03-2017 March

The Sacramento Valley Field Target Club had its first match of 2017 on Sunday March 26 and apparently there were a lot of people going through field target withdrawals as we had 26 shooters show up for the match in less than ideal conditions. The overcast skies in the morning lightened up and the temperatures managed to climb into the 50's by mid match and we ended up with a nice day for shooting. Even the wind gods smiled on us, keeping the winds light and variable and usually at our back. The course was set for moderate difficulty and with the light winds a lot of great scores were shot. We had two shooters compete in their very first match and it was clear they were accomplished shooters as both TomK and SteveR shot over 50% for the day, a very impressive debut. We were also graced by two very capable lady shooters Wendy and Ashley who had an excellent day shooting.

The usual gang of seasoned shooters showed up and proceeded to show us that they had lost none of their skills over the winter. High score for the match went to our only WFTF PCP shooter RizM who managed to miss only 3 shots the entire day, Apparently Riz didn't put enough practice into his offhand shooting as all three shots he missed were on the offhand lane. Open Class was won by RonnieE shooting a very solid 53 to edge DaveC by one shoot. Two very impressive scores were turned in in WFTF Piston class with SonL shooting a 50 followed by JimP with a 46. CharlieL shot a great score of 45 to take the Hunter Piston class. The great shoot out took place in the Hunter PCP class where we had 15 shooters vying for the win. ScottSc put up a great score of 52 to win the class over 4 shooters who turned in scores of 49. Of special note were the performance of EvanL shooting a 49 in only his third field target match and of TakA who also scored a 49 shooting a 22 caliber Mutant Short bull-pup with a 9x scope. Lots of great shooting today by a lot of people.

After the match we had a light lunch and talked all things airgun. A few people took advantage of the range and got in some practice after lunch. As I was driving home a light rain began to fall, so our timing was perfect. As always a huge think you to all the shooters who come early and help with setup and who hang around after the match and help with course tear down.

Jim in Sacramento