March 2024 TEXtreme Field Target Match Report

[AirNGasman]

Seventeen shooters from three states shot twenty scorecards in Saturday’s sixty-shot TEXtreme Rifle Field Target match in lovely Spring-like weather featuring eighty degree high temps and light wind conditions early in the match, increasing to quite gusty winds by match completion. $750 in Airguns Of Arizona gift certificates were up for grabs to the top Rifle and Pistol podium placers; and for the first time, shooters were allowed to purchase multiple scorecards to shoot multiple guns in either or both matches (Rifle and Pistol). Three Rifle and three Pistol shooters did so. Familiar names claimed the bounties.

U.S. National and Texas State Champion Caleb Dickenson continued his LUCKY STREAK to nab the $250 Airguns Of Arizona Rifle Match Winner gift certificate, and pure 24 karat gold (colored) TEXtreme Airgun Sports Match Winner set of three (different-sized) collector-grade pellet tins. Caleb used a .25 Daystate Red Wolf to post an excellent-for-conditions 54/60 score for the win. Great shooting, Champ!

Derrick Wall’s 52/60 was good enough for the $150 AoA Second Place gift certificate and pure 24 karat gold (colored) TEXtreme Airgun Sports Second Place set of three (different-sized) collector-grade pellet tins. Derrick shot a .25 Daystate Delta Wolf. Excellent shooting, DW.

A tie for Third Place at 51/60 was decided by the high Standing Lane count tie-breaker; John Tafoya prevailing with 4/6 for the $100 AoA Third Place gift certificate and pure 24 karat gold (colored) TEXtreme Airgun Sports collector-grade pellet tins. Suffice to say Ron Robinson SUCKED on the Standing Lane! Good shooting, JT.

Saturday’s Pistol Field Target match also allowed shooters to purchase multiple scorecards in order to shoot multiple guns; in this case Extreme and/or Magnum Pistol Class. Three Pistoleros did so, thereby making FT history contesting the worlds first Magnum Pistol Field Target competition featuring muzzle energies to forty foot pounds. Extremely gusty match winds proved an excellent challenge for shooting PELLET PISTOLS TO EIGHTY YARDS!

Nine shooters contested the "only" twenty foot pound, “only” 55 yard maximum Extreme Class in the pistol match. Jeff Cloud captured the $150 AoA Match Winner gift certificate and pure 24 karat gold (colored) TEXtreme Airgun Sports Match Winner set of three collector-grade pellet tins, shooting his .20 caliber Rapid Air Works TM 1000 wonder-pistol. His 57/60 score is more than little impressive. Fantastic shooting, Jeff!

Derrick Wall captured his second Second Place in as many days, only one point behind Jeff. DW also used a .20 caliber, in this case a Brocock Commander. Great shooting, Derrick.

Caleb Dickinson’s 52/60 was good enough to capture the Third Place pure 24 karat gold (colored) TEXtreme Airgun Sports Match Winner set of three collector-grade pellet tins. Caleb used a .177 Brocock Pathfinder.

Three shooters contested the new Magnum Pistol class. Derrick Wall used his same .20 caliber Brocock Commander for the win; shooting different pellets at greater power than in the Extreme Pistol class, virtue of Brocock’s excellent multi-position power wheel. His 53/60 score bears remembering that was posted in extremely gusty winds, to 80 yards, with a pellet pistol.

Art Womack will post spread-sheets of all the shooters equipment, scores, placings, and other analyses soon. A million thanks for that, Art; and for the two insulated drinking mugs for the door prize drawings.

And thank you Jim Martin for providing sub sandwiches for Saturdays after-match lunch, and another lifetime supply of new ball-point pens inscribed with “Stolen from TRAILERS PLUS SALES INC… When Jim wasn’t looking!”

As always, we can't thank Airguns Of Arizona enough for their support of TEXtreme Airgun Sports competitions. TEXtreme wouldn't exist without AoA's generous original and ongoing sponsorship. THANK YOU!!!

New to airgun competitions, Luis and Cathy (or Kathy, I neglected to ask) made the trip from Albuquerque to see what Extreme Field Target is all about. Here’s hoping my shooters were successful in creating the illusion they are civilized… because I certainly failed in that deception! In all honesty, hope Y’all enjoyed yourselves as much as we enjoyed having you. By the way, Luis was one of only three shooters that cleaned the Standing Lane! Great shooting, Luis!

Not new to Field Target, Paul Kocurek expanded his FT horizons by attending and contesting Saturday’s Extreme FT Rifle match. His excellent 47/60 first attempt should hook him on EFT, but makes me kinda n-n-NERVOUS. Good shooting, Bud.

Feedback suggests I might not be the only one to have enjoyed myself last weekend. Even the most hard-core FT enthusiasts, that shot two guns and scorecards in BOTH matches, got their fill of field target. However, by Sunday night I was absolutely worn-out as a rented government mule! Oops... Wait!

Sorry Folks, I gotta get some rest!

Happy Shooting All,
Ron & Maggyy



Caleb claiming the Rifle prize.




Jeff's Pistol Match Winner anointment.




Luis cleaning the Standing lane!




Jim Clarke attempting to create the illusion he's actually enjoying his brand-new retirement.




Cave-Man Sighted At Local Shooting Competition!

Correction- Cave-Man Sighting At Local Shooting Competition

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[okieairgunner]

Ron,
Thank you for putting on another great event with great hospitality. It always good to get to see you and Maggie.

 

[Podna]

Rifle scores, weather conditions, and equipment list are below. Winds were 12+mph at the start of the match and increased as the day went on. The lanes that are most effected by wind (in my opinion) are highlighted in blue and the standing lane is grey.

THANK YOU Airguns of Arizona!!!

 

[Centercut]

Looks good Art. Nice job. Hopefully at the TexTreme GP in June shooting a rifle to get your dope then shooting your primary rifle isn’t allowed. At least if GP points are to be available. Kinda silly IMHO and not fair to all. I’ll bet that wasn’t a popular decision to those that didn’t bring two rifles….

 

[Blind Squirrel]

What an amazingly good time due to all of your efforts and beautiful facility, Ron! Thank you and everyone else who helped with advice and encouragement throughout the day. And particularly to Derrick for letting me share his equipment and even allowing me to beat him with his own rifle. I mean... Seriously, he and Jennifer were so great showing me the ropes out there. Can't wait for the next one!

 

[CurtisNelson]

Looks good Art. Nice job. Hopefully at the TexTreme GP in June shooting a rifle to get your dope then shooting your primary rifle isn’t allowed. At least if GP points are to be available. Kinda silly IMHO and not fair to all. I’ll bet that wasn’t a popular decision to those that didn’t bring two rifles….

Someone explain to me the mechanics of how this worked. Centercut is implying that you could shoot two rifles in succession? The first as a "warm-up" and the second for record? That doesn't sound right. Could you do the same thing with one rifle? If so, that certainly changes the complexion of the contest. I must have missed the email notification that this was possible.

I skipped this match due to eye surgery. But, if I had spent my time and hard earned money to travel to Texas, pay for the hotel, meals, and the match fee, I would be upset that some were allowed to shoot and then get a do-over. (not that it would have affected my mid-pack placing)
Perhaps there should be two classes: one for professional marksmen who are sponsored and one for those who pay their own way.

 

[KerrShoot]

I was paired with Caleb D and he shot both rifles in the same order on every lane so for Gun (1), which was his winning score, he did not have any advantage in my opinion. I had problems with my gun set up so I wish I had brought a second rifle! Not that I would have been competitive but would have enjoyed it more. I see both sides, though.

 

[AirNGasman]

Critics... STOP! And listen (read). I'm going to explain this ONCE by keyboard; then if you still want to criticize or complain, I'll simply consider the source.

I have more airgun, field target, and match directing experience than all you critics put together. Not to infer I know it all, or don't still make mistakes.

The ONLY mistake I made concerning allowing shooters to shoot two guns in a match was not stipulating those doing so must stipulate which gun would count toward prizes, and then must shoot that gun FIRST on every lane. Correction- Two mistakes. I under-estimated the speed with which critics would over-react and seize the opportunity to blow this all out of proportion(s), thereby unnecessarily costing me a lot of time and keyboarding.

This was a monthly competition; not a Grand Prix. At dinner after Saturday's rifle match I and the only shooter that MIGHT have had any advantage by shooting two rifles arrived at the perfect, inarguable solution to not only completely avoid two-gun shooters having any advantage whatsoever, but end all debate about it. As alluded to above about my admitted mistake that is now rectified, shooters shooting two guns in a match must stipulate which gun will count toward prizes, and then must shoot that gun FIRST on every lane. Y'all read that sentence as many times as necessary to understand it.

I will still allow shooters to shoot two guns in my monthly matches, since there is no advantage to be gained from doing so. It won't be allowed at my TEXtreme Grand Prix rifle match, or my TEXtreme State Championships rifle match; mostly because I have enough on my plate those weekends already.

By the way, the only way it affects other shooters or me is the same way having more shooters enter a match does.

Case closed.

 

[AirNGasman]

Your concerns are valid Curtis; and like many first efforts, I made a mistake in not foreseeing all elements. That mistake was rectified in Sunday's Pistol match, and the future.

Could you do the same thing with one rifle?

No. Not then, nor in the future.

 

[AirNGasman]

I was paired with Caleb D and he shot both rifles in the same order on every lane so for Gun (1), which was his winning score, he did not have any advantage in my opinion. I had problems with my gun set up so I wish I had brought a second rifle! Not that I would have been competitive but would have enjoyed it more. I see both sides, though.

Thank you for your feedback, KS. And for pointing out that allowing shooters that travel long distances to shoot more increases their enjoyment and incentive to do so.

 

[CurtisNelson]

Your concerns are valid Curtis; and like many first efforts, I made a mistake in not foreseeing all elements. That mistake was rectified in Sunday's Pistol match, and the future.



No. Not then, nor in the future.

Ron, Thanks for the timely and accurate feedback - Best way to clear the air. Looking forward to your June GP - always fun and well run. Now, if we could just have a few mulligans.... I would score much better!
As Always, Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your matches.
Please reconsider the 2-gun policy; I would argue that shooters who shoot twice as many shots in match conditions do in fact have an advantage over 1 gun shooters, regardless of which gun is shot first. Not on the first lane but progressively as the match goes on.

 

[Martin3528]

That would actually be a good deal to see which gun you might want to shoot at a future event. I am all for it at a fun shoot.

 

[zx10wall]

Considering that I shot my EDgun first at each lane and got a 2nd place score using my Delta Wolf, I am DQing myself. I've already let Ron know to shuffle the gift certificate to those that deserve it. I'll not be competing in any competitions the remainder of 2024. This is my decision and it's final! Carry on.

 

[AirNGasman]

I'll not be competing in any competitions the remainder of 2024.

Y'all happy now? Well, I'M NOT!

Next time anyone wants to criticize how I do or did things, be man enough to criticize me TO ME... before you cost me shooters, and cost Extreme Field Target one of the most positive influencers in the game.

You've done real damage, for no good reason(s).

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[trlrman]

I gave you a thumbs down on the post. You have more HONOR and MORALS than most that compete certianly more than myself . You not competing is in my opion an extreme letdown for the sport. You stepped up and admitted a mistake , who here has not made a mistake.

 

[AirNGasman]

Having DQed myself several times, I feel Derrick DQing himself to be not necessary; but not necessarily the wrong thing for him to do. However suspending himself for the rest of 2024 is without doubt AN EXTREME OVER-REACTION. The punishment doesn't fit the misdemeanor, Bud!

But considering how this all came down (here), I'm going to retaliate in a way that is more symbolic than anything else; in order to make the point that rash actions have consequences. A similar rash action that also wasted a lot of my time and energy once accused me of favoring pistol over rifle competitions at TEXtreme.

Having finished fourth in the rifle match being discussed here, since I am now relegated upward to third place, Derrick's $150 AoA gift certificate will be returned to the 2024 TEXtreme season gift certificate pool and added to another TEXtreme event prize list. However, to make aforementioned point it won't go toward the Grand Prix weekend, or a rifle match. It will be added to the TEXtreme State Championships Pistol prize list.

El understando?

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[CurtisNelson]

“The punishment doesn't fit the misdemeanor, Bud!”

To go a step farther: I don’t believe that ANY shooter has done ANYTHING wrong in this match scenario. The match director made a bad call and has acknowledged as much, to his credit as an honorable person.
No one has violated the letter or intent of the match rules.
I questioned the mechanics of how the match was run and received a satisfactory answer. We all live and learn as we go along. There should be no regrets on anyone’s part beyond Ron’s statement. We are all grown ups. We all can handle questions regarding our actions, but Derrick has nothing to answer for, and I hope he will reconsider, but I respect his decision either way.

Curtis

 

[Cloud9AG]

I avoided all controversy this weekend.

 

[AirNGasman]

Ron, just to reiterate what I've told you more than once, this was sent at 9:41 am Pacific time.

I'd have had to have read that to know it, but was too busy putting out your fire here to check my email and phone texts for a couple hours. In fact I wasted most of the day dealing with this crap. Thanks a lot!

That said, thank you for apologizing to Derrick. I'll now honor my part of the deal.

 

[AirNGasman]

I avoided all controversy this weekend.

Oh yeah? How long is that grip?



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