Field Target Club

Airgunners of Arizona July 20, 2024 Match Report

Mormon Lake, AZ

Larry Piercy, match director

         It was 81 degrees when I left Mormon Lake after the monthly shoot. Two and half hours later it was 111 degrees when I pulled into my driveway in Mesa! Ugh! Not only are the temperatures great at Mormon Lake in the summer under the tall lodge pole pines, junipers, pinions, and live oaks that we shoot under but we have the San Francisco mountain peaks in the background! It makes for a pretty fantastic day of shooting, even if you do miss a target or two.

          To kick the weekend off 8 shooters showed up Friday afternoon to participate in a friendly Chicken Little Silhouette Match. I heard that the distances were stretched out to 80 yards this month because some “show-off” cleared the course last month and then the “show-off” didn't even show up. Regardless, based on the scores, 80 yards seems to have solved the perfect score issue. You can see the results below. Just for everyone's information, if you like shooting silhouettes there is going to be a major match held in Oklahoma City on August 12-16. Ranges from 25 to 500 yards with significant prize money being paid out. Contact Larry for more information.

          Saturday started with clear blue skies dotted by a few high wispy white clouds. Temps were in the high 60's and only reached the high 70's during the match. Thankfully our Treasurer, Mary Anne, came to take care of registration. What a BIG help! She took some pictures, too.

          During the match we had a ten-minute period of moderate rain with some little pea sized hail about 80% of the way through the match, but that was also accompanied by the usual 10 degree drop in temperature. I just hid my gear and myself under some trees and waited it out! I think that's what everyone did.

          We had 15 competitors show up to test their shooting skills this month. Fortunately, the breezes were very light so we had several high scores considering the course was just 0.4 Troyer points shy of being considered a “Hard” course at 29.6 Troyer. Andrew, Barry, David, John, Kent, and Larry set up a good mixture of “Hard” targets combined with several “Moderate” targets on Friday morning, including a sight-in range. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all these gentlemen. You are all valued members of the Club and that's what makes us the great Club that we are!

            Also, thanks to everyone who helped pull down the course on Sunday. This allowed several members to shoot the course a second/third time for practice/fun. And another special thanks to those who took all the equipment back to Scott's and Mary Anne's. They have volunteered their garage to store our equipment through the summer!

          Now for the results:
Chicken Little;

Steve – 38; Bobby – 36; Andrew – 34; Kent – 33; Sandy – 32; Van – 31; David – 26, and John – 24

Here are the field target scores;

We'll see everyone next month on August 17. I promise the temperature will be MUCH cooler and the scenery greener!

Respectfully Muttered,

Larry Piercy

President, Airgunners of Arizona