They just can't help themselves

The ISSF has, again, changed the finals process for TRAP.

Now, instead of shooting the 15-target semi-final from stations 2,3,4 it will be shot from all six positions. 

This will likely speed things up - which is good.

However, because shooters will get one target from each of the fifteen machines, it will also make it ridiculously easy to count targets - which is bad.

I predict that the scores in semi-finals will go up by so much that the necessary shoot-offs will more than offset any time savings garnered by the use of all six positions. 

Further, I predict that in January 2015 - the ISSF will, yet again, reverse itself and return to the 2,3,4 format for the semi-final.  Unless, of course, they go to an entirely different format - which I would not put past them. 

What the ISSF may have overlooked is that it costs hundreds of dollars to upgrade or retrofit controller boxes to throw these new semi-finals and medal rounds.  For small clubs this is not a trivial amount.

The ISSF has made it all but impossible for these clubs to put on matches that accurately reflect the format seen in high-level, international competitions. 

The Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club, my home club, would - to throw the new finals in 2013 and then again this year - have had to spend in excess of $600 for the necessary upgrades to our computer box.  Of course, we could simply get a new "scalable" computer box for several THOUSAND dollars.  We have opted to forego these expenditures because we're pretty sure that the ISSF isn't done mucking about with the game yet. 

I genuinely wonder if the ISSF remembers what it was trying to do in the first place.

Words of Wisdom from an Olympic Champion

Bob Braithwaite - Olympic Gold Medalist  - Mexico City, 1968

http://vimeo.com/39200770

Whether 1968 or today, his is good advice

Well, just as I predicted...the ISSF is tinkering with the game again.  Now, the semi-final will employ all five shooting positions and the shooters will go around three (3) times - for 15 targets.  Then, back to stations 2,3 and 4 for the medal matches. 

My home club, Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club, is looking smarter and smarter for having decided against spending several hundred dollars on a chip to upgrade our box to handle the new format.  Because those who did, are going to need to buy another one to handle the new semi-finals.

I wish these people in Munich would stop screwing with our game. 

I just ordered ten flats (gulp!) of the Federal N11975 - 24 gram 7 1/2 paper shells for next season.  With shipping, it's going to come to almost exactly $1,000.00US.  There is - currently - no rebate program on these so I'm spending a lot for these shells.  I do believe that they are the best shells money can buy, but $10/box...that hurts.  But, I figure that the price isn't going to come down, and neither will the shipping, so I may as well get them now while I can find them.  I hope this causes me to improve my first barrel percentage. ;)

SHOTGUN VIDEO

Here is a video that shows how shotgunning works. It can be found here also...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cbj4NWks54


It's from the Discovery Channel's Time Warp show.

Olympic-Style Shotgun Schedule - 2009 (As of 1/11/09)

Here is the current (as of 1/10/09) list of International Trap, Double Trap and Skeet events in the U.S. by date:

Match Name Club Name Location Date Event(s) Contact

Barbados Open Shotgun Championship Barbados Barbados 17-26 JAN 09 T, DT, S Wayne Nicholls (246) 436-6705
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 18-Jan-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
JANUARY FREEZE OPEN CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 18-Jan-09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Florida Cup Trap Gator Trap and Skeet Gainesville, FL 23-25 JAN 09 T Tom Baber (800) 842-1592
Florida Cup Double Trap Gator Trap and Skeet Gainesville, FL 26 JAN 09 DT Tom Baber (800) 842-1592
Miami Open 2009 Trail Glades Shooting Range Miami, FL 06-08 FEB 09 S Fernando Bayo 615-260-0831
Zone 8 Championships Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 13-15 FEB 09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
FEBRUARY THAW OPEN CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 15-Feb-09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Southeast Regional Trap Gator Trap and Skeet Gainesville, FL 27FEB-02MAR 09 T Tom Baber (800) 842-1592
Southeast Regional Double Trap Gator Trap and Skeet Gainesville, FL 02 MAR 09 DT Tom Baber (800) 842-1592
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 08-Mar-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
2009 Jack Fishburn Classic Cardinal Center Marengo, OH 13-15 MAR 09 T Hal Hare (614) 501-8535
MARCH WINDS OPEN CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 15-Mar-09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Ft. Benning Spring PTO Skeet Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 18-21 MAR 09 S Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Ft. Benning Spring PTO Double Trap Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 18-20 MAR 09 DT Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Ft. Benning Spring PTO Trap Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 22-25 MAR 09 T Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
VA State Championship Quantico Shooting Club Quantico, VA 17-19 APR 09 T Sam Work (703) 626-8490
NSSA ZONE 3 CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 17-19 APR 09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Zone 3 Skeet Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 17-19 APR 09 S Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Zone 3 Double Trap Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 23 APR 09 DT Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Zone 3 Trap Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 24-26 APR 09 T Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 26-Apr-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
ZONE 4 TRAP CHAMPIONSHIPS Fairfield Sportsmans Club Cincinnati, OH 15-17 MAY 09 T Charlie Wentzel (513) 574-8315
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 17-May-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
Interservice Skeet Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 29-31 MAY 09 S Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
South Texas Jr Olympic Qualifier Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 5-7 JUN 09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
Can Am Cup Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club New Tripoli, PA 5-7 JUN 09 T Rocco Bara (610) 837-2160
Texas State/Southwest Regional Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 12-14 JUN 09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
Interservice Double Trap Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 18 JUN 09 DT Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Interservice Trap & Championships Ft. Benning Trap & Skeet Ft. Benning, GA 19-21 JUN 09 T Dean Clark, (706) 545-1152
Zone 2 Championship Quantico Shooting Club Quantico, VA 26-28 JUN 09 T Sam Work (703) 626-8490
NSSA International Skeet World Tulsa Gun Club Tulsa, OK 10-12 JUL 09 S Jon McGrath 918-688-7245
U.S. National Championships Olympic Training Center Colorado Springs, CO 11-19 JUL 09 T, S, DT Mark Weeks (719) 866-4682
Junior Olympic Championships Olympic Training Center Colorado Springs, CO 25-31 JUL 09 T, DT, S Mark Weeks (719) 866-4682
Grand Prix of America Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club New Tripoli, PA 31JUL - 2AUG 09 T Rocco Bara (610) 837-2160
FSA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP Fairfield Sportsmans Club Cincinnati, OH 07-Aug-09 T Charlie Wentzel (513) 574-8315
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 08-Aug-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER OPEN CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 16-Aug-09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 30-Aug-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
Northeast Regional Quantico Shooting Club Quantico, VA 11-13 SEP 09 T Sam Work (703) 626-8490
2009 Senior Open Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX (T)11-13 SEP 09 S, T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
OHIO STATE CHMAPIONSHIP SKEET CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 18-20 SEP 09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
OHIO STATE CHMAPIONSHIP TRAP Fairfield Sportsmans Club Cincinnati, OH 18-20 SEP 09 T Charlie Wentzel (513) 574-8315
Don Haldeman Memorial/Oktoberfest Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club New Tripoli, PA 25-27 SEP 09 T Rocco Bara (610) 837-2160
Fall Team Selection Match Olympic Training Center Kerrville, TX (T)25SEP-04OCT 09 T, S, DT Mark Weeks (719) 866-4682
HALLOWEEN OPEN CLINTON CO FARMERS & SPTSMN Wilmington, OH 18-Oct-09 S John Grehan (937) 241-7646
Beltway 250 Quantico Shooting Club Quantico, VA 24-25 OCT 09 T Sam Work (703) 626-8490
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 25-Oct-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
4th Annual Molon Labe Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 13-15 NOV 09 S, T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118
Club Bunker Shoot Hill Country Shooting Sports Kerrville, TX 13-Dec-09 T Deb Barney (830) 995-5118

NOTE: Dates preceded by (T) are tentative.

I apologize for the formatting but I'm new at this.

How to irritate people

Since I have not shot OT in some time, I have not bothered to keep up with the rule changes that occur every year.

My understanding is now the shoot-off round is single-barrel only.

Well, that's nice. Two different games in one.

The ISSF is going to make Int'l Trap & Skeet television friendly, by God - even if they drive all the competitors out of the sport in the process.

How can you show both the target and the shooter in the same frame? You can't. Skeet, maybe. Trap, no way. Stop trying to make the game something it isn't (i.e. readily and attractively televisable) and work to make it popular enough that the IOC can't dump it from the games.

I've quite had it with this. If I ever am fortunate enough to qualify for a final in a large international competition I hope I would have the guts to shoot the final with my beat-up old Remington 870. That'd demonstrate my contempt for the new rule. Harumph!

Another thing. Since these rules have spiralled out of control, I propose we, at the grass roots, go back to the rules circa 1980: 200 targets, no shoot off except for ties. Free use of up to 36 gram loads. Minimum 75 meter birds.
15 seconds to call for the bird.

I'd like to do that for just one shoot. Just run it up the 'ole flag pole and see who salutes.

Who knows? Maybe the old style would be more popular?

USA Shooting and the World Cup

If you remember the 1998 Atlanta World Cup held at the Wolf Creek Olympic Ranges - then, like me, you are more than a little worried about the upcoming shotgun World Cup in Kerrville, TX.

The shotgun portion of the '98 WC was an unmitigated disaster and a national humiliation. The people in charge of that event had no idea how to run a shotgun match.

In those days, USA Shooting was largely staffed by rifle shooters. Now, let's be clear: I've nothing against rifle shooters. However, in 1998, the assumption that a rifle shooter, even one with experience running large rifle matches, could competently run a large, important international shotgun event - was a mistake.

It is my understanding that Wanda Jewel is the match director for the upcoming WC. While I have only met her once, she strikes me as a competent individual. Nevertheless, the question needs to be asked: what is her experience with shotgun matches?

With 300 competitors (50 squads) there will not be time to "learn on the job". I really hope she's got a lot of help.

The Kerrville facility could be a high visability, public relations boon for our sports. But only if we continue to get international events. Another showing like '98 and we may not, in the future, be able to draw the kinds of events that a facility like Kerrville deserves.

My fingers are crossed.