The Jungle Run is particularly difficult to film. At the July Dundee club match, I only got one small video clip, which faded out when the camera was unable to focus on the action.
It seems only fitting that this discontinuous video reflect the audio clip from Wolfman Jack's on-air dialogue with a 13-year-old listener.
Ten IPSC targets, 3 steel at the end, The Hobo Brasser runs in the jungle ... no YouTube version available here..
.
Showing posts with label Dundee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dundee. Show all posts
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Dundee July 2009 (Stage 5): V2
The fifth stage of the July, 2009 DUNDEE club match provided lots of ways to err, but most of the competitors handled the shooting problem with a minimum of urps.
There were 4 IPSC "Classic" targets, overlayed with no-shoot "penalty targets", on either side of a stacked-barrel barrier. The stage was symmentrical, each side providing the Classic Target arrays, plus steel "Pepper" targets cunningly arrayed so that the competitor couldn't see a Popper until he/she downed the target in front of it.
Pepper Popper, US Popper. Pepper Popper, US Popper. That was the game plan, but many shooters took the larger "Pepper Poppers" first, to reveal the smaller (and usually farther away ... up to fifty feet) U.S. Poppers.
On this 24 round stage, I personally took the right side and then reloaded with another 17-round magazine, giving me a total of 18 rounds for the 8-round array. I ran out of ammo before I could take down the farthest US Popper and declined to reload to re-engage a small, far-away steel target which I had already shown myself unable to hit at that distance.
Others chose a different approach, and almost everyone beat me at that stage.
If I seem to belittle my squad-members in the accompanying video (available at YouTube here), that's misleading. If fact, most people on my squad performed much better than did I, and I was pleased to record their accomplishments on video.
Of course, I also recorded their faults. Perhaps it's that I have a mean streak, but more likely I wanted to depict the difficulties of this "Evil Bill" stage.
You can see this video on YouTube without the musical background here, but you can also view "the whole thing" (although you cannot download it) below.
There were 4 IPSC "Classic" targets, overlayed with no-shoot "penalty targets", on either side of a stacked-barrel barrier. The stage was symmentrical, each side providing the Classic Target arrays, plus steel "Pepper" targets cunningly arrayed so that the competitor couldn't see a Popper until he/she downed the target in front of it.
Pepper Popper, US Popper. Pepper Popper, US Popper. That was the game plan, but many shooters took the larger "Pepper Poppers" first, to reveal the smaller (and usually farther away ... up to fifty feet) U.S. Poppers.
On this 24 round stage, I personally took the right side and then reloaded with another 17-round magazine, giving me a total of 18 rounds for the 8-round array. I ran out of ammo before I could take down the farthest US Popper and declined to reload to re-engage a small, far-away steel target which I had already shown myself unable to hit at that distance.
Others chose a different approach, and almost everyone beat me at that stage.
If I seem to belittle my squad-members in the accompanying video (available at YouTube here), that's misleading. If fact, most people on my squad performed much better than did I, and I was pleased to record their accomplishments on video.
Of course, I also recorded their faults. Perhaps it's that I have a mean streak, but more likely I wanted to depict the difficulties of this "Evil Bill" stage.
You can see this video on YouTube without the musical background here, but you can also view "the whole thing" (although you cannot download it) below.
Dundee July 2009 (6): Way Over There
In the last stage of the July Dundee match, I tried to get as many squad-members on video as I could. We were all fairly ready to go home (or to lunch at Abby's Pizza in Newburg ... Giant Linquica pizzas and beer, yum yum!)
The stage is an odd one: start in the Guard Shack, engage 3 IPSC targets with 3 shots each, knock down the 3 pepper poppers (one of which is 'forward-falling'), and clean the 5 plates on the Texas Star. The stage instructions read: "Start in the Guard Shack, do what you usually do." It assumes we know what that means ... and although there was some ribald humor occasioned by the stage procedures, we did, indeed, do what we usually did. What a great way to end a Summer Match!
I filmed The Hobo Brasser, Erik, and as a change up I even have a video of The Geek doing his Limited best on this 23-round stage with lotsa awkward steel (including a straight-up Texas Star). The video also includes relatively new shooter Mike S., the surprising John M, and the high-light of the squad, Jerry D.
The most interesting part of this match was Jerry D. He was shooting an 'old' STI (black finish, no frills, with a C-more) and he did it very well ... although none of us could remember ever seeing him at a match before.
I finally, on this last stage, asked Jerry why he shot so well when we didn't remember him.
"Well, I haven't shot IPSC since 1990" he replied.
Where was the last match he shot?
"Tri-County", he replied, citing a local club.
The story is, Jerry D. signed up with another local shooter, Rich B., whose membership number is 5*.
"But surely that's a Lifetime membership member, Jerry. What's YOUR membership number?"
He cited a middle 3-digit (5**) USPSA Membership number.
Wow, I thought. The Hobo Brasser and I consider ourselves 'old-timers' in USPSA because our membership numbers are mid-1*,*** but Jerry D is truly one of the Pioneers of USPSA.
"So tell, me, Jerry, why is Rich's lifetime membership so low, but you didn't take the lifetime membership option"
He said, "I thought it was a waste of money to pay for the lifetime membership. I just signed up for the annual membership. I didn't think it would last this long."
For those people who don't think that Practical Shooting is an addictive sport, I have to say ... it's hard to stay away.
This is a 3:25 minute video. There's a raw version of the video on You Tube, but if you want to see it with music, click on the embedded video below. (Match scores available here.)
The stage is an odd one: start in the Guard Shack, engage 3 IPSC targets with 3 shots each, knock down the 3 pepper poppers (one of which is 'forward-falling'), and clean the 5 plates on the Texas Star. The stage instructions read: "Start in the Guard Shack, do what you usually do." It assumes we know what that means ... and although there was some ribald humor occasioned by the stage procedures, we did, indeed, do what we usually did. What a great way to end a Summer Match!
I filmed The Hobo Brasser, Erik, and as a change up I even have a video of The Geek doing his Limited best on this 23-round stage with lotsa awkward steel (including a straight-up Texas Star). The video also includes relatively new shooter Mike S., the surprising John M, and the high-light of the squad, Jerry D.
The most interesting part of this match was Jerry D. He was shooting an 'old' STI (black finish, no frills, with a C-more) and he did it very well ... although none of us could remember ever seeing him at a match before.
I finally, on this last stage, asked Jerry why he shot so well when we didn't remember him.
"Well, I haven't shot IPSC since 1990" he replied.
Where was the last match he shot?
"Tri-County", he replied, citing a local club.
The story is, Jerry D. signed up with another local shooter, Rich B., whose membership number is 5*.
"But surely that's a Lifetime membership member, Jerry. What's YOUR membership number?"
He cited a middle 3-digit (5**) USPSA Membership number.
Wow, I thought. The Hobo Brasser and I consider ourselves 'old-timers' in USPSA because our membership numbers are mid-1*,*** but Jerry D is truly one of the Pioneers of USPSA.
"So tell, me, Jerry, why is Rich's lifetime membership so low, but you didn't take the lifetime membership option"
He said, "I thought it was a waste of money to pay for the lifetime membership. I just signed up for the annual membership. I didn't think it would last this long."
For those people who don't think that Practical Shooting is an addictive sport, I have to say ... it's hard to stay away.
This is a 3:25 minute video. There's a raw version of the video on You Tube, but if you want to see it with music, click on the embedded video below. (Match scores available here.)
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Dundee Crap Shoot
It's not easy to write about Tim's performance on Stage 6 of the June, 2009 Dundee Points Match.
He did everything right, and it looks good on video (youtube link here). He moved quickly from one shooting position to the next, even though the stage was deliberately designed to tempt the shooter to be hesitant during movement. He was accurate from each shooting position, showing no signs of being out-of-breath or otherwise impaired by his rapid movement between one side of the bay and the other.
Looking good, Tim!
Note that there were no attempts to add music to the video. Just as well, they would have silenced it anyway, the maroons can't avoid the suits presented by music producers.
He did everything right, and it looks good on video (youtube link here). He moved quickly from one shooting position to the next, even though the stage was deliberately designed to tempt the shooter to be hesitant during movement. He was accurate from each shooting position, showing no signs of being out-of-breath or otherwise impaired by his rapid movement between one side of the bay and the other.
Looking good, Tim!
Note that there were no attempts to add music to the video. Just as well, they would have silenced it anyway, the maroons can't avoid the suits presented by music producers.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
All Crossed Up
This is the story of five shooters who shot stage 5 ("All Crossed Up") at the June, 2009 Points Match at Dundee Oregon.
The stage itself was another sperm donation from Evil Bill.
Who else could include Classic "Amoeba Targets", Pepper Poppers, U.S. Poppers, small plates that "Pop Up" a shoot target, nearly as many penalty targets as shoot targets, arrays which could only be seen, let alone engaged, from the very furthest (real word, I looked it up) corner of the legal shooting box, fault lines and vision barriers and barrels, oh my!
All of that effort for Evil Bill to construct his demonic playground.
It's enough to say that the stage, while not exactly a 'memory stage', was enough to make strong men weep, women to batter their men, horses bolt in terror, and small children to have nightmares which will doubtless be passed via genetically damaged DNA unto the seventh generation.
In a word: I liked it.
Starting with an unloaded pistol lying flat ("no props!") on the table, fingers interlaced on top of your beanie, grab the gun and run ... loading the first mag as you go. Some of us managed this more gracefully than others, but when you got to the corner of the railroad-track shooting box, you were permitted to shoot a small plate and two Amoeba targets at the far, downrange opposite corner of the range. This distance was, by actual measurement, approximately 1.5 kilometers away. Or, far enough that the blurry fat front sight on my STI Edge covered the plate entirely. Note to self: if you can't see the plate, you can't hit it. The bullet is still rising, so aim LOW for goodness sake!
After a flurry of shooting and making up misses, screaming like a banshee "I Am So F***ED" (actual fact, you'll see it but you won't hear it in the video), and dodging no-shoots as if you were stepping carefully over an open sewer, you arrive at the other side of the bay to discover that you had another teensy tiny plate to knock down before you are allowed to engage the final Amoeba Target.
The Texas Star was hard, but I mean this Mother of Demons was HARD!
But maybe it was just me. I did actually see my front sight a couple of times. I ignored it, it ignored me. I and my Front Sight have a dysfunctional relationship, and it showed.
Getting back to the Five Shooters, this is who and what you will see in the video:
[Don't bother watching it. YouTube has completely deleted the audio track, including the stage sounds. Instead, scroll down and watch the video embedded by Blogspot. I only left it in here because somebody might want to see a large-format version of the video -- with crappy music dubbed in.]
UPDATE:
YouTube has been emasculated. It won't allow inclusion of an audio track which has not been 'pre-approved'. Most of these tracks (including those labeled "rock") are Elevator Music. Ptfffff! on them.
Okay, I'll include the video with the least-wimpy audio track I could find, something named ... hell, I don't know. Who cares?
Now that you've seen it in big format with wuss music, I'll embed the original (small format ... sorry) version with The Doors doing "Roadhouse Blues".
[This takes forever to upload ... I sincerely hope it downloads faster.]
Anybody actually shown in this video, email me and I'll send you the original (16MB, 5'20")l version, with music to match the action.
What a bunch of maroons. YouTube, you have lost your kewl and I am outta your teensy weensy world for future serious action videos.
The stage itself was another sperm donation from Evil Bill.
Who else could include Classic "Amoeba Targets", Pepper Poppers, U.S. Poppers, small plates that "Pop Up" a shoot target, nearly as many penalty targets as shoot targets, arrays which could only be seen, let alone engaged, from the very furthest (real word, I looked it up) corner of the legal shooting box, fault lines and vision barriers and barrels, oh my!
All of that effort for Evil Bill to construct his demonic playground.
It's enough to say that the stage, while not exactly a 'memory stage', was enough to make strong men weep, women to batter their men, horses bolt in terror, and small children to have nightmares which will doubtless be passed via genetically damaged DNA unto the seventh generation.
In a word: I liked it.
Starting with an unloaded pistol lying flat ("no props!") on the table, fingers interlaced on top of your beanie, grab the gun and run ... loading the first mag as you go. Some of us managed this more gracefully than others, but when you got to the corner of the railroad-track shooting box, you were permitted to shoot a small plate and two Amoeba targets at the far, downrange opposite corner of the range. This distance was, by actual measurement, approximately 1.5 kilometers away. Or, far enough that the blurry fat front sight on my STI Edge covered the plate entirely. Note to self: if you can't see the plate, you can't hit it. The bullet is still rising, so aim LOW for goodness sake!
After a flurry of shooting and making up misses, screaming like a banshee "I Am So F***ED" (actual fact, you'll see it but you won't hear it in the video), and dodging no-shoots as if you were stepping carefully over an open sewer, you arrive at the other side of the bay to discover that you had another teensy tiny plate to knock down before you are allowed to engage the final Amoeba Target.
The Texas Star was hard, but I mean this Mother of Demons was HARD!
But maybe it was just me. I did actually see my front sight a couple of times. I ignored it, it ignored me. I and my Front Sight have a dysfunctional relationship, and it showed.
Getting back to the Five Shooters, this is who and what you will see in the video:
- The Hobo Brasser, with his new 'shorty' open gun which shoots as flat as a carpenter's level. I never liked that man.
- The Geek, shooting the Iron-Sight EDGE in 10mm, experiencing the first ever SQUIB and dropping 5 penalties for one FTE and 4 mikes when it was shown that there were lights on but Nobody Home.
- Dave, doing his best to Make The Geek Look Good with his jam-o-matic singlestack. You may miss the caption in the video, but he ended up with one ... ONE! ... bullet left when he finished this, the last stage in the match for the squad.
- Adam, also shooting Open, with the gun that wouldn't quit and acting like it was just another (Ho Hum) 28 round stage. Again, you'll have to watch the video closer than I did (another guy I never liked ... no problems, what's the fun in that?) but I'm not sure that he even bothered to reload. Okay, he probably did. Once.
- Ken, the new shooter who safely completed his first ever USPSA match. The guy is cold steel, man. Even though he temporarily lost count of his targets, he managed to turn and kill the last diagonal plate-and-popup with the grace of a Princess and the finesse of a bull-dozer. He liked it. He's good. He's hooked. Two Thumbs Up for a newly minted IPSC fanatic.
[Don't bother watching it. YouTube has completely deleted the audio track, including the stage sounds. Instead, scroll down and watch the video embedded by Blogspot. I only left it in here because somebody might want to see a large-format version of the video -- with crappy music dubbed in.]
UPDATE:
YouTube has been emasculated. It won't allow inclusion of an audio track which has not been 'pre-approved'. Most of these tracks (including those labeled "rock") are Elevator Music. Ptfffff! on them.
Okay, I'll include the video with the least-wimpy audio track I could find, something named ... hell, I don't know. Who cares?
Now that you've seen it in big format with wuss music, I'll embed the original (small format ... sorry) version with The Doors doing "Roadhouse Blues".
[This takes forever to upload ... I sincerely hope it downloads faster.]
Anybody actually shown in this video, email me and I'll send you the original (16MB, 5'20")l version, with music to match the action.
What a bunch of maroons. YouTube, you have lost your kewl and I am outta your teensy weensy world for future serious action videos.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Can You Count?
Despite my best intentions to edit and post all 19 of the videos I filmed at last weekend's match at Dundee, I have only been able to compile two of them in one video.
"Can You Count?" (CM 06-03 USPSA Classifier) is a 20-round stage which challenges the participant to draw, shoot and reload quickly. It also requires that the shooter can break the habit of shooting each target only two times -- sometimes, this is the more difficult challenge, because you know we get into a rut.
It's not very exciting to watch this stage, until someone screws it up. That's the signal for your friends to tease you mercilessly ... if they have already shot the stage successfully.
But when you don't perform to your own expectations, and it's because your gun isn't running right, jocularity is not the most welcome response from the Peanut Gallery. (youtube link here)
One thing about this classifier: the stage procedures are flawed.
It's not fatally flawed, it just doesn't make it clear about the penalties for failing to follow the written procedure.
Here's the situation we encountered (not involving the two gentlemen shown in the video).
The course procedures read:
I was keeping score, and the Range Officer asked me what the penalty should be.
"One procedural, for not reloading when he was suppose to" I replied.
Some of the folks in the squad took issue with that call. I reminded them that there was no advantage gained, so only one procedural penalty ... for not strictly abiding by the written stage procedure ... was justifiable.
In return, they quoted the sub-text in the stage procedures:
However, I suggested that they (the dissenting squad members) take the question to the Match Director. In the absence of a Range Master, in a club match the M.D. gets to make these difficult decisions.
They returned from their discussion with the M.D. with the word that it was officially ruled that "per-shot" penalties would be applied.
I didn't agree, and I counseled the 'offending' competitor that he had the right to request arbitration. I said that I would speak on his behalf. He didn't think it was that big a deal, and quietly accepted the additional penalty points.
I don't know if this issue has been addressed by John Amidon, or if a 'ruling' has been published in this kind of situation.
But it kind of ticks me off, you know? I have the strong suspicion that clubs interpret the rules differently.
Not that it makes a big difference; in this kind of quick-and-dirty stage, if you get even one penalty point it pretty much takes you out of the running for a good stage score.
Still, it was a relatively new shooter, and I don't like it when the "Wheels of Justice" grind so exceedingly fine.
Have any of you bumped up against this stage, this vaguely worded procedure?
I would be interested in any comments which discuss the subject. Obviously, I think I'm right. It doesn't make any difference at all to the match, at this late date. But I am ... dissappointed ... at what I perceive to be an injustice.
This is what I do to relax. The competition shooting, I mean. I don't like to argue about the rules, so it makes me turn surly when the rules seem unfairly applied.
Okay, so I do enjoy a lively debate.
Anybody out there think that the "Per-Shot Penalty" should have been applied here?
"Can You Count?" (CM 06-03 USPSA Classifier) is a 20-round stage which challenges the participant to draw, shoot and reload quickly. It also requires that the shooter can break the habit of shooting each target only two times -- sometimes, this is the more difficult challenge, because you know we get into a rut.
It's not very exciting to watch this stage, until someone screws it up. That's the signal for your friends to tease you mercilessly ... if they have already shot the stage successfully.
But when you don't perform to your own expectations, and it's because your gun isn't running right, jocularity is not the most welcome response from the Peanut Gallery. (youtube link here)
One thing about this classifier: the stage procedures are flawed.
It's not fatally flawed, it just doesn't make it clear about the penalties for failing to follow the written procedure.
Here's the situation we encountered (not involving the two gentlemen shown in the video).
The course procedures read:
On signal, from Box A only:One of the squad members got a couple of shots into T2 before he remembered that he was suppose to reload. So he reloaded, and completed the rest of the stage without error.
String 1: Engage T1 with five rounds only. Perform a
mandatory reload and engage T2 with five rounds
only.
String 2: Engage T3 with five rounds only. Perform a
mandatory reload and engage T4 with five rounds
only.
Targets within a string may be engaged in any
order without penalty
I was keeping score, and the Range Officer asked me what the penalty should be.
"One procedural, for not reloading when he was suppose to" I replied.
Some of the folks in the squad took issue with that call. I reminded them that there was no advantage gained, so only one procedural penalty ... for not strictly abiding by the written stage procedure ... was justifiable.
In return, they quoted the sub-text in the stage procedures:
Failure to perform reload is per-shotfired [sic]"Yes", I agreed, "... there is a significant advantage gained if NO reload occurs, especially in a stage with a total elapsed time of something like 10 seconds. But the shooter DID reload. He just didn't reload when he should have. He should only be penalized for not strictly following the stage procedure. The per-shot penalty is invoked ONLY if he didn't reload -- which he did."
penalty.
However, I suggested that they (the dissenting squad members) take the question to the Match Director. In the absence of a Range Master, in a club match the M.D. gets to make these difficult decisions.
They returned from their discussion with the M.D. with the word that it was officially ruled that "per-shot" penalties would be applied.
I didn't agree, and I counseled the 'offending' competitor that he had the right to request arbitration. I said that I would speak on his behalf. He didn't think it was that big a deal, and quietly accepted the additional penalty points.
I don't know if this issue has been addressed by John Amidon, or if a 'ruling' has been published in this kind of situation.
But it kind of ticks me off, you know? I have the strong suspicion that clubs interpret the rules differently.
Not that it makes a big difference; in this kind of quick-and-dirty stage, if you get even one penalty point it pretty much takes you out of the running for a good stage score.
Still, it was a relatively new shooter, and I don't like it when the "Wheels of Justice" grind so exceedingly fine.
Have any of you bumped up against this stage, this vaguely worded procedure?
I would be interested in any comments which discuss the subject. Obviously, I think I'm right. It doesn't make any difference at all to the match, at this late date. But I am ... dissappointed ... at what I perceive to be an injustice.
This is what I do to relax. The competition shooting, I mean. I don't like to argue about the rules, so it makes me turn surly when the rules seem unfairly applied.
Okay, so I do enjoy a lively debate.
Anybody out there think that the "Per-Shot Penalty" should have been applied here?
Thursday, April 09, 2009
USPSA Videos! Get your USPSA Videos right here!
Here is the link to all of the Geek internet-access Videos from past matches. (You Tube, of course.)
I try to provide as many helpful Internet resources as possible to students in the Introduction to USPSA" classes.
This is one good way to show what a Practical Pistol match looks like. Obviously, the selection-for-publication process usually serves only to show events which are intrinsically interesting. IPSC is not, after all, a Spectator Sport.
As an example, here's Yong Lee on "The Doors" stage from a Croc Dundee Banzaii Ballistic "You Got Bullets" match (from 2005)
If you don't think his 21 second time is impressive, I offer that I took 70 seconds to complete the same stage, and I breezed right past one entire target array AND I was cautioned by the Range Officer that I 'almost broke the 180) when engaging the back-leaning targets behind the barrels ... which are the last targets that Yong Lee engaged in this video.
Did I mention that Yong Lee was the Stage Winner?
I try to provide as many helpful Internet resources as possible to students in the Introduction to USPSA" classes.
This is one good way to show what a Practical Pistol match looks like. Obviously, the selection-for-publication process usually serves only to show events which are intrinsically interesting. IPSC is not, after all, a Spectator Sport.
As an example, here's Yong Lee on "The Doors" stage from a Croc Dundee Banzaii Ballistic "You Got Bullets" match (from 2005)
If you don't think his 21 second time is impressive, I offer that I took 70 seconds to complete the same stage, and I breezed right past one entire target array AND I was cautioned by the Range Officer that I 'almost broke the 180) when engaging the back-leaning targets behind the barrels ... which are the last targets that Yong Lee engaged in this video.
Did I mention that Yong Lee was the Stage Winner?
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Dundee - Geek Steel
No, I didn't impress anyone at the Dundee match this weekend.
I was lucky to end up 25th of 60 competitors, 11th out of 14 Open Shooters, 6th of 7 B-Open competitors.
But it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the match. Long ago I realized that I was not 'competitive', and I have been rewarded by any stage where I felt that I have performed near the limits of my ability.
Here, on Stage 6 ("S"), we were challenged to weave a tortuous labyrinth to engage 9 IPSC targets and 11 steel targets ... five of which were on a Texas Star and 6 on a Plate Rack. I took a couple of extra shots on the Star, and another couple of extra shots to take down the Plate Rack.
I could have done better ... most of my direct competitors did a better job ... but I was only a tenth of a second slower than the next-faster B-Open shooter for the exact same score.
Perhaps it would have turned out better if I would have practiced a time or two this year, but this didn't happen.
I'm not unhappy with my performance. To have done better, I would have needed to work at it.
This probably exemplifies the best I can do without practice, on a stage where I was the first shooter in the squad, and in a match which was very challenging.
No, I'm not making excuses. To do well at IPSC/USPSA competition requires a dedication which I just don't feel this year.
For me, the important thing is ... I had fun this day, and there were times when I did better than I expected. I got to see my friends, I got to shoot up a lot of ammunition, and (as long as I don't have films of all the people who shot the stage much better than I did), I looked good on video!
How much better does it get?
I was lucky to end up 25th of 60 competitors, 11th out of 14 Open Shooters, 6th of 7 B-Open competitors.
But it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the match. Long ago I realized that I was not 'competitive', and I have been rewarded by any stage where I felt that I have performed near the limits of my ability.
Here, on Stage 6 ("S"), we were challenged to weave a tortuous labyrinth to engage 9 IPSC targets and 11 steel targets ... five of which were on a Texas Star and 6 on a Plate Rack. I took a couple of extra shots on the Star, and another couple of extra shots to take down the Plate Rack.
I could have done better ... most of my direct competitors did a better job ... but I was only a tenth of a second slower than the next-faster B-Open shooter for the exact same score.
Perhaps it would have turned out better if I would have practiced a time or two this year, but this didn't happen.
I'm not unhappy with my performance. To have done better, I would have needed to work at it.
This probably exemplifies the best I can do without practice, on a stage where I was the first shooter in the squad, and in a match which was very challenging.
No, I'm not making excuses. To do well at IPSC/USPSA competition requires a dedication which I just don't feel this year.
For me, the important thing is ... I had fun this day, and there were times when I did better than I expected. I got to see my friends, I got to shoot up a lot of ammunition, and (as long as I don't have films of all the people who shot the stage much better than I did), I looked good on video!
How much better does it get?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Jungle Run Slippage
I actually attended a USPSA match last weekend, Saturday. I didn't impress anybody ... I haven't been doing much actual shooting for the past year, and it shows ... but I had a lot of fun and I enjoyed the people in my squad.
In fact, I was having so much fun that I didn't drag the camera out of the range bag until the last stage of the match ... the Jungle Run.
Tell you the truth, I didn't even care very much that I wasn't filming the match, except that I missed a lot of 'funny stuff'. I decided that I would film a couple of shooters. It was sheer guilt.
Just my luck. I caught one lady shooter doing a very respectable job on the stage, and then I filmed another lady shooter in the most embarrassing moment possible: a Match Disqualification.
A bit of background is in order here.
The Jungle Run is an unimproved trail through ferns, low bushes and other moisture-loving foliage. The trail parallels a creek, and is in the middle of a small swale which traps moisture. The soil is clay, which traps and holds moisture in all but the driest summer months. Consequently, the trail is almost always a slippery surface, and in the competitors rush to move between targets it's all too easy to over-run your forward-leaning body posture. The slightest miss-step will pitch you head over tea-kettle, which is exactly what happened here.
I've seen it a dozen times. It's the kind of thing which makes the Dundee "Croc Match" an especially challenging exercise, but it's a Widow Maker.
Here's Judith, who demonstrated a classic Jungle Run stage. This version required the shooter to engage only 8 targets, but three shots were scored on each target with a final scoring 24 shots.
The video is classic, as is the stage. The first stretch of the trail is within the view of the starting point, although this is not a "Surprise Stage". The end of the trail is hidden from view, so all we know of it is that there are 'more targets'.
Then we see Kim's execution of the stage, and from the available footage it's impossible to see what she has "done wrong".
What happened is, Kim slipped on the wet surface and fell forward on the slippery rail. The impact jarred the pistol from her grip, resulting in a Match DQ because she lost control of her firearm. I don't know if the muzzle of her pistol broke the 180, and it doesn't really matter. As soon as she dropped the gun, the Range Officer (Brad) shouted WHOA! and took charge of the situation.
Brad did what he was suppose to do, and Kim demonstrated that she was a real Lady by accepting the consequences without Histrionics or any protest.
Well, it's a "Gun Down!" situation, what can you do?
Unfortunately, I have seen far too many competitors shift to Denial Mode at Warp Speed, but Kim was above all that. It speaks well for her competitive-but-not-excessively-so mindset that she was willing to accept the Match DQ with equanimity.
I liked Kim through the match, and I was impressed by her demeanor.
As he Common Wisdom had it;
"If you must DQ, it's best to do it on the last stage of the match. At least you don't miss out on most of the Fun Stuff".
It's worth mentioning that she had some bad luck on the first run (she was the first squad member to shoot the stage), but her score was not recorded. She was reshooting the stage when she DQ'd.
If nothing else, this serves to prove that a reshoot very rarely improves one's score.
Tough luck, Kim. But you recovered like a champion.
In fact, I was having so much fun that I didn't drag the camera out of the range bag until the last stage of the match ... the Jungle Run.
Tell you the truth, I didn't even care very much that I wasn't filming the match, except that I missed a lot of 'funny stuff'. I decided that I would film a couple of shooters. It was sheer guilt.
Just my luck. I caught one lady shooter doing a very respectable job on the stage, and then I filmed another lady shooter in the most embarrassing moment possible: a Match Disqualification.
A bit of background is in order here.
The Jungle Run is an unimproved trail through ferns, low bushes and other moisture-loving foliage. The trail parallels a creek, and is in the middle of a small swale which traps moisture. The soil is clay, which traps and holds moisture in all but the driest summer months. Consequently, the trail is almost always a slippery surface, and in the competitors rush to move between targets it's all too easy to over-run your forward-leaning body posture. The slightest miss-step will pitch you head over tea-kettle, which is exactly what happened here.
I've seen it a dozen times. It's the kind of thing which makes the Dundee "Croc Match" an especially challenging exercise, but it's a Widow Maker.
Here's Judith, who demonstrated a classic Jungle Run stage. This version required the shooter to engage only 8 targets, but three shots were scored on each target with a final scoring 24 shots.
The video is classic, as is the stage. The first stretch of the trail is within the view of the starting point, although this is not a "Surprise Stage". The end of the trail is hidden from view, so all we know of it is that there are 'more targets'.
Then we see Kim's execution of the stage, and from the available footage it's impossible to see what she has "done wrong".
What happened is, Kim slipped on the wet surface and fell forward on the slippery rail. The impact jarred the pistol from her grip, resulting in a Match DQ because she lost control of her firearm. I don't know if the muzzle of her pistol broke the 180, and it doesn't really matter. As soon as she dropped the gun, the Range Officer (Brad) shouted WHOA! and took charge of the situation.
Brad did what he was suppose to do, and Kim demonstrated that she was a real Lady by accepting the consequences without Histrionics or any protest.
Well, it's a "Gun Down!" situation, what can you do?
Unfortunately, I have seen far too many competitors shift to Denial Mode at Warp Speed, but Kim was above all that. It speaks well for her competitive-but-not-excessively-so mindset that she was willing to accept the Match DQ with equanimity.
I liked Kim through the match, and I was impressed by her demeanor.
As he Common Wisdom had it;
"If you must DQ, it's best to do it on the last stage of the match. At least you don't miss out on most of the Fun Stuff".
It's worth mentioning that she had some bad luck on the first run (she was the first squad member to shoot the stage), but her score was not recorded. She was reshooting the stage when she DQ'd.
If nothing else, this serves to prove that a reshoot very rarely improves one's score.
Tough luck, Kim. But you recovered like a champion.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Crazy Croc 08: Jungle Run and G.R.
I showed up for the first day of the Crazy Croc match today, and I had a wonderful time. Lots of folks were there and stopped by to say howdy, and ask after SWMBO. (Sorry: her name is Sandie.)
I talked to a lot of people, took a bunch of pictures (more video!) and generally had almost as much fun as if I had actually been competing .. except I had no stories about how I would have ended up with a much better score if only... [insert your own alibi here. Extra points will be given for creativity.]
Eventually I ran out of camera batteries and storage space on the video storage devices (SD). That was okay, because I ran out of energy at about 2:30 pm, when everyone who was competing still had another stage to go before their day was ended.
As I said to Mac: "In this context,I'm self-employed. My word day is over when I say it is over, not when the Schedule says I am done."
Shortly before the end of my working day, and late enough that the light was not 'right' for filming on most stages, I found my self on the Jungle Run stage.
Actually I had clambered down the hill immediately after shoot- through competitorGary Pete Ray to ask CRO Loren if I could film some of his clients in the Jungle Run stage, "Paradise Valley".
He said "Okay By Me, Pal" in the most gracious way, and suggested that Sherrie would appreciate seeing the Jungle Run Stage in action.
Loren and Sherrie work on this stage all year long just to get it ready for this match.
I'm working from a laptop, and under some significant time constraints, so I won't go into the reasons why I think it's important to post this video 'tonite'. I only want to recognize the support that Sherrie and Loren have provided for SWMBO, and for me.
Well, I also want to emphasize the bald-face fact that many competitors at The Croc Match have found themselves saying: "I would travel here for this Jungle Run Stage only, even if the rest of the match wasn't so fun."
Let's go to the video:
I talked to a lot of people, took a bunch of pictures (more video!) and generally had almost as much fun as if I had actually been competing .. except I had no stories about how I would have ended up with a much better score if only... [insert your own alibi here. Extra points will be given for creativity.]
Eventually I ran out of camera batteries and storage space on the video storage devices (SD). That was okay, because I ran out of energy at about 2:30 pm, when everyone who was competing still had another stage to go before their day was ended.
As I said to Mac: "In this context,I'm self-employed. My word day is over when I say it is over, not when the Schedule says I am done."
Shortly before the end of my working day, and late enough that the light was not 'right' for filming on most stages, I found my self on the Jungle Run stage.
Actually I had clambered down the hill immediately after shoot- through competitor
He said "Okay By Me, Pal" in the most gracious way, and suggested that Sherrie would appreciate seeing the Jungle Run Stage in action.
Loren and Sherrie work on this stage all year long just to get it ready for this match.
I'm working from a laptop, and under some significant time constraints, so I won't go into the reasons why I think it's important to post this video 'tonite'. I only want to recognize the support that Sherrie and Loren have provided for SWMBO, and for me.
Well, I also want to emphasize the bald-face fact that many competitors at The Croc Match have found themselves saying: "I would travel here for this Jungle Run Stage only, even if the rest of the match wasn't so fun."
Let's go to the video:
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
2008 Croc Match Stages
Thanks to Evil Bill ("I am but a lowly stage designer, trying my best to provide some sort of shooting challenge"), we have the stage designs for the 2008 Labor Day Weekend "Another Day in Paradise " High Round-Count match at Dundee, Oregon.
This match is scheduled for Auguste 30-31, 2008. That's Saturday and Sunday. If you haven't already signed up, be sure to get to the match early. You can find sign-up information here.
You can download the stage designs and procedures at the marked links. File sizes are marked on each stage. Although I don't plan to compete in this match (don't have ammo loaded, etc.), after a look at the stages I may show up just to take pictures. Maybe even some video. (See Below #1)
Stage Bay: 1
Title/Link: The Long and Short of It [59 kb]
Designer: Keith Tyler
Round-count: 54/270 points
Targets: 24 IPSC, 6 plates
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: Box activates 2 swingers, shoot from the box. Lots of vision barriers.
Stage Bay: 2
Title/Link: Shooting Paradise [391 kb]
Designer: Eric Falkner
Round-count: 55 /275 Points
Targets: 24 IPSC, 2 PP, 5 Plates
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: The "5 plates" are on a Texas Star/ Narrow bay, trees are probably hard-cover, shooting through ports and around vision barriers ... including especially the Texas Star. Four shooting positions, plus a bottle-neck 'free fire zone' in the middle; watch your 180 there!
Stage Bay: 3
Title/Link: Over the TipTop [71 kb]
Designer: Mike McCarter
Round-count: 48/240 points
Targets: 18 IPSC, 12 USP
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: The USP (U.S. Poppers) are in 4 groups of 3, stacked in front of each other. A Lateral COF, with 3 ports between vision barriers plus shooting around the ends of the vision barriers ... all shooting from "Box A Only". Use of the term "Field Course" here is incorrect, of course, because of the "shoot from the box only" restriction. As is typical of a Croc Match, this stage defies being categorized. Just ... do what you have to do. Note that the IPSC targets are arranged in six arrays, glued on top of each other with limited access to 2/3 of the targets. This will be an Accuracy-intense stage. Good news? This is decidedly NOT Revolver-Friendly. (Okay, I was kidding about the "Good News" thingie.)
Stage Bay: 4
Title/Link: Darn Popper [151 kb]
Designer: Trevor Ott
Round-count: 51/255 Points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 1 PP
Description: Comstock Field Course, although all rounds must be fired "from within fault lines and Box A", and an irregular hexagon fully enclosed by 'fault lines' as of this writing. Again, defies categorization in this respect.
Comments: The single Steel Target (a Pepper Popper which appears to be partially hidden behind a (low?) vision barrier on the far end of the bay must be engaged from within the starting Box A. Note that "Still will flip up T11 and T12, which are also behind the "low(?) vision barrier". As a further complication, there appears to be a vision barrier within the fault-lines, running from uprange to downrange; it seems to be intended to force the shooter not to engage all targets from a single point. It may not survive Stage Construction. The stage design features many barrels between shooting position and targets. The stage procedure does not specify whether the barrels constitute hard-cover or soft-cover, but Croc Matches typically define them as soft-cover. This is because time available does not allow for complex Range Officer decisions about whether a shot is a legal hit or not because there is a hole in the barrel.
Stage Bay: 5
Title/Link: Paradise Island [105 kb]
Designer: Paul Meier
Round-count: 59/295 points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 7 USP, 2 Pepper Poppers
Description: Comstock, shooting from with fully-enclosed fault-lines and from atop a platform.
Comments: Start sitting in a chair, unloaded pistol on a table, ammo on person. At least two moving targets (swingers?) activated apparently by shooting either USP or Pepper Poppers. This is probably presented in the "Punch Bowl" bay; very close shooting, a lot of walking up and down the hill to score, tape and reset the targets. Again, another slow stage. Bay is in the hot sun, you'll get tired of walking up and down the hill for a minute's rest in the shade of the Rifle Bench-rest area. Bring lots of water and sun block. (See Below #2.)
Stage Bay: 6
Title/Link: Just Another Set of Standards [69 kb]
Designer: Brad Sitton
Round-count: 48/240 Points
Targets: 6 IPSC
Description: Fixed Time
Comments: Six strings, 6 seconds per string. From different distances, with different stances and grips (kneeling, freestyle, strong hand, weak hand, mandatory reload). This will be a very time-consuming stage. Prediction: it will slow up the match, their will be penalties for following the wrong procedures from at least one distance/shooting position/array; this will be the most hated stage in the match.
Stage Bay: Croc Bay
Title/Link: Freestyle Paradise [438 kb]
Designer: "Evil" Bill Marrs
Round-count: 66/330 points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 4 Pepper Popper, 2 USP, 10 Plates
Description: Comstock, legal shooting area defined by fault lines. Starting position is of interest: "Any body position, any hand position, any safe "gun ready" condition and position that complies with the rules. You can not start a stage touching the gun or ammo! (rule 8.2.3)"
Comments: "All props are soft cover -- except the barrels." Note that this stage features the "Evil Oregon Star". Note that this stage features at least 4 IPSC targets which seem to be activated by hitting steel plates. There have been issues with this arrangement ... what if you hit the plate and it doesn't bring up the IPSC target? What if the 'head' of the IPSC target is bent to the point of inaccessibility by the repeated action of being rapidly moved from a prone to a vertical position? Look for this stage design to be changed before the start of the match; there are some potential administrative problems associated with the stage design as I have interpreted it, so don't take this as fact. This is the biggest stage of the match (in terms of number of targets and points available.) Still, it looks like the most fun stage of all. I want to shoot this stage!
* See Below #1:
I may show up for the match, and I hope to take pictures and films some videos.
Heck, I would love to shoot the match. But, as I have frequently mentioned here, considering the dramatically increased cost of components, I don't feel that I can afford to shoot a "Lost Brass Match".
This match is not publicized as a "Lost Brass Match". However, there are so many rounds fired on each stage, the shooting positions are so far apart, and the pace of the match is so fast, there is no time to do much brassing. Even after a stage is completed, you just want to get off the stage and on to the next one.
Folks, this is not intended as a criticism of the match. On the contrary, this is the most exciting and downright FUN match in the country today. I'm describing a personal decision here, and it probably doesn't apply to you. Don't assume that I'm trying to talk you out of shooting this match, because I wouldn't want anyone to miss it because of something I have said.
* See Below #2
Friends, if you're not accustomed to shooting matches in Oregon, there's some things you should know.
First: During the month of August, the weather is hot hot HOT! Bring lots of water, sun-block (pf 25 should be a minimum, and refresh it every 2 hours), wear light clothing.
Second: After Labor Day, the weather changes dramatically. We get rain, and sometimes it turns into a real drizzle. Prepare for it by bringing Rain Gear, hats, towels, and anything else which you expect to need to continue to compete during a downpour.
Third: Sometimes, the Weather doesn't understand the calendar so well. Expect to encounter the First conditions. Prepare yourself so that if the Second conditions prevail, you will not be uncomfortable in the rain.Here's the weather report. Doesn't look like rain to me. (Click to see full size.)
_______________________________________
Oh, yeah.
You want to know what a Croc Match stage looks like, when it's Done Right?
Once again, here's Stage Winner Yong Lee on Stage 5: The Doors.
This is the 2005 Croc Match.
Here's the weather report. Doesn't look like rain to me. (Click to see full size.)Sunday, July 27, 2008
Dundee USPSA Match: July, 2008
This weekend I attended a USPSA match at the Dundee club. The weather was good, the stage designs were good, the people with whom I was privileged to shoot ("my squad", not to be to ego-centric) were truly excellent and a lot of fun.
This match may serve as one of the halcyon times of club shooting, because all elements of weather, shooting challenge and shooting companions combined to make the day a memorable experience. I've shot a few Major Matches in my time, and these are notionally the epitome of competition shooting.
In the actual event, though, it's difficult to beat a good club match shared with your friends. The only thing that would have improved the day would be if SWMBO had felt well enough to join me at the match.
MD Paul and RM (and probable designer of most of the stages, plus the guy who probably set the stages up and tore the down) "Evil Bill" are the under-appreciated authors of this Excellent Adventure. In a reminiscent moment today, the day after the match, I relived the history of IPSC/USPSA matches in the Columbia Cascade Section.
Competition History within Local Clubs:
First there was Tri-County Gun Club (TCGC), where I took a class in "New Shooter Certification" in 1983. There was no other local club (to my knowledge) hosting this kind of Practical Pistol shooting in the area, at the time. This formed my standard of future evaluations. TCGC offered two matches a month: the second Saturday and the third Sunday of the month, and more often than not the stage designs were identical on both match days. The matches were an opportunity to shoot a pistol which (if your situation was similar to mine) was rarely used for any more challenging purpose than shooting at tin cans.
A few years after I started shooting regularly at TCGC, I became aware that the Albany Rifle & Pistol Club (ARPC) was sponsoring IPSC matches. I lived in Portland at the time, and the drive the ARPC was something of an imposition. Also, the leadership at the club was, while determined, not endowed with Leadership Potential. The people who accepted a leadership position found it difficult to recruit help from the participants, and consequently found themselves bound to design six stages a month, and usually they set them up without any help in the last morning moments on Match Day. The running joke was the "Competition starts at 9am" meant ""9:30 if you're lucky, more likely 10am."
But it was no joke.
This situation rapidly led to burnout of the organizers, and their best response to an obvious need to recruit more help was to antagonize the few people who chose to participate. I finally resolved to "never again to shoot a match at ARPC", and with few exceptions followed this determination for several years. Fortunately, several years ago ARPC found members willing to accept responsibility for organizing IPSC matches, and (as TCGC discovered), this discipline is one of the most consistent sources of income in the history of the club.
Enter the Madmen of Dundee: The Crocs
Somewhere between the peak of TCGC and the nadir of ARPC, a few bold adventurers at The Chealem Valley Shooting Club (CVSC), always and ever known as "Dundee" (after the name of the nearest town), decided that they could join their efforts to present a program of IPSC-type matches at their local club ... which is accessed via a gate in the fence surrounding "Crabtree Park" (yes, it's a park near Dundee, Oregon, and sited in the middle of Wine Country North in Oregon). The range was most often used by hunters who were sighting in their rifles before hunting season, but it was an established club with berms, a few bays, and an absolute minimum of facilities. (They had to build a 'stats shack', the computers were laptops powered by automobile batteries, and there were only four 'bays'.)
The stage design philosophy of CVSC was, essentially, "If it bleeds, it leads". There were only a few steel targets available, which represents perhaps $1,000 investment (I'm guessing) and the very first investment was to buy the most difficult targets available ... "droppers" (disappearing targets, which were powered by gravity and were usually set up as "Disappearing Targets", and "Bobbers", which wig-wagged and often were hidden by vision barriers or no-shoot 'targets'.
The stage designs represented a new philosophy: if you expect static targets without penalties for missed shots, you were due to be surprised and disappointed at a Dundee match. Moving targets were the rule rather than the exception, and any Pepper Popper on the stage was likely to activate a moving target ... as the club evolved, they played with stage designs which placed moving targets which could not be engaged from the same position where the activating Pepper Popper could be engaged.
Dundee imagined, and created, stage challenges which were not generally available anywhere else in the world. This was not the exceptional match; this was every match.
The Mad Men of Dundee have mellowed a bit over the years, but the challenges continue. They were not the first local club to feature the Texas Star in club competition, but they were the first to offer difficult variations (see Evil Bill and the Evil Oregon Star when searching this website).
_____________________
Back to this particular Dundee match.
Dundee continues to evolve its stage designs, and this match is typical. Most stages revealed all targets from the starting position, but even the Classifier, "3 V", asked you to emphasize accuracy over speed by shooting at cardboard targets largely covered by "No-Shoot" penalty targets.
But most of the stages pushed movement and speed, with a lot of steel targets and most of them requiring the competitor to move several times (or continuously ... depending on your ability to shoot on the move) to engage targets.
Better, there was a "Jungle Run" stage, with ten Turtle-Targets and three US Poppers hidden in a forest of ferns and trees.
I took a lot of videos of the match, although I didn't end up with usable videos of all of the stages.
The people on the squad all worked hard, so the match went quickly. In fact, I was the 'laziest' member of the squad, because I was filming as much of it as I could. I spent some time taping, more time RO-ing, and my greatest regret is that I didn't film Iain and Judith the last stage because these "New Chums" are so eminently photogenic while they shoot a stage. But I got at least one one 'typical' stage for each, where Iaian leaps like a frog from one shooting position to the next and Judith extends herself as if an epee-wielding fencer to pierce a target.
And Jerry and Catherine H. demonstrate their careful approach to stages. Brent leaves a trail of 8-round magazines everywhere he goes as he competes in the difficult Single-Stack division. Rich W. yells "Yay-Hoo!" on the Jungle run, and I don't capture it, but I get a wide variation on the theme as other squad members shoot the green stage.
Norm storms every stage he encounters, until he is confronted by the Jam From Heck when a nickle-plated case reverses itself during ejection and jams between the breech and the open-gun Scope Mount ... at 5.99 seconds into the stage, and takes 39.66 seconds to clear the jam to continue by engaging the last 12 Steel Targets for a final stage time of 52.06 on Stage 1. (This so inspired Master-Class shooter Norm that he, after winning his first stage .. Stage 6 ... just relaxed and treated the entire match as nothing more than a lark to be enjoyed for its own sake. It's hard not to like a tough competitor like Norm, when he is so willing to just ignore defeat in favor of having a good time at the match. No tantrums, no ego moments ... just a guy who understands the reason we're spending our Saturday in a Rock Quarry, and gets all the joy available from the exercise.)
I have a lot of pictures, and I have posted them on Jerry the Geek's Video Shooting Gallery tonight.
I had a great time, and some of my stages weren't even disasters. Who could ask for more?
This match may serve as one of the halcyon times of club shooting, because all elements of weather, shooting challenge and shooting companions combined to make the day a memorable experience. I've shot a few Major Matches in my time, and these are notionally the epitome of competition shooting.
In the actual event, though, it's difficult to beat a good club match shared with your friends. The only thing that would have improved the day would be if SWMBO had felt well enough to join me at the match.
MD Paul and RM (and probable designer of most of the stages, plus the guy who probably set the stages up and tore the down) "Evil Bill" are the under-appreciated authors of this Excellent Adventure. In a reminiscent moment today, the day after the match, I relived the history of IPSC/USPSA matches in the Columbia Cascade Section.
Competition History within Local Clubs:
First there was Tri-County Gun Club (TCGC), where I took a class in "New Shooter Certification" in 1983. There was no other local club (to my knowledge) hosting this kind of Practical Pistol shooting in the area, at the time. This formed my standard of future evaluations. TCGC offered two matches a month: the second Saturday and the third Sunday of the month, and more often than not the stage designs were identical on both match days. The matches were an opportunity to shoot a pistol which (if your situation was similar to mine) was rarely used for any more challenging purpose than shooting at tin cans.
A few years after I started shooting regularly at TCGC, I became aware that the Albany Rifle & Pistol Club (ARPC) was sponsoring IPSC matches. I lived in Portland at the time, and the drive the ARPC was something of an imposition. Also, the leadership at the club was, while determined, not endowed with Leadership Potential. The people who accepted a leadership position found it difficult to recruit help from the participants, and consequently found themselves bound to design six stages a month, and usually they set them up without any help in the last morning moments on Match Day. The running joke was the "Competition starts at 9am" meant ""9:30 if you're lucky, more likely 10am."
But it was no joke.
This situation rapidly led to burnout of the organizers, and their best response to an obvious need to recruit more help was to antagonize the few people who chose to participate. I finally resolved to "never again to shoot a match at ARPC", and with few exceptions followed this determination for several years. Fortunately, several years ago ARPC found members willing to accept responsibility for organizing IPSC matches, and (as TCGC discovered), this discipline is one of the most consistent sources of income in the history of the club.
Enter the Madmen of Dundee: The Crocs
Somewhere between the peak of TCGC and the nadir of ARPC, a few bold adventurers at The Chealem Valley Shooting Club (CVSC), always and ever known as "Dundee" (after the name of the nearest town), decided that they could join their efforts to present a program of IPSC-type matches at their local club ... which is accessed via a gate in the fence surrounding "Crabtree Park" (yes, it's a park near Dundee, Oregon, and sited in the middle of Wine Country North in Oregon). The range was most often used by hunters who were sighting in their rifles before hunting season, but it was an established club with berms, a few bays, and an absolute minimum of facilities. (They had to build a 'stats shack', the computers were laptops powered by automobile batteries, and there were only four 'bays'.)
The stage design philosophy of CVSC was, essentially, "If it bleeds, it leads". There were only a few steel targets available, which represents perhaps $1,000 investment (I'm guessing) and the very first investment was to buy the most difficult targets available ... "droppers" (disappearing targets, which were powered by gravity and were usually set up as "Disappearing Targets", and "Bobbers", which wig-wagged and often were hidden by vision barriers or no-shoot 'targets'.
The stage designs represented a new philosophy: if you expect static targets without penalties for missed shots, you were due to be surprised and disappointed at a Dundee match. Moving targets were the rule rather than the exception, and any Pepper Popper on the stage was likely to activate a moving target ... as the club evolved, they played with stage designs which placed moving targets which could not be engaged from the same position where the activating Pepper Popper could be engaged.
Dundee imagined, and created, stage challenges which were not generally available anywhere else in the world. This was not the exceptional match; this was every match.
The Mad Men of Dundee have mellowed a bit over the years, but the challenges continue. They were not the first local club to feature the Texas Star in club competition, but they were the first to offer difficult variations (see Evil Bill and the Evil Oregon Star when searching this website).
_____________________
Back to this particular Dundee match.
Dundee continues to evolve its stage designs, and this match is typical. Most stages revealed all targets from the starting position, but even the Classifier, "3 V", asked you to emphasize accuracy over speed by shooting at cardboard targets largely covered by "No-Shoot" penalty targets.
But most of the stages pushed movement and speed, with a lot of steel targets and most of them requiring the competitor to move several times (or continuously ... depending on your ability to shoot on the move) to engage targets.
Better, there was a "Jungle Run" stage, with ten Turtle-Targets and three US Poppers hidden in a forest of ferns and trees.
I took a lot of videos of the match, although I didn't end up with usable videos of all of the stages.
The people on the squad all worked hard, so the match went quickly. In fact, I was the 'laziest' member of the squad, because I was filming as much of it as I could. I spent some time taping, more time RO-ing, and my greatest regret is that I didn't film Iain and Judith the last stage because these "New Chums" are so eminently photogenic while they shoot a stage. But I got at least one one 'typical' stage for each, where Iaian leaps like a frog from one shooting position to the next and Judith extends herself as if an epee-wielding fencer to pierce a target.
And Jerry and Catherine H. demonstrate their careful approach to stages. Brent leaves a trail of 8-round magazines everywhere he goes as he competes in the difficult Single-Stack division. Rich W. yells "Yay-Hoo!" on the Jungle run, and I don't capture it, but I get a wide variation on the theme as other squad members shoot the green stage.
Norm storms every stage he encounters, until he is confronted by the Jam From Heck when a nickle-plated case reverses itself during ejection and jams between the breech and the open-gun Scope Mount ... at 5.99 seconds into the stage, and takes 39.66 seconds to clear the jam to continue by engaging the last 12 Steel Targets for a final stage time of 52.06 on Stage 1. (This so inspired Master-Class shooter Norm that he, after winning his first stage .. Stage 6 ... just relaxed and treated the entire match as nothing more than a lark to be enjoyed for its own sake. It's hard not to like a tough competitor like Norm, when he is so willing to just ignore defeat in favor of having a good time at the match. No tantrums, no ego moments ... just a guy who understands the reason we're spending our Saturday in a Rock Quarry, and gets all the joy available from the exercise.)
I have a lot of pictures, and I have posted them on Jerry the Geek's Video Shooting Gallery tonight.
I had a great time, and some of my stages weren't even disasters. Who could ask for more?
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