2009 Shoots Reports

12/26/09 “Bring in the New Year” Shooting Range Shoot 

One member had a good time at the 12/26/09 “Bring in the New Year” Shooting Range Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range.  Jeff Cates sighted in his new deer rifle.

12/26/09 “Rudolf’s Revenge” Sporting Clays Shoot  

One officer, one member, and three guests (five total participants) had a great time at the 12/26/09 “Rudolf’s Revenge” Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club during a bright and cool day.  The course had been slightly reset and was easier than last time, but the B bird on Station 6 was still very tough and the B bird on Station 3 gave us fits (we went 2/20 on it).  I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 43/50 (tying my second highest score at Capitol City).  Justin Painter came in second place with 39/50 (his highest score at Capitol City, beating his previous high score by nine birds!).  Bruce Crockett came in third place with 38/50 (his highest score, beating his previous high score by one bird).  He was followed by first time sporting clays shooter Michael Guzman with 29/50 and first time guest Justin Sheffield with 25/50.  Bruce has joined the 500 Club.  He has now broke 531 targets!

12/12/09 Sporting Clays Shoot 

One officer, four members, one guest, and two sons (eight total participants) had a great time at the 12/12/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.  The shooters are also known as the REAL MEN for braving a cold and drizzlely day.  The course had been reset and was easier than last time, but the B bird on Station 6 was still very tough.  I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 40/50.  Bret Mercer came in second place with 38/50 (his second best score, missing tying his best score by one bird).  Bruce Crockett came in third place with 37/50 (his best score, beating his previous best score by seven birds!).  He was followed by Drew Rowley with 27/50 (his second best score), first time FCS sporting clays shooter Don Jordon with 26/50, Jeff Cates with 11/50, and first time FCS sporting clays shooter Bayler Jordon, who is nine years old, with 5/50.  Case Jordon, who is six years old, fired three shots.  I led us in a Bible Study on being On Guard and Bruce dismissed us in prayer.

11/27/09 “Black Clouds Friday” Sporting Clays Shoot 

One officer and one member (two total participants) had a great time at the 11/27/09 “Black Clouds Friday” Sporting Clays Shoot at the Alpine Shooting Range in Fort Worth.  The Alpine Range has a 10 course station sporting clays course, a five stand game, several skeet/trap fields, rifle/pistol ranges, a 3D bow range, a taxidermy shop, a store, a gunsmith, and a kennel!  Their sporting clays course is long.  Some stations are more than 100 yards apart!  Consequently a golf cart and target thrower/scorer is included in the $20.00 fee (all the carts and throwers were taken when we arrived, so we walked and threw our own targets/kept our own score).  I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 44/50 (my third best score).  Roy Brigman came in second place with 34/50 (his best score).  The rest of the Rowley/Brigman/Anderson clan decided that they would play Xbox (the wimps!) rather than shoot.  The Rankin clan couldn’t make it.  Roy and I also shot our pistols and tried to sight in Roy’s new .22 (which proved impossible because his used scope would not adjust for windage).

11/14/09 Sporting Clays Shoot 

One officer, six members, two first time guests, and two sons (11 total participants) had a great time at the 11/14/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on a pleasant cloudy day.  I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 37/50.  Paul Ellis came in second place with 36/50 (tying his third best score).  Bret Mercer came in third place with 35/50 (Bret’s second highest score).  He was followed by first time guest Donald Kitchell with 33/50, Bruce Crockett with 30/50 (his highest score, beating his previous best by two birds), Ken Miller with 29/50, Thomas Palmer with 21/50 (his third best score), first time guests and shooters Alex and Colely Rowley with 16/50, Chris Rowley with 6/42 (equivalent of 7/50), and Mark Rowley with 1/8.  Most of us thought that the course was harder (this was the first time that it has been reset since August).  In particular we had a problem with the B bird on Station 6.  If it was a dove, I wouldn’t even bother to shoot at it as it was out of range.  We went a collective 14/50 on it.  I led us in a devotional on A Second Chance and Ken dismissed us in prayer.

10/10/09 Sporting Clays Shoot 

Two officers and two members (four total participants) had a great time at the 10/10/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on a cool and overcast day.  The course was essentially the same as last time, with only some slight trajectory changes on a few targets.  Mark Dillow went 8/8 on the first station and never looked back.  He ended with first place and his new record of 41/50 (beating his previous record that he shot on 9/26/09 by four birds).  I, Randy Rowley, came in second with 38/50.  Bruce Crockett shot his high score and came in third place with 28/50 (beating his previous record by one bird).  Ken Miller was next with 26/50.  I led us in a Bible study on Heaven’s Rain.

9/26/09 Sporting Clays Shoot 

Two officers, five members, five guests and two youth (14 total participants) had a great time at the 9/26/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.  It was partly cloudy with no wind.  Our only complaint is it was a bit warm.  I, Randy Rowley, set a new FCS sporting clays record at Capitol City with 45/50, beating our old record by two birds.  Mark Dillow and Ryan Rowley tied for second place with 37/50 (Mark beat his old high score by five birds and Ryan beat his old high score by four birds).  Jerry Stafford came in third place with 34/50 (he beat his old high score by eight birds).  He was followed by Thomas Palmer with 31/50 (using his new Franchi I12 shotgun; he beat his old high score by four birds), Justin Painter with 30/50 (he beat his old high score by four birds), first time sporting clays shooter Brad Roberts with 28/50, Ken Miller with 25/50, Bruce Crockett with 21/50 (using his new Browning Maxus shotgun), first time FCS sporting clays shooter Justin Dillow with 21/50, first time shotgun shooter Jonathan Painter with 17/50, and Clay Stafford with 13/50 (he beat his old high score by two birds).  Robin Painter shot 9/26 but became ill and had to go sit in the car.  She was on a pace to shoot 17/50.  Lori Stafford also attended but did not shoot.  Thomas Palmer led us in an excellent devotional that explored “Why do we follow Jesus?”

Mark Dillow credits his improved shooting to a Champion EasyHit fiber optic sight that is endorsed by Tom Knapp.  The sight affixes to ventilated ribs via an adhesive strip.  It teaches you proper head alignment (the sight will not glow unless you mount your gun correctly), corrects cross-eye dominance, and allows you to learn to shoot with both eyes open.  Not only did Mark beat his high score today by five birds, but he beat his average by 15 birds!

Randy put a HiViz Magni-optic fiber optic sight on my gun about 18 months ago.  It does the same thing as the Champion sight but is shorter and attaches via a screw (you have to take the bead off and then use removable Lock-Tite).  Not to be bragging, but since putting on the sight Randy has come in first place 10 times and second place four times during his past 14 shoots (winning 71% of the time).  Prior to putting on this sight he had won 29% of the time.  Of course, he cannot say how much the sight is responsible for his streak, but he is sure that it has been a major factor.  Mounting his gun correctly consistently has never been a problem for him, so the main differences that this sight has made is it allows him to shoot with both eyes open (which increases his field of vision by 50%), helps him to focus on the bird and not the sight, and because it replaces the front bead it is of the proper height (most of the magnetic fiber optic sights are elevated above the bead, which results in the shooter always shooting below the bird).

8/15/09 Sporting Clays Shoot

Five members and two guests (seven total participants) had a great time at the 8/15/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.  It was a hot morning with a slight breeze.  Paul Ellis came in first place with 41/50 (his best score by three birds).  Ken Miller came in second place with 35/50 (tying his high score).  Dustin Allen came in third place with 29/50 (his first FCS shoot at Capitol City).  He was followed by Bruce Crockett and Thomas Palmer with 27/50 (Bruce tied his high score and Thomas shot his best score by seven birds), Buddy Allen with 24/50 (his second best score), and Charles Cutchens with 20/50 (Charles was shooting a 20 gauge).  Thanks to Ken for heading up this event.

7/11/09 Sporting Clays Shoot 

Four members had a great time at the 7/11/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.  It was a hot morning with a steady south wind and some cloud coverage.  Ken Miller came in first place with 28/50.  Thomas Palmer came in second place with 20/50 (tying his best score).  Bruce Crockett came in third place with 17/50.  He was followed by Jeff Cates with 14/50 (his second best score).  Jeff had problems with his gun so he then used Bruce’s and Ken’s and did considerably better.  Thomas gave a short talk on John chapters 3 – 5 and then shared his salvation testimony.  Ken also shared his salvation testimony.  Bruce dismissed the group in prayer.  Thanks to Ken for heading up this event.

6/20/09 Sporting Clays Shoot  

Five members, five guests (including four first time guests), and one son (11 total participants) had a great time at the 6/20/09 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on a hot day.  Larry Dowden came in first place with 35/50 (he also joined the 500 target club – he has now broke 504 targets at FCS sporting clays shoots).  First time guest Ed Moerbe came in second place with 33/50.  Eddy Chance and Bret Mercer tied for third place with 31/50 (this was Eddy’s second best score and he was using Jordon’s youth shotgun).  They were followed by first time FCS sporting clays shooter 16-year-old Matthew Moerbe with 27/50, Justin McCarty with 26/50 (his best score), Bruce Crockett with 20/50, first time FCS sporting clays shooter Greg Moerbe with 18/50, first time guest Steve Gracie with 14/50, and first time guest 13-year-old Amanda Moerbe with 7/50.  First time guest Jeff Allen shot 11 targets but did not shoot all of the targets at every station.  The Moerbe clan also shot a round of skeet.  Larry told the history of FCS, why we formed the group, and that Christ was the center of our reason for FCS.  They dismissed in prayer.  Thanks to Larry for heading up this event.

6/13/09 Ducks Unlimited Fun (Sporting Clays) Shoot

One officer and five members (six total participants) had a great time at the 6/13/09 Ducks Unlimited (DU) Fun (Sporting Clays) Shoot on the 1700 acre Texas Disposal Systems (TDS) Ranch and Pavilion near Creedmore. For round one Randy Rowley came in first place with a Club record score of 46/50 (breaking the former Club record by three birds). Tim Price came in second place with 42/50 (his second best score). Jim Gault came in third place with 38/50 (his best score, breaking his previous record by 12 birds). He was followed by Charles Cutchens with 34/50 (his best score, breaking his previous record by 10 birds), first time FCS sporting clays shooter Robby Wilson with 21/50, and Jeff Cates with 9/50 (his second best score).

For round two (a different course), Randy came in first place with 41/50, Jim came in second place with 32/50 (his second best score), and Jeff came in third place with 17/43 (he didn’t shoot 50 birds because he ran out of shells; this is the equivalent of 20/50 and was his best score). The targets on the first course were easy (all were either incoming or outgoing). The second course was more difficult, particularly the fourth and fifth stations. Jeff shot considerably better on the second course using Charles’ semi-automatic instead of his pump. These were our 99th and 100th FCS clay target shoots!

In addition to sporting clays we shot their flurry game. Three automatic throwers threw a random bird at the rate of one bird second, throwing a total of 30 birds! Shooter one shot the first two birds and then started to reload. Shooter two then shot birds three and four and started to reload and so on. Randy and Tim came in first place with a Club record 27/30. Jim and Charles came in second place with 23/30. Tim and Robby came in third place with 22/30.  Jim and Robby and Jim and Charles also shot 21/30, Tim and I shot 20/30, and Robby and Jeff shot 12/30. We were given a ticket for each bird that we broke. At the drawing Charles won the first (a Charles Daly pump shotgun) and third (a set of glasses) place prizes and Robby won the second place prize (an engraved DU fixed hunting knife with sheath)!

The TDS Ranch is beautiful and has dozens of African, Indian, and other exotic animals. We saw Blackbuck Antelope, Axis Deer, Kudu, Gemsbuck, Oryx, Impala, Zebra, Red Deer, Giraffes, and a rhino!

Lunch consisted of brisket, chicken, ribs, sausage, potatoes, beans, and sweet tea. It was yummy!

5/16/09 Sporting Clays Shoot  

 One officer and four members (five total participants) had a great time at the 5/16/09 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on an overcast and muggy day.  They changed the angles on a couple traps on stations five and six, which resulted in a tougher course than last time.  Randy Rowley came in first place with 37/50.  Ken Miller came in second place with 33/50 (tying his second best score).  Bret Mercer came in third place with 31/50.  He was followed by Bruce Crockett with 18/50 and Thomas Palmer with 7/50.  I started out hot, breaking 28/32, and was on a pace to break the FCS sporting clays record (43 – held by Ron Denison, Tim Price, and me).  However, the 5th station dashed my aspirations and I didn’t do much better on the 6th, finishing 9/18.  Randy led the group in a Bible Study called Rough Water.  Thomas had a friend join him after the Bible Study for a round of skeet.

5/1/09 -5/2/09 24 Hour Sporting Clays Shoot @ 74 Ranch Resort (report by Mark Dillow)

Three officers and three members (six total participants) traveled to the highly acclaimed 74 Ranch near Campbellton, TX on Friday, 5/1/09 for another epic 24 hour sporting clays shoot.

We got an early 6:00 AM start to beat traffic in both Austin and San Antonio, meeting at IHOP in New Braunfels for breakfast at 8:00 AM.  After a hearty meal (though it was the smallest we would eat for the next 24 hours), we hit the road and arrived ahead of schedule at the ranch (actually about 2 hours early).

Manager Milo Abercrombie met us in the parking lot, and after signing our waivers, we got to the business of burning shells and busting clays.  Shooting was going to prove to be a challenge as we had winds of about 20 mph that day…though we were thankful for them as south Texas can get a little toasty this time of year.

Since we arrived early, and our party had the whole facility to ourselves, and made good use of it upon our arrival.  We shot for about an hour before lunch was served.  After lunch of absolutely huge cheeseburgers, we headed back out to the range and shot until around 2:30 PM, when sore shoulders and the heat encouraged a break.  We took a couple of hours to rest and fellowship in the lodge, with a couple members opting for a quick siesta.

Around 4:00 PM we headed back out to the field, where we began to pick up the pace with as many as four shooters on the line at a time, with one of us pulling random targets as fast as we could.  It sounded like a dogfight as we called targets out that we could get to so our buddies could blast them to smithereens.

Dinner was at 7:00 PM and was headlined by rare beef tenderloins with baked potatoes, salad, and at least four different kinds of pie (plus Blue Bell).  We waddled out to the lodge for some relaxing in the main room and a little television and more fellowship.  Stories of hunts and FCS events from years past flowed from our memories and many belly laughs were had…though we had to subdue our laughter a bit as our bellies were still pretty tight from our meal.

After a great night’s sleep, a couple of unnamed officers (both of whom drive oversized white 4X4’s), were up early and shooting by 7:00 AM.  As we drove out in our golf cart, we encountered another member getting in his morning run, trying to burn off the calories from the previous day.  We shot for an hour, then drove our shootin’ buggy back to the dining room by 8:00 AM for a breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, cat head biscuits, and pancakes (no pie this time).

The morning winds were calm, but picked up throughout the day.  The temperature was very pleasant.  After our meal we attacked the sporting clay field, with one member burning up a full case of shells on the famous duck tank station.  Most of us shot about six boxes, and this was definitely the favorite station of the day.  We were laughing and hooting, teasing and encouraging one another all morning.  Great times.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and as the morning wore on, our pace began to slow.  Though we never thought it could be so, we all gradually began to tire of the constant recoil, and so eased into the lodge to load our belongings and say farewells to our host Milo.

Vehicles loaded, we headed north, with sunburns, sore shoulders, and smiles of great memories made with old friends and new.

Presidents note: thanks to Mark for leading this event.

4/11/09  FCS Open (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays and Luncheon)

Seven participants – one officer, four members, and two first time guests (both of who became members) had a great time at the 4/11/09 FCS Open (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays and a Luncheon) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club despite it being a cool, overcast day.For the first round we shot the Corporate/Hunter course.  Capitol City finally reset that course (they hadn’t reset it in at least four months) and it was overall more challenging.  There were a couple stations that were easy but a couple that were hard.  For the first round Randy Rowley came in first place with 37/50.  Charles Cutchens came in second place with 24/50 (his best score).  First time guest Flint DeShazo came in third place with 20/50.  He was followed by first time guest John Lange with 19/50, Bruce Crockett and Eric Koog with 18/50, and John Bobo with 11/50.

We then grilled beef and chicken fajitas, peppers and onions, and cooked rice and beans.  Randy led a Bible study on Practice.  For the second round the group shot the Masters course, which hasn’t been done in three years.  Right off the bat they realized that they weren’t in Kansas anymore.  The first station had traps around 50 yards away.  Randy said that he wouldn’t have shot at the targets if they were dove because they were out of effective range.  The next four stations didn’t get any better.  Randy decided that this course had to be designed by Satan and his minions.  They then ran into a guy who told them that they were shooting the hard end of the Masters course – that there were six hard stations, six medium hard stations, and six less hard stations.  They shot the medium hard stations to finish up.  Randy came in first place with 24/50.  Bruce Crockett came in second place with 12/50.  Eric Koog came in third place with 10/50.  He was followed by Flint DeShazo with 6/50.

3/14/09  Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot

Eight participants – one officer, three members, and four guests (three were first time guests, one of which became a member) had a great time at the 3/14/09 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club despite it being a cold, overcast day.  Larry Dowden came in first place with 40/50 (this was Larry’s best sporting clays score and his second best score – his best score was on a five stand shoot).  Randy Rowley came in second place with 38/50 (becoming the first FCS member to break over 2000 targets).  First time guest Justin McDaniel came in third place with 37/50.  He was followed by Ken Miller with 24/50, Thomas Palmer with 20/50 (his best score), first time guest Justin McCarty with 19/50, first time guest/new member Eric Koog with 12/50 (his second time to shoot sporting clays), and first time FCS sporting clays shooter Gary Schriber with 5/50.  Several men also shot a round of skeet.  Randy led the group in a devotional called First Time.

2/14/09  Sporting Clays Shoot 

Two officers, six members, seven guests (including two first time guests), and three sons (18 total participants) had a great time at the 2/14/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club despite a cold and estimated constant 25 MPH north wind that made the targets challenging, to say the least.  Randy Rowley’s streak of three first place wins in a row came to a screeching halt.  Joe Schram and Paul Ellis tied for first place with 38/50 (Paul tied his best score).  Randy came in second place with 35/50.  Ron Denison came in third place with 33/50.  He was followed by Bret Mercer and Beau Harger with 30/50 (Beau’s third best score), Jake Morton with 29/50 (his best ever), Ken Miller with 27/50, Jerry Strafford with 26/50 (his best ever), Drew Rowley with 19/50 (his third best score), first time guest Stephen Marlow with 17/50, Thomas Palmer with 16/50, Bruce Crockett and first time guest Shawna Valerius with 13/50, Jake and Alex Denison with 12/50, and Clayton Stafford with 11/50 (his best ever).  Lori Stafford fired one shot.  We skipped the Bible study due to the wind and cold.

1/10/09  Sporting Clays Shoot  

One officer, one member, three guests, and three sons (eight total participants) had a great time at the 1/10/09 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club despite a cold and estimated constant 30 MPH south wind that made the targets challenging, to say the least.  Randy Rowley came in first place with 35/50.  Tim Price came in second place with 34/50.  Isaac Price came in third place with 31/50.  He was followed by Tyler Price with 17/50, Jerry Strafford with 16/50, first time FCS sporting clays shooter Clayton Stafford with 8/50, and Jeff Cates with 6/50.  Lori Stafford was an observer.