July Match Report
Saturday, July 18, 2026 - Mormon Lake, AZ
Barry Diehl, Match Director
Well, the club finally got to shoot our monthly match….and not a bowhunter in
sight. Plenty of remnants of their presence, though….. Barry was match director
this month, but did not shoot. From reports that were presented, he just basked
in the sunshine, attended to cold lanes (by WFTF shooters. Who else?), and just
enjoyed watching the festivities.
As reported, the weather was gorgeous! A little bit of rain during set up, none
during the day of the match, but rain again all night long. Temps during the
match ranged from 70° up to 74° with humidity from 58% up to 64%. Winds were
quite mild; between 2 and 3 mph from the SSW up to the WNW, with occasional
gusts between 10 and 13 mph. Sounds perfect to me! Not sure about cloud
cover, but knowing the area, it should have been all over the place, and
constantly shifting.
As for the match itself, 8 lanes / 3 targets per / two shots each / 48-shot match.
Thanks to John, Andrew, Carl, Kent, and Bobby for laying out and setting up the
course. There is a modified silhouette match that the guys use for warm up, and
something else for them to shoot, that they call “chicken little”. Matt was high
score with 41. Bobby had 38, Steve had 37, Kent and Andrew both had 36, and
Carl had 34.
As for the sanctioned AAFTA match, here are the scores and stats;
After the match, it was determined that 3 shooters tied with high score. A shoot
off was set up with a target set at 25 yards (KZ size ???) using a standing position
format. Not sure how many times they went back and forth, but Matt ended up
first, followed by Bobby and finally Cole in 3 rd position.
What made this even more interesting was the fact that Matt left his side wheel
at home! Didn’t realize it until he got to the match. What did he do? He
wrapped a piece of tape around the hub/nub of his scope and marked the
distances before the match! He ended up winning both the chicken little and the
match high scores!!! Unbelievable!
Cole brought both of his boys, Colben (age 12) and Cabe (age 8), along with his
father, to the match. Both of the boys did very well during the match, but what
Cole told me was that he had more fun watching the boys away from the match.
In addition to packing the requisite rifles for them to shoot, he also packed a
cheapy, Beeman P17 pistol. This is the pneumatically pumped pistol similar to the
higher end Weirauch pistol. The boys took turns shooting tin cans, pine cones,
and other targets of opportunity and used an entire tin of pellets! Sounds like
they had a ball, and provided endless entertainment for dad. What a good father
Cole is!
On another side note, seems like Steve M was using a new scope on his rifle. That
is the good news. The bad news is that it only focuses down to 25 yards. This
information should provide endless ribbing from his buddies. I know what would
happen if I pulled off this stunt! I would never hear the end of it. Hey Steve,
buddy, pal, friend? Get ready…….LOL!
Does the above sound like we have way too much fun when we get together each
month? You should see what happens when we get together each WEEK for our
TRAC matches on Tuesdays!! Yes, this group does have a knack for having fun!!
For those who can make it to our weekly TRAC matches at Ben Avery shooting
range, we meet every Tuesday. Our next monthly match will be back up at
Mormon Lake next month; August 15. Let’s see if my math is correct; 52 weekly
matches, plus 12 monthly matches equal 64 opportunities to have a good time
per year, not including practice! What more could you ask for???
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Kauffman
Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc
All you need is love……but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!