TRAC match – September 22, 2020

It has been only a few days since the Arizona State Championship and we still had 7 guys show up to shoot.  But what a weird day it was; heavy overcast and cloudy, and quite windy upon arriving on site.  We quickly set up our 5 lanes as usual, and the sight in range.  The wind was pronounced and kept shifting directions, even during sight-in.  First from the north, then shifting abruptly from the east.  At one point it worked its way around and came in from the south, then from the west and just as abruptly shifted to come in from the east again.  Very strange.

And get this; it RAINED!  We had just started the actual match and it rained rather hard for about 5 minutes or so, then tapered off.  About 10 minutes later, it did the same thing.  The temps during sight-in were in the low 80’s but once it started raining, it dropped quickly into the 70’s.  We finished the first half of the match, switched the target distances and got back to shooting when all of a sudden, the sun came out and we noticed for the first time that it burned through the overcast, leaving just a partly cloudy cover, but with more wind.  It was weird weather, but were glad we were under the canopy.  With the corrugated steel roof, it also got QUITE LOUD!  At the end of the match, the temp rose to about 90 degrees with 25% humidity.

We designated lane one as the off-hand lane with the other 4 lanes stretched out between 30 yards and into the 50’s, reminiscent of the state shoot. At the break the guys moved the target farther out still, instead of bringing them in closer.  Even the off-hand targets were moved farther out.

With the weather being weird, so were the scores.  Ben (Red Wolf) and the old man, Mike, (Thomas) tied with 33/40.  Also tied at 30/40 were Gene (Red Wolf) and Barry (Brocock Concept).  Van (Air Ranger) shot with us today and joined the club.  He shot 29/30.  Mark pulled out Miss Diana and shot 28/40 and Larry (Tsar) shot 24/40.  As noted by the scores, the windy conditions affected everybody today, and took no prisoners.

Next Tuesday will be the last shoot for September, but the guys, once again, indicated that they want to continue shooting, so the four Tuesday’s in October will be secured for our weekly foray.  If you have time and would like to join us, c’mon out.  The more, the merrier.  We were certainly quite merry today.

Oh, we did have BASF staff on site as well.  Our range liaison officer was cleaning up the mass mess of tumbleweed in the immediate vicinity and keeping watch to make sure we were maintaining social distancing.  We all behaved ourselves and he had no complaints.  This Covid-19 mess will end sometime, but until it does, we still have to be vigilant.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Kauffman

Secretary, Airgunners of Arizona, Inc.


Field Target Club