2005 Shoots Reports
By
12/31/05 Shooting Range Shoot
(Two officers, four members, three guests, and three sons (12 participants) had a great time at the 12/31/05 Shooting Range Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range. Five deer rifles, three .22’s, and three handguns were shot. David Sanchez got to shoot a .22 for the first time.
12/10/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Eleven participants (one officer, six members, two guests, and two sons) had a great time at the 12/10/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Nine shooters shot a new ten station course (the revised corporate course) that ran on both sides of the road. It began behind the dumpsters and the last station was just beyond the 5 stand course. There was a good mix of easy and hard targets. One station had two incomers that you almost had to shoot in self-defense. Some stations (usually the harder ones) had six birds and others had four birds. Tim Price came in first place with 37/50. Kenneth Kidd came in second place with 34/50 (his third best score). Isaac Price came in third place with 33/50 (his second best score). He was followed by Ron Denison and Joe Schram with 32/50 (both men’s second best score), Ken Miller with 30/50 (his third best score), Mark Dillow with 28/50 (his third best score), first time sporting clays shooter Robbie Yerby with 27/50, and Tyler Price with 23/50 (his second best score). Four of the eight shooters who were not first time shooters shot their second best scores and three shot their third best scores. Larry Dowden brought his new dog to get her used to gun fire but did not shoot. Thanks to Shooters Fellowship for providing hot coffee, juice, Kolaches, and pigs in a blanket. FCS member Joe Schram heads up Shooters Fellowship, which is a ministry to men who are on the skeet/trap/sporting clays tour and who do not participate in a church.
Several shooters also shot a round of skeet.
10/22/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Seventeen participants (12 shooters) had a great time at the 10/22/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. It was a beautiful day that was a little cool and windy, but it quickly warmed up. Once again, we shot the Corporate (hunter) sporting clays course. I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 42/50 (my second best, and the FCS second best score), Tim Price and Joe Schram came in second place with 41/50 (Tim’s second best, Joe’s best, and an FCS third best score), Bret Mercer came in third place with 39/50 (his best ever), he was followed by Isaac Price with 35/50 (his best ever), Mark Dillow with 30/50 (his second best ever), Jesse Price with 28/50 (his third best ever), Bruce Crockett with 27/50 (his best ever), first time sporting clays shooter, 11 year old Tyler Price with 26/50, first time sporting clays shooter and guest Mathew Rankin with 25/50, first time sporting clays shooter, 11 year old Chris Bell with 9/46 (10/50 equivalent), and first time sporting clays shooter, 11 year old Zach Kaufman, with 7/50. The combined group went 351/596 (.589). In total four shooters (not counting the four first time shooters) shot their best ever, three shot their second best, and one shot his third best. Station 1 had a slow bird that curved high from the left and a low crosser from right to left. Station 2 had two left to right birds that were far out and dropping. Station 3 had a bird that went straight out and slightly to the right followed by a screamer from right to left. Station 4 had two birds that went straight out from the shooter. Station 5 had a close teal that we shot 10 times. We shot 10 birds at each station. Joe Lung threw targets for my group. We had a record four ladies at this shoot. Tim Price broke his 1000th target on this shoot! It only took him 32 shoots. He is the first FCS shooter to achieve this feat!
Joe, Bret, and I had a good head-to-hear competition. Joe and I tied on our first station (the teal) and Bret was one bird behind. On our second station I went up by one over Joe and a total of three over Bret. On our third station I extended my lead over Joe to two and over Bret by five. On our fourth station Joe caught me and Bret caught up two. On our last station Bret and I went 10/10 and Joe missed one. Tim, who was in another group, really didn’t have any head-to-head competition.
Nine shooters also shot a round of skeet.
8/20/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Seventeen participants (16 shooters) had a great time at the 8/20/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Fifteen shooters shot all five stations on the Corporate (hunter) sporting clays course. Tim Price came in first place with 40/50 (he tied his second best score), Kenneth Kidd came in second place with 37/48 (equivalent to 39/50 and his best score), Gary McKenzie came in third place with 32/50 (tied his best). They were followed by me, Randy Rowley with 30/48 equivalent to 31/50), Jim Gault, first time Sporting Clays shooter Joe Schram, and Isaac Price with 26/50 (Jim’s best ever score and Isaac’s third best), Ken Miller with 25/50 (tied for his third best), Richard Garrett with 23/50 (his best ever score), Bruce Crockett with 21/50 (his best ever score), Jesse Price with 20/50 and Chris Rowley with 19/48 (equivalent to 20/50 and her best ever score), Regina Kidd with 14/48 (equivalent to 15/50, her second best score), Randy Gordon with 11/50 (tied his second best), and Dick Matteson with 6/50. The combined group went 350/740 (.473). In total five shooters (not counting the two first time shooters) shot their best, one tied his best, two shot their second best, one tied his second best, one shot his third best, and one tied his third best. Only two shooters did not shoot at least their third best. The first station had a repeat and on report bird that hung up in the air to the left of the shooter (too easy). The second station had a bird that went away from the shooter and curved to the left followed by a bird that went away slightly to the right. The third station had a fast bird that went low from left to right and a high slower bird that went right to left. The fourth station that a mini target that went slow from left to right followed by a screamer that went low right to left (you had to get it quick, or it went behind a big cedar tree). The fifth station had a high curver that went from left to right followed by a low screamer that also went left to right but was stationed in the middle of the field.
Tim , Kenneth, and Gary didn’t shoot in the same groups (we had three) so they didn’t have head to head competition. Jim and Isaac tied in their group and Joe, Ken, Richard, and Bruce had close competition in their group. First time guest Tom England also shot two clays. Kenneth and Paul Ellis had quite a contest. Kenneth jumped out to a four bird leave on their first station.
Five shooters also shot a round of skeet.
7/9/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Nineteen participants (18 shooters) had a great time at the 7/9/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Seventeen shooters shot five stations on the Corporate (easier) sporting clays course. I, Randy Rowley, and Tim Price tied for first place with 43/50 (we both tied our best scores, which are FCS records for sporting clays), Kenneth Kidd and guest Paul Ellis tied for second place with 35/50 (they both shot their best ever), Ken Miller and Ryan Rowley (who is back for two weeks of R&R from Iraq) tied for third place with 33/50 (Ryan’s best ever and Ken’s second best). They were followed by Gary McKenzie with 32/50 (his best ever), Kelvin Cheung with 29/50 (his best ever), Richard Corbin with 28/50 (his best ever), Jesse Price and first time guest and shotgun shooter Paul Schroeder with 26/50 (Jesse’s third best), first time guest and shotgun shooter Justin Painter with 25/50, Robin Rowley with 19/50 (her best), Isaac Price with 17/50, Zach Corbin with 16/50 (his best ever), Regina Kidd with 14/50 (her second best), and first time guest Angie Daniel with 5/50. This is the first time that we have had ties for all the top three positions. The combined group went 459/850 (.540). In total eight shooters (not counting the three first time shooters) shot their best, two tied their best, two shot their second best, and one shot his third best. Only one shooter did not shoot at least his third best.
The first station had a repeat and on report bird that went moderately fast and low from right to left. The second station had a bird that went high, slow, straight out, and dropped quickly and a low left to right bird that also dropped quickly. The third station had a bird going high, straight out, and slightly to the right and a slow bird coming towards the shooter at a left to right angle. The fourth station had a fast, low bird that went left to right (which required a big lead) and a hooking bird that went high and right to left. The fifth station had a high, moderately fast bird that went straight out but was 20 yards off to the left and a sneaky bird that came in through the bushes, curving towards the shooter, and dropping fast.
Tim and I and Ken and Ryan didn’t shoot in the same groups, so we didn’t have any head to head competition, but Kenneth and Paul Ellis had quite a contest. Kenneth jumped out to a four bird leave on their first station. He maintained his lead through their second and third stations. Paul caught up one on their fourth station. He caught up two on their fifth station. On the last station (we shot the first station twice) Paul beat Kenneth by one, and tied it up. Tim is noted for shooting 29 targets in a row and 36 out of his first 37 targets (before going 7 out of his last 13)! By comparison I shot 16 targets in a row and 34 out of my first 37 and then 9 out of my last 13.
Ten shooters also shot a round of skeet.
6/11/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Fourteen participants (12 shooters) had a great time at the 6/11/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. We shot three stations on the hard (master level course) and three stations on the Corporate (easier) course. First time guest John Carpenter came in first place with 39/50. Tim Price came in second place with 38/50. Ron Denison came in third place with his best (by far) 37/50. He was followed by Kenneth Kidd with 31/50, Jesse Price with 30/50, Isaac Price and me (Randy Rowley) with 29/50, Gary McKenzie with 28/50, first time guest Eric Willis with 24/50, Ken Miller with 23/50, first time guest and sporting clays shooter Robin Rowley with 18/50 (although most of her targets were singles), and Regina Kidd with her best 16/50. The last three targets were easy. The combined group went 210/312 (.673). The hard targets were significantly harder. The combined group went 132/288 (.458). In total the group went 342/600 (.570).
Tim Price really didn’t have any competition in his group, but John and Ron had quite a contest. Ron jumped out to a two bird leave on their first station. He maintained his lead through their second station. He went up by two more on their third station. John caught up two on their fourth station. On their fifth station John tied it up. On the last station John went 10 for 10, beating Ron by two.
Everyone but Robin and me also shot at least one round of skeet. Dick Matteson didn’t shoot (because his shoulder was bothering him) but he kept score for Tim’s group.
6/4/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Eleven participants (ten shooters) had a great time at the 6/4/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. The course was more challenging than on the 5/21/05 Sporting Clays Shoot but was not anywhere near as tough as the 3/26/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot. I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 34/50. First time FCS Sporting Clays Shooter, Kenneth Kidd, came in second place with 33/50. Tim Price came in third place with 30/50. He was followed by David Chalmers with 27/50, Warren Hoke with 26/50, Ken Miller with 25/50, Jim Gault with his best score of 23/50, Isaac Price with 22/50, Jesse Price with 12/50, and first time FCS Sporting Clays Shooter, Regina Kidd with 7/50. The first station had a high bird that came right towards and over the shooter and a high crossing bird. The second station had an easy bird angling at the shooter and a fast, climbing, crosser. The third station had a slow and easy mini with came over a tree followed by a right to left rocket. The fourth station had a mini teal followed by a left to right slow target that was dropping. The fifth station had a true pair coming towards the shooter at different angles. You had to shoot fast, or the second bird would be in the dirt. The last station had a far crossing bird at about a 45 degree angle and a low bird that zipped in front of the shooter that was coming in for a landing. The far crosser was, by far, the most difficult target. We went collectively 6/80 (7.5%). The Price’s and Jim also shot a round of skeet.
5/21/05 Sporting Clays Shoot
Ten participants (nine shooters) had a great time at the 5/21/05 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. The course was the easiest that it has been since at least 5/22/04, which was reflected by the scores. I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with my best score of 43/50 (which tied an FCS record for sporting clays, set by Tim Price on 8/28/99). Tim came in second with 39/50. Ken Miller came in third with by far his best score of 35/50. He was followed by Mark Dillow with his best 32/50, first time guest Joe Cleboski with 31/50, Kevin Wall and Isaac Price with their best 30/50, Jim Gault with his best ever 20/50, and Jesse Price with 19/50. Out of the eight shooters who were not first time shooters at an FCS Sporting Clays Shoot six shot their best scores (75%)! The group shot a total of 279/450 (.620). In comparison the group at our last shoot at Capitol City (the 3/26/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot) shot only 248/779 (.318). Tim and Jim broke 12 more birds than they did last time, Isaac broke 16 more, I broke 24 more, and Ken broke 25 more! The first station had a bird coming down off of a platform (the only one that skunked me) and a teal. The second station had crossing birds at different angles. The third station had a right to left crosser and a teal. The fourth station had a very close and shallow teal and a curving teal coming towards the shooter. The fifth station had a close crossing pair. The sixth station had two low birds from the left at different angles. We shot eight birds at each of the first five stations and 10 at the last one. Of note is the fact that, of the nine shooters, two who placed (Ken and me) also attended the 4/22/05 – 4/23/05 24 Hour Clay Target Shoot. I, for one, was much more confident after participating in that shoot. Ken’s best score before today was 10/50. He improved over his previous best score by 250%! The 24 Hour shoot is worth the $200 charge.
I jumped out to a one bird lead over Tim on station two and maintained it through station one (we flip-flopped shooting the stations to save time). On station five Time tied it up. On station four I regained my one bird lead. On station three I extended it to two. On station six I went 10 for 10. Without that stupid platform station I went 39/42. In Mark’s group Ken jumped out to a one bird lead over Mark. He maintained it through station two. On station three he extended his lead to three. On station five Ken extended his lead to six birds. On station four Mark went 8/8 and reducing Ken’s lead back to three. They tied on the last station. Joe and Kevin also competed closely in Mark’s group.
5/14/05 Concealed Handgun License (CHL) Class
Six participants (two officers and four members) had a good time at the first ever FCS CHL class on 5/14/05 at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range. We each shot 50 rounds in order to qualify (20 at three yards, 20 at seven yards, and 10 at 15 yards). We also shot for fun and practice during lunch. Dee Day, co-owner, was our instructor. She is a former teacher, a Christian, and did an excellent job. During the shooting qualification part of the course Ken Miller shot the best with 247/250. He was followed by Kenneth Kidd with 246/250, Mark Dillow and first time guest Kevin Coleman with 244/250, Derrich Pollock with 240/250, and me, Randy Rowley, with 226/250 (I’ve got night sights on my Springfield XD and they’re hard to see in the daylight; that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). Lunch was barbecue and all the trimmings.
“Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready” – Theodore Roosevelt.
4/22/05 – 4/23/05 Annual 24 Hour Sporting Clays Shoot
Ten participants (three officers, six members, and one guest) had a great time at the Annual 24 Hour Sporting Clays Shoot on 4/22/05 – 4/23/05 at the 74 Ranch Resort near Campbellton. The ranch has 15 stations that are in a circular course around an approximately 20 acre lake. Each station has a minimum of four throwers. One station had eight and another had six. Just about every imaginable target presentation was present including several rising teal, crossing shots, flushing quail, landing ducks, and rabbits. Three stations offered shots down into or out of a ravine. There were several stations over water and several more through trees. There were four throwers on top of a 40 foot tall platform and six throwers on top of twin 100 foot tall towers. Ron Denison shot a box and a half short of five cases. Derrich Pollock shot four cases and some change. Eddy Chance and David Quijano shot four cases. Ken Miller shot three and one half cases. Richard Garrett and I, Randy Rowley, shot three cases. Unlike regular sporting clays, where you shoot anywhere from four to ten shots and then move on to the next station, we were able to “camp out” at stations and stay there until we were good and ready to move on. It was easy to shoot three to four boxes at a single station. Eddy shot an entire case at one water station. Another water station had a wide peer that enabled five shooters to stand shoulder to shoulder and shoot at the same time. We would shoot and then reload as fast as we could and shoot some more. The thrower would just start pushing buttons on the remote throwers. There was no waiting for someone to say “pull.” This simulated live bird hunting very well. It was great to just keep trying a shot repeatedly until you figured it out. Several shooters shot triples. Ken Miller was the most improved shooter. By the end of the shoot he was hitting at least twice as many clays as he has in the past.
The meals were as follows:
Friday
Lunch – Roast with potatoes and carrots, rolls, deserts (two kinds of cheese cakes, fudge cake, and more), lemonade, and iced tea.
Dinner – NY strip steak, baked potatoes, mixed grilled veggies, rolls, more deserts, more lemonade and tea.
Saturday
Breakfast – Pancakes, bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, juice, and coffee.
Lunch – Beef stroganoff over bowtie pasta, steamed cauliflower and broccoli, rolls, more deserts, and more lemonade and tea.
The trip was well worth the $200.00 charge (not counting the price of shells).
3/26/05 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Two officers, nine members, four guests, and five sons (20 total participants) had a great time at the 3/16/05 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on an overcast and cool day. Tim Price came in first place with 27/50. Eddy Chance and Bill Smith tied for second place with 26/50. Jason Brelsford and came in third place with 24/50. He was followed by Richard Garrett and me, Randy Rowley, with 19/50, Larry Dowden with 16/50, Harold Terry with 15/50, Tim Little and Isaac Price with 14/50, Brian Brelsford with 13/50, Gary McKenzie with 11/50, Ron Denison and Ken Miller with 10/50, Jim Gault with 8/50, and Donna Little with 1/50. Some of the group also shot a round of skeet.