange micro on the bottom. Now vertical movement as well as horizontal is necessary, but if successful in the bottoming and topping, the black micro in the middle awaits.

Round 4

Once again, this is a repeat of the previous round, affording the shooters the opportunity to correct prior lapses, as well as lullng the successful shooters into a false sense of security. It works too.

Round 5

Now the two center stacks invert, putting the 2 center orange micros on top, and the 2 center Green Standards on the bottom.

As always, if successful, the black micro in the middle awaits your attentions. So who was hot, and who was not?

In the Ladies Class, Giti Anable won it again with a score of 29. 2nd Lady was Laura Stevens with a score of 23.

In the Junior Class, Brian Tinner took the honors with a score of 25. Our 2nd Place Junior today was Kirk Foreman, shooting a score of 11.

In the Open Class, Chuck Treat won it with a score of 43. 2nd Place Open went to Darren Foreman, shooting a score of 36.

Thor Palm took 3rd Open today with a score of 33. Close.

In the Limited Class, this reporter, Hal Hansen, took the honors with the high score for the match of 45. 2nd Limited went to

Steve Tinner, only one target behind at 44. One consolation Steve, this score of 44 was your personal best. Keep improving one target at a time and you'll win a lot of matches. Jay Schoonmaker took 3rd Limited today with a score of 41.

OK Folks, that's it for today's match. We'll see you back here at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club next Sunday at 4:00PM, at which time we'll play this game again. Until then, practice a lot, practice properly, and keep improving a target or two at a time. While in the process of improving, remember your priorities:

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

Hal

May 16, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-05-17T00:43:00.001-07:00

15 Guns Entered In The Match Match won by Ron Berbaum

2nd Place - Tim Ridenour

3rd Place - Matt Seagraves

4th - Rolf Lunde

5th - Stephanie Stevens - 1st Place Lady

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and another Falling Plate Match Report. Apologies for the short report tonight, but this reporter wasn't able to make the match and the "scrolls" didn't make it from the match to me via the reporter pro-tem. sigh.......

Thanks aplenty to the match staff, in particular our Match Director, Mike Blondin and our stage manager Mathew Seagraves for their efforts tonight. A special congratulations to our match winner tonight, Ron Berbaum who, with his Glock 17, outran Tim Ridenour and his revolver for the win. That's not a bad show, Ron. Matt Seagraves finished 3rd, Rolf Lunde finished 4th, and our Ladies Class

was won by Stephanie Stevens, who finished 5th Overall. Well done, Stephanie. And well done to all the competitors tonight for a competitive, and especially, a SAFE match.

We'll see you all right back here next month, on the 6th of June, 2011 at 6:00PM. In the meantime, always remember your priorities:

"SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL!! "

Hal

May 15, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-05-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

18 Guns Entered

3 Ladies In Class: Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 36

2nd Lady: Stephanie Stevens with a score of 30

3rd Lady & the youngest junior in the match: Aubrie Guenther with a score of 20

4 Juniors: Class won by: Brian Tinner with a score of 37

2nd Junior: Jacob Iverson with a score of 33

3rd Junior: Kirk Foreman with a score of 32

4th Junior: Aubrie Guenther with a score of 20

9 Open Guns: Class won by Darren Foreman with a score of 47

2nd Open: Tim Kopp with a score of 45

Tie for 3rd Open between John Iverson & Hal Hansen with scores of 43

9 Limited Guns: Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 40

tie for 2nd Limited between Gitti Anable & David Lee with scores of 36

tie for 3rd Limited between Jacob Iverson & Tim Anable with scores of 33

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and another "Spring" Day Clays Match. Before, briefly during, and following the match it sprinkled rain, it was heavily overcast all day, and the temperature hovered at about 50 degrees. Enough said about the weather. The first order of business today is to thank our Match Staff, in the persons of our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper & DJ Doug Mclean, and our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Gentlemen, this was a fun match and a good re-introduction to the matches after a holiday. Thank you very much indeed for your efforts. So let's look at what all this talent brought us.

Today our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat & Darren Foreman presented the Helter Skelter match that we missed last week when we stayed home and helped Mom celebrate her day. It returned today with a vengence, and was sufficiently intense that this reporter has named it: THE RED MENACE. Most of the clays were bright RED, ranging in size from Standards, slightly smaller Midis, a red micro, a black micro with a tiny red center, and instead of the black micro in the middle, there was instead substituted a white 1" wide plastic bottle cap.

The first array presented was an inverted V in the center of the screen with each leg comprised of 4

clays, with the bottom clay a red Standard, decreasing as the leg ascended to the top clay being a black micro with a tiny red center. Then in the middle of the expanse between the legs was the white bottle cap, referred to by one and all as the "aspirin tablet". This array satisfied Round 1, and then Helter Skelter began with Round 2 and the following arrays were left to the imagination of the good people hanging the clays between strings of fire.

The rules for this match differed from the norm a bit in the following ways: 1) No shutouts, you get the score you could hit, and it was up to you to beat your oponent to the aspirin tablet, I mean the bottle cap.

2) All guns, Open & Limited, shoot at the same targets and the same arrays.

3) Chuck & Darren set the first array, and after that it's up to the imagination of the good folks hanging the clay targets as to the clays position on the screen.

The initial impression of the field today was that the array presented in Round 1 emanated from the tortured minds of our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Though that opinion will persist into the future, there are good reasons and lessons to be learned from Round 1, indeed from all 5 rounds. Success in this game requires a variety of disciplines and skills, primary among them is Trigger Control. It may appear that a 4" Red Standard Clay, compared to the other, smaller clays on the screen, is unmissable. So the shooter gets in a hurry, jerks the trigger and misses every clay target on the screen. ooops!!

2) The formations of the clays varied by the string, some resembling sort of straight lines, while some required going from a higher row to a lower one. Just shooting them as you see them requires moving the firearm laterally as well as vertically, and it's really easy to overshoot your point of aim, again resulting in misses. The shooter needs to determine the route requiring the least motion possible, and have the discipline to adhere to that route. For sure there will be enough movement necessary that speed must be apportioned anyway, and there is no point in making it worse than it already is. Keep it simple, or at least as simple as possible.

In sum: Trigger control, discipline of speed and picking the route with the least motion are the elements of success in this game. It's mighty fine training.

We had 3 Ladies shooting with us today, Gitti Anable, our Ladies Class Clays Veteran, won the class today. Stephanie Stevens, back with us after too long of an absence, took 2nd place in the ladies class. A young lady that shot in both our Ladies Class and our Junior Class, Aubrie Guenther. joined us for the first time today, and did herself proud shooting a score of 20 in this very difficult match. Young Lady, be advised: If you will stick with this competition, study your fundamentals of proper shooting, and develop proper techniques, with your young eyes and reflexes you will be very very successful, very soon, and have a great time shooting the matches as well. Welcome to our sport, and we hope to see you often. M'Lady, you did well today. You may be young, but you have talent just waiting to be developed. The older folks had better not look back, as you're going to be gaining ground in leaps and bounds. Once again, welcome to our sport. Ladies, Well Done!!

4 Juniors joined us today, and the class was won by clays match veteran, Brian Tinner. In second place was another clays match veteran and successful shooter, Jacob Iverson. 3rd Junior was claimed by Kirk Foreman, another veteran, and of course our 4th place Junior was our new Lady, Aubrie Guenther. Well done, Juniors.

In the Open Class today, we had some close scores, and a tie. The Class was won by Arrays Impressario, Darren Foreman. Tim Kopp took 2nd Open and a tie score claimed 3rd place between John Iverson and Hal Hansen.

In the Limited Class, Jay Schoonmaker took the win with a score of 40. We had a tie between Gitti Anable & David Lee, both shooting scores of 36, while another tie resulted for 3rd Limited between Jacob Iverson and Tim Anable, both guns shooting scores of 33. Uh, Tim, just in case you forgot, your wife, Gitti, won her Ladies class, and also she beat your score. Gitti shot a score of 36. Just in case you forgot.

OK folks, next week our Arrays Impressarios Chuck & Darren will bring us Page 1 of The Great Equalizer Series, starting another rotation of the series. While this may seem like we are once again entering familiar territory, there is always the possibility that Chuck & Darren may occasionally throw us a curve ball, requiring extra attention and flexibility. Be Ready!!

Until next week then, we'll see you at the range where we'll practice diligently so we'll be ready for whatever the fates, and our Arrays Impressarios, may throw at us. Remember your proper techniques

and don't skip over the fundamentals. We'll see you next Sunday at 4:00PM and we'll see what is in store for us then. Remember the most important points of shooting:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL -

SHOOT SAFELY"

Hal

May 2, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Falling Plate Match Report

2011-05-02T22:42:00.001-07:00

22 Guns Entered Match won by Loren DeShon

2nd Place - Lee Lewis

3rd Place - George Flaherty

4th Place - Randa Aho

Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and the first of Two Falling Plate Matches in the month of May 2011. It was a pleasnt, if windy evening, with the temperature at 45degrees and a brisk 10-15mph wind.

No matter, the fervor of the competitors and the fever of the competition kept everyone warm. And I Have Some Good News For You Folks. I Have An Announcement!!!!

Our Head Stage Manager, Mathew Seagraves and our 4th Place Finisher tonight, Randa Aho Are Engaged!! Randa showed up for the match tonight tooled up for match competition, replete with a bright shiny diamond ring!!! Randa and Mathew, Congratulations from all of us. We all wish you a long, productive, loving life together.

Well done folks!!

After that bit of news, the results of the falling plate match will seem anticlimatic. Well, let's give it a try.

22 entered the match tonight. At the end of the preliminarys there were but 4 still in contention; Loren DeShon, George Flaherty, Lee Lewis, and Randa Aho. Lee Lewis put Randa Aho on the trailer, where she was observed staring at her new diamond ring. Not bad Randa, a new diamond ring and a fourth place finish. Congratulations.

Loren DeShon and George Flaherty dueled next, with the win going to Loren, exit George with a 3rd Place Finish. Well done, George. So it came down to Loren & Lee, each with a bunch of numbers on the board. They dueled back and forth about 5 times, and finally Loren had 2 numbers on the board to Lee's one number. At this point lee missed a plate, and Loren didn't. Duel and match to Loren DeShon, 2nd place to Lee Lewis, and that was the match for tonight. We'll see you in two weeks, May 16, 2011 at 6:00pm. Until then, practice hard, often and with the proper techniques. One can't get sloppy in this game, even if you're shooting a NightHawk. Always remember your priorities: 1) SAFETY 2) Accuracy 3) Speed. Take it from successful shooters:

"TRY AS YOU MIGHT, YOU CANNOT MISS FAST ENOUGH TO WIN."

Hal

May 2, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Falling Plate Match Report

2011-05-02T22:08:00.001-07:00

22 Guns Entered - Match won by Loren DeShon

2nd Place - Lee Lewis

3rd Place - George Flaherty

4th Place - Randa Aho

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and the first of two Falling Plate Matches in May, 2011. It was a pleasant evening but windy. 10-15mph winds cooled the 45degree temperatures, making sure no one got overheated in all the excitement.

May 1, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-05-01T21:50:00.001-07:00

16 Total Entries In Match

4 Ladies - Class won by Gitti Anable with a score of 29

2nd Lady - Crystal Wasson with a score of 28

3rd Lady - Chris Holts with a score of 22

1 Junior, Thomas Craft. Welcome to our sport, Thomas

9 Open - Class won by jay Schoonmaker with a score of 48

2nd Open - Hal Hansen with a score of 45

3rd Open - Tim Kopp with a score of 42

7 Limited - Class won by John Iverson with a score of 39

2nd Limited - Chuck Treat with a score of 36

3rd Limited - Jeff Morton with a score of 35

First, An Announcement: No Match Next Week, in honor of Mother's Day. Matches will resume May 15, 2011 at 4:00PM, as usual.

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club and the first Clays Match of May, 2011 - MAY DAY!! No parades of military hardware in RED SQUARE, no wood nymphs dancing & spreading flowers in the fields, just a lot of sunshine, puffy clouds, and competitive enthusiasm at the local gun club.

Our weekly thanks go out to our Match Staff. Thanks to our Match Director Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Chuck & Darren brought us Page 6 of The Great Equalizer Series today, which announces the end of another pass through another series of matches, and is the prelude to another

Helter Skelter Match May 15, 2011. For this week, let's take a look at what the shooters saw as they traversed Page 6.

Round 1

The top row sports first 2 Green Standards followed by 2 orange micros. The bottom row starts with 2 orange micros followed by 2 Green Standards. If entered in the Open Class, the orange micros are your targets. If entered in the Limited Class, it's the Green Standards. In either case, if successful in breaking all of your primarys, head to the center of the screen and engage The Black Micro In The Middle.

Round 2

The top row remains the same, but the clays on the bottom row change position so that they alternate, starting with the orange micro. If successful in breaking all of your primarys, the Black Micro In The Middle awaits.

Round 3

Now both the top and bottom row have all the clays alternating. On the top row the Green Standard leads off, and on the bottom row it's the orange micro. The Black Micro In The Middle though, is still in the middle.

Round 4

Now it's the top row that stays the same, and the bottom row puts the pairs together, starting with the 2 orange micros, followed by the 2 Green Standards. The omnipresent Black Micro In The Middle however, awaits as always.

Round 5

Now both the top and bottom rows start with 2 orange micros, followed by 2 Green Standards. This gives the impression of 2 boxes, the first comprised of orange micros, and the second by Green Standards. The Black Micro In The Middle awaits as always, and is as curious as I about the outcome of the match. So let's look.

In the Ladies Class, Brigette Anable took the win with a score of 29. In 2nd Place, Crystal Wasson trailed by 1 single point. Don't look back Giti,

the ladies are gaining on you. 3rd Place in the Ladies Class went to a new clays shooter, Chris Holts, who turned in a score of 22. Chris, welcome to

our sport. Hope we see you every Sunday.

In the Junior Class, we had only one entry, Thomas Craft, another new Clays Shooter. Welcome Thomas, the match is here at GHSC every Sunday, except next Sunday and when Sundays fall on Holidays, all year around. Hope to see you often as well.

In the Open Class, Jay Schoonmaker won it with a dominating score of 48. Following in 2nd Place was this reporter, Hal Hansen with a score of 45. This reporter would like to announce that he would have gotten a perfect 50, except he missed 5 clays. Rats!!

In the Limited Class, John Iverson won it with a score of 39. Chuck Treat took 2nd Limited with a score of 36 and Jeff Morton followed in 3rd Place

with a score of 35. Close Races!!

OK Folks, that's it for the first of May, 2011. We'll see you right back here in two weeks for another clays match. In the meantime,

don't forget the plate match right here at 6:00 PM tomorrow, Monday May 2, 2011. There will be a lot of great competition there too.

Come one and come all. Practice a lot, and shoot safely. Always remember the axiom:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!!"

Hal

April 18, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-04-18T21:55:00.001-07:00

17 Guns Entered - Match Winner, Loren DeShon

2nd Place - Hal Hansen

3rd Place - Thor Palm

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and another Monday evening Plate match. The weather at the start of the match was typical springtime; light overcast skies, bright, with the temperature at 50degrees.

Knowing it would cool off soon, all the heaters were on and life was good. Of course, shortly after the match started, a light rain began falling, but it only lasted a few minutes.

Many thanks to our Match Staff for another fine match. Mike Blondin, our Match Director, presented another fine and fun match. George Flaherty ran the scoreboard, the microphone, and shuffled and dealt the duels. Thanks George. Couldn't do it without you, If you ever get bored shuffling and dealing the duels at GHSC, bet you can become a dealer at a casino, with those flying fingers. Mathew Seagraves, along with help from several others, Mike and George included, had the stage set up and running, on time and ready to rock. Thanks guys, you all put on a fine match.

17 Guns entered the fray tonight, and by the end of the preliminaries, and the Sudden Death Finale, it came down to 3 Guns;

Loren DeShon, Hal Hansen, and Thor Palm. Thor was the next one to mount the trailer, leaving Loren with a boardful of numbers, and Hal with 2. The results were fairly predictable, and followed the paradigm set out in past matches. Hal was gone in Two, but kept the duels close. There is hope for mere mortals, even yet.

OK Folks, that's it for this week. We'll see you next Month, on May 2, 2011 at 6:00PM. In the meantime, you know the drill.

Let's give Loren & George a better challenge this summer. Until then, remember the axiom:

"THE RACE IS NOT ALWAYS TO THE FASTEST, BUT THAT'S THE WAY TO BET."

Hal

April 17, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-04-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

18 Guns Entered

2 Ladies - Class won by Carrie Morton with a score of 20

2nd Lady - Krystal Wasson with a score of 19

No Juniors today

5 Open Guns - Class won by Jay Schoonmaker with a score of 48

2nd Open won by Darren Foreman with a score of 46

3rd Open won by Chuck Nicodemus with a score of 36

13 Limited Guns - Class won by Chuck Treat with a score of 43

2nd Limited won by John Iverson with a score of 40

3rd Limited won by Tim Anable with a score of 39

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to another Clays Match at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club. For most

or the day today, the weather was fine, with blue skies and more than just a little sun. As the match approached, the sky clouded up and it started raining. Fortunately, as the match wore on, the skies dried out and it got a lot brighter. Temperatures started out at 52 degrees and by the end of the match the temperature was still 50 degrees. The heaters were all on, and the weather was the least of the shooter's worrys today. It should be noted that the wet start to our match can be laid directly at the feet of Jay Schoonmaker. Jay was heard to tell a fellow shooter that he had washed his car earlier in the day, so of course it rained. Jay, next time you want to wash your car, do it on Wednesday so Mother Nature can have her tantrum and the weather will still be ok for the weekend.

Thanks to our Match Staff for another great match today. Thanks to our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ, Doug Mclean, and to our Arrays Impressarios, Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman for producing another great match.

Our Arrays Impressarios, Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman brough us Page 5 of The Great Equalizer Series today. This target array set will hereafter be known as Lines and Shadows in honor of the straight lines of clays, both micros and Standards

that gradually worked their way from top to bottom and bottom to top. Round 1 started with 4 orange micros on the top row, and

4 Green Standards on the bottom row. In each of the following 4 rounds one of each of the clays changed from the top row to the bottom row and vice-versa, until for Round 5 the top row had 4 Green Standards, while the bottom row had 4 orange micros.

In each and every case of course, if the Limited Class shooters and the Open Class shooters all hit their primary targets, they go to the center of the screen and engage The Black Micro In The Middle. Let's see how we did today.

In the Ladies Class, Carrie Morton took the win in a very close duel with Krystal Wasson, 20 to 19. It doesn't get much closer than that. No Junior Class shooters were in attendance today, so let's go to the Open Class.

5 Guns entered the Open Class today, and Jay Schoonmaker took the win with a match high score of 48. 2nd Open was taken by Darren Foreman with a score of 46. 3rd Open today was won by Chuck Nicodemus with a score of 36.

13 Guns were entered in the Limited Class, with the class win going to our Arrays Impressario, Chuck Treat, shooting a score of 43. John Iverson took 2nd Limited with a score of 40, followed very closely indeed by Tim Anable with a score of 39.

Congratulations to all of our competitors for a fast, accurate, and most especially SAFE match. Now, an announcement!!

Next Sunday, April 24, 2011 is Easter Sunday. No Clays match!! Our clays matches will resume as usual the following Sunday, May 1, 2011 - MAYDAY - at 4:00PM. Use you time wisely. Pracice a lot, practice properly, and always remember the axiom:

"SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL!!"

Hal

April 10, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Clays Match Report

2011-04-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

Max Entry for the match - 20 Guns

3 Ladies - Class won by Crystal Wasson with a score of 26

2nd Lady - Jackie Frank with a score of 25

3rd Lady - Betty Blondin with a score of 18

2 Juniors - Class won by Jacob Iverson with a score of 39

2nd Junior - Kirk Foreman with a score of 30

10 Open Guns - Class won by Hal Hansen with a score of 46

Tie for 2nd Open between Jay Schoonmaker and Darren Foreman with scores of 45

3rd Open - Chuck Treat with a score of 44

10 Limited Guns - Class won by John Iverson with a score of 43

2nd Limited won by Jacob Iverson with a score of 39

Tie for 3rd Limited between Tim Anable and Gifford Silver with scores of 39

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to Sunday afternoon's weekly clays match review. We had a pretty nice day for the match today, at least for this time of year. The temperature at gametime was a moderate 52 degrees, and some sprinkles were in the area, keeping the dust settled. Clothing for the match competitors ranged from T-Shirts to warm jackets, but with the heaters on and roaring, cool temperatures were not a problem.

We had a maximum number of entries for today's match, 20, with the entries split evenly between Open and Limited, with 10 each. Of the 20 competitors, we had 3 Ladies, 2 of whom were new clays shooters. Welcome to Krystal Wasson & Jackie Frank. These ladies hit the ground running, placing 1st & 2nd respectively in the Ladies Class. Betty Blondin, a clays match veteran took third in the Ladies Class today, and the scores were close, very close indeed. Not a bad start ladies, we hope you had a great time and will return each and every Sunday afternoon at 4:00PM. Several other ladies didn't make the match today, and when all the Ladies that shoot clays at Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club get together, we will have a great class in which to compete.

We had two Juniors in attendance today, Jacob Iverson & Kirk Foreman, who finished 1st & 2nd respectively. Juniors, you are going to have to recruit some more shooters, if your class is going to keep up with the Ladies. When Brian Tinner rejoins the ranks of the clays shooters, that will make 3, and that's a good start.

Since we're on the subject of match results already, we still have the Open and Limited Classes to review. In the Open Class,

the results were once again separated by very, very little. This reporter, Hal Hansen, won the Open Class by one point, with a score of 46 The three class winners were each separated by one point, making the spread but 3 points for the top 4 finishers. It doesn't get any closer than that. A tie happened for 2nd Open, between Jay Schoonmaker and Darren Foreman, both with scores of 45.

Chuck Treat took 3rd Open, with a score of 44. WOW!!

In the Limited Class, John Iverson took the win with a score of 43. Son, Jacob Iverson took 2nd Limited with a score of 39,

which was also good enough to win the Junior Class as well. John & Jacob are making the Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club's Clays

Matches their family business. We had a tie for 3rd Limited between Tim Anable and another new clays competitor, Gifford Silver, both with scores of 35. It's great having new blood in our matches, and even better with the new shooters being very skilled and competitive. Welcome and congratulations on a competitive and SAFE match.

Thanks and congratulations as well to our match staff, for presenting such a competitive, SAFE and fun match. These thanks go to our Match Director, Chuck Nicodemus, our Scorekeeper and DJ, Doug McLean, and our Arrays Impressarios Chuck Treat and Darren Foreman. Gentlemen, the match was great, smooth and well run as usual, and we competitors appreciate it. Thank you.

Our Arrays Impressarios, Chuck and Darren, presented Page 4 of The Great Equalizer Series today. Next week it'll be Page 5 as we approach the end of another series. They don't get any easier as time goes on, so practice a lot, study and practice your priorities for efficient shooting: 1st - Safety 2nd - Accuracy and not until those prerequisits are firmly in hand does the shooter become concerned with SPEED!! The axioms; You can't miss fast enough to win comes only right after A SAFE MATCH IS A FUN MATCH. Practice a lot, practice properly, and always remember the shooters Creed:

"SHOOT FAST! SHOOT ACCURATELY!! BUT MOST OF ALL, SHOOT SAFELY!!!"

Hal

April 4, 2011 Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match Report

2011-04-05T00:14:00.001-07:00

15 Guns Entered MATCH WINNER: LOREN DESHON

2nd Place - George Flaherty

3rd Place - Mathew Seagraves

4th Place - Hal Hansen

Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome back to Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club, and our inaugural April 2011 Falling Plate match. It's spring in the Northwest, folks, and the skies opened up significantly for most of the match. No matter, both the umbrellas were out, all three heaters were out, the lights on the range all worked, and life was good. Late in the match, Mother Nature realized she couldn't compete with all of our amenities, and the rain quit. 15 guns entered the match tonight, everyone stayed warm and dry, so what's not to liike?

Many thanks to our Match Staff for presenting another fine match. It should be noted that when our Match Director Mike Blondin, our Head Line Marshall & Stage Manager Mathew Seagraves, and our Scorekeeper and DJ George Flaherty

arrived early to assemble the stage, the rains were drumming down. Undaunted, they perservered and had the stage fully assembled and dripping on time and ready to rock!! Thanks guys, we appreciate it. If it makes you feel any better, the weather is supposed to get worse for the next several days.

15 Guns entered the match tonight, and at the end of 5 Rounds, we were down to 4. Loren DeShon put this reporter, Hal Hansen on the trailer, leaving only 3; Loren DeShon, George Flaherty, and Mathew Seagraves. George & Mathew dueled next, with the victory going to George. A glutton for punishment, Mathew then drew Loren, who ended Mathew's evening, leaving Mathew with a 3rd Place Finish for the match. Not bad Mathew. This left Loren with 4 numbers, and George with 1. One of our plate racks suffered a cracked plate, so for the last part of the match everyone was dividing their attentions between the remaining 4

plates on the one rack, and intentionally not shooting at the corresponding center plate on the other rack. So, the duels generally involved runs of 4+1. The first run of the finals between George & Loren was no exception. Our Line Marshall, Mathew Seagraves makes the call: "Shooters, Load and Make Ready!" "Shooters Ready?" "Stand By!!" At the *TONE*

Loren and George go for it, and the Thunder Rolls. Loren runs his 4 plates and his popper in order, while George leaves one,

Duel and Match to Loren DeShon, 2nd Place to George Flaherty, 3rd Place to Mathew Seagraves, and because I write the match reports, 4th place to Hal Hansen.

OK Folks, that's it for another Gig Harbor Sportsmans Club Plate Match. We'll meet right here in two weeks, on April 18, 2011 at 6:00pm. We were happy to have two new shooters with us tonight; David Barker & Shawn Backus. Hope you had a good time gents, and that you'll make our bi-weekly event a regular one on your calendar. Come by here Sunday afternoons at 4:00pm

and give our Clays Matches a try as well. Try it, you'll like it :) For all of us, we know the challenges of this event. Practice a lot, and let's give the hot guns a challenge. Practice Gun Safety First, Concentrate on accuracy next, and when those skills are firmly in your grasp, then, and only then, go for Speed. Always remember the words of the pros. Know and practice your priorities.

They are laid out in the axiom we should all take to heart:

"SPEED IS FINE, BUT ACCURACY IS FINAL!!!"

Hal