RELOAD!

APRIL 2000 NEWSLETTER
© Bruce Buck, editor


MARCH MADNESS SHOOT… March 19, Mid Hudson Gun Club, New Paltz, NY.
There’s no doubt about it. Mike Maglio, the owner of Mid Hudson, has
become one of the premier course designers in the NorthEast.

More than any course we have recently shot, Mike’s Mid Hudson course was
the epitome of Travelers Tough. Fair, but firm. Every station was medium
hard. Not one single shot was impossible. Not one single shot was an
"eye test". Yet, there were no "breather" stations, no "gimmes", no
"feel good" junk, definitely no "skeet in the woods". This was NorthEast
shooting at its best - tough, smart, demanding, but always fair. This
course would have been a championship course any where at any time.

You could tell it by the comments from the over 200 Travelers who
attended. When a course is unfair, knowledgeable shooters don’t hesitate
to place the blame where it belongs. But, when a course beats you fair
and square, as this one beat so many of us, the only comments you hear
are "I just know I could do better if I shot it a second time." That’s
the highest compliment a course designer can receive.

The March Madness shoot is always our first real shoot of the year. The
ice is out and the odd crocus has poked its head up. No one has had a
chance to practice much yet, but every one has cabin fever and is
anxious to come out. For the past several winter shoots Mother Nature
has been exceedingly kind to us. This day was no exception. While it was
a bit chilly at beginning and end, the cloudless blue skies allowed
enough sun to warm things up while we shot. There was no wind, no rain
and just enough mud to remind us of March.

The large number of shooters necessitated sixteen stations. Chock full
of Dunkin dreadnoughts and high-test java, the 32 squads started out at
ten AM and hit the pavilioned al fresco chow line four hours later.

Since most of the stations were two machine presentations and thus
involved some 30 traps, there were ample chances for something to go
wrong. As it must inevitably be, there was the odd bit of breakage here
or a faulty pull cord there, but things were fixed immediately and
backups never extended to more than a squad or two. This is due to three
things: preparedness, manpower and good communications. These are the
hallmarks of a well-run range.

All the presentations had two things in common. First the shooter had to
figure out the solution to the station’s puzzle, and then he had to
execute that solution. Here’s what I mean. American-style trap and skeet
are games of pure execution. If you have played the games before, you
know what to expect of the targets. All you have to do is execute. This
is by no means easy task, but it is a focused one.

Some sporting courses are like this also. You can walk up to the
station, glance at the targets, and immediately know exactly what you
have to do. Not at Mid Hudson, you couldn’t. Like FITASC, each of Mid
Hudson’s stations required some serious prior planning. Nothing was
obvious. There were so many choices. Often too many.

This course was so good that we are going to devote this month’s issue
of Reload! to covering most of the stations. Many sporting clays
shooters throughout the world read Reload! on our internet edition at
www.ShotgunReport.com. This synopsis will give them an idea of the kind
of courses we shoot.

Five of the sixteen stations were sited on existing skeet, five stand or
FITASC fields. The other eleven stations were on Mid Hudson’s sporting
course. Presentations were all changed for this shoot so that everything
was fresh.

#1 was on a five-stand field and started with a rocket target coming
from behind and left, going straight away. Following that was a three
o’clock to eleven o’clock 110 with some distance. Most shooters didn’t
realize that the first bird was the hard, heavy rocket target, about the
weight and size of an airborne rabbit. Rockets take a lot more pellet
energy to break than a standard 110, especially when they are end-on.
Additionally, the move from the almost straightaway rocket to the
quartering out 110 was awkward and required great muzzle control.

#2 was a skeet field presentation consisting of a low six skeet shot
followed by a trap target from the usual trap out front. This is the
kind of station that the single barrel gun users dread. The transition
in direction and pace from the fast lateral skeet swing to the slower
more vertical trap swing was again awkward as on #1. It made sense to
leave the gun on the face after the skeet shot while moving on the trap
bird so as to gain just a bit of time. Still, very few got to the trap
bird before it wandered unscathed into the next time zone.

Since the trap bird was so hard, this is a good place to mention that
you should have double-tapped the skeet bird if you missed it with the
first shot. This is a plan you make before you call for the first bird.

#3 looked for all the world like a standard set of skeet doubles shot
from station four. That’s what it looked like. Judging from how much
trouble people had with them, the best guess is that they were very
slightly altered in speed and trajectory so that those who went into
automatic "skeet mode" suffered.

#4 was another skeet field presentation. It was shot from skeet station
four at a high, looping, outside low house and then a teal from a trap
far out in front. Your gun was so high taking the first looping bird
that the report teal came from well under the barrel and often caused a
faulty move. This station was designed to ensure that your gun was as
far out of position for the teal as possible. If you waited to carefully
adjust position for the teal, it was a very long shot. If you moved
quickly after taking the first bird, it was hard to control the muzzle
with the precision required for the teal. Heads, I win. Tails, you lose.
Neither bird was that hard by itself, but as a report pair they were
devastating.

#5 was on the FITASC field. It had a true pair of L>R long crossers
about 35-40 yards out off a high tower. The birds were off different
machines and had subtly different trajectories. The problem was to get
far enough ahead of the first, but then to get underneath the second as
it slowed down and started to drop. Naturally, most people shot behind
the first and over the second.

#6 was into the woods with a report pair starting with a trap on the
left throwing a pretty straightforward soft skeet-type Low5 kind of
shot, followed by an easy trap-type shot from a machine about 18 yards
in front of the stand. The problem here was the usual one you have in
the woods- you just have to ignore the trees and shoot as if they
weren’t there. Secondarily, the shot was set up so that when the first
crossing shot was taken, the muzzle was far out of position for the trap
shot. This was another good place to leave the gun mounted after the
first shot to save a bit of time.

#7 was a true pair of teal consisting of a battue and a standard 110
from a trap about 15 yards away thrown against a background of trees.
Neither bird was that hard but they crisscrossed and made it difficult
to pick one. Any indecision cost some time and that caused problems. The
most successful shooters concentrated strictly on one bird until they
shot it and then went for the second.

#9 was in the woods and this was part of the problem. It started with an
8 o’clock to 1 o’clock 30 yard highish arching crosser followed on
report with a straight forward quartering away shot. Many people had a
problem seeing the first bird because the trap was well back in the
leafless March trees and the bird emerged from shade into flickering
sunlight.

Normally "eye-tests" like this are to be avoided like the plague. In
this case though, the shooter had a choice of where to look. If the
shooter tried to look back at the machine, it was very hard to see the
bird emerge and he often never caught up to it. BUT if the shooter
accepted that he must pick the bird up later and started first looking
for it further along the flight line as it emerged into the open area,
it was relatively easy to see. Fooled again.

Some shots labeled as unfair eye tests are merely the result of a
shooter failing to look in the right place. Looking back at the machine
isn’t always the best way to do it. Sometimes it is better to look where
you can first see the bird clearly even though it is a bit later. Where
you look to first pick up the bird is every bit as important as where
you start your barrels.

#11 was also a bit of a sight play, but this time the solution was
different. The first bird was a R>L crosser about 30 yards out starting
from a low tower in the woods. The other bird of the true pair was a
long sky-high fully opened incoming teal from a great tower far to the
front of the shooter. The best approach was to take the crosser early so
that you could catch the incomer fully face on at the top of its arc
over 40 yards out (There was a time delay between the sound of the shot
and the break, so you know it was over 40 yards). An early shot also
enabled you to take the first bird before it started to drop over a
small inconvenient hillock.

If you waited to pick up the first bird until it cleared the bushes, you
wouldn’t have time to take it early and the timing of the whole sequence
would be to your disadvantage. BUT if you looked back through the bushes
to the first trap you could see it come off the arm and could start your
move so as to get it very shortly after it emerged from the woods. It
was just the opposite of what worked at #9. Aarrgghh!

#12 featured a quartering away rabbit followed by a mushy, loopy 20 yard
L>R crosser. Going away rabbits are a misery completely unto themselves.
Generally, they are best shot trap-style with a mounted gun and a great
deal of attention paid to where the barrel will be started. The aiming
point is usually the rear edge of the target, letting barrel momentum
give the lead. Since you are shooting the reinforced edge of the rabbit,
which is 1) strong and 2) thin, some choke and pellet size is helpful.
People who hit the rabbit often muffed the floating crosser by being too
aggressive. The trick on this station was to go from aggressive shooting
on the rabbit to a relaxed approach on the crosser.

#13 produced triskaidekaphobia in most shooters. It was a very slightly
angled fast high trap-style bird followed by a moderate distance
hooking, dropping quartering chandelle. Again, there was a change of
speed, a change from a subtle gun movement to a heavy move and a change
from a straight-line swing to a shot at a hooking bird. You couldn’t
have two more different birds as a pair.

#14 was a true pair of 11 o’clock high incoming chandelles hooking and
dropping in between some tree tops about 30 yards out. If you took the
first one where it was comfortable, then the second bird was falling
like a rock. To get a good shot at the second bird, you had to take the
first bird earlier than convenient.

#15 was aimed at reconstructing those shooters who believe that Lt. Mod
breaks them all. Not here. The first bird of the report pair came from
high and behind at seven o’clock and rocketed away towards one o’clock,
like a giganto skeet high one only at an angle. It was an
extraordinarily awkward shot, not quite a pure going away, nor was it
quartering because you started so far below it. Yet it wasn’t quite an
overhead either. If you tried to outwait it, it became a very loooong
shot. The report bird started out at two o’clock in front and ran hard
towards twelve. It was every bit of 40 yards plus, considerably more if
you were slow. It was a good candidate for full choke. That first one
was sure hard to hit due to the poor footing- pools of tears from the
previous shooters and all that.

#16 was a 25 yard crossing battue followed by a high bird thrown from a
machine 30 yards in front and angled left. It looked extremely
complicated, but in reality wasn’t all that hard if you could deal with
the different speed, trajectories and distances. On both birds, the
longer you waited, the worse they got. That’s true with so much of life.

We return to Mid Hudson for the June 18th shoot. Get ready. Get even.

HOA MIKE GRECO 82
I-1 Joe Maresca 79*
I-2 Bruce Galotto 79
I-3 Gene Csicsak 78
II-1 Kevin Goodspeed 77
II-2 Nick Weidhaas 76
II-3 George Kaiser 72
III-1 Jim Kichline 75
III-2 Bob Kimmell 66*
III-3 George Parsons 66
IV-1 Dave Dunn 60*
IV-2 Mike Canale 60
IV-3 Henry Drozdowski 60
V-1 Bob Beck 59
V-2 Walt Fell 55
V-3 Nancy Audet 53
VI-1 Kieran Farslow 41
VI-2 Jordan Zehyer 31
VI-3 Jonathon Tessier 29
Lady-1 Denise Losty 74
Vet-1 Bob Barlow 73
Vet-2 Ed Moritt 71
Vet-3 George Kutch 70
Jr-1 Sal Renzuella 56
Jr-2 Rocky Cotoia 51
Jr-3 Luke Sproviero 42
Jr-4 George Kaiser, Jr. 39*
Jr-5 Robert Quartarone 39
Guest Jim Martino 68
* ties decided by tiebreaker station

GUNSMITH MOVED… Last month we put in an ad for gunsmith Fred Wolf. Well,
things change. Fred has since moved to Florida and is unavailable to us.


NRA DRIVE… Like a sibling who doesn’t always act exactly the way you
want him to, the NRA is still "family" and deserves our support. They
definitely get more things right than they get wrong. The results of the
Travelers membership survey were strongly supportive of the NRA. The
Travelers do not require NRA membership, but we do encourage it and have
NRA memberships available at the sign-in desk. We signed up quite a
number of new NRA members at the last shoot. Have you joined yet? Any
organization that causes those sanctimonious TV talking heads to suffer
such apoplexy has to be doing something right.


NO-SEE-UM RULE… Due to the size of the March shoot, we decided to
reinforce the "view" rule. The first shooter on a squad is not permitted
to view any targets before shooting for score if he had a fair
opportunity to see the targets being shot by the preceding squad. If the
station was empty when he arrived, then he gets to see some birds.

This no-see-um rule tremendously speeds up a big shoot. It should be
enforced everywhere.


GUEST POLICY… With so many new members, it is time to once again review
the Connecticut Traveler’s guest policy.

A non-member may come as a GUEST to a Travelers shoot ONLY ONCE PER
YEAR. One time. That’s it. He must be accompanied by his member-host at
that shoot. A non-member does NOT get to come several times with
different hosts. Since we keep all a record of all the scores, including
those of the guests, it is a simple matter to check and see if the guest
has already been at one of our shoots that year.

We love guests and we wish that we could have a million of them, but we
can’t. As this March shoot of over 200 guns shows, our shoots are
filling up with members and we have to give them precedence over guests.


WAITING LIST… Our 2000 membership is up to well over 400 souls. We
already have some new people on our 2001 waiting list. It is impossible
to tell right now what our openings situation will be next year. We do
remind you that a new membership candidate for the waiting list must be
proposed by an existing member.


DEMCHUK RUNNING IN NEW YORK…

"Dear Al & Bruce:

In April the NSCA will send out Ballots to all New York State NSCA
members to vote on their State Delegate. As you might know I am running
for one of the three positions.

As a member of CTSCA, if I am elected I would have & would like the
opportunity to get CTSCA views heard at each NSCA regional & national
meetings." --Bob Demchuk


WANNA BE FAMOUS?… Here at the giant Reload! complex, which towers like a
benevolent colossus over a quaint little Connecticut seaport town, we
have some openings for writers on the staff.

No experience is necessary. You don’t even have to be a very good
writer. No one on the existing staff is. All you have to be able to do
is crank out drivel, misinformation, exaggeration and copious quantities
of barnyard effluent. Then you will fit right in. The pay matches the
performance.

The only things required are a sense of martyrdom, a computer with email
and a spirit of adventure. We are initially looking for people who can
help with shoot reports (they needn't be as long as the one here) and
other short articles. Please contact Reload!’s very own mailroom boy,
Bruce Buck, at bbuck@juno.com. We’d be ever so grateful.


VIDEO LENDING LIBRARY…Our effort to sign up certain nationally known
coaches to hold clinics for us has run into scheduling problems. While
we are busy sorting this out El Jefe Supremo has decided to establish a
Travelers lending library of sporting clays instructional videos. We are
laying in a dozen of the most popular. They will form the basis of the
Travelers Remedial Home Study Correspondence course.

As usual, we haven’t yet figured out all the details and things may
change in the future. For the moment we’ll bring the tapes to the
monthly shoot. You can take one home with you and return it in person at
the next shoot. Or you can send it back by mail just so it arrives
before the next shoot.

Also, if you happen to have a sporting clays tape that you no longer
need, we would appreciate it if you could donate it to our lending
library so that others might enjoy it. Just bring it to a shoot and drop
it off at the registration table


*** 2000 CONNECTICUT TRAVELERS SHOOT SCHEDULE ***

APR 7-9 SPRING TRIP TO MARYLAND
APR 16 PECONIC-TAX TIME REVOLT
MAY 7* EAST MOUNTAIN- COURTING CLAYS (date subject to change)
MAY 21 TAMARACK-MAY MINUET
JUN 3,4 PEACE DALE- CTSCA FITASC CHAMPIONSHIP
JUN 18 MID HUDSON- BUSTIN’ OUT
JUL 16 ORVIS/SANDANONA-SUMMER TIME, SUMMER TIME
JUL 30* MID-COUNTY-DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL CLAMBAKE
AUG 12,13 ADDIEVILLE-GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC
SEPT 17 FAIRFIELD F&G- SMALL GAUGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
SEPT 30,1* FALL TRIP TO CANADA
OCT 15 MILLBROOK R&G-OKTOBERSCHUTZENFEST
NOV 12 FRIAR TUCK-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
NOV 26 EAST MOUNTAIN- KOEHLER SOCIETY FUND-RAISER
DEC 17 MID-COUNTY- CHRISTMAS PARTY

* Signifies a proposed date and venue. As we confirm additional dates,
we will note it on the schedule.

*** OTHER SHOOTS OF INTEREST ***
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM

APR 15,16 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) SPRING FITASC CH
APR 22 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) SCA SC QUALIFIER
MAY 12,13 SANDANONA, NY (203-629-5255) NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION
JUN 10 TAMARACK, NY (803-637-3106) NATIONAL WILD TURKEY S.C.

(Note: Connecticut Travelers are helping sponsor this Wild Turkey shoot)

JUN 17 FIN, FUR & FEATHER, CT (860-429-6566) D.U. SPORTING CLAYS

Call (203-454-1080) or Email <bbuck@juno.com> if you know of any open
shoots in our area, which might interest our members.


CONTACTING THE TRAVELERS... CTSCA Home Office: Email <AAA738@aol.com>
(by far the best way) or telephone 860-354-9351 if you absolutely must.
Membership, Address Changes and Shooting Class status: Contact Cyndi
Dalena at 860-584-1083 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Leave message. Or
(best way) send an Email to <shotguncyndi@prodigy.net> Reload! To place
an ad or post a shoot date, contact Bruce Buck at 203-454-1080 (worst
way) or <bbuck@juno.com> (best way). The current and previous issues of
Reload! are posted on the internet at <www.shotgunreport.com>. You will
also find megs and megs of other useless Technoidal drivel there. Like
and aggressive mold, great literature never dies.



**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2000
APRIL TAX TIME REVOLT
PECONIC RIVER SPORTSMANS CLUB
MANORVILLE, NY

We all know that your 1040 was just the opening offer, but at least you
can now have some fun until the Feds break down your door to get
whatever is left. It is time to relax and squander the meager pittance,
which our noble Congress permits us to keep, unless you have already
donated it to Bill’s soft money tax-deductible legal defense fund.
Besides, what better way to irritate the politically correct than to
spend your refund on shooting? After the shoot, go have a few glasses of
port at your cigar club. That’ll incense everyone at BATF.

Transfer your assets to Peconic River Sportsman’s Club in Manorville,
Long Island by 9:00 AM to check off your name and deduct a few donuts by
Dunkin. We will have you presquadded because you will have preregistered
by Thursday, April 13 under pain of audit. Luncheon will follow the
shoot, perhaps something with pork in it to honor the government. For
all of this, you will only have to write off a gross expenditure of $55.

For those who want to try sub-gauges in the Long Island’s April wind,
our usual gauge handicaps will be in (gale)force: 16 ga =+3, 20 ga =+5,
28 ga = + 10, 410 bore = + 20, pumps and SxS get another +5. Saner
people will use 12 gauge and the heaviest #7_s they can get their hands
on when those spring winds blow.

GUESTS ARE WELCOME AT THIS SHOOT.

Directions to Peconic River Sportsman’s Club, Manorville, LI, NY: Long
Island Expressway East to Exit 70. Turn right off exit and go 1_ mile
to Halsey Manor Road. Turn left onto Halsey Manor Road and go about 1
mile to Railroad tracks. Peconic River gate is on left 1/4 mile past RR
tracks. Peconic River Club's office telephone is 631-727-5248. The
number at the trap and skeet fields is 631-727-5248. Note: The
Bridgeport/Port Jefferson ferry (203-367-3043) will not save you travel
time, but is more restful.


NOTE: EYE AND EAR PROTECTION ARE MANDATORY AT ALL TRAVELERS’ SHOOTS!


INTERNET READERS: THE CONNECTICUT TRAVELERS IS A PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP
ORGANIZATION. IT’S SHOOTS ARE NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THE INVITATION IS
PRINTED HERE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.