Pioneer Father's Day shoot in the WIND!

Pioneer, click for larger picture

When I got to the range at 7:15 I wondered if we would have much of a turnout given no one had yet arrived.  It was a slow start but Ernie, Bob, Mike and I made short work of the 240 animals.  Well, we made short work of the black spray paint as they were rusty from the last mach which was pouring rain if you recall.  This weekend day was something else.  WINDY!

We had a great turn out.  28 shooters and a number of new faces which was nice to see.  But did I say it was WINDY!  More specifically, GUSTY!  One minute the dust from the shot was going to the left, the next time to the right.  Still, we all had the same challenging conditions so it was a day for wind shooters!  It was also a good day for developing one's mental toughness.

I would be on an animal as I "lean" on the wind and just as I break the shot the wind would subside and I would fall off the animal.  Shooters wind was maddening to say the least.  My TX buddies would laugh at me by calling today's wind "wind" but, when you are not used to being buffeted about, it can be discouraging.  My best advice on a day like today, shoot the lulls and be sure to use your whole clock.  I need to work on this as I let the wind get to me on the first match.

Giving up.  It is so easy to give up and just want the whole thing (match) to end especially when we all start at chickens in NH.  Because we know Rams and Turkeys are ahead and things can likely get worse..  To give up is a huge loss of a great training opportunity.  I almost gave up.  I had for a moment decided to shoot my 39A SB cowboy gun.  But that would be a cop out.  So, I picked up Blaze and had another run at it.  9 7 5 5 = 26.  I should have had 10 pigs regardless of the conditions so I need to work on that.  The long line was just a fight.  I was happy to have hit a ram on my last shot of a long weekend of  160 competitive shots.  Every shot is a lesson, be sure to benefit from it and don't throw it away.

Yup, this is an ADDICTIVE game.