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Chicken Coop shoot

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  • acorneau

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    Feb 5, 2014
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    The North Louisiana Indoor Air Rifle Silhouette Regional, a.k.a. "the Chicken Coop shoot", is this weekend. Shooters from Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and possibly Georgia are expected to be there.

    It's held in a converted (cleaned up) commercial chicken house over 100 yards long although Air rifle silhouette only needs 45 yards from the firing line to the farthest targets (the Rams).

    Most air rifle silhouette matches are held outside, but since the NRA distinguishes between outdoor and indoor most of us in this region only get our indoor scores from this match. I've been to this match only once, last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the progress I've made in my overall shooting translates to an indoor setting where you don't have to worry about the wind throwing your pellet off-target.

    For those of you interested in seeing what happens at this match the organizers will be live-streaming the match at this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GarinHatch

    I'll post my own personal report after I get back.
     

    acorneau

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    Feb 5, 2014
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    Sorry it took me a while to get back over here to post my report.

    Unfortunately the whole deal is a bit of a complex story. The short version is the Fates were conspiring against me but I managed to do ok. The long story...

    Most of us that travel to the match all pitch in to get a big group cabin from the state park just 5 miles from the range. The Lodge can hold 14+ people, has a full kitchen, and we all know each other so it's a good deal and a fun time. Everyone helps bring stuff in from the cars/trucks as they arrive as they say hello and talk about things since we saw each other last.

    Saturday morning we had breakfast and got to the range for warm-up before the first match. I had left my stuff in the truck overnight, but when we got to the range my range bag was nowhere to be found. I had my rifles but my range bag containing my pellets, shooting vest, shooting glasses/blinder, and all the other odds and ends one needs for competition was nowhere.

    Needless to say I was frantic looking for my bag and trying to figure out what to do. Luckily I was able to obtain a tin of the correct pellets for my Target rifle from one person and a tin of the different pellets for my Sporter rifle from another person, but I would have to shoot without my vest and glasses. I was able to quickly fashion a temporary left-eye blinder with a piece of poster board and my trusty pocket knife.

    Not surprisingly my Target rifle scores were less than average, a 33/60 which equates to a 22/40 (normal matches are usually 40-shots). I usually shoot around 25/40 or a little better. I ended up in the middle of the pack in my classification.

    After lunch was Open rifle, which I shoot with my TX200 (my Sporter rifle). I managed a 44/60 (~29/40) which is about average for me, and I earned second place in my class, just one point behind first.

    After the day's shooting we got back to the cabin and I looked for my range bag. Sure enough I found it hidden under a cot that someone had set up in the living room. They must have brought the bag in from the truck Friday night thinking they were helping, and since I assumed it was still in the truck and couldn't see it under the cot I didn't think to look for it before we left. (There was no suspicion that someone had stollen it. We all know each other and that just doesn't happen in this crowd.)

    With that day done I looked forward to Sunday when we shoot Sporter rifle, my best performer and the one rifle I'm in Master class. We got to the range and during warm-up I was feeling good, totally in tune with the rifle, and shooting well. My squad started on Rams where I got 12/15, then got 12/15 Chickens, followed by 14/15 Pigs. At this point I had one of the top four scores, I just needed to do well in Turkeys to potentially place.

    We stepped up to the line and the range owner just happen to decide he wanted to shoot on the Rams (which weren't being used at the time) for fun. When we started our shots I was blasted by the sound of a very loud air rifle. (When you're not wearing any ear protection the loud ones can be almost as loud as a 22LR.) The owner had pulled out a higher-power air rifle with a muzzle break and I was the one in the blast zone. Needless to say I couldn't concentrate on my shots and ended up with only seven Turkeys.

    My total score for the match was a 45/60, still a Master class score (barely), but I had told myself before the start of the match that I only wanted to get at least one point higher than I did the previous year (45/60). Had I gotten 11 or more Turkeys, which I felt I could have done, I would have taken third place in Master class.

    I was seriously upset but there wasn't much to do at that point. Complaining would have just made me a sore looser. I swallowed my anger and pride and chalked it up as a lesson learned.

    Luckily they will be holding a "Shamrock Silhouette Shootout" in Baton Rouge next month, an outdoor air rifle silhouette regional match. Hopefully I will have better luck and the Fates will leave me alone this time.

    Coop2018.jpg
     
    Last edited:

    diesel1959

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    Nov 7, 2013
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    Houston & BFE
    Good report! Sorry about the equipment mixup and the owner's sonic intrusion on your score. :(

    There is no excuse for not having earplugs with you at all times. I wear ear pro whenever I shoot anything--air rifles, rimfire or centerfire pistols, rifles--even if the weapon has a silencer attached. In fact, I always double my ear pro--plugs AND headset. I refuse to lose my hearing.
     
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