Field Target Club

TRAC match – December 8, 2021 – Gene Crist homestead, Phoenix, AZ

We were fortunate to have Gene and his wife, Alna, open their home to us to shoot a TRAC match due to not being able to utilize the R/S range at BASF.  We wish to thank them immensely for their generosity.

We had 6 shooters in attendance in Gene’s “back yard”.  Gene and his wife own a trapezoidal shaped property at the end of a cul-de-sac, just northeast of Carefree Hwy and I-17.  Gene set up five lanes using his targets, some of old man Mike’s targets, and a few club targets in our usual format of 2 targets per lane / shoot thru once, move targets / shoot second half / 40-shot match.

Three lanes were facing west, with lane one designation off-hand.  One lane was facing north (the long leg – his back wall is over 100 yards long), and one lane was facing northwest INTO his unused chicken coops!  He has three unused chicken coops and he set up a weasel target about 6 feet inside one of the coops, and an owl (one of Mikes, and wall-mounted) about 12 feet inside of another.  These were tough targets as they were dark colored, inside the shaded coops, and were a wooly-bugger to see, let alone range find and then shoot them.  What a neat set-up!

Old man Mike was top dog again shooting 40/40 with his Thomas

Gene shot 37/40 with his Redwolf (watch out for him, he’s getting good!)

Barry shot 36/40 with his Redwolf

Mark shot 30/40 with his Diana D54 springer-dinger (as Mike refers to it)

Wayne shot 26/40 with his Brocock Sniper (he just joined the club)

Scott shot 23/40 with his .22 cal Marauder

The weather today was gorgeous!  We had our sweatshirts off before the match started and the day warmed up to the mid-70’s.  Because of the shape and physical layout of Gene’s property, the wind was a real Bee-itch!  The NWS called for 5 – 10 mph with 20 mph gusts, and it was all of that AND swirling around the buildings with Gene’s wind flags blowing every which way.  Mike claims he doesn’t have a problem using those 13+ grain pellets at about 1500 fps and 60 fpe.  We are gonna have to bring a chronograph with us one of these days.  Maybe it’s his diet.  He only eats red meat!  Lot’s of it!  LOL!

Next Tuesday and for the remainder of the month (Tuesdays) we will be back at the Rifle silhouette range at Ben Avery shooting facility.  Come out and join us if you are retired, off for the holidays, winter-visiting, or just need to get the heck out of the house!

Don’t forget, our monthly match is Saturday, December 19.  Less than two weeks away.  It will be on the pistol silhouette range.  We will send a reminder out the week prior.

The guys wanted a match report today, especially Mike.  He likes to gloat when he wins.  He also likes to drop random doggie deposits (from Gene’s 2 hounds) onto the firing line where the rest of us will be shooting.  After the organic frisbee episode at the October match at Mormon Lake, we think he has a poop fetish.  We haven’t caught him chewing on any…….yet, but they are just recycled red meat…….to him!  Whatever trips your trigger…….

Respectfully submitted (sorta)

Mark Kauffman

Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.