EricW Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I've been spending a lot of time on the skeet fields the last couple of weeks. Mainly I try to just shoot by myself. I don't feel like I'm "performing" for anyone that way. Sometimes I shoot with others when they show up and the other field is in use. I really don't kibbitz with anyone at the club. After having my fill of militant range yo-yos over the years, I rarely talk to anyone at a range these days. I do everything "wrong." Worst of all, I do so deliberately. I've heard 297 times about how "you're doing it all wrong." I don't need to hear it 298. Call it a crappy attitude or whatever. The herd can meander where it will. They can just moo amongst themselves & let me do my thing. My goal for now is to be able to waste any target I see on the skeet field ... from anywhere. Not break it. Dust it. And not just from the concrete pads. Anywhere. I just wander around and try to shoot 10 targets in a row. Change houses. Move a little. Then do it again. I don't want to "pattern shoot" a pre-programmed response, I want to shoot *the target*. There's a difference. Most of the people there think I'm a mental case - probably true at least partially. A couple decades of Range Fudd exposure has turned me in more than a bit of a hermit. After IPSC shooters, the list of people that I want to be around on a range of any variety gets to be a very short one indeed. Once my father passed away, that list got reduced to exactly one. Well...I was sharing the field with another shooter who was test driving a new Krieghoff weekend before last. He was getting tutored by someone who apparently was the indigenous range Yoda for this club. We shot doubles from all the places you're not supposed to shoot doubles from. I, of course, shot low-gun with tight chokes. That combination usually sends the Range Fudds into orbit. This guy just watched and nodded as I shot. Very odd. Nobody approves either of me or anything I do. This guy must be nuttier than me. So, last Saturday, Yoda starts chatting me up in the clubhouse. There's no judgement. No bitching over my technique. No hissy over the pair of LM's sticking out of my spaghetti-slinger. "You know, we've got a wobble trap right out there. And if you shoot it from the skeet pads, it's really a lot of fun." Turns out Yoda is a former International Skeet champion. No explanation was necessary. He "gets it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitman Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Sorry to hear your skeet club is like that. Mine is the opposit, its nice when everyones happy and just out to have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gameplayer Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 After IPSC shooters, the list of people that I want to be around on a range of any variety gets to be a very short one indeed. Funny, that is exactly how I feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Eric, that was a great read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Norman Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 There are people that "Get It" and there are people that don't. I doubt it is worth much of any of our time trying to turn a Don't into a Does. It aggrivates us and them both, but sadly there seem to be more of "Them" than of "Us" and we need their dues to keep the clubs open, also, too often "They" are on the Board and can make "Our" lives miserable, IF we let them. Glad you found one that Gets It. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Turns out Yoda is a former International Skeet champion. No explanation was necessary. He "gets it." I ran into a guy like that years ago...he was helping folks at the skeet and pistol ranges at Lackland AFB. I'm so used to hearing BS when a bunch of shooters (non-IPSC) get together that I try to avoid those situations entirely. I listened to this guy for a few minutes and said "wow, he knows his stuff". A week later I learned that he had a couple of Olympic gold medals for pistol shooting....go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Ellis Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Something I've noticed at the clays range also. It seems people volunteer information to help your 'game' whether you want it or not. Doesn't matter which game it is, you're going to get advice forced down your throat. The main reason I, like Eric, perfer to bust clay frisbees solo. Sometimes I'm not playing a game. I want to bust the target my way. 'Inapporpiate' guns such as a former Katrina submarine decoy H&R Topper 16ga or my USPSA FN SLP will send the Fudds into a tizzy. Different positions. Low gun. High gun. I too have been told I'm doing it all wrong. Geez, I'm still considered the odd man out shooting registered targets with an autoloader. You're supposed to have an OU. Give it a rest please. One of the individuals I share a trap with every so often has some auto in 20ga. He always shoots trap from low gun. I say nothing to him and let him be. He's playing his game and I'm playing mine. We let it go at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranDoc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 It seems people volunteer information to help your 'game' whether you want it or not. Yup. Been on the receiving end ... a lot .... Further comment withheld because I don't want the thread closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 The only thing worse than being imprisoned by constructs of your own mind, is imprisonment by someone else's. My favorite person at the range is the old coot who shoots skeet with a lever-action .410. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I agree with Micah ....... that was an interesting story Eric. Thanks. It seems there is only ever 1 person "who gets it" at any range I go to, as well. Glad you found yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Wow! Wobble trap is a hoot. I shot from the 2nd skeet pad from the left. The low smokers are tough, the rest isn't too bad. Saturday we're going to lock the machine down to just throw low heaters. I'm really liking this range. The guy that runs it *LIKES* to mess with the machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 (edited) Have you try-ed 'Sporting Clays', Five Stand, or Fitasc ? you sound like a candidate. Targets from 3 yards to over 70 yards Oh woh... 'Sportsman's Team Challenge' that game has surprise pairs from any of five to seven traps. And a "Flush" game with a five traps and a target every second. = you play with two other team mates Traps on 125' towers that throw simulated duck shots Rabbits Teal , Minny's middy, Battu ...! Rocket ! = Edited April 10, 2008 by AlamoShooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 I've shot sporting, but 15 cents / target is SO much more affordable than .35 and up. Then there's the drive.... The goal is to get tuned up for sporting. But wobble trap and skeet have been good to me. I've progressed much more in my shooting now that I'm shooting a lot more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 "You know, we've got a wobble trap right out there. And if you shoot it from the skeet pads, it's really a lot of fun." Wobble traps are a blast! be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharonAnne9x23 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 one night I took my 870 IPSC 12 on the skeet range. You know, fiberglass stock with pistol grip, mag extension, side saddle. I was actually asked "what kind of double" my shotgun was. It seems it is the 'wannabes' that are the range prima-donnas. Those that have made it, the olympians, national champions, world shoot champs, they get it. Nothing to prove to anyone. We had a national high power rifle champ at our club. He was once ranked #3 in the country. This guy could shoot 6" groups at 1000yds with iron sights. Back in the mid 80s. He thought IPSC was cool, 'fun gun' shooting. Same for an old bullseye shooter, was on the PanAmerican team way back when. He could shoot upper A zone at 50 yd strong hand, iron sights. Thought those combat guys were just the most fun to hang out with. When you "get it" you understand that it is all shooting and all shooting is good shooting. Blessed Be SharonAnne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey357 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 "Yoda's" last name didn't happen to be Dryke, did it? Just curious....mikey357 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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