WildCats Matches Days 2 & 3

  Fair weather held for Day 2 & 3 of the WildCats Sm Bore prone Championships in Phoenix. That means 4 to 8 mph breezes from the SE in the mornings, and steadily moving towards the SW by the last match of the day.  The favored condition was 1 moa right for windage in the morning, ending in about the same to the left by the afternoon.
Stewart Lind and Jim Cobb had been top shooters in my Ex Class in the Day One Iron sight match, and left me in the middle of the pack by days end.  Day two, however was an Any Sight day, and I had been shooting good with the scope in matches over the last two weeks, so I was ready to be a little more competitive in this match. Since the conditions were good, I figured it was my best chance for a class win and the coveted sweatshirt that goes with it.  I had won a WildCat  in sharpshooters class in 2007, but was now an Expert and wins there don't come easily.  Stewart Lind had won it yesterday with a 1592 shooting Irons and I knew that he wasn't going to let the Any sight match go cheap.
  The 50 yd part of the Dewar went well and I got all 200 pts, but so did the others.  The 100yd target went OK with 16 Xs but I lost a pt. for no good reason out the top.  This would haunt me later. 

 

One pt away from a 1600

 Watching the targets in the EX group, I saw that everyone was scoring high.  The 100 yd match saw more wind shifting between 4 and 7 O'clock, but I got the only 400 in my class so I was tied up after 4 targets with Jim Cobb and Stewart.  I was worried about those little 50 m ten rings, but the shots fell well and I again survived to get the only 400 in Experts.  Stewart dropped one pt, so I had a 1pt lead with 40 shots left to go on the 50 yd targets. I was nervous, I hadn't shot many 400s all year and already had 2 today and needed another one to win.
  Stewart Lind would not let go and scored a 400 with 34 big Xs in the match but I was fortunate enough to also shoot the last two targets clean, and win the Class for the day. I had to shoot a 1599 (personal record) to beat Stewart Lind's 1598 and top the Experts.  That's tough competition !! 
Was a 1599 enough to win the match overall today ---  Nope, not even close! Nancy Tompkins shot a perfect 1600-136x to beat Joe Farmer's 1599-141x.  My measly 1599 was good for 6th.
   What a great day!  My best score ever.  A day like today makes up for all those bad days when nothing goes right.  I can't wait for tomorrow.  It's the WildCat matches.  Everybody shoots their best in the wildcats.
   Oh, by the way Day three in the Expert class was Jim Cobb's day and he made the 3rd separate EX class winner in three days running.  Jim shot little but 10s and Xs when the wind finally came to test the shooters.  Last match today was shot in a gusty 12-14 mph breeze out of the SW.  Who's turn to win tomorrow and what kind of a score will be needed?  We'll see?

The Rest of the Story from the Master Class end of the line--
Read Rick Curtis's article on day 2 and 3 -- Click Here  "The Lioness moves in for the kill at the Cat"

1st 3200 Agg results