Hungry Beagle

An undocumented feature isn't really helpful. A google search turned up several videos and webpages where people show that it works or complain that setup is "not easy", but not a single page where they explain what they did. I have one on order to see if I can make it work, but it would be nice to have a starting point other than vague statements that it can be done.

I don't shoot 3 gun or switch gear, but found out how great the ELS system is when traveling by plane. I can detach all my mag pouches and the holster and it packs up really nicely. I also don't have to worry about the holster getting thrashed by baggage handlers.

PA seems sort of far from Cleveland. Are there ANY USPSA clubs withing 20 miles of Cleveland? I looked up the Area 5 page, and all of the clubs listed seem to be at least 100 miles away.

Oh. In practice sessions, I work to reduce my times. At a match, I slow down and shoot at about 85-90% of my top speed. As long as I'm watching my sights, I remain reasonably accurate.

It really all depends on where you are in your learning curve. Let's say that Max (and when I say Max, I really mean any one of those phenoms that are at the top of our game: Chris, JJ, KC, the list goes on) can shoot a stage in 20 seconds. Johnny D Class shoots in 50 seconds. He can improve his hit factor by shooting more points in the same time, or shooting the same points in less time. It's a tradeoff, but where will he see the most gain? It's probably easier for him to shoot/run/move faster or cut down his transitions from position to position, because there likely many many things he can do to shave time off from that 30 second differential. Johnny D Class starts running like a bat out of hell, dropping a few more points, but really cutting into his time and sees his scores improve despite shooting a lot of C's, D's and the occasional M's. Couple years down the road, Johnny's an A class shooter, and can shoot the same stage in around 24 seconds. Can he shave 4 seconds off his time to catch up to Max? Possibly, but he's never going to be up there until he settles down, learns some control and shoots more points. If he's still hitting lots of C's and D's, he's probably taking extra shots on steel, which is costing time and will not let him cut into that 4 second differential. If he isn't practicing accuracy, he's not going to do well at calling his shots, and maybe taking the occasional miss. Once you get to the top, your ability to shoot/run/move faster becomes very difficult, because you're starting to reach the limits of your physical speed. I don't know if anybody else counts their ammunition when they're at a match, but if I go to a match that is 240 rounds, I expect to use around 250 rounds. I don't want to be firing extra rounds as that wastes time. How do I not fire extra rounds? I try to make sure I hit what I'm aiming at. Steel should go down in one shot. My paper I should be expecting to shoot A's, because even if I miss, it's probably going into the C or maybe even the D. Accuracy is the key. I'm not saying that everything has to be A's, but if you're settling for C's and D's, then you're probably hitting M's as well. (I do hit a lot of C's, which means my accuracy still needs work). My times are not far off the top guys; I'm about 20% slower than them on most stages. I could go faster, but in doing so, I risk dropping my C into a M. I can get lucky and hit it, but if I'm pushing my speed limits too much, I'm not going to be able to stay lucky consistently; the inevitable M or NS is going to wipe out whatever gains I have made. The secret to doing well is not to focus entirely on speed, or accuracy, but to find the balance that gets you the best results. Speed can only get you so far, but if you're accuracy isn't there, you won't go the rest of the way.

Blargh. I just looked at the waiting list date more closely. It's June 27th, the same day that the Area 1 Championship ends. Considering the number of people at Area 1 who will be traveling/unable to access a computer, that's a lot of people that will have to depend on others to get them on to the waiting list. Is it worth trying to contact someone to see if they could possibly push the waiting list date to something like the 28th of June instead?

Which one? By the time I got there (last squad on the stage), he'd eaten two on the left side! Heh, the first one. I have mixed feelings about not being the only person to tag it - I'm glad I wasn't the only one, but feel bad that it took any hits at all! The props were great, and I wish we'd gotten more pictures of the podium, the stages, and the fireworks to kick off the match on Friday. What a great idea that was! I had a great time at the match, but I also had the benefit of shooting on Friday with phenomenal weather. I tried hanging out with a couple of people I knew on Saturday, and lasted about 10 minutes before I gave up and hopped back in the car. Kudos to the Range Officers and match staff that toughed out 2 days of blowing snow and mud. My first time in Texas, and I'll definitely go back if I can work it into my schedule. I stuffed myself on Barbecue while I was there, although I will admit that the restaurant that had draft beer options of "Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite, Coors or Coors Light" left a little bit to be desired. Everybody else seems to be getting their videos uploaded, so here's mine: We accidentally taped over the bowling ball stage, and luckily missed taping the stage where I tore that big jagged tear through the brontosaurus.

I have to admit responsibility for that one. My bad.

Nawww...As long as there's an outlet mall nearby, I can buy warm clothes.

I'm bringing money. Are there going to be vendor tables, or will I have to spend it all on beef and beer?

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USTX1464 Ten Day forecast looks good for Friday...giddyup!

When will we know which shooting period we got on to? Some of us will need to make our travel arrangements based on that. Chris

My DTC Weather Watch has officially begun... http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/ustx0521 Too bad that their long range forecast is only 5 days in advance.

Night before a big match, I was really, really tired, but couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned until around 5am, when I think I finally drifted off. I got woken up at 6am by my buddies for breakfast so we could be on the range for 7am. To try and wake myself up, I sucked back a couple Red Bull in the car. No effect. A half hour later, I reached into the glove box for the caffeine pills I keep in case of late night drives and popped one of those. After 15 minutes, feeling absolute no effects from either of the previous two, I took another caffeine pill (against the instructions on the bottle). 10 minutes later, everything kicked in. I was too wired to do anything effectively. In retrospect, that was pretty dumb, and if I was in poorer physical condition, could have been potentially damaging. I don't drink Red Bull before shooting anymore, and the caffeine pills stay in the car.

I didn't attend this match last year, but I heard that it was quite cold (snow, freezing temperatures, etc). What is the weather typically like in Wichita Falls during March?