Events 2025 NEVADA STATE FIELD TARGET CHAMPIONSHIPS AND AAFTA GRAND PRIX
- Thread starter JW.
- Start date
Very few and mostly lower in the valley, they were small too. I think winter ended late this year so we're not getting the usual bustle of wildlife, however there were three mule deer at the mouth of the canyon when we arrived.
This is going to be a very interesting course...
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Sam & I are driving out on Thursday and plan to head home Monday. Were camping the entire weekend "In-Da-Canyon" 
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Here is the new Tony the Tiger lane, moved from lane four to lane seven, which is closer to the picnic tables at the upper camping area. And, as crazy as this may sound, not the steepest angle target in the mix.
This is more of a 'traditional' lane compared to some of the others...
Also attached, some images of my new for 2025 target angle finder setup.
View attachment Lane 7 Red.pdf
This is more of a 'traditional' lane compared to some of the others...
Also attached, some images of my new for 2025 target angle finder setup.
View attachment Lane 7 Red.pdf
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Yee Ha !!! shooting FT in the real WILDS !!!!!
Always a great time, always an EPIC challenge for all who shoot it.
Always a great time, always an EPIC challenge for all who shoot it.
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Very impressive setup.
It's the perfect thing to see if the targets are clear from low heights.
It's the perfect thing to see if the targets are clear from low heights.
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Heading out in the next couple of days...
10 day weather forecast below, looks like it will be a little hotter than normal, the canyon 'should' be a few degrees cooler than in town because of, wait for it, the canyon wind.
Please come prepared, sun hats, sun shirts, sunscreen (if you use it) and whatever you need to survive the match, shade as needed (we will have canopies for shade and sitting at the upper and lower areas), we will have water and some snacks on course.
See you in a few days!!
JW
10 day weather forecast below, looks like it will be a little hotter than normal, the canyon 'should' be a few degrees cooler than in town because of, wait for it, the canyon wind.
Please come prepared, sun hats, sun shirts, sunscreen (if you use it) and whatever you need to survive the match, shade as needed (we will have canopies for shade and sitting at the upper and lower areas), we will have water and some snacks on course.
See you in a few days!!
JW
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Ouch .... You need to be TOUGH ENOUGH !!! Cover your skin, your head, your eyes, your hands too !! Hydrate and take it slow ... you'll be ok 
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Revised forecast for Horse canyon as of Tuesday.
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 48. North northwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming east southeast after midnight.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 73. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 52. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east after midnight.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 78. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 55. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.
Friday
Sunny, with a high near 82.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 86.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 60.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 89.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 89.
Detailed Forecast
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 48. North northwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming east southeast after midnight.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 73. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 52. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east after midnight.
Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 78. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 55. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east northeast after midnight.
Friday
Sunny, with a high near 82.
Friday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Saturday
Sunny, with a high near 86.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 60.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 89.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 89.
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NEVADA OUTBACK CHALLENGE & AAFTA GRAND PRIX STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
2025 started out with some new GP scoring rules much like 2024 did, however this year we had to take some new consideration into account when designing the course. For the last bunch of years the course has been the same layout. This is both good and bad, good because it allows for an understanding of how the environmental conditions affect the scores, bad because if the competitors were diligent they would have notes on the exact course layout.
We typically do our course maintenance and target adjustments during the second week of June, due to the new scoring changes we did a major course redesign (pistol and rifle). For the last few years the course has been a 28T, the lowest difficulty rating for a Gran Prix event. At a 28T the course is extremely challenging to even the most seasoned shooters and looking back at the scores for the same course layout over the last few years the highest hit percentage was 86%.
For 2025 I wanted to design a course that raised the hit percentages while holding the highest difficulty rating possible, a 36T. Years ago when Chris and I took over the event for Lonnie we set a 36T course for day one, the highest hit percentage was 72%, the worst was well below 50%, scores that make you want to throw your rifle in the garbage and take up underwater basket weaving.
I set most targets side by side at the same distance and with matching kill zone sizes, the idea was to have four shots at the "same" target, but mother nature would have the final say. There was a single "traditional" lane with Tony the Tiger at 53 to 55 yards (depending on the day) all the other lanes were side by side.
As luck would have it we had the lowest wind turn out to date, great, but there was a twist. Typically the wind runs up or down the canyon, this year we had wind from all angles, even from the slopes of the canyon itself, a direction I have never seen wind come from in over a decade of shooting this location.
For the most part the course redesign was a success if the metric was to elevate the scores, there certainly was not the "same wind" for four shots, and often for the first two shots the wind would come from different conditions...had the wind done what it typically does I believe we would have seen some higher scores.
The pistol match was Friday afternoon and it started with very little wind and I was beginning to get worried someone may clean the course... About halfway through the wind finally came and things got interesting. Hunter pistol was hotly contested with five of the six shooters within five points. Cameron killed it only missing two of the standing shots.
PISTOL MATCH SCORES:
Limited Pistol
Cameron Kerndt 38
Garrett Kwakkestein 29
Joe Hayward 20
Chris Merritt 5
Hunter Pistol
Wayne Burns 34
John Knapp 33
Scott Schneider 31
Randy Ebersole 30
Sam Russo 29
Kevin Hirch 5
First day of rifle was the blue course, second day was the red course, for lanes 1-7 the shooters boxes move after the first day either adding or subtracting a yard from the target distances.
The day started with very little wind and if it came you could typically wait it out during your time in the box. It picked up for the second half of the match. Sunday was a little different with not as much wind in the second half of the match.
The lower portion of the course was out in the open, the upper section had most of the lanes in semi protected/protected areas so the smaller kill zones could be utilized in lower to no wind conditions.
The standing and kneeling lanes were nearly impossible, the standing target being 1 1/2" kz's at 25 yards at a measly 30 degree angle, the kneelers were at 25 yards but had 1" kz's and were set down into a dark abyss as were most of the other shorter shots in the upper section of the course. I shot lane 12 prior to anyone else and even with a freshly painted face plate and kz I could not see anything the contrast was so bad (serous backlit targets), I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been later in the day. Those lanes were not that bad when we cut them in May...
RIFLE MATCH SCORES:
WFTF Piston
Cameron Kerndt 45/45-90
WFTF Pcp
Garrett Kwakkestein 43/37-80
Mark Weidert 39/23-62
Joe Hayward 20/20-40
Pat Callihan 19/20-39
Hunter
Randy Ebersole 46/47-93
Scott Schneider 38/42-80
Wayne Burns 37/42-79
Al Padilla 40/38-78
Thane Thayer 39/38-77
Bill Galloway 38/39-77
John Knapp 37/39-76
Sam Russo 32/30-62
Vince Pacheco 30/24-54
Kevin Hirch 27/25-52
Open
Jim Whittlesey 42/46-88
Chris Merritt 39/40-79
With utilizing the side by side layout the match went a bit quicker than normal (you only needed to range once) a nice unintended side effect. It also made the setup and repainting go super fast...
For next year the pistol course will look a bit more traditional even though the actual target sizes and distances will not change (i'll just rearrange the targets). How the rifle course layout looks is still up in the air, while it was fun to do something different i'm not sure I can trick the wind gods into playing along with the side by side thing (they flat out refused this year), but i'm also hesitant to create a fully traditional course layout, lowering scores is not a good idea in general.
I guess we will have to wait for the 2026 scoring updates...
Huge thanks to EVERYONE who attended, it is through your attendance/support we were able to provide the new picnic tables and expanded shade canopy (10' by 20') setup, an improvement over last year. We will be doing all white faceplates next year to make the targets easier to see (same with the misses) and also easier to paint. We had a few new faces this year, thank you for taking the leap and coming out to arguably the most difficult place to shoot field target on planet earth.
I believe everyone can say; "They Are Tough Enough."
2025 started out with some new GP scoring rules much like 2024 did, however this year we had to take some new consideration into account when designing the course. For the last bunch of years the course has been the same layout. This is both good and bad, good because it allows for an understanding of how the environmental conditions affect the scores, bad because if the competitors were diligent they would have notes on the exact course layout.
We typically do our course maintenance and target adjustments during the second week of June, due to the new scoring changes we did a major course redesign (pistol and rifle). For the last few years the course has been a 28T, the lowest difficulty rating for a Gran Prix event. At a 28T the course is extremely challenging to even the most seasoned shooters and looking back at the scores for the same course layout over the last few years the highest hit percentage was 86%.
For 2025 I wanted to design a course that raised the hit percentages while holding the highest difficulty rating possible, a 36T. Years ago when Chris and I took over the event for Lonnie we set a 36T course for day one, the highest hit percentage was 72%, the worst was well below 50%, scores that make you want to throw your rifle in the garbage and take up underwater basket weaving.
I set most targets side by side at the same distance and with matching kill zone sizes, the idea was to have four shots at the "same" target, but mother nature would have the final say. There was a single "traditional" lane with Tony the Tiger at 53 to 55 yards (depending on the day) all the other lanes were side by side.
As luck would have it we had the lowest wind turn out to date, great, but there was a twist. Typically the wind runs up or down the canyon, this year we had wind from all angles, even from the slopes of the canyon itself, a direction I have never seen wind come from in over a decade of shooting this location.
For the most part the course redesign was a success if the metric was to elevate the scores, there certainly was not the "same wind" for four shots, and often for the first two shots the wind would come from different conditions...had the wind done what it typically does I believe we would have seen some higher scores.
The pistol match was Friday afternoon and it started with very little wind and I was beginning to get worried someone may clean the course... About halfway through the wind finally came and things got interesting. Hunter pistol was hotly contested with five of the six shooters within five points. Cameron killed it only missing two of the standing shots.
PISTOL MATCH SCORES:
Limited Pistol
Cameron Kerndt 38
Garrett Kwakkestein 29
Joe Hayward 20
Chris Merritt 5
Hunter Pistol
Wayne Burns 34
John Knapp 33
Scott Schneider 31
Randy Ebersole 30
Sam Russo 29
Kevin Hirch 5
First day of rifle was the blue course, second day was the red course, for lanes 1-7 the shooters boxes move after the first day either adding or subtracting a yard from the target distances.
The day started with very little wind and if it came you could typically wait it out during your time in the box. It picked up for the second half of the match. Sunday was a little different with not as much wind in the second half of the match.
The lower portion of the course was out in the open, the upper section had most of the lanes in semi protected/protected areas so the smaller kill zones could be utilized in lower to no wind conditions.
The standing and kneeling lanes were nearly impossible, the standing target being 1 1/2" kz's at 25 yards at a measly 30 degree angle, the kneelers were at 25 yards but had 1" kz's and were set down into a dark abyss as were most of the other shorter shots in the upper section of the course. I shot lane 12 prior to anyone else and even with a freshly painted face plate and kz I could not see anything the contrast was so bad (serous backlit targets), I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been later in the day. Those lanes were not that bad when we cut them in May...
RIFLE MATCH SCORES:
WFTF Piston
Cameron Kerndt 45/45-90
WFTF Pcp
Garrett Kwakkestein 43/37-80
Mark Weidert 39/23-62
Joe Hayward 20/20-40
Pat Callihan 19/20-39
Hunter
Randy Ebersole 46/47-93
Scott Schneider 38/42-80
Wayne Burns 37/42-79
Al Padilla 40/38-78
Thane Thayer 39/38-77
Bill Galloway 38/39-77
John Knapp 37/39-76
Sam Russo 32/30-62
Vince Pacheco 30/24-54
Kevin Hirch 27/25-52
Open
Jim Whittlesey 42/46-88
Chris Merritt 39/40-79
With utilizing the side by side layout the match went a bit quicker than normal (you only needed to range once) a nice unintended side effect. It also made the setup and repainting go super fast...
For next year the pistol course will look a bit more traditional even though the actual target sizes and distances will not change (i'll just rearrange the targets). How the rifle course layout looks is still up in the air, while it was fun to do something different i'm not sure I can trick the wind gods into playing along with the side by side thing (they flat out refused this year), but i'm also hesitant to create a fully traditional course layout, lowering scores is not a good idea in general.
I guess we will have to wait for the 2026 scoring updates...
Huge thanks to EVERYONE who attended, it is through your attendance/support we were able to provide the new picnic tables and expanded shade canopy (10' by 20') setup, an improvement over last year. We will be doing all white faceplates next year to make the targets easier to see (same with the misses) and also easier to paint. We had a few new faces this year, thank you for taking the leap and coming out to arguably the most difficult place to shoot field target on planet earth.
I believe everyone can say; "They Are Tough Enough."
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Cameron not only shoots lights out he's finished with the lane in just around two to three minutes. I hope he can kick butt again at the Worlds this year and go for the three-peat, maybe AirArms might realize he is shooting one of their piston rifles and get their proverbial poo together!!!
Randy is getting wise in his old age...
I was using the wrong wind card so I did better than I should have really. And smacked my left hand with a sledge hammer four lanes into day one rifle. Shooting a match your are directing is quite the challenge, nothing like running from one end of the course to the other than having to sit down and shoot before you can catch your wind...
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