Smithmoor March BPCR Match

[Cody Smith]

Fellow Shooters,
We were pleased with the great turnout yesterday for our St. Patrick's Day BPCR Silhouette match. 18 riflemen took a chance on the weather and came out to test their skills. The weather did not get as nice as I was hoping, but it still ended up an enjoyable day. Temperatures were in the 40's and a stiff south wind of 10-20 mph started about 9:30 and kept up all day. At times it made for some very challenging conditions as it was mostly a tail wind that caused vertical dispersion and it would shift back and forth from left or right. The mirage would also constantly switch. The conditions were readable and predictable, however, and it provided an excellent opportunity to learn. It was also an excellent opportunity for frustration as voiced by a couple of shooters….lol. I am not sure there is anything more enjoyable as being in tune with a good spotter, making large wind corrections, and ending up with a good score. It seldom goes that way, but when it does it is sure fun!
Momma Lorraine out did herself this month with a traditional St. Patrick's day feast. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots were the main course and Irish soda bread and Shamrock cake made super accompaniments. A giant tray of various salami, crackers and cheeses gave us some morning snacking, and my complaining of a lack of donuts resulted in a plethora of donuts. There was even a large box of 13 specially marked for "Cody Only." I am not sure where they came from, but I suspect Mark Pachares was so guilt ridden from eating all the donuts last match he may have been trying to redeem himself….
The match was surely entertaining this month with several bloopers and events of note. I will let those who committed the bloopers share their stories as they have endured enough laughter and ridicule already. Positive events included we saw the return of our old friend Dave Clark. Dave is really more like my uncle than an old friend and is actually the one who sparked my interest in this sport. Dave ordered a Shiloh Sharps back in the 90's and it was the very first one I ever saw. I knew right then that I wanted one of my own and I wanted to shoot it competitively one day. Thanks Dave for all of your help and support you have given me over my whole life.
Another great thing that happened this month was this was the first BPCR match for Cecil and Cole Sauer. First BPCR matches are always a learning experience. Just trying to get to the match with what you need, get your procedure down, and get all of your record shots off is a challenge, let alone to actually hit anything. Cecil, and especially young Cole did very well on their first match and they went home knowing what they need to work on. I am sure we will quickly see both of them improve and be in the winner's circle.
I also wanted to mention that we are seeing Dan Womer getting things figured out. He was elated to shoot 9 pigs this month and tied the high A score only losing by chicken count. It is really fun seeing him improve and enjoy himself. Also, Jim Rodebaugh shot his personal best this match with a 29. This is his second AAA score and I bet we see him move up soon. Hard work and practice pay off and we are seeing it pay off for both Jim and Dan. Good shooting fellas, we are proud of you!
High A class this month went to Tom Wengh with a 18 and 4 chickens. Wow! Good shooting Tom! AA class went to a very pleased Jim Rodebaugh with a 29, and AAA class went to Mark Pachares with a 25. Mark is still getting used to shooting a scope and I suspect we are all in trouble when he gets it figured out. I was tickled to shoot a 30 this month to be the match winner. Jack Odor was my spotter and was in fine form this month. On several of the animals we made wind corrections for every shot. I could not have done it without Jack's spotting and it was sure fun. Thanks Jack!
We are going to try to do a Historic Target Rifle match next Saturday at Smithmoor East. Contact me if you are interested in coming. The April 22 Spring Finale on April 14th is full and Coralee and I are finishing up plans for it. We are taking entries for the Memorial Weekend Regional Championship. Please think about entering as it promises to be a great match. We even have a new, really awesome trophy we will be awarding. The Smithmoor Cup will be awarded annually and each overall champion's name from the Smithmoor Regional Championship will be etched onto a nameplate and placed on the base. I sincerely hope this will become a prestigious honor and be awarded for many years. Thank you to Jack Odor and Michael Rix for their help with this.
Until next time, Cody Smith

Shooter Chicken Pig Turkey Ram Total Place
Master
Michael Rix 3 9 9 5 26
Jack Odor 4 8 7 6 25
Cody Smith 3 10 7 10 30 MW

AAA
Joe Kapler 1 10 4 7 22
Mark Pachares 1 10 6 8 25 1st
Travis Purdum 0 8 4 4 16

AA
Kevin Finney (Iron) 0 4 4 7 15
Pete Romanik 1 7 5 6 19
Jim Rodebaugh 4 9 7 9 29 1st
Steve Anderson 1 9 6 0 16
Greg Bybee 0 4 4 2 10
Gary Smith 0 8 3 5 16

A
Dan Womer 1 9 3 5 18
Dick Hennebry 0 7 4 5 16
Cecil Sauer 1 0 4 6 11
Cole Sauer 0 6 2 2 10
Dave Clark 2 5 4 2 13
Tom Wengh 4 8 3 3 18 1st

[Steve Anderson]

Better to out myself than someone else right?

I opened my range book for my sight settings and got ready for the match. First to shoot and the first target was the rams. I shot 16 times and nobody could find a bullet strike. No strikes on the sighter, none on the berm, none in the grass in front of the berm. We joked that my bullets were vaporizing. What could have happened. I checked my sight settings, and on one page I had the first settings recorded from when I put the scope on. Towards the bottom of the page was my settings for Quigley. Off to one side were small notes about November settings. Well when I installed the scope I didn't understand the gradients on the mount and effectively doubled all my settings. So a 36 moa I had down as 72 moa or close to that. Yesterday I forgot all that and promptly dialed in 30 moa more minutes than I needed to hit the rams.

Class, today's lesson. Organize your sight setting book. Be neat, concise and print legibly. It's also helpful class to make notes about the load, weather and anything else you think might be helpful.

Good grief I'm embarrassed. How can something so simple as shooting be so involved with so many things to remember? You would think one could recognize the error at a mere glance but no, this little boy didn't pick up on the settings be extravagant. Next time! Next time I'll put it all together and shoot a good score. Funny, I've told myself next time for probably 25 matches...

Once again, thank you Smith family for a great shoot. Great facilities, great food, and great company. You always make me feel so welcome, thank you. Steve

[Cody Smith]

So glad you are a part of our crew, Steve! Thanks for shooting with us and all of your support. Thanks also for sharing your story, we all got quite a chuckle out of it. The good news is, you probably won't ever do that again!

[Steve Anderson]

Cody, in the end I came away feeling pretty good about it all. In spite of the brain fart, the score wasn't that bad. I'm still confident and really do believe, next time! The gun is capable, and I think I'm capable. Just have to put all the pieces together. It's worse than a trying to keep puppies in a box. Thanks though.

[Don McDowell]

Steve I know a guy that got into a similar situation, and what that guy did was to start a new book for each rifle (those little pocket books they sell in 4 packs at Walmart work well). And at the top of each page in the book for a specific rifle (he uses and ear tag pen to mark the rifle on the cover) he puts the setting's down for each match, sight, and loads, and sometimes makes a notation of the conditions.