It was another GREAT day for a shoot. The sun was shining, the wind was light, there was no rain or snow. The only thing that was missing were shooters! There were only four of us to compete, and all of us were club officers. The change back to our original hours, 9 AM to 2 PM, and the wonderful weather should have brought out more peo-ple that we’ve seen in a while. Well, there were 4 competitors, including newcomer Drew Trent. Drew also joined BRML though he did not com-pete this month. WELCOME DREW!!! There were a couple of individuals who came for some shooting a muzzle loader down around position 14. Schutzenmeister JP Sherkus dug out some interesting targets to challenge one and all. I really mean dug out since many had not been seen in a while despite having a “crap ton” of then in the cabinet. First at 25 yards was the dancing deer for three shots. El Presidente John Marhefka shot 27 to beat JP by one point for First Place. JP Sherkus was Second with 26X. Rich Burkhart took Third with 14 beating Art Twitchell Fourth Place 11. Next was the small Buffalo for five shots. JP Sherkus took First with a 50 earning him the coveted (?) 50 pin. John Marhefka was Second with 46 while Rich Burkhart took Third with 28 just beating Art Twitchell with 27 for Fourth. Then came a twist for the match. Schutzenmeis-ter Sherkus decreed that the last 25 yard target would also be five shots (and the whining began). This was the good old standing bear. JP Sherkus cleaned house with a 47XX for First. Second went to John Marhefka with 46 3X. Art Twitchell came in third with an 18 and Rich Burkhart was Fourth shooting a 9. Sorry guys. At 50 yards we had the white groundhog for three shots. We saw this one a couple of months ago, but we have a ton of them, and we needed something approximating an invisible target for Art. It looked deceptively easy even at 50 yards, but…I guess it wasn’t. That said, JP Sherkus who took First with a 28 still likes the 50 yard shooting. A 23 gave Rich
Burkhart Second Place while 19 got John Mar-hefka into Third. Art Twitchell came in Fourth with 8. The final Rifle target at 50 yards was the big black egg for 5 shots. JP Sherkus was shoot-in’ sideways for 47, but so did John Marhefka. First Place went to JP with shots closest to the X. Rich Burkhart won Third Place with a 33. Art Twitchell took Fourth with 27X. There were only 2 shooters in the Pistol Competition. At 25 yards John Marhefka shot 45 while JP Sherkus shot 41. John and JP shot their 50 yard targets with a tail wind. The bit of a breeze stirred up some consternation as both John and JP shot a 36. John Marhefka totaled 81 for first place, while JP Sherkus shot 77 total for Second Place.
It’s time to renew your BRML Membership for 2021. Dues are only $20. You get the newsletter and the free turkey shoot (guaranteed to win a tur-key). During the year we occasionally have a Member’s Only Target with a special prize. So far, we have 22 paid up members. That is way down from previous years. C’mon ladies and gents. Re-join and support your club! You can send me a check (payable to Bull Run Muzzle Loaders – please, no cash) to the address above and I’ll mail your membership card to you. Or you can catch me at a shoot. Please be gentle, I want to shoot too.
The next match will be Sunday, February 21. In addition to shooting, we will need to elect officers for the 2021 season. If you are interested in a position, come by and shoot! I don’t know what Shutzenmeister Sherkus will have for targets in February, but I’m sure it will be fun and challenging. There WILL be a pistol competition for those who wish to participate. Score your own, hand in your best target sheet. Please, do not stockpile or delay handing in your target sheet. We want to keep the score sheet cur-rent.
All shots are from the free-standing, off-hand posi-tion. Shooting begins at 9 AM and ends at 2 PM. If we finish early, we can stop before 2 PM. Relays are approximately 20 minutes each. Any safe muzzle loader (flint, cap, firelock, side slapper, under hammer, inline) may be used. Iron sights (open,
peep, aperture) only, no scopes or optics per-mitted. Spotting scopes may be used. Subject to change without notice—generally there are 5 targets, some requiring 5 shots, some only 3. Remember, you must have a half ball inside a scoring ring to count it. Expect the unexpected and have a bundle of fun. Usually distances are 25 and 50 yards. Please return any unused targets at the end of the match.
Keep yer powder dry.
Rich