Today was the final match for the 2008 FT Season at Diablo Field Target in Concord, CA.. The year has been fun and competitive in both Springer and PCP class. In PCP class, Lonnie Smith and I were tied points wise going into this match. Through the course of the season, we had 2 shoot offs and we were both crossing our fingers that this final match would not end with another shoot off between the two of us, so the stage was set for our dance at the final match. In Springer Class,the competition is heavy for the shooters that are trying to push the envelope and those that are just casual shooters seeking fun. Kevin Yee, is the current California State Champion in Springer Class and ranked 3rd at the National Level, Doug Burke is currently ranked #3 in the state! Pat Jacobs who is a phenomenal shooter and the competition is hot in the points race. Given the many veteran and new springer shooters that continue to show up with strong shooting and a desire to beat their last scores and have a good time at it, springer class continuous to be the class with excitement and lots of suprises.

I gotta tell ya, when Lonnie and I found out we were tied up points wise, we both were intent on getting our rigs sorted out as we both had some mysterious POI shifts occurring. We both got our guns shooting better than they were at the previous match but admittedly, we werent 100% confident going into this match.

We intended to practice religiously, lol, to that end, Lonnie did much better and with the match coming up, I had to just Plan on my usual bad habit of practicing the day before, figuring either I got it or I dont when its game time! Unfortunately I woke up Saturday feeling a pending migraine forming, so I did all my normal stuff to make it go away so that I could practice. Hot Showers, Massage, Back Alignment, Accupuncture and Pulse Magnetic Therapy, it would not go away completely, plus I just felt drainedthen my wife asked, could you be getting sick? Then it rang clear as a bell, my daughters classmates mother asked me the other day to pick up her daughter because they had been sick for over a week and she just was feeling dead tired, so I did pick her up and now Im fighting a bug!!!

So its Saturday, Im dead, couldnt even get my gear sorted out til around 9pm! Sunday morning, get up, load the van up and get on the road. Nice clear weather, slightest of winds at hand when I arrive at the range. Feeling dead but man, it perks me up pulling into our range, seeing familiar cars/trucks parked and seeing everybody! I unloaded my gear and started helping set up the range.

Once set up, everybody was warming up, checking their numbers and getting ready!



I was reasonably confident on my POI shift being corrected based on the warm up session but admittedly, doubts were lingering in my head! My POI shifts occurred at 35 55 yards and I knew Lonnie and his S400ERB were shooting just fine at those ranges

The shooters meeting is called and guess what, Lonnie and I are paired up, like we didnt see this happening in advance, lol! Were set to start the day off on Lane 1, the start of the longest targets on our course, the Litmus Test for me and my rig for sure, knowing full well that if I blow lanes 1 & 2 and Lonnie cleans them as expected, Im virtually out of the race! Lonnie easily cleaned Lane 1s targets, the first target dropped easily for me with the big killzone but the second target , set out around 40 yds. Dropped the first time but stood proud on my second shotEverything felt and looked perfect, must have been a freak flyer as I took a 3rd shot to double check and it dropped! Lane 2 with the farthest shots were cleared by both of us but as it transpired, Lonnie emphasized luck on his Buzzard shot which is the farthest target at Diablo. Before I shot it, he tells me to look at where he hit in the killzone, the marks were at the farthest edge of the paddle, just squeaking them in there, all I could think is, I know whos got luck on their side today!

From that point on it was trying to stay close on Lonnie and hope for an opportunity to catch him. With the offhand targets upon us, this is where I knew Lonnie was gonna open up his lead on me as hes consistently a better offhand shooter than me.

Shooting the offhand lane in front of us is veteran springer extraordinaire Pat Jacobs(HW97K Blue Laminate) and a brand new shooter, Paul Rogers, with his TX200MKIII. I was watching Paul easily taking out the off handers: