Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting Lodi, 2011 F-class Nationals

Oh yeah, I heard that TX astroturf now comes only in brown...

ORSA
http://www.orsaonline.org/index.htm

Here is another view of the line during prep time.

Hi All

Made it back without incident. I met a few people Deny, TOODOG, Monte and Mike all were really friendly and a pleasure to chat with sorry i did not introduce myself to AJ300MAG. Hey RyanJay were u wearing the Midway USA team shirt. I spoke with u a few times but didn't realize you were a forum member.

As to the event itself lets just say it was interesting. The weather sucked and I can get that kind of weather at home. It was fun shooting although the unexplained vertical was exciting. after awhile you stopped adjusting for the vertical or else you would yoo-yoo up and down.

Like others i have no comment regarding the delays or cancelations of matches. it is what it is.

as this was my first time string shooting and shooting in the US I found some big differences and things I can takeaway and learn from for next time.

I thought TOODOGS stock was kinda cool and i wish i could have tried it.

I hope the guy that flattened the bipod made good and covered any costs in repairing it.

Trevor

Trevor, glad you made it back home safe. It was great meeting you and the rest of the Canadian Contingent.

I think the only one I did not meet, or recognise as a Forum Member is Ryanjay.

Denys

Here is another picture of the line.

"Slings" was a funny..sorry.

With the exception of a paved road road to the pits, the range hasn`t changed much sence I last shot there.
Tricky conditions, eh?

Friggin' cold. Friggin' mountain. Friggin' rain. Friggin' wind.

I had a great time.

Welcome to "Up Nort".

Glad to hear you had a fun time.

Well, this weekend, I should be at TSRA in more normal weather. Well, for Texas anyway.

Normal? what, 90s and 40% chance of rain? Actually I don't think y'all have that rain chance thats in the forecast for up here though.

So, some of those reasons for not shooting well will....evaporate?


Good Luck

Ah! I have a veritable shipload of ready-made excuses. See the other thread here.

The bottom line is that I am not a very good shooter. I just can't seem to do "my part" whereas my rifle/load will shoot like a house afire, sub-MOA to 2000 yards, all day long. Yadah, yadah.

No excuse for poor performance.

FTR, you are a very good shooter but here is the whole truth. The shooting game at top is cyclic, with one guy being unvbeatable today and another tomorrow. Your usual is to shoot in heat with heavy mirage. Lodi is the opposite of that. Wait until Raton and I bet you do far better.

Mike says same as.... you have to learn each range. That was always my take on it. And carry primed brass and loading stuff just in case.

Jeff

Mike, I understand what you are saying and it makes sense. Not only that, but Jeff has been saying the same thing.

I do look forward to Raton, but I have several matches between now and then. I experienced an awful lot at Lodi, (don't want to say that I learned anything, - I am a slow learner,) so I will see if I can put some of that experience to good use soon.

This shooting thing is a mental game too, isn't it.

mental? I used to figure it the other way, but IMHO its more like 10% shooting, 90% between the ears. Probably indicates why I never was very good at it.

I don't think it's intelligence, more like stability or self-control. Or perhaps just focus on the task at hand, mental discipline. It's definitely not about raw IQ, or I would not be able to even pull the trigger.

(Ok, I'm exaggerating here; I think I have enough brains to point the rifle in the right direction. More or less.)

To be honest, sometimes, I think I overthink stuff and that gets me in trouble. I believe that following and calling conditions is more of an art than a science and that may be my issue. I am first and foremost a scientist, definitely not an artist.

Oh I don' t know that I said the word intelligence now did I?

I think its MUCH more about thought processing, AND being non ADD basically to coin the worlds favorite medical term it seems. Its about keeping it in the subconscious and letting it work and flow for you. And being able to block out all the rest of the world at that time and it be literally, one shot at a time and between you and you and no one else.

Art form. Yeah, I kinda can go with that term too.

I used to analyze, over analyze and so on to an extent too. Not nearly as intelligent as you are Denys, but enough so that it got me in trouble.

Its why you see me say sometimes, you shoot better than you score. IE you have another problem IE gear. Or method etc... or making sure you shoot three in the 7 ring before you attempt to adjust hold/sights.
It's also why a chrono is a somewhat useless piece of equipment, the thing that tells teh tale is the paper. Holes in that paper. Same amount you shoot in a string at the same distance. The chrono can give you ideas, but as I've said it also can LIE. Given some of the smallest ES/SDs I've ever seen over my Oehler, those typically are some groups that are absolutely worthless on the paper. You get all excited till you see the holes... and the WTF.

The results you see on the range are what you are after, not the theoretical results.

Take the stress level/thinking level down a notch, take the enjoyment up a notch and watch the scores creep up IMHO. And while you are doing that, you tend to learn things that mean all in where the hole in the paper ends up.

BUT don't ignore the weird shots. At least not when not in the nationals or regionals or such. Winning a match is one thing. Winning most is what you are after. You get there by shooting practice matches IE Bayou weekenders, and stopping to figure out WTF did that one slip out as an 8... I don't see why. Then you figure out WHY, WHERE etc... and so while you "loose" that match, you also learn how to win the next one that way.

Of course dry firing can never be ignored and if you can't break 17 or 22 or for me it was 25 plus basically PERFECT shots, all called inside the X ring, then you don't have the mechanics down right yet. If you are shooting bad shots, then the conditions just don't matter until you learn to shoot all perfect shots basically.

Yeah yeah, no one shoots em all perfect, but you really strive to shoot most of them X calls or better. That lessens the effects of the conditions so to speak.

And yeah, even F with a scope, I'd be dry firing my tail off.

One of the better shooters said he had to wait 12 some odd minutes for a condition to change to his favor. Spent his time dry firing and so forth. He observed that when clouds were passing overhead wind was more gusty and confused. After clouds passed winds became more stable, consistent. Then he shot fast.

I learned from my conversation with him. It's not just understanding what the flags or mirage are saying. The best shooters are looking at the whole picture.