2020 Oregon State Field Target Championships

Match Report:

The weather was a little hot, especially in the sun, but in the shade with the gentle breeze, it was really pleasant. The months and weeks before, while we were clearing the course and building the shooting decks, we had the Pacific winds coming from the NW, with highs in the mid 8o’s.  Only a few days before the match did it switch to hot dry air from the SE. deserts.

Friday’s Pistol match had to deal with the most wind, but it was only 6-10 mph.  The course follows along a creek that gently bends about 90 degrees eventually, so the winds in the small canyon can be very tricky as you shoot thru the course. .. Even with a 2-3 mph wind like we had starting 9:00am on Sunday morning.  

The farthest traveling competitors came from Arizona, Lauren Parson of AOA, was joined by Pat Callihan from nearby Las Vegas.  Larry Durham and Jim Ziegler made the long drive up from the San Diego CA area.  Vince Pacheco and John Knapp, and Scott Hull and family drove up from Morro Bay.  Sac Valley was represented by Scott Schneider, Jim Cyran, Al Padilla, Cameron Kerndt and Chris Merritt.  Local competitors were Randy Ebersole, Chris Lovitt, myself, and we welcomed back Mark Gravelle, who dusted off his 5fpe Diana 75 10 meter rig to shoot the course with.

The Pistol match had 8 competitors with two in the Unlimited Class and 6 in Hunter Pistol.  The course of fire was 8 lanes with mostly 3 targets per lane and two shots per target for a 42 shot course and all lanes were shot from the new deck along the creek I had just finished up a few days earlier.

Some of the best pistol shooters in the country were present, so it was expected to be a close match.   As in a lot of matches, the standing lane became the deciding factor, with Cameron going clean and everyone close to him only getting two for six. Cameron ended up missing two sitting shots for overall high of 40/42 and easily winning Unlimited Pistol.  Scott Hull made every sitting shot, but was one of those 2/6 offhand, which made him second overall with a 38/42, but first in the Hunter Pistol class. Scott Schneider lost 2 points shooting out of order or he would have tied Scott hull, there was a tie one point behind Scott Hulls 38 with John Knapp and Randy Ebersole each at 37, so Scott S just missed the podium with a 36/42.

I was making some last minute target and string adjustments on the new course Saturday morning, so we started a little late around 11:15.  I wanted to wait until the wind got going too, since a lot of good shooters were attending.  A match director can only do this on Saturday.  Sunday, we got started at 9:15 and we were done by 11:30, so folks could make their flights out on time or get driving on their 6-13 hr journeys home.

The course we carved from the berries and willows that were smothering the creek, ended up with 18 lanes, each with 3 targets that we shot one time for 54 shots on Saturday.  Sunday we removed two lanes and had 48 shots for 102 total shots over both days.  Those of you who travel to the worlds know the difficulty of one shot per target compared to the normal two shots on two targets at most AAFTA courses.  This 33.7 troyer course is three targets per lane and 18 lanes instead of two targets on 25 lanes like a world’s course.  The 18 rifle and 8 pistol lanes were all we really could fit in the space along the creek.  It’s a compromise of sorts, you still range and address a lot more targets, no second shots, but not quite as tough as a real worlds course and each shooting station has a level cedar deck to shoot from and it’s a short walk with about 10 or 12’ between lanes.  

27 targets were 40 yards or more.  The average kill zone was 1.2” and the average yardage was 35.  Difficulty was 33.7 troyer.  The hardest single target was 41.3T, the easiest was 20.8T.  Each day we had 3 kneeling and 3 standing shots.

Saturday’s late start with a little more wind didn’t bother Lauren Parson in WFTF PCP and her custom Daystate “Lauren Parsons Special edition” rifle.  You can buy one, there aren’t a lot of them.. Call AOA, but don’t ask the price☺  Lauren smiles and says “it’s all the rifle, you should buy one”, but I say she’s a really good world class shooter and the rifle helps a lot too.  She missed only three shots on Saturday for 51/54.  She was miles ahead of me with a 42/54 and Randy with 40/54.  

Meanwhile in Hunter PCP, Scott Hull shot a 49/51, with Scott Schneider at 46/54, Jim Cyran at 45, Chris Lovitt 44, John Knapp 43, LD and Al Padilla a 40, and Jim Ziegler a 27.

Vince Pacheco led the Open Class with a 46/54, Chris Merritt a 43 and Pat Callihan 36.

Piston Class of two, was led by Cameron Kerndt with a 35/54 and Mark Gravelle and his 5fpe Diana shot a 23.

Sundays’ early start had very little wind at the start.  I paired closest by class as normal, so in WFTF PCP, I got paired with Lauren.  She is so nice, and a great shooting partner.  There was no way to make up 9 points, but I was hoping to stay close to her on the day two score, and unfortunately, I’m proud to say we were tied on day two score for a few lanes☺ She missed 3 for a 45/48 and I was only two back with a 43/48.  So I was “only” 11 behind for both days☺ Lauren ended up with a 96/102 for high overall too.  Randy E, broken and beaten from months of course clearing and setting, shot a 79/102 for 3rd.

Day two in Hunter PCP Scott H and Scott S tied with 43/48, Jim C was at 42, Al P at 42, Chris L at 41, so Scott Hull held on for first in Hunter PCP with a 92/102, Scott Schneider 2nd with 89/102 and Jim Cyran 3rd at 87/102, Chris Lovitt also worked hard on setting the course and just missed the podium with an 85/102.

Open class was tightly contested also with Chris Merritt and Vince Pacheco.  Chris made up 3 points on day two to tie at 82/102, Vince graciously took 2nd without a shoot off and Pat Callihan got 3rd with 73/102.

There really wasn’t a Piston class but it still counts for the Grand Prix scores, so Cameron Kerndt shot a 71/102 in WFTF 12fpe Piston.

The match went really smoothly on Sunday and we finished earlier than expected, so Lauren and Pat could stay for awards and a bite to eat and still make their flights.  So I set up the awards on a table by itself and called out the awards for competitors to come up one at a time and stand for a picture.

Then we ate some hot pizza, some drank a few brews, while sitting 6’ apart outside in the shade for a while discussing the match before all departed home.

I want to thank my crew Randy E, Chris L, my sister Laurie and wife Christine for the food and Jacob & Casey for the photos, and all you competitors so much for traveling so far to attend.  Hopefully next year we’ll be able to shake hands and hug like normal.

Here is the scoreboard:

Respectfully reported,

Wayne Burns

Match Director

2020 Oregon State Field Target Championships & AAFTA Grand Prix