2015 Major Schedule

2015 Major Schedule


I had a few people ask, and I shared this with Kozy and Les as we're planning on finding a few matches that we can shoot this coming season.

January-

February- Florida Open

March- WIIT or Alabama

April- 

May- Cowtown Classic 

June- Double Tap 

July-

August- 

September- Area 4 

October-

November- Space City

December-

Other interested in:

Texas Open- Late April

Oilfield Classic- March
Production Nationals- August

Gator Classic 

There are an awful lot of major matches here in Texas so I don't have go all over to shoot, in fact that's six major's right here in Texas in 2014. I'm going to try to hook up with friends at several matches, so this is all subject to change, although I expect to be booked for the Florida Open here in the next couple of days. 

I'm not sure where I am with 3-Gun major events, I understand I need 4 classifiers to shoot major matches, and I'm not sure where my commitment level is, or will be. There are several major's here in Texas, again all within a few hours of me, so I think it's possible I could shoot one in April just to see what it is all about, especially since I love Copperhead Creek, and then one late in the year depending on how much I enjoy it.

Buckeye Blast (Part 2)

Buckeye Blast (Part 2)


Squad started on Stage 4, so that's where I'll start.


Stage 4:

I had a pretty decent plan on this stage, and I came out with the idea of being fast. This was the first, and only magazine issue I had. I went to reload, and the bullet looked like it did not feed properly, and that cost me some time, I kept my cool and finished the stage with the right mindset. Hits were sub par, which was an ongoing theme, so I won't keep mentioning it.


Stage 5:

Again, a good plan on this stage. I made a key mistake, I had to take extra shots at the mover, and was trying to figure the count in my head as I was reloading out of the port position following the "mover" sequence. I blew right past a target without engaging it, and I realized I did it, but figured it was better to take the penalty than run back around and get it. Dumb mistake. Nice work though on getting the mover!

Stage 6:

As I post a Top 20 Production finish (60+ shooters) I had trigger freeze on the 5th shot of my 2nd string, and doing it while on a bouncy bridge was a challenge. Once that thing started moving, it was hard to stop, so this is slower than I did it at Alpha, but it was a degree or two harder.

Stage 7:

This was a fun hoser stage. My mistake here was getting lost. I got to the 5th target on the 2nd magazine, and could not remember if I needed to shoot it or reload, the correct answer was shoot it, and reload for the last target. I got the right answer but lost a second or so on that, and plinking the steel on the last angle and having to re-load cost me a little more time.

Stage 8:

Yes, I put one thru a no-shoot. I think I could have gone faster, you'll notice my cadence picked up as I went, and I don't think the last shot was a challenge, it was a smart plan for me, and I liked it. I'd run that the exact same way, I think, if I had to run it again right now.

Stage 9:

I had a mike, and believe it or not, it was on the close target, not the far one. I was about 1.2 seconds behind a limited shooter on our squad (Ralph Lopez) who I think is an excellent shooter. I can live with that since I had to reload and he did not. Do that one again, and I don't miss. Good plan, good cadence, I'll execute better next time.

Stage 10:

You had to reload after 2 paper targets, so my plan was draw to the 3rd target since it was fairly open, and I could execute that quickly, hit the 4th, and then the steel. Knock out the reload, hit the 3rd target, and then the close target, that was a tough shot, and I did not need all the extra shots, but took them when I saw I'd thrown my second shot just into the black at left.

Stage 1:

While I was having some struggles, this was my best stage of the day. As of this writing 9th in Production. Good hits, good plan, good execution, I left this stage feeling like I shot my best. There are some things I could do better going forward, I could have done the middle targets on the move faster, I had a miss on a popper on the right side, and took a 3rd shot on the last clamshell target that I did not need. I won't say it's nit picking, you should aspire to always do better, but I was satisfied this was the best I had in me when I shot it.


Stage 2:

The idea was that you would have to deposit the hand cuffs into the tray on the barrel before the last shot, most shooters just ran over and dumped them, I tried to save the step, and had them hooked around my pinky, and I shot with them. My miss on this stage was the first target, first shot, the handcuffs bothered my shot, and I knew it, thought I was low left or off, should have taken the make-up. The rest of it was reasonable.

Stage 3:

A train wreck is what this turned into. I had 7 misses on this stage alone, as many as I had in my last major match total. I still think I had a good plan. The difference between this stage and the other stages, is that I was thinking so much about "my marks" and where I had to be, and go to shoot, than I completely and totally lost my front sight. What made it worse is that I only realized it when I got to the "barn" ports and had to shoot steel, when I did that, I knew then that I'd never had a sight picture for the majority of the stage.

Full Match Video:

I summarized the match in Part 1, so I won't do it again. I'll simply say that what I need to fix, is fixable. The match results won't be pretty because of how badly the few things that went wrong truly went wrong. The train is not off the tracks, I'll continue to work, and get it back on track, because I learned so much from this match that I want it to matter. Area 5 is in a few weeks, and even with everything else going on, I'm going to get out there, hammer the practice, and do my best to put it together, and leave Area 5 saying that I put forth my best effort.

Bonus Match Coverage:

Linda Stage 7

As a super bonus, here is Linda's match video for her first major. I know she is not happy either, but she should be. She learned what a whole match day is all about, and how it's more than just shooting. She's as hungry for success as I am, and a competitor in her own right, I know she'll work because she wants to be at her best as well. I'm super proud of her, and love her like crazy! I really enjoyed being able to share the match experience with her!

Buckeye Blast May 24th (Part 1)

The Buckeye Blast (Part 1)

Huge kudos go out to the Pickaway County Sportsmen's Club who put on the Ohio Sectional this year, they did a fabulous job. The stages were fun, the R.O.'s were excellent, and I had a fabulous time. The drive may have been close to 7 hours each way, but it was absolutely worth it. This was Linda's first Level Two (Major) match that she was going to shoot, so I was equally excited to go and support her. She's come with me to one in the past, and she's shot the club matches, but she was excited for her first all day match.

Before I get to the actual shooting part of the match, despite saying on Thursday that I had no intention of strapping on the WIILSHOOT jersey on for the match, I thought about it long and hard, and on Friday night, I made the decision to jersey up. I made it not because I wanted to wear a jersey, but because of all the things that I said on Thursday night. I decided that even if WIILSHOOT was "disbanded", all the good that it did, and stood for, I'd stand for on Saturday. I know that probably sounds a little hokey, but it was my way of taking the community with me, and in a way, still standing for everything the name carried.  I admit I heard it from a couple of people with the "Hey, you just get on the team, and they close it down!" or "Hey, that's so last week, WIILSHOOT is gone." I get it, I do, but I still think it was the right thing to do.  Whether I put on the jersey again or not, I know it's in me, and that part of me will be at every match I shoot.

The Bad

I was not all that happy with the way I performed at the match, and suggested that in a Facebook post, and I had a wise friend tell me that I should be more positive. That I've come a long way, and I should not be comparing myself to Les and Kozy, because everyone who is better than me, has been where I am now. Nobody started out great, they earned it with practice and hard work. Sage advice.  I'm still not happy with how I shot, and I'll start with the bad stuff, and not because it's a horrible, but because it's done and over, and once it's out there it's done. There really was some good stuff, and I'd rather spend some time on those items.

I had an accuracy issue. I had 19 misses, say that slowly, 19 misses. Granted 7 of them were on the last stage where I had a complete meltdown, but that's an unacceptable number, and I'm better than that. Putting it in perspective, the last 2 big matches I shot (The WIIT & Bluegrass), I did not have that many total, heck, I did not have that many if you added 10 to my actual total. I never had my front sight the entire match. 17 Delta, 19 Mike, I'm more accurate than that. The good news? That's fixable. I need to get back to some fundamentals, grip, front sight, shooting groups, and dry fire. This is a short term blip, as long as I put in the work to fix it.

I had an ammo issue, too much crimp. Guess what? That's fixable as well. It's a fairly short list of things that I think were bad. Well, I almost went sub-minor, but that's tied, I think, to the crimp issue. Easy enough to fix. Sure, these were all day issues, but in the scheme of things, they really cost me, but I can fix them with just some work.

The Good?

Let's start with stage planning. Usually I have a Les or a Kozy around to help me with some stage planning, but here I did not have any help. I liked my stage plans, they were simple, efficient, and I was able to easily commit them to memory and execute them. At Bluegrass when something did not go my way, I let it get away from me, and I forgot my plan. Here, I was able to stay right on my game. The 2nd stage I blew by one target (2 Mike and FTE), and that's on my head, but overall, I'm happy with the plan I put in place. First time I had to do it, and because I had to focus, it worked.

I did have a couple of solid stages, one which as I write had me 13th of 64 scored Production shooters. I was one of the top B Shooters, and about 68% of the top score. That's the level I want to be shooting at, and where I think I can perform if I can make a few corrections. Another stage was Top 20, and I had a trigger freeze. Both of those stages I felt like I left just about everything I had on the table. I want the consistency to say that more often. Another goal which will take some time, but it's within reach.

My reloads were solid, I never missed one, or had to look back, I kept my eye on the reload every time, and while fundamentally I'd like to get them back out and higher, I won't complain too much. My draws were fine, my grip on the draw was better, and as a result I found my sights easily, rather than getting the gun up, and not being able to see my front sight.

Speed. I'm not going to compare myself to the GM's, who were a lot faster than me, but within my class I was solid, The top B shooter was in around 192 seconds, second place was at 213, I came in at 216 seconds. Obviously the difference was accuracy. I'm not saying I need to slow down and be more accurate, what I need to do is be more accurate at the speed I went. If you watch the video, there is time to be made up in movement, but speed in and of itself was fine. I won't say "dial it back a hair", but even if I did go that route, I'm okay.

Mental toughness. This has been the bane of my existence, and it failed me completely at Bluegrass. Here however, I'm going to give myself four stars. There were some very trying moments and stages, but I never once carried a low from one stage to the next. In my head I shot 10 matches, I brought my best each and every time, and I did not let it get me down. I was a battler all day long. The only time it came close was on the very last stage (7 mikes) and I got mad that I ended on such a sour note, but that's why I finally got mad. I actually was in the midst of an upswing in the afternoon. I kept it together, and I'm proud.

The other reason I kept my cool, was that without Les or Kozy, I assumed a little of that role. I kept my eye on my "charges", and I helped Emil and Dave make a couple of stage plan changes, I noticed that Linda was shooting low, and I helped her re-find her sight picture. I talked Dave into staying, twice, once when he got bumped to Open for having a non-factory mag release, and when he had to shoot last on the last stage, and was frustrated. I was the kind word, the motivator, I was what I had leaned on in other matches, but this time I found some of those things in myself. I came a long way, and I overcame some all-day issues to ring in my best stages near the end, I kept battling and fighting, and I hope I let a few other people borrow on some of that for themselves.

So sure, I'm not happy with the end results, but those are some little issues that are fixed with more hard work. There are so many more positive lessons from this experience than bad, so even if I did not shoot my best, I came away with a lot, and all things that I can apply going forward. I'd be a chump if all I did is focus on the bad. My disappointment is really just that I know I'm better than this, work will take me back there, and I'll be that much closer to putting it all together.

Major Match Thoughts

Major Match Thoughts


Heading home from Ohio today, and talking to with Linda who had just shot her first major match, I realized a lot of things that I'd learned from when I shot my first major last year, and today. I also realized that most of what I learned had to do with approach to the match. No longer was I just showing up and shooting stages, I had an entire routine down in order to try to have the best performance possible. Granted I did not shoot the way I wanted to, but that's on me, and it's fixable, I put myself in a place where I could be successful.

It's almost impossible to explain to someone who has never done this, why on earth I would take a day off work, drive 6 plus hours each way, spend a couple of nights in a hotel, and 9.5 hours at a range, to shoot for 3.5 minutes. It sounds almost nuts right? People think it's easy to do, hell, last year I figured it would be easy, but shooting ten stages is not just a test of your shooting skills, it's a test of your mental and physical ability. Without being there, I don't think I can explain to someone what you are going thru.

The day before the match, we drove in, and spent close to 3 hours walking all the stages. We'd left the house about 5 am, and spend close to 7 hours driving, losing an hour headed east. The idea was to get a solid plan in place for each stage, make sure it make's sense. This is not a club match where you show up, and spend 5-10 minutes on a stage, here you walk it multiple times, from many angles. Where are your reloads? How many steps is it one way versus another way? Where are the sight traps? Are the certain places you need to look out for a procedural? A good match, and Ohio was a good match, presented a shooter with multiple ways to shoot a field course, leaving you to make the right decisions for yourself. When you've got a stage figured out, you walk it again, committing it to memory, and then use the match book to diagram your plan. There is a point where even if I see something "better", I keep to my plan, just because it's what I've committed to memory.

Post range it's off to dinner. Some folks stay out late, have a few beers, and then a few more beers. Nothing wrong with that, I did it in the past, but this year I've stayed away from it. If I'm investing time and money, I want to get a good night of sleep, and more importantly I want to get back to the hotel to spend at least 45 minutes on dry fire. If I saw ports, I want to practice coming out of them, I want to practice the draws I will need for the match, reloads, and of course my sight picture. I also spent about 30 minutes going over my plans, this time I was able to describe the stage, my plan, my target order, and where my reloads were going to take place. For me, when I'm on a stage, then I'm just going by memory, I don't have to "think", I can just shoot, and I am remembering my solution, and this allows me to go much faster.

I was up again at 5am on match morning, quick shower, and some more dry fire, white wall practice. I want to "train" my mind and my eyes to forget about everything else other than my front sight. 6am breakfast, and then to the range by 7:15, spend 45 minutes loading up magazines, doing a last walk-thru, and spending some time meeting squad mates, and saying "hello", to other shooters that I know. The adrenaline is really starting to get me keyed up, and I'm focused on what I'm going to do for the day.

A little after the shooter meeting at 8 am, we are on the first stage, getting score sheets ready to go, and now I'm focused on the job at hand. While I'm watching other people, I'm running my plan in my head. The first stage has been traditionally tough for me. When I'm calm, I keep my focus on my sights, when I'm keyed up I go fast, and lose my sights, so a part of me is trying to stay calm, stay focused. In between shooting, I'm out there pasting for 8-9 shooters, and walking back and forth up the gravel bays. I'm pulling a wagon from stage to stage with my bag, Linda's bag, a cooler, and Lauren's bag. This goes on all morning long, brief moments of shooting, followed by what could be mind-numbing work pasting. It's easy to get too up, too down, not pay attention to stages and so on and so on.

The sun beats down, and I'm drinking a bottle of water at least every other stage to stay hydrated, I've not done that in the past and paid a serious price in cramping for days afterwards. You find that even though you put suntan lotion on, you forgot to put it on the backs of your legs, or your arms. Lunch comes around, and most matches want to feed you some big BBQ style lunch, that if you ate you'd be sound asleep or even more tired, so I spend the day grazing on trail mix, granola, beef jerky, water, and an occasional Gatorade.  Try doing that, and keeping your focus all day long, from 8:20 in the morning when you take your first shot, until 5:52 when you take your last shot. Bring your best to each and every stage. It's not as easy as it seems.

Sure, you can show up and shoot, and that may work for some folks. I'm just not one of them. If I'm investing money and time, I need to do this to put myself in the best place to succeed. No, I'm not in place where Match Wins are even things I'm thinking of, but I want to bring my best game every single time I shoot. A year ago it was fun to go, spend the day shooting, and that was enough fun for me. Now my competitive juices are flowing, I want to do better.