On a cool, sunny Saturday morning, we had five (5) shooters compete in the second Winter League Match of 2021. Of the five (5), there were three (3) F-Open Shooters, one (1) each of F-TR and Palma Rifle.
The high shooter in F-Open was Marcel Bollinger with a 390-19X, High F-TR was Charley Hayes with a 389-11X, and high Palma rifle was Leo Cebula with a 193-8X with a damaged rifle.
The Winter Mid-Range Prone Match scheduled for 3-6-2021 is ON.
We will fire a 2×600. Squadding at about 9:15 AM and firing at about 10:00 AM. The weather is clear and will be sunny as the day progresses. Temperature will be about 27 F at 10:00 AM. In the tent it should be about 50 F.
As I go through the posting I felt it was worthwhile to review the high scores by Category: So here they are:
Collegiate/Junior: Collin Fox 592.7
F-Class Prone: Ed Gostomski 638.0
Sling Prone: Dan Altman 630.6
March is upon us, so we have only one month of the league matches left: March 4 – Grand Rapids; March 13 – Monroe; March 20 – Howell; March 27 – Muskegon.
We had seven (7) shooters this morning. A good turnout for a day that started at about 16 degrees F. Surprisingly, the sling shooters outnumbered the F-Class shooters. That doesn’t happen very often.
We had four (4) categories represented, with just a couple shooters in each. High (and only) Any Rifle was Matt Wieczorek with a 395-18, High F-Open was Tony Dekelaita with a 390-12, High Palma Rifle was Ray Gross with a 395-21, and high Service Rifle was Jason Quayle with a 358-2.
In notable performances, Matt Wieczorek had the only clean for the day in his second string, a 200-10.
Winners: (l to r) Derek Stratelak, Marcel Bollinger, Ray Gross, Matt Wieczorak, Scott Burr with their Winnings (bottle of Prosecco) in front of the Tent. Note the snow, we were happy it wasn’t falling while we were shooting.
We truly thread the needle. On Wednesday, December 30, in the year of COVID, we saw snow and low temperatures. On Thursday, December 31 we had dry conditions, little wind, and temperatures outside hovering around 30 F. Moreover, in the tent it was easily over 40 maybe even higher. As I type this report on January 1, 2021 I watch the sleet falling. So, we definitely were able to thread the needle for our New Years Eve match.
When Ray and I arrived at the range at about 8:45 AM, we were pretty lonely, but at about 9:00 AM cars and trucks started arriving. Order lines (or squadding lines) often follow a poisson distribution. Which is to say it is random with clumps. Normally, I see a single “clump”. For this match we experienced about three clumps. Which is to say we had a lot of entries. Seventeen (17) to be exact. This was the largest New Year’s Eve match in our history.
For demographics, we had: seven (7) F-Open, four (4) F-TR, three (3) Palma Rifle, two (2) Service Rifle, and one (1) lonely Any Rifle shooter. The high competitors were: Marcel Bollinger, F-Open 400-28; Scott Burr, F-TR 399-23; Ray Gross, Palma Rifle 397-23; Derek Stratelak, Service Rifle 379-12; and Matt Wieczorak, Any Rifle 391-13.
Good shot showing firing through a short culvert to keep the heat from our propane heater in the tent. It also reduces the numbness on the trigger hand.
It appears we will thread the needle. There is poor weather on Wednesday the 30th, and poor weather expected on Friday, January 1, 2021. But just cold on Thursday the 31st.
So, we will shoot. The tent is up, and a heater is available. So come on out, and kiss the year of COVID Good-Bye!
The match is a 2×600 with unlimited sighters. Each category high score will receive a bottle of sparkling wine (Prosecco). So come on out!
The next Snow Country Matches will be in the New Year! It will be good to have 2020 behind us.
Next matches by location: Howell – January 2, 2021; Grand Rapids – January 7, 2021; Monroe – January 9, 2021; Muskegon – January 16, 2021. Program: 2020-2021 Snow Country English Match Series
If you are looking for excitement, there is the New Year’s Eve Rifle Match at Midland County Sportsman’s Club on December 31, 2020. An opportunity to kiss the year of COVID goodbye with a 2×600. Category awards will be made. Program: 2020 New Year’s Eve Rifle Match
The Winter Mid-Range Prone League will be held at the Midland County Sportsman’s Club in Midland, Michigan on the following dates:
February 20, 2021
March 6, 2021
March 27, 2021
April 3, 2021
April 17, 2021
April 24, 2021
Given that we will be using a heated tent to shoot from, the typical temperature limits on dates will be ignored. However, in the case where winter weather may cause extreme highway conditions we will maintain the right to cancel dates. Watch this site for information before traveling on all of the above dates.
