1eyedfatman Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 We've been getting a lot of rain in Texas the last several weeks…too much at this point I'd say and it has started serious flooding in some parts of the state. Things were looking dicey for this match yesterday as we had more heavy rain the night before, but match director Cody's optimism and experience said it was a go. Having participated in SS ESP, the day and conditions were actually better then expected. Don't get me wrong, it was one wet and muddy in places facility. If one didn't have waterproof shoes or boots, you would have had an uncomfortable day. But I ran, dropped mags and did everything I would do on a dry day, albeit, a little bit slower at times. It turned out to be a good match which was well run with excellent stages. We only had about a couple short showers during the day and the plastic went up once, but was quickly removed. They delivered BBQ sack lunches to us at the bays and the prize table was maybe the best I've seen in my year of shooting. At least a dozen or more pistols plus other things were raffled off. Of course, I came away without a pistol…AGAIN. But 2 people within arms reach of me picked up a 1911 .45 and a Glock. Many of the staff were made up of Cross Timbers Action Shooting Association and Collin County IDPA plus a few which travelled. These guys have some of the best SO's and MD's and one can tell at their local matches that they really work at doing things right. Everyone made the best of the conditions and it turned out to be a great match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaseMarshall Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I had fun too. Mike, you forgot to mention the match bump you earned yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkMyDuds Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 Hats off to match staff who have to be on the muddy and rainy range for 2 consecutive days! They made the great match experience possible. This is indeed the most well organized IDPA match with the best prizes I've ever been to. Looking forward to next year's already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdyb Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I heard it devolved into open squadding and that it took considerable time to get scoring done at the end of the day. And the normal complaining of capricious SO's. But I wasn't there, just stuff people texted/fb me while they were there at the match. The plaques I saw looked very nice! And I can still hear someone telling me, "We don't call cover tight, we call it correct." Every match seems to have its hitches. With the crazy weather I'm glad this one went well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1eyedfatman Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) Thanks Chase. Having been short of a Master bump by 1 spot your last 2 matches, you are right there. I'll be calling you Master Chase this year. I ran through all 12 stages with no cover calls and no procedural penalties (and no non-threats) and I could see these guys were on me like a hawk and I finished 2nd. These same SO's had not hesitated to call me on violations in the past. 2-3 stages had cover traps where you could easily expose yourself to non-engaged targets to the opposite side you were engaging. When your moving down a channel engaging targets left and right and you go straight down the middle…you are very likely to get a cover call from the opposite side. If you just adjust your path to one side, you are unlikely to get the call because you'll stay hidden behind the opposite hard cover longer. It was like salmon to hungry bears. Me and my 2 squad buddies figured it out and did not get a call. The other salmon…they got ate up! And rightly so. Good job by the SO's calling it as intended and protecting the field for a fair and even match…giving no one the advantage by playing cover and other procedures loose to get a time advantage over those that follow the rules. This is not a weeknight local match were some clubs may play loose with the rules in the name of fun for beginners, this is Texas State Championship. I guarantee, the SO's walked the stages and figured out where the cover and non-cover positions where. I even heard Masters and Experts were getting cover calls on Staff shoot day. The rules must be enforced and called correctly, particularly at a big match. If you come to a CTASA or CCIDPA match, you will be challenged. I can tell, Rowdy is a guy always up for a challenge…you need to shoot one of their matches sir! Edited May 25, 2015 by 1eyedfatman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkMyDuds Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) I got 2 cover calls on staff shooting day. So yes the SOs were very strict. I've seen Sunday shooters arriving early on Saturday to study the stages, and hearing them whispering "this is not a cover call?" while some of the stages were in progress. Keep in mind when you stood behind the safety line and watch from different angle, you are really not in the right position to call cover or not. The SOs following the shooter closely knew what they were doing. Edited May 25, 2015 by MilkMyDuds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdyb Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 I also heard no chrono, at a Level 4 match..... I haven't shot a sanctioned IDPA match since I was the ESP DC at the North AZ match last year. Walking into Worlds this Sept without much IDPA practice, that will be challenge enough for me hahahahah. If I move to Texas, you will see me there! I'll now get out of your thread as I don't want to drag attention away. Congrats on shooting a good match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkMyDuds Posted May 25, 2015 Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) I also heard no chrono, at a Level 4 match..... I haven't shot a sanctioned IDPA match since I was the ESP DC at the North AZ match last year. Walking into Worlds this Sept without much IDPA practice, that will be challenge enough for me hahahahah. If I move to Texas, you will see me there! I'll now get out of your thread as I don't want to drag attention away. Congrats on shooting a good match. We had equipment inspection and 7 bullets handed in with label on staff shooting day BTW - I wasn't a match staff, but I felt everything was as tight as level 4 matches could get Edited May 25, 2015 by MilkMyDuds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1eyedfatman Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) Good luck at Worlds Rowdy...I have a feeling you will do well even without the practice. If I make it, I hope your not in my division. This match had the toughest conditions I've ever seen. Any normal club weekend match, this would have been called. I'm sure the MD had lots of hard decisions to make that day based on conditions as they were in the morning and could have been throughout the day. Our chances of shooting through a lite shower was probably as great as shooting through a monsoon. I imagine they may have been racing against the clock (or the rain) early on. All the staff had a tough job and the shooters had a challenge. Question this, second guess that...yeah, yeah...sure. Most people probably don't even know what went into some of those decisions. You know what I remember...making the match happen in spite of terrible weather and conditions, great SO'ing in accordance with IDPA rules, great staff that shined in the face of adversity, the heart felt tribute to Veterans during the awards ceremony, the awarding of best Veterans and LEO, a shooter getting on his knees after he and his girlfriend competed in the mud all day and proposing in front of the shooters during the middle of the awards. So many more things could have gone wrong that match that didn't. Considering it looked like crap at the start of the day, I thought it all worked out pretty good from this shooter's perspective (non-staff). But that's just me, somebody else certainly could have seen it differently. Edited May 26, 2015 by 1eyedfatman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preeber Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 I shot the match on Sat, do you know where the scores are posted on line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrDave Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 A lot of the Georgia folk who shot this match were griping about the cover calls, but cover traps sound like SOP for that region based on your post, and cover traps are more unusual in this region. I'll have to integrate that into my course design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP9 Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 I know a couple of guys who were there on Sunday, and reading theirs comments, looks like it was a nightmare for them... not just the rain but wind, mud, etcc....they are very good shooters.. experts looking for been bumped to master... glad to hear it was good for you. congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The B.S. Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 A lot of the Georgia folk who shot this match were griping about the cover calls, but cover traps sound like SOP for that region based on your post, and cover traps are more unusual in this region. I'll have to integrate that into my course design. What is a "cover trap"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1eyedfatman Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) A lot of the Georgia folk who shot this match were griping about the cover calls, but cover traps sound like SOP for that region based on your post, and cover traps are more unusual in this region. I'll have to integrate that into my course design. What is a "cover trap"? To me, its a term I personally use to warn myself of out of cover areas when planning a stage during my walk through. Personally, I don't know if anyone else uses the term and I've certainly never heard it in reference to a stage design. Its just simply an area to me in the stage, sometimes more open areas, sometimes not, where the chances of being out of cover to a different target while engaging another target is higher. At one spot I'm good, but two feet another direction and I'm out of cover. Most of the times we are dealing with nice, corner positions with a straightforward slicing of the pie. But certainly out of 12 big stages at a major match…you will not have that at every position. Its not like USPSA where the fault lines are laid out. Of course in IDPA, one needs to think about those things at each position and incorporate it into your stage plan. I also have the "reloading trap"…like potentially being stuck in the open, on the move, with an empty gun. What to do? Run to the closest cover position, reload and either go back and reengage those targets on the move again or move on. Or maybe I reload before I get to that area and I've got all the rounds I need. Then there's the "temp me to do something stupid" trap…all kinds of traps in IDPA stages to me. Those evil stage designers! Its good to see this was a normal IDPA match in more ways then one. Edited May 26, 2015 by 1eyedfatman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&W686 Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 I shot the match on Sat, do you know where the scores are posted on line? The scores are now posted on the IDPA website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The B.S. Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A lot of the Georgia folk who shot this match were griping about the cover calls, but cover traps sound like SOP for that region based on your post, and cover traps are more unusual in this region. I'll have to integrate that into my course design. What is a "cover trap"? To me, its a term I personally use to warn myself of out of cover areas when planning a stage during my walk through. Personally, I don't know if anyone else uses the term and I've certainly never heard it in reference to a stage design. Its just simply an area to me in the stage, sometimes more open areas, sometimes not, where the chances of being out of cover to a different target while engaging another target is higher. At one spot I'm good, but two feet another direction and I'm out of cover. Most of the times we are dealing with nice, corner positions with a straightforward slicing of the pie. But certainly out of 12 big stages at a major match…you will not have that at every position. Its not like USPSA where the fault lines are laid out. Of course in IDPA, one needs to think about those things at each position and incorporate it into your stage plan.I also have the "reloading trap"…like potentially being stuck in the open, on the move, with an empty gun. What to do? Run to the closest cover position, reload and either go back and reengage those targets on the move again or move on. Or maybe I reload before I get to that area and I've got all the rounds I need. Then there's the "temp me to do something stupid" trap…all kinds of traps in IDPA stages to me. Those evil stage designers! Its good to see this was a normal IDPA match in more ways then one. Thanks. It sounded as if someone was forced by design to be out of cover then penalized for it. I really haven't seen a stage where someone couldn't be in cover if you actually tried to be in cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1eyedfatman Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 You would be correct, cover was reasonably attainable if you tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdyb Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Not there, just seeing video, it looked easy to over run your position in a lot of places. Common mistake of people "trying" to go fast. Surely the ground conditions did not help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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