Random Nuclear Strikes

The Sporting Rifle Match (or I’ve Met My Match and I Suck)

When I left off at the end of Part 5 after bagging the Great White Buffalo, you’ll remember that I was hanging out in the cabin at The Whittington Center and two guys had walked into the cabin. They looked to be in their late 20’s or early 30’s and were both named Dave, so the names were easy for me to remember.  They were getting a late supper, on the grill outside the cabin. While they prepared their food and began eating it, we talked about where we were from and how we came to be here and gun stuff. I told them about Boomershoot and my wanting to come here and take a shot at the Great White Buffalo. They asked what firearms I had with me and after I mentioned a few, one Dave suggested that I should join them in a match they were participating in the next day. I asked what the match was and what the course of fire was.

Dave #1 explained that it was called a “Sporting Rifle Match’, a 60 shot match that takes place on the other side of the mountain from the shooting ranges. It is still on Whittington property located inside the perimeter fencing. There is a 2 mile long walking trail along which there are 10 stages, all in natural terrain. The participants are divided into squads of 5 or 6 depending on number of entrants. Using a shotgun start, each squad goes to their first stage and then proceeds to shoot at 6 targets that are placed anywhere from 175 yd. out to 875 yd. away. Each participant carries their rifle, a pack with their ammo, binoculars, water, and anything else such as energy bars, ballistic data cards, etc. No wheeled carts or spotting scopes allowed.

As a squad arrives at a stage, everyone uses their binoculars to scan the field of view from the shooting position and locate the 6 targets in that stage. Once everyone is comfortable with knowing where each of the targets are, each person takes his turn getting on the ground with their rifle and shooting for score. Once the person is down and the rifle’s touched the ground, another squad member acting as the time keeper, starts a stop watch. The shooter has 4 minutes to complete all 6 targets, one shot at each, hit or miss. 4 minutes sounds like a reasonable amount of time, but it averages out to 40 seconds per target. You have to remember about where the target was located in the field of view from your initial scan with the binoculars and then acquire it in your rifle scope, check your ballistic data card (or whatever you have such data stored on), set the elevation setting on your scope for the distance to that target, gauge the wind with no wind flags or man-made assistance, rack a round in the chamber and proceed to fire. Believe me, those 40 seconds go by in a hurry.

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Shooting The Great White Buffalo

When I departed Michigan on my annual Boomershoot pilgrimage to Idaho in late April of 2011, the initial plan was to end up in Dallas, Texas on Saturday May 7, the weekend following Boomershoot, for the wedding of one of my wife’s relatives. Since I would be making a large loop around a good section of the country, I set up my itinerary such that once I left Idaho, I could swing by Colorado for a quick visit with a cousin, then head south to Raton, New Mexico, the site of the NRA Whittington Center, and then proceed on to Dallas.

The plan mutated in mid-trip and I was let off the hook on attending the wedding. This allowed me to add an additional day in Colorado and spend more time in Raton. Though unknown to me at the time, this opened the door to my totally unplanned adventure coming later in part 6.

The Whittington Center is a 33,300 acre shooting complex/ranch with individual shooting ranges for just about any and all shooting disciplines one can think of. I had never been there before and had wanted to see it for some time. Many of my fellow BPCRS (Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette) shooters here in Michigan have gone to the Nationals in Raton and have described it as quite a challenge. The winds are substantially stronger and ever present compared to those we encounter at our home club’s range.  Since I had never been there before, I didn’t know what to expect and just headed south on I-25 until I went over Raton Pass and dropped down into the town of Raton. Turns out the Santa Fe Trail also passed through here.

photo by Dave RNS Photographer ©

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