Would have posted this late last night but blew a tire on my trailer hauling the 4 wheeler home and ruined the wheel so it took a while to get that repaired. Carolyn did have the scores tallied a few hours after the match was over which is incredible for a match of this size and complexity. Sorry for the delay in getting them here for all to see.
A few shooters shot on Friday which turned out to be one of the roughest shooting conditions I've ever shot in. It rained and rained and then rained more, some stages had 4 inches or more of water where we had to shoot from. The mud was deep enough to have first rate mud wrestling matches in, elbows and bi-pods would slowly sink as you were trying to set up the shot. Stopped for lunch and the rain stopped, after lunch the winds decided to visit Rayners with steady 20 to 25 mph with gusts of 40 and over. The tri-pods for the spotting scopes were being blown over and it was actually hard to walk in some areas due to the wind gusts. On the last stage with only a couple of shooters to go we all looked all looked up and saw this white/grey wall of water coming across the hill and fields. This wall of rain swept thru so heavy you couldn't see thru it.
Iron Man Mike Cooper decided "what the Hell" and started his Woods Run in the middle of it, we could barely see the targets thru the the spotting scopes but he somehow hit 3 of the 4 steel plates. Whenever anyone mentions tough shooting conditions ask any one of the competitors who shot on Friday for sympathy. I finally gave up after 8 stages and went back to RO'ing, yup, I wussed out but my bolt was sticking, I was soaked and had mud in places I may never find. Even though it's always fun shooting I didn't find that fun , must be getting old I guess. To say I was impressed by how well the others did on Friday is an understatement, they are true competitors and I give them all a lot of credit, true competitors to say the least.
Anyway, on to Saturday and Sunday. Started out cold on Saturday with some wind. Finally warmed up a bit later in the afternoon but still made each shooter work for their hits. Sunday started off a lot warmer but still had shifting wind which is typical for Rayners. Looking back I wish I had taken my video camera to film everyone shooting the "Under the Jeep" stage. Posting that in fast forward to show to show all the shooting trying to get the right position to shoot their two targets would have been great. For those that shot it they know what I'm meaning. First target was just a bit too low to be seen over the crown of the hill so you had to either have a really tall bipod but not too tall or you couldn't see under the Jeep. A couple shooters cobbed together a little tripod made from pieces of limbs, other thru backpacks down, then flipped them over, then stood them up, then tossed them aside, then regrab them and try another direction. Some stacked sand bags, others tried standing their rolled up shooting mats on end, a couple just shot somewhere in the general direction just to be able to move on up to the easier to see target. You had to be there to see it to appreciate it, was pretty comical observing but frustrating being the shooter. I got lucky with a backpack under my pod which worked out just right first try.
It was a real pleasure to be allowed to help with this match along with all the other Range Officers, the Ladies and Gentlemen competitors were all a pleasure to watch shoot their stages. Even when a shooter struggled with a difficult stage the shooters showed real sportsmanship and their love for this difficult sport. The other Range Officers were a pleasure to work with and did whatever it took to make the shooters feel comfortable and helped when we could to keep the match running smoothly.
Thanks to Tom and Carolyn for allowing everyone to come and enjoy their piece of Heaven and use their facilities for our passion. As usual the food was great and thanks to all those that made that possible. If you enjoyed this match you better schedule ahead of time for the Fall Match, I'm sure it's nearly full so get your butt in gear and get signed up.
Now on to the results after all this babble. The breakdown for the stages will be posted on Rayners Range website as soon as possible.
Rayner’s Spring Sniper Challenge
April 4, 5 & 6, 2014
1. Ken Sanoski
2. Dave Moore
3. Zack Purvis
4. Jeff Preston
5. Chris Michael
6. Mark Patrick
7. Doug Dearinger
8. Dusty Gerdau
9. Brandon Burdett
10. Russ Ring
11. Zac Coffing
12. Kurt Poeppelman
13. John Jordan
14. Allen Jaworski
15. Carl Busse *
16. Jeff Raymond
17. Jim Wolf
18. Kurt Miller
19. Matt Totin
20. Merritt Roseberry
21. Margaret Jordan **
22. Derrek Morehead
23. Bryan Goodwin
24. Michael Bass
25. Mark Conner
26. Gary Conner
27. Corey Smith
28. Wayne Schoene
29. Scott Ritzheimer
30. Steve Michniak
31. Mike Cooper
32. Craig Wickham
33. Shawn Strawser
34. Matt Fraley
35. Nick Bogdanski
36. James Rowe
37. Walt Axtell
38. Dennis Howard
39. Ben Hodkinson
40. Eric Shafer
41. Craig Nolty
42. Doug Kriemeim
43. Wayne Powell
44. Josey Rayner
45. Dave Rancourt
46. Mike Busse
47. Kirt Lyon
48. Tom Butler
49. Jeremy Bales
50. Aaron Daggerhart
51. Jesse Roberts
52. Chris Childs
53. Kyle Wells
54. Conner Goodwin *
55. Eric Smith
56. John Hauser
57. Dan Hooks
58. Joe O’Brien
59. Brian White
60. Dennis Kirkpatrick (DNF, I wussed out early in the fun)
61. Chris Kirkpatrick (DNF, slid off Barn steps and fell on his back)
62. Dennis Wells
63. Lon Jenkins
* Junior / ** Lady
Topstrap
A few shooters shot on Friday which turned out to be one of the roughest shooting conditions I've ever shot in. It rained and rained and then rained more, some stages had 4 inches or more of water where we had to shoot from. The mud was deep enough to have first rate mud wrestling matches in, elbows and bi-pods would slowly sink as you were trying to set up the shot. Stopped for lunch and the rain stopped, after lunch the winds decided to visit Rayners with steady 20 to 25 mph with gusts of 40 and over. The tri-pods for the spotting scopes were being blown over and it was actually hard to walk in some areas due to the wind gusts. On the last stage with only a couple of shooters to go we all looked all looked up and saw this white/grey wall of water coming across the hill and fields. This wall of rain swept thru so heavy you couldn't see thru it.
Iron Man Mike Cooper decided "what the Hell" and started his Woods Run in the middle of it, we could barely see the targets thru the the spotting scopes but he somehow hit 3 of the 4 steel plates. Whenever anyone mentions tough shooting conditions ask any one of the competitors who shot on Friday for sympathy. I finally gave up after 8 stages and went back to RO'ing, yup, I wussed out but my bolt was sticking, I was soaked and had mud in places I may never find. Even though it's always fun shooting I didn't find that fun , must be getting old I guess. To say I was impressed by how well the others did on Friday is an understatement, they are true competitors and I give them all a lot of credit, true competitors to say the least.
Anyway, on to Saturday and Sunday. Started out cold on Saturday with some wind. Finally warmed up a bit later in the afternoon but still made each shooter work for their hits. Sunday started off a lot warmer but still had shifting wind which is typical for Rayners. Looking back I wish I had taken my video camera to film everyone shooting the "Under the Jeep" stage. Posting that in fast forward to show to show all the shooting trying to get the right position to shoot their two targets would have been great. For those that shot it they know what I'm meaning. First target was just a bit too low to be seen over the crown of the hill so you had to either have a really tall bipod but not too tall or you couldn't see under the Jeep. A couple shooters cobbed together a little tripod made from pieces of limbs, other thru backpacks down, then flipped them over, then stood them up, then tossed them aside, then regrab them and try another direction. Some stacked sand bags, others tried standing their rolled up shooting mats on end, a couple just shot somewhere in the general direction just to be able to move on up to the easier to see target. You had to be there to see it to appreciate it, was pretty comical observing but frustrating being the shooter. I got lucky with a backpack under my pod which worked out just right first try.
It was a real pleasure to be allowed to help with this match along with all the other Range Officers, the Ladies and Gentlemen competitors were all a pleasure to watch shoot their stages. Even when a shooter struggled with a difficult stage the shooters showed real sportsmanship and their love for this difficult sport. The other Range Officers were a pleasure to work with and did whatever it took to make the shooters feel comfortable and helped when we could to keep the match running smoothly.
Thanks to Tom and Carolyn for allowing everyone to come and enjoy their piece of Heaven and use their facilities for our passion. As usual the food was great and thanks to all those that made that possible. If you enjoyed this match you better schedule ahead of time for the Fall Match, I'm sure it's nearly full so get your butt in gear and get signed up.
Now on to the results after all this babble. The breakdown for the stages will be posted on Rayners Range website as soon as possible.
Rayner’s Spring Sniper Challenge
April 4, 5 & 6, 2014
1. Ken Sanoski
2. Dave Moore
3. Zack Purvis
4. Jeff Preston
5. Chris Michael
6. Mark Patrick
7. Doug Dearinger
8. Dusty Gerdau
9. Brandon Burdett
10. Russ Ring
11. Zac Coffing
12. Kurt Poeppelman
13. John Jordan
14. Allen Jaworski
15. Carl Busse *
16. Jeff Raymond
17. Jim Wolf
18. Kurt Miller
19. Matt Totin
20. Merritt Roseberry
21. Margaret Jordan **
22. Derrek Morehead
23. Bryan Goodwin
24. Michael Bass
25. Mark Conner
26. Gary Conner
27. Corey Smith
28. Wayne Schoene
29. Scott Ritzheimer
30. Steve Michniak
31. Mike Cooper
32. Craig Wickham
33. Shawn Strawser
34. Matt Fraley
35. Nick Bogdanski
36. James Rowe
37. Walt Axtell
38. Dennis Howard
39. Ben Hodkinson
40. Eric Shafer
41. Craig Nolty
42. Doug Kriemeim
43. Wayne Powell
44. Josey Rayner
45. Dave Rancourt
46. Mike Busse
47. Kirt Lyon
48. Tom Butler
49. Jeremy Bales
50. Aaron Daggerhart
51. Jesse Roberts
52. Chris Childs
53. Kyle Wells
54. Conner Goodwin *
55. Eric Smith
56. John Hauser
57. Dan Hooks
58. Joe O’Brien
59. Brian White
60. Dennis Kirkpatrick (DNF, I wussed out early in the fun)
61. Chris Kirkpatrick (DNF, slid off Barn steps and fell on his back)
62. Dennis Wells
63. Lon Jenkins
* Junior / ** Lady
Topstrap
Last edited: