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AUGUST 2003 NEWSLETTER
© Bruce Buck, editor

ORVIS/SANDANONA SHOOT
Millbrook, NY
July 20, 2003

The more things change, the more they remain the same. The Sandanona
shoot is always wonderful. We always have good weather and we always
have great targets. The latter I can understand considering the
expertise on tap there, but the former requires connections that one
can only conjure on.

We had 159 shooters, including a high of ten juniors. Very few
registered shoots in the country get that many on a one time basis and
the Travelers are drawing large entrys each month. We must be doing
something right.

Of course, shooting at places like Sandanona helps. The Travelers are
known for eating like Biblical locusts and Sandanona was more than
ready. There was a selection of breakfast pastries that even we
couldn’t deplete. I’m sure that after the shoot the young trappers had
to be called in to deal with the overage.

You can always spot the good shoots because people get there early to
schmooze and fuel up for the day. Though we don’t begin to check in
until 9:00 AM and usually don’t go out until a bit after 10:00 AM,
just about everyone seemed to have arrived by 8:30 just to be sure
that they got every possible bit of glory out of the perfect sunny,
but not too hot, summer day. The course was one of extremes. Some
stations were really tough, others quite accommodating. It really
depended on where you started. The front half of the 14 stations
seemed to be a bit harder than most of the stations of the back half.
That didn’t meant that you couldn’t be egalitarian and miss targets
everywhere, but some of the tougher targets really got out there in a
hurry.

Station #1 was an omen of things to come. It was a split simo pair
from a trap on the shooter’s right at five o’clock. One bird went a
pretty much straight ahead like a high trap target, while the other
bird rocketed towards ten o’clock. The ten o’clock bird was the far
harder shot, but it was the one you saw first. Darn it! If you waited
to shoot the easier right hand bird first to make sure of getting at
least one score, the faster left hand bird was a real bear by the time
you got to it. If you shot the difficult left hand bird first, there
was a very good possibility that you’d miss both targets because the
right hand bird wouldn’t be so easy by the time you got around to it.
Thus you could have two pretty difficult shots (left bird first) or
one moderately hard shot and one killer hard shot (right bird first).

This is an example of clever target setting and this kind of damned if
you do and damned if you don’t choice was repeated at several
stations. Judging by the number of shooters on my squad who went
“o-fer” on a couple of pairs, the smart money move for the B class and
down shooter was to put the easier birds in the bank and take a wild
stab at the hard one. For A class and up shooters who had the chance
and the skill to perhaps win the shoot, you had to go for the pair and
pass up the easier shot first in the hope of getting both.

Few people think of it, but the skill level of the shooter and “safety
of the result” often determines the order in which pairs will be
attempted. There may not be a right or wrong way.

I was privileged to shoot the match with Jean de Lau. Jean is a former
member of the French FITASC team and won this Sandanona shoot last
year with a 90 and this year with an 86. I paid particular attention
to his technique and two things stood out.

First: His gun muzzle position was very carefully considered. He
started his muzzle fairly far out, letting the bird catch up to his
muzzle and very slightly pass it. Then he moved to the bird as he
raised the gun, swung through the target from slightly behind it and
fired.

The other thing that was very apparent in his style was that his head
and upper body were absolutely locked into the gun. Once the gun was
up, he locked in like a trap shooter. All the pivoting came from his
waist and mid section. The upper body, arms and head didn’t move at
all once the gun was mounted. There was absolutely no head movement or
repositioning between shots.

Of course, that’s all easier said than done, but that’s how this pro
did it with his 32” Beretta 682.

After the shoot we had a marvelous luncheon catered by Slammin’
Salmon. Along with Tamarack and the Coon Club, Sandanona has the best
of feeds. I should also mention that Sandanona one-upped all the
others by serving catered snacks on the course. Yup. A waiter on a
four wheel drive toured around the stations about mid-way through the
shoot offering a selection of snacks to sustain us until luncheon.
Most welcome and typical of the way in which Sandanona treats its
guests.

Prizes were gift certificates to the Orvis shop, but from the look of
the crowd in there after the shoot, there was a little free-lance
buying going on too.

Next month it’s the Addieville Lobster Classic. It’s a great shoot and
worth traveling for. See you there.

HOA JEAN DE LAU 86
I-1 Vinny La Scalza 81*
I-2 Lavert Cypher 81
I-3 Kevin Goodspeed 79
II-1 Ted Burke 82
II-2 Mark Latakas 78
II-3 John Lawlor 76
III-1 John Nicoletti 80
III-2 Vincent Fabano 79
III-3 John Levy 72
IV-1 Frank Horodyski 75
IV-2 Bob Bartolomeo 73
IV-3 Lewis Johnson 64
V-1 George Kaiser, Jr 63
V-2 Tony Restivo 55*
V-3 Manny Carames 55
VI-1 Sarah Siddig 50
VI-2 Eileen Lambert 42
VI-3 Donna Galotto 41
Msdm Edie Ellis 56
Ldy-1 Susie Clarke 66
Ldy-2 Anna Maria Collins 63
Ldy-3 Ginny Tennison 62
SVet Ted Fedun 76
Vet-1 Bob Repella 81 (SxS)
Vet-2 Doug Moore 79
Vet-3 Bill Tennison 77
Jr-1 Brett Munro 65
Jr-2 Jimmy Coletti 57
Jr-3 Mike Fabano 56
Jr-4 Jason Lenhart 52*
Jr-5 Trevor Moehrke 52
Jr-6 Kendall Coon 42
Jr-7 Sal Tantillo 37
Jr-8 Jason Costa 26
Jr-9 Jessica Lenhart 17 (20 ga)
Guest Steve Borst 85
* ties decided by tie-breaker stations

FOLLOWING THE JUDGE…

You have to be careful dealing with hizzoner Mucho Pomposo. It’s
important to strike just the right balance between abject groveling
subservience and a gay sprightly air of naive insouciance.

When in doubt, groveling is always safest. Like any awesome oracle of
knowledge, some times are better than others in making your approach.
Post-cocktail hour is invariably better than pre-cocktail hour.
Interruptions and disturbances on the sporting course are most
hazardous.

The Judge, Miss Manners and the Technoid were enjoying a monthly
Travelers shoot, sharing their squad with two fellow Travelers and a
guest. The guest was Dartamount Dinwiddle, IV. His mother called him
“Forth”, not “Fourth”. It all had something to do with the birthing
process when the doctor commented, “Look at that little blockhead come
forth.” The boy has been confused ever since that moment, a victim of
a perverse natal etymology.

Which is why he never gets the rules right. Forth was a virtual Mrs.
Malaprop of rules. His interpretations were always close, but never
accurate. That didn’t stop him from making legal pronunciamentos at
every possible occasion. He could usually get away with it because the
average sporting clays shooter is even more ignorant of the rules than
Forth was.

It started on the second station of the day. Forth’s squad had arrived
in time to watch the two shooters from the previous squad shoot the
station. He was first on the squad and when he stepped into the box he
requested a “view” pair.

The judge didn’t notice because he was deep in a discussion with the
Technoid about the possibilities of nitrogen purged recorkage for his
beloved Port collection.

The Technoid felt that it was really a moot point. Once the Judge
opened a bottle of Port, it all went south in a short snort. Recorking
was just closing the barn door after the equine escapee.

But Miss Manners, she of the steely grey eyes and ferret-like
intuition, noticed Forth’s gaffe. At Travelers shoots it’s common
knowledge that you don’t ask for view pairs if you have had the
opportunity to see a member of the previous squad shoot the station.
It wastes targets and wastes time. Even worse, it delays luncheon.

Forth wasn’t a bad guy at all. Walking to the next station he started
to drape his open O/U over his shoulder. But he caught himself before
it whanged someone and tucked it properly under his arm. Miss Manners
slid the long lethal hatpin harmlessly back into her silver grey hair.

The Judge led off the next station and it was Forth’s turn to keep
score and ref. The placard at the station said that there would be
three following pairs of typical Travelers Tough 80 yard on-edge
micro-minis.

By some miracle the Judge smoked the first bird of the first pair. He
then shucked his CT State Prison System Model 97 hammer pump and
waited for the following bird. It never came. The machine ate it.

“No bird,” hooted Forth. “First bird established dead. Repeat the
pair.” The Judge now faced a problem. In legal circles the concise
Latin expression for the situation was “Damndus ifus you do and
damndus ifus you don’t.” The Technoid thought of it in advanced
mathematical terms described as __ (screwed squared).

Everyone, except Forth, knew the NSCA rules very clearly:

2003 NSCA Rule Book, section IV-J-.1-C-2: “Scoring Pairs- In the event
of a “no bird” on a simultaneous or following pair, nothing can be
established. Two good targets must be presented to record the score.
This will also apply for gun/ammunition malfunctions while shooting
pairs.” and also:

“Scoring Pairs- In the event of a “no bird” on the second target of a
report pair, the first bird will be established as “dead” or “lost”
and the shooter will repeat the pair to establish the result of the
second target. When repeating the pair, the shooter must make a
legitimate attempt at the first target.”

Basically, in simos and following pairs, nothing is established if
either bird comes out broken. In report pairs, the first bird is
established if it is attempted even though the second bird is broken
or irregular. Them’s the rules.

But the problem was that the Judge had absolutely smoked the first
bird of this following pair. There was no way in the world that
Hizzoner would ever hit it again. A complete do-over, as the rules
required for a following pair, would result in the certainty of a
goose egg for our Judicial Jeddite. Also, with many stations to go, a
disgruntled judge would be a distinct damper on the afternoon. Could
that blindfold on the brow of Justice be raised just a smidgen to let
her have a peek at this deserving soul?

Not-on-your-life! Nevah! That’s a plate of cheating basted with the
sauce of ignorance, pure and simple. The judge turned to Forth and
rumbled, “You dunder head! The rule clearly states that a following
pair must be repeated with nothing established if the second bird
comes out broken.” Forth managed to stammer a “Yessir”, but the damage
was done. Of course, the Judge fanned on all the ensuing pairs and
finished the day righteous, but wrecked. Caesar’s wife never had it
easy either.

Mucho Pomposo perked up a bit at lunch when his court clerk/lackey
brought in a bottle of Port. The Judge beamed as he sang the praises
of this fabulous bottle of Smootheroso Yummytummy Ultra Grand Ancient
Vintage Porto. It was hard to believe that the Judge was actually
going to share it. But grandly share he did, pouring from the
beribboned gilt bottle into many paper cups so that all the parched
might partake this nectar of the gods. Everyone praised him for his
port-ly generosity, his clay target righteousness and his general
judicialness. Forth even raised the question of sainthood, but
Hizzonor coyly demurred.

After the shoot, the judge and his clerk chatted as they strolled back
to the gleaming dark green Bentley.

“Clerk, you did remember to save the bottle, didn’t you.”

“Oh yes, sir. And I’ll make sure to fill it back up with the Gallo
Extra Heavy Malaga Port just like before. It was on sale in the
automotive section at Wal-Mart.”

The judge beamed beatifically. Cheating at sporting clays was beyond
the pale, but a little fudging elsewhere didn’t do any real harm. You
had to have your priorities. Who better than he to be the judge of
those.



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

PRELIM- FRIDAY AUGUST 8, 2003
MAIN- SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 and 10, 2003
GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC
SILVER CUP WORLD VETERANS SPORTING CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP
ADDIEVILLE EAST FARM, MAPLEVILLE, RI

You should already have received your invitation directly from
Addieville. If it mistakenly ended up on the bottom of the parrot’s
cage, go to <www.Addieville.com/claystrt.htm> and download another.
Ain’t computers wunnerful. If you don’t know how to do that, the
twelve year old next door will show you. Addieville might also fax you
an entry if you ask. Call them at 401-568-3185 if you have any
questions. The entry is mailed directly to Addieville. The CTSCA is
out of this loop on the finance side. NSCA registration is optional,
but not required. This is an open shoot in conjunction with the
Travelers, so guests are very welcome.

On Friday from 8~10 AM, Andy Duffy will be hosting a free clinic.
After the clinic, you can go out and shoot the 100 bird preliminary
and the 410, 28, 20 and pump and SxS individual 50 bird events. Those
350 birds in one day ought to get you warmed up.

In addition to the main event 100 targets on Saturday and again
Sunday, you can fool around with all sorts of reentry events and
practice fields to keep you out of trouble.

Also don’t miss the Lobster banquet and fireworks Saturday evening.
Where else can you get a full tilt New England Lobster dinner for $28?
Come to think of it, where else do you get to watch professional
eaters like the Travelers duke it out with lobsters? It will be
entertaining hand to hand combat. Gun butts are legitimate lobster
tools!

Oh, yes. $25,000 in cash, guns, awards and prizes is guaranteed.
That’s more than Enron and WorldCom did for you.

This is a great shoot and will be very well attended. Since it’s also
an “open” shoot for outsiders, you’ll have the chance to make many new
friends. Make sure to arrange your hotel reservations as soon as
possible. Local hotels are listed on the back of the entry form.


2003 SHOOTING CALENDAR

AUG 8~10 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI-GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC
SEP 14 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT-SMALL GAUGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
OCT 3~5 PENNSYLVANIA -FALL TRIP
OCT 19 MILLBROOK ROD & GUN, NY- OKTOBERSCHUTZENFEST
NOV 16 EAST MOUNTAIN, NY-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
NOV * EAST MOUNTAIN, NY-KOEHLER SOC. FUNDRAISER THREE SHOT
DEC 14 MID-COUNTY, NY-DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
* An asterisk indicates an exact date still to be determined

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

AUG 3 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) OPEN SC CHAMPIONSHIP
AUG 17 FAIRFIELD COUNTY F&G, CT (203-426-8508) NSCA SPORTING
SEP 6 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) SPORTING CLAYS CLASSIC
SEP 9~14 NATIONAL GUNCLUB, TX (800- 877-5338) NSCA NATIONALS
SEP 18~21 ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY (413-339-5347) VINTAGERS 7TH ANNUAL
OCT 11 ADDIEVILLE EAST, RI (401-568-3185) CLAYS FOR STRAYS SC CH
NOV 2 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) THREE SHOT SHOOT OUT
NOV 7~9 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) FALL FITASC CH
DEC 7 NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT (860-738-3619) CHRISTMAS AT THE COON

CONTACTING THE TRAVELERS...

CTSCA Home Office: Email <ctsca @email.com> (by far the best way) or
telephone 860-354-9351 if you absolutely must. To place an ad, post a
shoot date in Reload! or simply heap abuse on the editor, contact
Bruce Buck at tel: 203-454-1080, fax: 707-215-0668 or email:
<bcb23@columbia.edu>.