Loading ...
2018 Seekins High Desert 3-Gun Match
Posted By admin on July 18, 2020
By Caleb Hamilton (15)
From Fall 2018 issue of Junior Shooters
Caleb, shooting his pistol from under the car.
The Seekins High Desert 3-Gun match is at the top of my list for fun and complicated 3-Gun matches that I’ve been to. They made it difficult for right-handed shooters as there was a ton of turns and a lot of places you had to be aware of or you would break the 180-degree safety zone and be disqualified. There were 10 stages that my dad and I helped set up. So much goes into getting ready for such a match. We prepped bays and built walls for the stages and set up targets. It took a lot of people to pull this together. When it came time to shooting the match, my dad, Ben Moody, and I walked through each stage working through how we were going to handle each stage the fastest and safest way.
Ben Moody, on the move while reloading his shotgun (on safe and finger off-the-trigger.)
There were multiple bonus targets set up throughout the rifle, shotgun and pistol stages. There was one bonus target where you had to shoot the clay in the air with one shot from your pistol. There was another bonus rifle shot that was an exploding target. I was able to hit that one and it was my favorite.
After three days of setup and three days of shooting the match, it was our turn to be range officers for a stage for the next three days. The stage was called “The Pits” and it was a two-bay setup. You started with the rifle, moved to the shotgun, and then you had to run with the shotgun to the trenches, then finish with the pistol.
Caleb, shooting the rifle in the off-hand position.
This was a fun, but difficult stage to shoot and RO. Keeping an eye on the safety of the shooters at the same time as making sure they shot the correct targets kept us busy. Once all the shooters were finished, we worked hard with great people to take everything down fast so they could present the awards and go home. This was an exciting and unforgettable experience, and I can’t wait to do it all over again. I would like to also add a big Thank You to Aaron Goodfellow and Odin Works for this opportu
Ben, on the move to the next pistol shooting position. Notice the pistol pulled into his work space for complete control and his finger off-the-trigger!
nity.
From Junior Shooters Volume 31 Summer 2018
As a young child, I had grown up around firearms. Before I was introduced to the Scholastic Pistol Program, as it was called at the time, the most experience I’d had with any kind of firearm was a BB gun that my dad gave me when I was about 7 years old. It was because of him that I became interested in outdoor sports, such as shooting. Later he introduced me to different types of firearms and I developed a liking for handguns. I was 13 years old when I started shooting competitively in the action program, after he had encouraged me to give it a try. As a beginner and one of the younger athletes on the team, I was incredibly shy and admittedly not very good. For a while, the only reason I kept with the program was because my brothers were involved in it as well. We had all joined a local team in Michigan; the W.W.C.C.A. Straight Shooters. Starting off, I was by no means shooting competitive scores. Being inexperienced, it was difficult for me to hit the targets and I had little speed and consistency. This would improve greatly with the coaching I received.
During my second year on the team, I was selected as team captain. As captain, I often coordinated activities and exercises for practices. One thing I enjoyed in this position was the opportunity to invent new stages with steel for small competitions amongst our team. This fit well with an annual event I was responsible for. Every year, the Straight Shooters have a “campout” at the head coach’s property in northern Michigan. The coaches brought the team’s steel and we were able to set up some of the stages I had created. We had a small competition, athletes intermixed in squads of parents and volunteers, which lasted most of the day. After the competition, we had a small award ceremony and handed out handcrafted first, second, and third place medals. It was in these activities that I was able to watch the members of my team have fun while improving and growing in the sport. This identified to me personally, my passion of perfecting and helping and encouraging others to learn and improve.
Throughout my entire competitive career as a Straight Shooter, and even now as a Spartan, my dad has been my biggest supporter and encourager. In addition to that, he has also gone through all the steps of becoming a Certified Pistol Coach through the NRA as well as registering as a coach through SASP, investing much of his time into the team.
school, towards the end of my junior year, I started gathering information on collegiate-level shooting teams. This was enforced by my encounters with the Michigan State Shooting Sports Club Pistol Team really early in my shooting career during competition. I had been researching Michigan State and due to everything they had to offer, academically and recreationally, made the decision to attend there in Fall of 2017. After announcing my decision, I had started forming connections with members of the team who later invited me to attend practices with them throughout the summer.
velocity, accuracy, and power! We were hitting small rifle poppers at 100 yards within minutes. I am very impressed with this rifle and if you already own a TCM pistol, you will want to get one of these.
“In our sport during this time, we need to practice safety on two fronts – safe firearms handling at all times and providing a healthy place for competitors to hone their skills. That means practicing appropriate social distancing, disinfecting common surfaces and screening participants for health concerns,” she said.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many CMP-affiliated clubs with rifle and pistol ranges have either shut down or curtailed marksmanship activity to help protect participants from the potential spread of the virus.
Yes, That’s right. Junior Shooters magazine Spring issue is out there!
Since 2013, the SSSF has awarded over $450,000 in scholarship funds benefiting over 450 student-athletes, from nearly all 50 states in the Scholastic Clay Target and Scholastic Action Shooting programs. We are pleased to announce that last year’s Scholarship Program awarded over $100,000 to qualifying applicants in $500 or $1,000 amounts.
Needs-based awardees.
