BAGA - Badgerland
AirGun Association
Inaugural
Badgerland Open
Field Target Championships
October 7, 2000
The
day finally arrived for our first AAFTA sanctioned Field Target Match and the
weather forecast was not cooperating. With prediction of freezing temperatures
and possibilities of the seasons' first snow, I nervously awaited the
contestants. Even with the enticements of fire pits and prizes, I was concerned
that the weather would keep away some of our regulars. I was glad to see that
almost all of our members showed up and some additional visitors as well. The
course was only finalized the week prior to the shoot and so had little
previous experience with its targets and layout. The layout was tough and if
scored on the Troyer Difficulty Chart, it measured a whopping 46.7 difficulty
rating. Yes that's right, almost 10 points higher than the Worlds/Nationals.
Our course is well wind protected, being that it is in the middle of a pine
forest, and so we felt a more difficult course would keep us in good competitive
practice. However, the days' winds where extreme and with some targets high up
in trees, they were swaying with the wind. Presto, a field target in motion.
Hopefully you could match your pulse to it or better yet, shiver in conjunction
with the wind.
The
course was 60 shots spread out on 25 lanes. Targets ranged from 10.5 yards to
one actually set at 58 yards. Kill zones ranged from 3/8" to 1-1/2"
with majority being in the 3/4" range. We had 4 off-hands and several up
in trees. The course was well diversified. We didn't have any cold lines nor
did any of the Zasadny made targets malfunction. The KZ's were freshly painted
and Allen took great pains to locate each target in a natural setting. Even set
up the target so that its base was not visible to the shooter, allowing him
only to see the animal in a natural landscape. Allen enjoys screwing in extra
branches to trees that support our targets.
I
believe that the scores reflect what the game should be, if it is to be
challenging. Perfect scores should be rare and very hard to achieve. Allen's winning score was
not perfect, but on this course it was beyond great. Kurt gave him a good run
but ended up second this time. I'm sure these two will drive each other to near
perfection in the future. The middle of the field was very tight, with one
point separating each of three shooters vying for the 3rd place
finish. This time Rick Zerby beat out Alex Yamtsun by one point which reversed
the situation from last month's Illinois State Championship. Bill Slater was
just a little off the pace and posted a very respectable score. Vlad will work
out the numbers on his new Burris/ZM2002 combo and will be back soon to teach
us all a lesson. We had two first time competitors and both Andy Duch and Larry
Kies did real well. We had only one person show up for the Piston Class and so
I decided to join him and shoot my back-up gun so that he would not feel
all-alone. As it is, we ended up using our modified optional scoring for the
piston class. The high Troyer rating and the extreme wind really played havoc
with the 7.9 CPL's. Brian McLaughlin came in second place shooting really well
on the off hands and a long pheasant shot with a small KZ. I finished just
ahead of Brian for first place, being able to clean only two lanes
consecutively. Neither of us felt that we wanted to give up on our spring guns,
rather, we thought that it was fun to shoot the modified scoring system ( 2
pts. for a kill, 1 point for a face-hit, 0 for a miss).
Awards
included Custom Etched Glass first place trophies and framed Award Certificates
for second and third place. In addition to these awards each participant was
presented with a souvenir Badgerland key chain with thermometer and compass.
Also, each participant was issued a score sheet with safety rules on the
reverse side, an application for the AAFTA Newsletter and a raffle ticket for
his participation in the Championships. Raffle prizes were donated by club
members and included a boxed Ducks Unlimited pocket knife, A-team scope knob
certificate, Airguns of Arizona gift certificate and several gun oriented
Christmas tree ornaments. Thanks again to all the members for their
donations. Again, congratulations to
all trophy and prize winners. See you next year for our first complete season
of FT matches and make sure you all mark your calendars for our Second Annual
Badgerland Open in early fall of 2001.
Reported
by Alex Modic - BAGA
Here are the results of the Inaugural Badgerland Open FT Championships:
| Open - Shooter | Score | Gun | Scope | Pellet |
| 1. Allen Zasadny 2. Kurt Duch 3. Rick Zerby Alex Yamstun Bill Slater Andrew Duch Vlad Berchanskiy Larry Kies |
52 |
ZM2002 |
Burris
8-32 BSA 10-50 Burris 8-32 BSA 10-50 Burris 8-32 BSA 10-50 Burris 8-32 Burris 8-32 |
CPH CPH CPH CPH CPH CPH CPH CPH |
| Spring - Shooter | Score - Pts. | Gun | Scope | Pellet |
| 1. Alex Modic 2. Brian McLaughlin |
74/120 66/120 |
TX-200 TX-200 |
Simmons
6.5-20 Trophy 6-18 |
CPL CPL |