2010 Shoot Final Report

Good Evening Short Gun Shooters, It's been a bit more than a month since the last rigs pulled out and the tent was folded and taken away. Amazingly, contributions to the Elmer Keith Fund for Civil Rights of the NRA Foundation continued to arrive until only a few days ago. It was finally time to send the whole shebang off to folks back east where they can put it to work. The tally came to $5,936.00, a mighty tribute to the generosity of the participants, the sponsors and donors to the event. The day, Saturday, June 5, dawned with a clear blue sky. The previous day, however, had been one of heavy rain. Fortunately, a rented 20' x 40' party tent triggered Murphy's Law for improved conditions. Wet conditions in the target area, however, made seeing misses difficult; most especially on the 650 yard target. Regardless, shooters arrived early, sighted-in and sent copious numbers of rounds down range, preparing for their opportunity to carefully fire twelve rounds for score in ten minutes after lunch. Photo by Warren Sly When the shooting began after lunch it became apparent the practice had paid off. The ringing steel was frequent. When the scores were posted, it was an interloper from Hayden, Idaho, David Sawyer, who no-one had met until he arrived that morning, who posted the top score. It was obvious David came to shoot. An affable young fellow exchanged pleasantries upon arrival, paid his fees and sat next to an impressive stack of ammunition, which gradually diminished during the morning. Photo by Warren Sly A shooter's view of the 150 yard target Photo by Warren Sly The favored long range shooting position. Photo by Warren Sly David Sawyer receiving High Score Platter trophy created by Bob Schmidt Top scores posted were: David Sawyer 194,000 James Goodnow 125,000 Steve Fletcher 106,000 Dave Coffman 86,000 Dawn Malone 69,000 Gene Clow 62,000 A.C. Fernandez 58,000 Larry McMillian 57,000 Brian Altmaier 52,000 Will DeRuyter 50,000 Immediately following the long range shooting a first time 22 rimfire event was held. Targets were tin can atop 3' sticks at 30' distant. Teams were chosen at random. Magazines were limited to six rounds. Shooters had to do their own reloads. The object was to get the can off the stick and roll it to the edge of the lawn. Beta tests the previous day determined approximately 200 hits on the can were necessary to shred it sufficiently to get it off the stick and another 10 to 50 shots to get what was left to roll out of sight. Four relays of four teams plus a shoot-off laid a field of fire that would have made a U.S. Army Ranger fire team proud. Good fortune was shining on Dawn Malone, however, as she lifted the can off the stick with a single shot and rolled it off the grass with a couple more; all while her teammate, Tim Johnson, sat trying to find his front sight. Photo by Larry McMillian Rimfire event in progress. Photo by Warren Sly The rimfire target Photo by Larry McMillian Some targets were tough Photo by Larry McMillian Sometimes the stick had to be chewed off to get the can to ground. Photo by Larry McMillian Success at last! Interspersed with the shooting events were friendly games of chance and auctions for various prizes donated by talented and generous sponsors including: Hamilton Bowen, d/b/a Bowen Classic Arms Tim Sundles, d/b/a Buffalo Bore Ammunition Rob's Simply Rugged Holsters Clear 2 Target DPMS Panther Arms Randy & Jeff Emtman, d/b/a Emtman Brothers Farms Steve Fletcher GrandMasters LLC Herrett's Stocks Tim Johnson, d/b/a Fishawk Guides LLC Val Kjack Larry McMillian Hal & Robyn Meenach, d/b/a/ Meenach Farms Paul Persinger, d/b/a Gripmaker Donny Shride, d/b/a/ Rainier Ballistics LLC Safaris Africa Inc. Bob & Ruth Schmidt Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Robin Ball, d/b/a Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop Don Lee, Steelco Industrial Lubricants Inc. Warren Sly Michael Thyng Once again, the irrepressible team of Peter Ice and Morgan DeRuyter orchestrated the card game that determined the winner of the grand prize of the day. It was not only the greatest fund raiser, but offered participants the best opportunity of getting something they might otherwise only dream about. Photo by Warren Sly Morgan DeRuyter and Peter Ice conducting a drawing for the grand prize. The author studies his losing card. As usual, no-one went away hungry. Thanks to sweet breads contributed by Val Kjack to complement the morning coffee and Soon-to-be-Famous Sloppy Joes prepared by Robyn Meenach for lunch, everyone had sharp eyes for their front sights for the afternoon shoot. The evening meal was a special 20 hour smoked brisket of beef prepared by Ruth Schmidt that had everyone coming back for more. Mouth watering delicious and fork tender; a gastronomical delight. Photo by Warren Sly Ruth & Bob Schmidt The entire meal planning, organizing, much of the preparation, serving and most importantly, the clean-up has been assumed the past few years by Dawn Malone. It was entirely fitting, therefore, that she was the one holding the last card for the Ruger/Bowen/Keith #5 Custom Sixgun, the featured prize of the event. Yes, she intends to shoot it. Photo by Larry McMillian Dawn Malone with her Ruger/Bowen/Keith #5 Custom Sixgun and a box of premium ammunition from Buffalo Bore Ammunition So, until Saturday, June 5, 2011, when we'll gather again for the Eleventh Annual ELMER KEITH Memorial Shoot at Valleyford, Safe Shooting! Will