by Brian Wernham, Match Director

As season record twenty-six competitors arrived early Saturday morning to participate in the final CAFTA match of the 2021 Field Target season. The weather was forecasted to be cold, windy and rainy. The winds were the strongest we had seen at HAHA this season. There was a wind flag attached to the 50 M barricade (we didn’t see it until half way through the match or would have removed it). It was moving from left to still to right. Within 15 seconds, it could move from still to 90 degrees across – hanging on for dear life. The forecast was for gusts up to 45km/hr and I believe we saw that happen. It was definitely challenging to hit those 40+ yard targets with anything below 16 foot pounds of energy!

6 new shooters attended, two of which were juniors. A very special welcome to Art, Ken, Ian, Shane, Francis and Cash. Ian, Cash and Daniel represented the junior class well proving that you don’t need to be a veteran to knock targets down. Great shooting by all three. We hope you had fun and will be back again next season.

Thank-you to the volunteers who showed up early to get the range ready for the day and for everyone who stayed around to help take down the course. These events can only run smoothly/on time with volunteers. Please remember to thank them and consider helping out next year!

Congratulations to our division winners:

Richard S – PCP Open

Mike P – PCP Hunter

James L – Piston WFTF

Tom K – Piston Hunter

After the match concluded, Rob W set up a “know your limits” challenge. There were multiple paper targets set out at 35 yards – each one having progressively smaller dots. The objective was to shoot as many of the dots as possible. If you missed, you were out. Many stopped at three (due to the crazy wind) but both Richard and Mike were able to hit the 4th dot. A shoot off was required to settle the challenge. Congratulations to Richard who prevailed after a second-round tie breaker victory!

Thanks to everyone for making this abbreviated season a successful one. Once the 2022 season dates are confirmed, they will be posted. Stay safe, keep practicing and ensure you don’t get caught sneaking new gear into the house without telling your wife (maybe that advice is just for me)!

PCP Open / 60	Score	Gun	Sight	Pellet
Richard S	54	Daystate Redwolf	Hawke	JSB
Dennis E	53	USFT	Leopold	JSB
Lanny H	49	Theoben Rapid 17	BSA	Crossman 10.5
Geoff M	45	AA S510	Hawke Airmax	AA 8.4
Art W **	13
Ken B **	1
PCP WFTF / 60	Score	Gun	Sight	Pellet
Brian W	44	AA FTP 900	Sightron 10-50	AA 8.4
PCP Hunter / 120	Score	Gun	Sight	Pellet
Mike P	105	Brocock Sniper XR	Discovery 6-24	JSB 10.3
Rob G	103	Daystate Redwolf	Hawke 6-24	JSB 10.3
Chris H	101	Kral Jumbo	Discovery 4-14	JSB 15.9
Bob W	94	FX Impact	Element 6-24	JSB 8.4
Larry Y	91	Kral Jumbo	Centrepoint	JSB 10.4
Ian T ** J	75	Kral Jumbo	Discovery 4-14	JSB 15.9
Shane R **	58	FX Crown		JSB 14.3
Piston WFTF / 60	Score	Gun	Sight	Pellet
James L	50	AA TX 200	Hawke 10-50	JSB 7.8
Ted G	41	TX200	Bushnell 8-32	JSB 8.4
Piston Hunter / 120	Score	Gun	Sight	Pellet
Tom K	95	HW97 KT	Discover ED 4-16×50	JSB 8.4
Ryan Z	94	HW97	Discovery 6-24	JSB RS
Rob W	93	Tx 200	Tourex 6-24	JSB 8.4
Marc S	90	AA TX 200	Hawke 6-24	Crossman 7.9g
Tony L	87	HW97 KT	BSA 4-14×44	JSB RS
Tony R	83	AA TX 200		Stoegar 8.5g
Jeff H	82	AA TX 200	Sighron STAC	JSB Exact
Francis D **	72	Browning Leverage	Discovery 3-12	JSB RS
Cash L ** J	45	Crossman Stealth	Open	Crossman Destroyer
Daniel D  J	40	Stoeger S4000	Stoeger	H&N 8.5g

Match Report, Oct.30, 2021 by Bob Wall on behalf of Zack Harde, Port Colborne Match Director.

First the thank yous have to go out to; Port Colborne and District Conservation Club! for the use of their fine Range. To Danny K, our Port Colborne member liaison. He also, opened up the place early that morning and provided the snazzy sight in targets. Thanks Danny!! Zack Harde did a great job as match director. Big thanks Zack! Chris for his big pots of hot tasty chili and the Fudd hats. Thanks Chris! The Fudd counts on all hands to pitch in and help and it was a success due to your help. The work was completed quickly as everyone helped out. Thanks to you all, this was a great event!

This week leading up to the Fudd the weather looked foreboding, with heavy rain and cold windy conditions forecast. This had many thinking hard as to if they would shoot this event. And others concerned about just how many would attend. After all there were huge pots of Chris’s delish belly warming Chile to be eaten. Zach had his second shoot as match director to run and this was the Fudd no less.

But the spirit of the Fudd prevailed. The weather was, while not ideal, a lot better than forecast. The rain held off, the wind was light and temperature was not an issue either. There was a fair bit of water and mud to deal with and some regretted their foot ware choices. Most had no complaints and considered it a stroke of luck that the weather conditions were as favorable as they were.

The day started off early for most of us. Danny K was first on site and wasted no time opening both buildings. Then he started setting up the sight in range. While heading out to set up a lane as promises, when Ryan, one of the newer shooters to our gang, showed up looking to help out. So pointed him in Danny’s direction. Another early riser Dennis E who pulled in as I was walking out over the soaked field to put my targets out, pig and Rabbit. Zack, George and Lanny also arrived to set lanes. The Fudd was beginning to take shape and it was barely day light.

Then I saw Craig a gentleman I met at Estonia house, who had come out to check and see what field target was all about. By this time Ryan and Tom K had made their way out to help also. Very short work was made of the set up as more of the regulars pitched in and before you knew it, it was finished. Zack was well pleased with everyone’s efforts and the speed in which the work was finished.

Back to the clubhouse as we were anxious to get ready to shoot the sight in range. Zack had to concern himself with the business of the day. Sign in sheets; score cards, COVID questionnaires, waivers and the shooters meeting and such. Chris had a crew helping and the chili was being set up. Rob G had arrived and was busy helping out. Rob W was here and had his Know Your Limit shooting stuff with him. Larry C was out to shoot for first time in a long while. Ted, whom I met and shot the July match with was here. Art had his CO2 gun and was ready to give her a go. Was good to see James L was here and Tony R again. Mike P and Geoff Mac were here too. Mark and Peter were pulling in to park. I saw Brian W under the canopy and Larry Y, who had his .177 Puncher Jumbo ready to go. Then Tony L showed up as I was back to the car for gun and case. Was a nice turn out for sure. 11 shooting PCP and 12 shooting Piston.

Over to the sight in range and a big thanks to Danny K for the great sight in target sheets that he provided. They all had large distance numbers printed right on the sheets. Looked so Pro! Thanks Danny.

Then we had the shooters meeting. Which was brief and to the point. Everyone paired up and trudged through the socked field to the woods to start. Heard someone comment that it was nice to have a single score card. Think it was Mark that said it. But it was and shooting straight through the 15 lanes was nice too.

Hot line was called and the sweet familiar reports of springer and PCPs rang out through the damp woods. Along with the satisfying sounds of targets dropping and the disappointing tings of face plate hits. The fun had begun! Targets were of the usually sort, but full size hit zones, well for the most part. They were all at far and medium distances. With the over cast skies you had to look hard to see some of the longer distance targets. Ones placed in narrow lanes looked intimidatingly far away. We did have standing and kneeling lanes as well. Two targets per lane with 15 lanes.

First Cold line called, I missed Jeff H, who could not escape from work. Also thought of rest of our comrades who did not make it out today. Boys you missed a good one and sorry you could not make it out.

Then Chris’s voice ripped through the back ground inquiring if I could hit anything with the piece of crap gun I was shooting. Laughing as he cruised by on his track chair. Peter’s prismatic scope was generating a lot of interest among the shooters, all wanting to check it out. Looked great mounted on top of his ,177 MK II FX Impact with the red laminate stock.

The shooting flowed well with just a few cold lines. After the shooting was done everyone stayed to pull the targets and wind up the strings. This took no time as all hands helped out. As we headed back to clubhouse the sight in range was taken down already.

Rob G was setting up to serve the food. And scores were submitted to Zack. Results were announced; First was Tony L with 112 in PCP and George H first in Piston with 110. But second place was tied in both PCP and Piston. Not only tied but get this by the same score of 109. Brian W and James L 109 each in piston. Larry C and Mike P with 109 each in PCP. As was agreed by all, coin tosses, not shootouts, were used to determine second in both divisions. James winning the toss in Piston and Larry winning the toss in PCP. all the winners got Fudd hats and a pick at prize table. The 50/50 draw was held.

Then the eating began, two kinds of chili to choose from. Cookies, Mimi chocolate bars chips, water pop and G Mac’s Fudd carrot cake. Everyone was eating and talking ’til they had their fill. Enjoying one of the best parts of the Fudd – friends, food and camaraderie. This year’s Fudd was a yummy, yummy success!

Full scores below

PCP

First – Tony L 112

Second – Larry C 109

Third – Mike K 109

Fourth – Lanny H 106

Fifth – Rob G 105

Sixth – Bob W 100

Seventh – Chris H 98

Eighth – Larry Y 85

Ninth – Peter E 82

Tenth – Geoff Mac 72

Eleventh – Art W 48

Piston

First – George H 110

Second – James L 109

Third – Brian W 109

Fourth – Mark K and Ted G 102

Fifth – Rob W 101

Sixth – Tom K 98

Seventh – Ryan Z 90

Eighth – Tony R and Zack h 89

Ninth – Dennis E 88

With some reservations, we decided to go ahead with the match on the 17^th rather than wait until the last possible weekend.  The weather cooperated beautifully and the rain came down just after I left for home.  So from setup to cleanup, the weather was great; it was cool enough for jackets as opposed to sweating all day in the jackets.  I really enjoy Fall matches.

We had 10 shooters come to enjoy the day and it really did turn out to be a fun time.  We shot all sixty targets, one shot each and were still done by about 1:00 PM.  A few of us brought guns that were a departure from our normal as can be seen on the score sheet, with Ryan having the biggest departure with an HW50 using open sights.  He managed a pretty good score with that rig and had loads of fun doing it.

This was Ziggy’s first match and she did amazingly well, scoring 20 or so more point than most first time shooters.  Blane broke the 100 mark and had a personal best to take top gun. 

The Richards had a good battle going and Richard O. was only two points up at the end.

In the WFTF Piston group, no one was shooting their competition rig, but we had good fun.

The WFTF PCP group was the tight race for the day.  Dennis managed to take the top honours that he and John seem to switch back and forth.  A new threat hit the scene, with Jacob shooting the class for the first time and managing to nip John by one point for second.  A prevue of things to come perhaps?

There was lots of help for the cleanup after the match and lots of conversation.  We called it a day when a very dark cloud was approaching fast.  Good thing because I got a pretty good car wash on the way home.

All in all a real enjoyable finish to the 2021 season.  We are hoping to get started in April and have a full season in 2022.  For those interested, the Fudd match will be hosted by Port Colborne on October 30 and if you can make it, that is always a fun day.  HAHA also has one more match on November 13^th I believe.  Have a great finish to the 2021season and I look forward to a very busy and enjoyable 2022 season.

Tim MacSweyn

Rank	Name Class	yellow	White	Total	Rifle	Scope	Pellet
	WFTF Piston	/30	/30	/60
1	Tim MacSweyn	24	22	46	TX200HC	Hawke 4-16	JSB 8.44
2	Dave Cunningham	19	12	31	TX200	Hawke 8-32	AA 8.44
6	Ryan Landry	9	14	23	HW50	Open	JSB 8.44
	WFTF PCP
1	Denis St. Jean	24	20	44	AA S400F	Hawke 10-50	JSB 8.44
2	Jacob Charlebois	22	20	42	AA MPR-FT	Falcon T50	JSB 8.44
3	John Bradley	20	21	41	AR20FT	Hawke 10-50	JSB 8.44
4
	Hunter Division	/60	/60	/120
	PCP
1	Richard Oszpar	32	36	68	Diana Outlaw	CZ 5-25	JSBH
	Piston
1	Blane Larone	56	50	106	TX200	Hawke	JSB 8.44
2	Ziggy Kullik*	42	38	80	Diana 52	Hawke	JSB 8.44
3	Richard Turgeon	39	29	66	Cr. Optimus	Eagle 4-16	JSB 8.44

            * = New Shooter

by Bob Wall On behalf of Zach Hard, Match Director  

Port Colborne Sept 18^th 2021 

The day started off with a light rain. Which made the woods dark, damp and buggy while we set up the last 5 lanes of targets. But by the time we were set up and ready to shoot at the sight in range it was bright and sunny! 

Wind was light with slight gusts. Just enough to make it challenging at the longer ranges. With the sun shining through the leafy canopy, the mix of sun and shade made parallaxing difficult on some shots. Dark areas made it a job for those without illuminated reticles. Thankfully the heat of the day kept the bugs down. 

The course was laid out in 15 lanes of two targets per lane. This kept competitors spread out and moving quickly through the course. There were also two positional lanes.  

Open division shooters had the choice of how to shoot these lanes. This was tried with success first at HAHA and then at Grenville. Now Port decided to follow suit as all were in agreement that this was the way to go. This was a medium to hard level course IMO – small reducers and other targets out to max ranges. Generally, targets were at med and far distances with the few that were close had small reducers. Well, thought out, fun, interesting and challenging to shoot. Nice job! 

Most targets were handmade and well painted with clever actions. All of which added interest to this course. There were Vultures, mosquitos, beaver and a small target with two hit zones – one vertical the other horizontal. Both were very small and difficult to hit. Earns an A+ in my book for fun to shoot.  

There was a good turnout of shooters for this match. With a mix of veterans and new shooters.  9 PCP shooters and 6 piston shooters. Open division had the most shooters with 5 competitors. Which dropped to four as Peter Elsby had double his Fx crown preventing him from finishing the match, as no one had a rod to clear the barrel.  Hunter Piston with 4 competitors. Then WFTF Piston and hunter PCP had 3 competitors a piece.  Some impressive scores were posted. Open shooter Len J shot a near perfect score with a 59 out of 60! Mike P and Ron G in hunter PCP had amazing scores Mike posting a 116 out of 120 and Rob breathing down his neck with a 113 out of 120. Mark S was ahead of the pack in hunter piston with a 99 out of 120. Also, Rob W shot 90 out of 120 with Tom K showing steady improvement as a new shooter posting an 88 0f 120. WFTF Piston was a father and son tie. Both Zack and George shooting a 49 out of 60.  For full scores see blow. 

Once again there was a prize table a nice touch. Competitors picked prizes in the order in which they shot – 1^st place and on down the line. With enough stuff for all to get a pick. Also see photos.  

Like to conclude with a Big thanks to Port Colborne District & Conservation Club for granting use of the range. Also, to Zack Harde as Match director for his hard work in putting on this match. Plus, George Harde, Danny K, Dennis, Lanny and the many others who helped to make this match happen, big thanks to you all. 

Open PCP 

First place Len Joe – 59  

Second place 

Dennis Eden —–50  

Third place 

Chris Holmes —–47 

Fourth place 

 Lanny Hann ——45 

DNF Peter Elsby 

Hunter PCP 

First place  

Mike Pitkanen –116 

Second place  

Rob Gastle——–113 

Third place 

Larry Young——-85 

WFTF Piston 

Frist place  

Zack and George Harde – 49 

Second place  

Bob Wall ——— 39 

Hunter Piston  

First place  

Marc Shelleau ———– 99 

Second place  

Rob W ———–90 

Third place  

Tom Ke ———-88 

Fourth place 

Danny Karutschek -65 

Canadian National Field Target Association Championship

Hosted by the Grenville Fish & Game Club on September 11^th & 12^th, 2021

Match Report by Tim MacSweyn

We had a great group of shooters show up and enjoy a super weekend of socializing and shooting.  I was very impressed and grateful for the help provided by so many of the competitors.  Setting up the gazebos, the sight in range and the prize table was all made easier when folks chipped in.  It was the same at the end of the day Sunday; people rolled up their sleeves and helped with anything that needed to be done.  Many thanks to all that helped in so many ways.  Thanks to all for showing up.

A huge thank you goes out to the Grenville Fish & Game Club for the excellent facilities and for the use of the Kawasaki Mule.  The mule was a life saver for a couple of folks for whom the walk would have proved very painful.  The Clubhouse was a great spot for our Marshalling Course on Saturday afternoon.  Thanks to Tom for cutting the grass; that made things much easier.  Many thanks to Lynn who has provided help and advice ever since FT restarted at Grenville.  Thanks, Lynn, from all of us.

Our prize table was once again a great success due to the generosity of air gun businesses.  Airgun Source provided items for much less than 50% of the purchase price and also donated a Elements scope that made a relatively new young shooter very happy.  Raman of Canada Shooting Supplies sent us three underlever spring guns that will provide great fun.  Wes, of Airgun Archery Fun donated a Discovery Scope that will be put to good use.  Thanks for supporting field target in Canada.

Friday was a day to get everything set up and ready for Saturday morning.  The sight in range was marked out and set up ready for any shooters that wanted to do some shooting Friday afternoon and early evening.  Targets were checked and painted in the hope of reducing cold lines.  It does not always work exactly as you plan.  Then again sometimes a plan works well, such as the garlic spray on the course that reduced the mosquitos in a big way.

Saturday rolled around nice and sunny with some significant breeze.  After all the registering, getting your partner and lane assignment and chronying the guns, it was off to the sight in range.  Thanks to Blane for volunteering to man the chrony station both days. 

After sight in, the shooter’s meeting took place and soon we were off to the woods.  The wind did pick up and did cause more than a few shots on the edges of the hit zones.  The gusts were unpredictable and were surprisingly strong in spite of the vegetation.

The Hunter shooters were assigned the yellow course for Saturday and some good rivalries were evident by the end of the shooting.  In Hunter Piston, only two points separated Richard T. and Marc S. and Blane was very close as well.  Some good matchups were set for Sunday.

The Open and WFTF classes shot the white course and some nice scores were posted.  Ryan and James were separated by one point at the top of the WFTF PCP class.  Joel jumped out to a good lead in the WFTF Piston class, but Brian and Tim were close.

Both courses features some tough long shots in the wind and those close, very small hit zone targets that Denis likes so much.  Sunday’s squads were based on your score on Saturday.  In each class, starting at the top, shooters were put in a squad with their closest rival.  No pressure at all.

On Saturday afternoon, Joel and Jeff conducted the first ever marshalling course in Canada.  Joel put it together based on his experience taking marshalling courses at the world matches a number of times and with input from the BoG.  From all reports it was a great success and something that will continue to be offered in the future.  Thanks to Joel and Jeff for their efforts.

Sunday started out cloudy, but the Sun pushed through and provided another great day for FT.  The wind was a bit weaker than Saturday, but still moved the pellet enough to cause a few groans throughout the match when the pellets clipped the edge.

In Hunter Piston, the largest group at the match, things stayed close right to the end.  Richard T., who was up by a few points after Saturday, had another great day and ended up as Canadian Champion in the class.  Both Marc S. and Blane had good days as well and finished second and third respectively.  Eric was close behind the top three and Tony R, who shot with us for the first time at Grenville rounded out the top five.  Jeff had a good match as did Jacob who was only able to shoot with us on Sunday due to work.

Tony L. was able to put together another good day to win the class.  Larry made a good run on Sunday to secure second.  Marc C. had a good match placing third followed by Richard O.

In Open PCP, Dennis improved his score from Saturday and won the class, followed by Pete.

In WFTF PCP, Ryan had an exceptional day scoring 57/60 and won the class with an overall score of 108/120.  James stayed consistent and placed second, followed by John B. and Denis.

In WFTF Piston, Joel put on a show; no other way to describe it.  After an impressive 56/60 on day one, he went on to post a 58/60 on day two, for a total of 114/120.  This is a new spring gun record for our Nationals and was also the high score for the match.  Tim and Brian both managed to pull up their scores from Saturday, with Tim placing second and Brian third.  Jon placed fourth followed by Bob.  Both of these shooters are relatively new to WFTF Piston class and are both improving fast.  Look out next year.

The medals were handed out after the scores were tallied and then came the prize draw, which is well known throughout the FT world.  This year was no exception with some great prizes up for grabs, based on nothing more than the luck of having your name pulled out of a hat.  You choose a prize and then draw the next name.  All competitors took home at least one prize a few took home two.

Cleanup was quick and quite easy due to all the help we had and that was greatly appreciated by the match organizers after a very busy three days.  Thanks to all that helped.

 The 2021 CAFTA Nationals is in the books and will go down as a great match and a very enjoyable weekend of shooting.  Ewe are hoping that the COVID situation continues to improve and the Nationals can begin the grow even larger as new shooters enter the sport.

A reminder that there are matches at Port and HAHA this month and matches at all three clubs in October.  HAHA has a match scheduled for November, weather permitting.  I encourage you to keep supporting your local club and know you are always welcome at Port Colborne, HAHA and Grenville.  Thanks to all and I look forward to sitting down with you on a lane soon.

                                                                                    Tim

CAFTA Nationals 2021 Results Chart

Rank	Name Class	yellow	White	Total	Rifle	Scope	Pellet	Prov. State
	Difficulty rating	31.2	30.9T	Ave 31.0T
	WFTF Piston	/60	/60	/120
1	Joel Goodwin	58	56	114	TX200 Mk3	Sightron 10-50	AA 8.44	ON
2	Tim MacSweyn**	52	48	100	TX200HC & SR	Pr Leupold 35X	JSB 8.44	ON
3	Brian Wernham	51	44	95	HW97	Sightron 10-50	.AA 7.87	ON
4	Jon Miller	46	39	85	TX200	Falcon 10-50	JSB 8.44	ON
5	Bob Wall	38	34	72	TX200	Sightron 10-50	JSB 8.44	ON
	WFTF PCP
1	Ryan Landry	57	51	108	Steyr LG110	Sightron 10-50	JSB 8.44	QC
2	James Liu	51	50	101	Steyr LG110	Sightron 10-50	JSB 7.87	ON
3	John Birch	49	40	89	FTP900	Falcon 50X	JSB 8.44	ON
4	Denis StJean	36	30	66	AA S400F	Hawke 10-50	JSB 8.44	ON
	Open PCP
1	Dennis Eden **	51	46	97	Steyr LG100	S&B FT	JSB 8.4	ON
2	Pete Elsby	36	30	66	FX Crown	Elements Nexus	Cr. 10.5	ON
	Hunter Division	/120	/120	/240
	PCP
1	Tony Lau	90	87	177	Diana Outlaw	CZ 5-25	JSBH	ON
2	Larry Young	76	87	163	Kral Puncher	Centre Pointe 3-9	Crosman	ON
3	Marc Charlebois	68	77	145	D.S. Wolverine	Tasco 3-10	JSBH	QC
4	Richard Oszpar	60	60	120	Diana Storm R.	West H. 4-16	JSBH	ON
	Piston
1	Richard Tatasciore	103	99	202	AA Pro Sport	Hawke 4-16	JSB 8.44	ON
2	Mark Shelleau	101	95	196	TX200	Hawke 6-24	Cr. 7.9	ON
3	Blane Larone	98	91	189	TX200	Hawke	JSB 8.44	ON
4	Eric Clarke-Daws	93	93	186	HW97K	Vector 10X	FTT	ON
5	Tony Raposo	82	83	165	TX200	Bushnell 5-15	Sto 8.56	ON
7	Jacob Charlebois	79	DNS	79	Walther Terrus	Discovery VT-R	JSB	QC