Fellows, You missed a fun shoot. We had a lot of fine rifles, lots of good cameraderie. We thank those people who attended - those who participated and those who came to observe.
Mother Nature could not have given us better weather conditions. Hopefully, she will again cooperate next year.
Looking at some of the other firearms that showed up and watching the other shooters use them - what a fantastic experience. Since this shoot was tailored after hunting scenarios, some of the malfunctions that occurred with feed problems to the firearms pointed out to the owners what very well could have happened under hunting conditions. A couple of us crossfired onto the wrong targets, also highlighting the need for animal or target identification. We had one real dead buffalo with 8 holes in him - you wouldn't have much need for a tracker in that case.
Watched Paul perform well with his 500 Dakota rifle in the Nitro 3 class. The group he shot at 50 yards would have made most prairie dog shooters envious. Had a great time with Mike from Upper Michigan; we teamed up to take the light caliber novelty match. Likewise, Keith Olsen and I teamed up for the heavy caliber novelty match; that turned out to be a great event and we sure look forward to doing it again.
One of the shooters shooting the snap action match commented that that was the fastest 30 seconds of his life. He only was able to get off 6 of the 8 shots, but this points out that a little practice in a hunting circumstance is all that is needed. You'll find it easier next.
Thanks to the shooters who let others and some of the workers shoot their rifles. This is what makes the match so successful - the willingness of shooters to welcome others. We have already had calls from several folks who want to rebarrel their firearms up to .375 and .416 so they can participate in those matches next time.
There were two classes where calibers as small as .243 could be shot; these also were greeted with a great amount of success. The highlight was still the big bore matches. One of the spectators was overheard saying something about the amount of noise a couple of the black powder double rifles made. I think they were astounded by the amount of smoke also obscuring the targets.
The food was great. We look forward to seeing more of you next time since you will have more time to plan. The day went by in a flash. It was just great associating with all who were there.
We want to thank the people who showed up and helped making the match run easier. One of our volunteers, Ed, shot the double .577 rifle. He got quite a kick when he accidently fanned both of the triggers and got a double recoil. That moved him back 4-5 feet on the line. He was a good sport about it, stepped right up, and completed the course.
Look forward to seeing you all next time. We will post the dates as soon as the club assigned them to us.

Thank you,
Ernie and Gerri Stallman