DO NOT ASSUME

[Bwana Six-Gun]

Had a good lesson learned at this year's MS Classic. I was the CRO of a stage and on the timer when a Jr. shooter stepped to the line.

My practice at local and major matches when I am the RO is to always watch Jr. shooters closely unless I know them and know their ability and experience. At local matches I want to be able to coach them and make sure they don't make a mistake that will get them DQ'd.

In this case, I should have seen from the start that this young man knew what he was doing just from the way he handled the load and make ready, but old habits are hard to break.

When the buzzer went off, he had three targets to engage, two on his left that were wide open, and one on the right that was partially covered by a No-Shoot. Buzzer goes off and he draws to the right target and fires two, swings to the left and fires two at each of those. I'm watching the gun and see him start to move forward and assume he will go for the next array of four, beyond a pair of walls. (A stage diagram is available at Team magnolia.com under 2011 MS Classic. Stage 7) Just as he approaches the opening between the walls, he stops and swings to the right and fires a make-up at the right-hand target (he had tagged a No-Shoot with one of his first rounds). I am right on his heels and caught by surprise. As he swings to fire I suck up my gut and jump back just as he fires. Gun goes off about 3-4 inches in front of my stomach. He keeps going and finishes the stage. Afterwards I check my shorts. Everyone gets a good laugh at my expense (Didn't know you could move that fast for an old man Ha Ha).

Lesson learned, DO NOT ASSUME A JR SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE WATCHED ANY CLOSER THAN AN OLDER SHOOTER! Give them room!

A couple of guys asked why I did not DQ him, but I knew from his position that he did not break the 180 and he did not sweep me. I should not have been that close to him, and I should have been prepared for him to stop if he needed to make up a shot.

Everyone got a good laugh at my expense, but the fact is I screwed up and it could have been a bad situation. I could have got shot, and that young man would have felt like he screwed up.

As I said lesson learned. Almost the hard way.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Excellent post.

Thanks - extremely thought provoking.

I'm still breathing hard ...

Glad it turned out okay.

Gives me a lot to think about.

Jack

[moverfive]

And immediately afterwards, we took care of Pat - we provided him a white paster for his chest and white underwear for, well, you can guess. :-)

[Pat Miles]

And immediately afterwards, we took care of Pat - we provided him a white paster for his chest and white underwear for, well, you can guess. :-)

How big of a white paster was necessary for his discolored shorts?

Pat (no relation)

[Leftylivesmatter]

Don't assume your too young to wear Depends!

[Mat Price]

lol, pat I know the shooter you are talking about. Really good kid. Pat was traumatized that whole match. While he was ROing me he took a piece of hot 9 Major brass down his shirt on the game over stage. in fact it looked something like this.

This was the first time i ever shot an open gun so its an ugly stage for me. But funny to watch pat jump around with hot brass down his shirt. jump and dance RO

[JKSNIPER]

Its tough...us older guys get our mass going and at a close velocity to the younger shooter but our "brakes" are the same size they've always been so we take a little longer to come to a stop and we skid a little.

Brass down the shirt is NOT fun.

[chbrow10]

Good post, Bwana. I was also an RO at that match and wonder what Junior you were referring to. I don't think that it was either of my kids because they both shot with the ROs on Friday.

My middle son continues to amaze me with his stage planning. He will blast right past an array, then go back really fast, like that was his plan the whole time. One of these days he will bump or outrun the RO.

[twodownzero]

DQ? You should have offered a reshoot. RO screwup isn't a DQable offense.

[Bwana Six-Gun]

As I said in the original post, there was no reason for a DQ and there was "no harm, no foul," so there was no reason to have a re-shoot. In fact, the young man was so concentrated on his run that I don't think he even noticed me being close and jumping back until the rest of the squad stopped laughing long enough to tell him about it.

I like to think that had he asked for a re-shoot because of RO interference I would have given it to him, no questions asked. He did not do anything wrong.

[Skroggster]

Had a good lesson learned at this year's MS Classic. I was the CRO of a stage and on the timer when a Jr. shooter stepped to the line.

My practice at local and major matches when I am the RO is to always watch Jr. shooters closely unless I know them and know their ability and experience. At local matches I want to be able to coach them and make sure they don't make a mistake that will get them DQ'd.

In this case, I should have seen from the start that this young man knew what he was doing just from the way he handled the load and make ready, but old habits are hard to break.

When the buzzer went off, he had three targets to engage, two on his left that were wide open, and one on the right that was partially covered by a No-Shoot. Buzzer goes off and he draws to the right target and fires two, swings to the left and fires two at each of those. I'm watching the gun and see him start to move forward and assume he will go for the next array of four, beyond a pair of walls. (A stage diagram is available at Team magnolia.com under 2011 MS Classic. Stage 7) Just as he approaches the opening between the walls, he stops and swings to the right and fires a make-up at the right-hand target (he had tagged a No-Shoot with one of his first rounds). I am right on his heels and caught by surprise. As he swings to fire I suck up my gut and jump back just as he fires. Gun goes off about 3-4 inches in front of my stomach. He keeps going and finishes the stage. Afterwards I check my shorts. Everyone gets a good laugh at my expense (Didn't know you could move that fast for an old man Ha Ha).

Lesson learned, DO NOT ASSUME A JR SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE WATCHED ANY CLOSER THAN AN OLDER SHOOTER! Give them room!

A couple of guys asked why I did not DQ him, but I knew from his position that he did not break the 180 and he did not sweep me. I should not have been that close to him, and I should have been prepared for him to stop if he needed to make up a shot.

Everyone got a good laugh at my expense, but the fact is I screwed up and it could have been a bad situation. I could have got shot, and that young man would have felt like he screwed up.

As I said lesson learned. Almost the hard way.

Pat Great representation.

I too had the same or near similar instance happen to me at the Indiana SS/Prod/Rev Championships. I have attached the stage for reference. (It may not provide exact representation of the instance)

I was not running a junior but a seasoned veteran. This particular stage 2 array left 2 array right and had to move to engage. Then breach the door to engage thru left and right ports and down range. The only difference in the diagram is that the center wall the 2 targets were forward not rearward as to engage from ports prior to breaching the door.

Allow me explain the setup. When going through the door there were 4' walls on both sides so you couldn't engage L & R port from that position. As well the vertical walls had the 45 deg stakes to hold them up.

This shooter breached the door, headed left engaged the left array rather fast. He hit the left steel (LOW) did not fall, reacted on sound. cleared right and engaged the final two from the port on the right, I could not due to setup be directly behind him but to his left rear. He swung left at that steel and fired before I realized what had happened I had the tip of my nose powder burnt.

Again, as your situation there were not any grounds for DQ. Wasn't close to a 180. It was RO positioning. I too ruined a good pair of BVD's!