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It was another wonderful day shooting at the Minto ranges even though it was cold and very, very windy. It started out as a snowy day with temperatures hovered around zero but with the wind it felt much colder. It remained overcast and the snow was flying fast through our sight pictures until the last relay for everyone. It then became very sunny and the glare on the snow and the targets became hard to deal with. Before that it was the wind. It blew hard and steady from right to left with gusts now and then. These came unpredictably and quickly so at one moment, while looking at the flags, everything looked good for a shot and then, when looking through the scope, the wind would gust or drop off enough to cause many of us to experience a drift from the center to the 8 ring. Challenging and frustratingNeedless to say, there were no perfect targets shot today. We did have a lot of fun though (as we always do) under the capable direction of John McC. who was the match director. Don M. was the head scorer and did a superb job of giving us every point we deserved with Wayne K. verifying everything. Targets were set and changed by hardy souls who did not mind the wind and marching through snow that had accumulated because of the drifting. These included John McC., Mike C., Volker T., Dan G., and Bert deV. The RSOs for the day were human icicles called Bruce B., Bill H. and Bert deV. Thank goodness we had a stove burning bright in the club-house where treats provided by Tony L. and Shelly C., as well as chocolate chip cookies from Dorothy McC., were ready to give comfort. Thanks to all who helped out today to make this an enjoyable shoot.
Well, here we are in March and we are sooo looking forward to spring. I guess we have to wait a little longer as we just received more snow in the last week or so than we had all winter long. Heavy wet stuff that a day later froze to a stiff solid cement when the temperature plunged from 6 or 7 above to 12 below. During the shoot today, it was cold which was made a little less tolerable by the wind out of the north. On the range the wind was mostly from 6 o'clock although we had frequent gusts across the range from both right and left. The temperature stayed below zero which made the room with the stove in it a favourite huddling spot. All this was OK - we're from New Brunswick and can handle all this. The sun's glare on the fresh white snow was a little harder for not-so-young eyes and many shooters had problems focusing and managing the mirage.
Despite this, we had a lot of fun and shot not too badly either. Congratulations go to Don M. who broke the 300 barrier for the first time in Petitcodiac with a 300/11X. Way to go Don!! - (he was feeling jinxed as he has shot 299 so many times in the past few years but could never break the 300). Today, Volker T. was the Match Director and head scorer with Dan G. verifying. The target stands were dug out of the snow and set up by Shelly C. and Tony L. The target changers were Dan G., Shelly C., Cecil H., Bert deV., Brian P. and John McC. Range Officers today were Dan G., Darryl K. and John McC. We were kept warm by the firewood brought by Darryl K. and Cecil H. while we enjoyed Shelly C.'s famous treats. Thanks to all for making this such an enjoyable shoot. RESULTS - CENTERFIRE BR - OPEN CLASS: Bert deV. - 300/13X Don M. - 300/11X Cecil H. - 299/19X Shelly C. - 298/13X John McC. - 295/9X Brian P. - 295/6X John M. - 294/6X Dan G. - 293/6X Volker T. - 292/6X Norbert S. - 290/4X Tony L. - 288/3X John C. - 284/5X Darryl K. - 271/2X
The Minto Gun Club thanks NORDIC MARKSMAN for their very generous donation of a scope to support the operation of the club. The scope was raffled with John McC. being the winner. Congrats to John.
Thanks to Barb J. for sending this write-up and the pictures. We missed Dave C., as he wasn't well. All our wishes go out to him for a speedy recovery. True to March coming in as a "Lion", we had to contend with terrible winds, snow and cloudy weather. The sun did arrived just as we were leaving the Range - go figure. There was a great group of shooters today (maybe even a record for the year so far), and so we had lots of willing helpers and everything moved along nicely. Scorers were John McC.and Don M. Target changers were George M., Cecil H., Ben F., Barb J. and John McC. The Range Officers were Bruce B., Dan G., John Mo., and Barb J. The wonderful sweets, brought by Barb J., disappeared rapidly. Many thanks to all for lending a hand and making this a great shoot for all of us. Wayne K., who stood in forpresident Dave C. awarded the medals to the winning shooters. He also presented John McC. with a scope which was won in the raffle. The scope was donated to the Minto Gun Club from Nordic Marksman Inc. Congratulations John!! and also to today's medal winners.
RESULTS - OPEN CLASS 22BR: Darryl K. - 399/19X Mike C. - 397/13X Dan G. - 393/10X Gerard D. - 392/15X Cecil H. - 392/12X Don M. - 391/14X John McC. - 391/9X Barb J. - 391/3X Bruce B. - 390/14X John Mo. - 390/11X Chris S. - 382/9X Sandy McL. - 376/4X George M. - 374/6X Mac McD. - 369/6X RESULTS - SPORTER CLASS 22BR: Volker T. - 394/15X Dan G. - 384/9X Guy H. - 384/7X Bruce B. - 383/12X John McC. - 380/8X Wayne K. - 378/5X Ben F. - 352/4X Shawn R. - 306/5X
If you ever wanted to know what a gale-force wind that shifted all over the range was like to shoot in, you should have been in Petitcodiac on Sunday. The wind was predominantly from the left and secondly down-range but in truth it shifted so often and fast that a pattern was hard to make out. You could be watching the flags and duck down to sight and in the meantime the wind had changed - a lot of us lost a few points to this situation. On top of this, the temperature was decidedly cool so that even with the stove to warm up, fingers and toes were quickly numb. Despite this, or maybe because of it, competition was stiff and we had good fun. Today, the match director was Volker T. He was also the scorer with Dan G. as score verifier. Targets were set and changed by Shelly C., John McC., Bert deV., Dan G., Cecil H. and Chris S. The Range Officers were Dan G., John McC. and Bert deV.
RESULTS - OPEN CLASS: Matt McA - 497/15X Bert deV. - 497/13X Cecil H. - 496/17X John M. - 496/15X Mike C. - 494/15X Dan G. - 493/15X John C. - 491/9X Volker T. - 490/13X Chris S. - 489/9X Gerard D. - 485/16X Norbert S. - 484/11X Barb J. - 482/7X Tony L. - 475/11X John McC. - 475/7X Shelly C. - 471/11X George M. - 467/7X Tom N. - 461/4X
From Bruce B.: I am sending this message to all benchrest shooters who made the Terry F McNeill Winter Benchrest shoots and to some that could not because of other commitments THANK YOU! These three shoots could not take place without all of you and the jobs you took on to make every thing go so smooth. I thoroughly enjoyed them and the company. I sincerely hope we can ALL do this again next winter. AGAIN From Barb J.: The third and final Terry F. McNeill Winter Benchrest Shoot was held today at LGGC. Although gale force winds persisted we were somewhat sheltered at the Range. The many wind flags made a colourful display down range against the snowy, white background. Bruce B. had everything well organized when we arrived. It was so nice to see Danny G. and Volker T. arrive for the shoot. The lunch today was awesome, as Dave C. brought delicious chili and rolls and Barb J. brought sweets. Dave C. and Carl J. were scorers. George M., Cecil H., Bruce B., and Barb J. changed targets, and John M., Barb J., Norbert S., and Bruce B. were Range Officers. Congratulations to the final winners (for the 3 shoot series). In Open Class, Cecil H. (first) and Barb J. (second) and in Sporter Class, Bruce B. (first) and Bill H. (second). On behalf of the shooters, we wish to sincerely thank Bruce B. for organizing these Winter Shoots in loving memory of Terry. Thanks!!! THANKS. Bruce Bennett Match Director. RESULTS FOR SHOOT OF MARCH 3rd - OPEN CLASS: Cecil H. - 399/20X Bruce B. - 398/17X Bill H. - 398/11X John M. - 397/13X Barb J. - 396/17X George M. - 391/6X Dan G. - 390/5X Norbert S. - 390/4X Dave C. - 387/13X RESULTS FOR SHOOT OF MARCH 3rd - SPORTER CLASS: Volker T. - 396/21X Bruce B. - 389/16X Bill H. - 387/19X George M. - 387/13X Dan G. - 384/13X RESULTS FOR THE 3 SHOOT SERIES - OPEN CLASS: Cecil H. - 400/16X + 399/19X + 399/20X = 1198/55X Barb J. - 399/17X + 393/13X + 396/17X = 1188/47X Bruce B. - 396/20X + 391/13X + 398/17X = 1185/50X John M. - 388/9X + 393//10X + 397/13X = 1178/332X George M. - 394/12X + 392/10X + 391/6X = 1177/28X Norbert S. - 390/13X + 392/9X + 390/6X = 1172/26X Bill H. - 392/10X + 379/7X + 398/11X = 1169/28X Dave C. - 393/15X + 366/3X + 387/13X = 1146/31X RESULTS FOR THE 3 SHOOT SERIES - SPORTER CLASS: Bruce B. - 397/25X + 393/21X + 389/16X = 1179/62X Bill H. - 391/21X + 381/13X + 387/16X = 1159/53X George M. - 384/11X + 375/9X + 387/13X = 1146/33X