2011 Tennessee State Shoot - Addison Callan

[jcallan]

The first day of the 2011 Tennessee State Shoot started very foggy and humid as can be seen in this photo of Addison standing on the back deck of the Nashville Gun Club.

He posted a 98 in the first round of singles and it is a bit early to tell if that is a Sub Junior winner. Addison reports that Brandon Sullivan is also in attendance so at least two will be duking it out for HOA.

Jim is not attending this shoot, but I have requested photos and reports and will post these as I receive them.



More as I get it...

Cheers, Jim Callan

[jcallan]

98 turned out good enough with a next SubJr score of 96 posted by Brandon Sullivan.
I should also note that Lisa (my wife) mentioned an interesting performance by a young Junior lady shooter that posted a 99 whilst wearing a full cast on one leg and hobbling between posts.

Addison mentioned that there are a ton of campers and vendors at this state shoot, so the attendance may be pretty good.

Handicaps had a high score of 96 (sorry fellows but Lisa has the camera and I cannot get details on the scores) and an in state Sub Junior posted a winning 95. Addison tied with three others for a 91, but these are not "place" scores.

He is just finishing up doubles and I will get the results up tomorrow morning.

Below is a photo of the trap fields. Still looks a bit overcast, but I am told it is in the 90s and very humid and sticky.



Addison tells me that there are some very unusual backgrounds at the gun club. You are also likely to hear some strange sounds. There is a busy highway with traffic jams and horns and some power lines and radio antennas. He also mentioned a factory in the distance as well.



Nashville is a busy town with lots to do. Kirby and Carly, Addison's siblings, went to the museum and hung around for a while while Addison was shooting.



Enjoy

[jcallan]

Well doubles did in fact eventually start as we can see in the photo of Addison's squad below:


By all accounts the event started badly for Addison and got worse...he ended up with a disappointing 77, which is the worse score in doubles he has posted since 3/15 at the Silver Dollar. He was unhappy about that because some gun issues were getting in his head a bit.

Apparently the HiViz light tube on the end of his gun broke and he is having difficulties removing the pieces. As a result the thing does not light up when the gun is aligned to his eye. This is a subconscious verification that with the issue has become conscious and thrown off his doubles timing.

He also mentioned that the metal strips that run along both sides of his barrel set are even more loose and were giving a terrific noise during doubles. This created a lack of confidence and a conscious focus on the gun rather than the target, thus loosing him targets.

The double barrel is from a gun owner perspective a solid piece and fixing this strip requires a return trip to the factory and some re-soldering (according to two gunsmiths). I am a loss on what to offer him for advice during the shoot. He has duct tape, but that will create a real mess.

I told him to use our gunsmith tools to remove/replace the old HiViz and to see if Lisa can round up some SuperGlue he can wedge behind the metal strip to tie the strip down until these tournaments are over.

If they were successful last night he may be able to feel better and shoot more confidently today.

The family left immediately after the second round of doubles so I do not know how well other shooters did.

More today as I hear it.

[jcallan]

Another tidbit that Addison passed on that I thought that I would mention is that the club is running 12 banks with 100 targets per bank/trap and there is much waiting between events. This is a similar approach to what they do at the Georgia Trap Shoot.

As an aside I would like to see some experiments or evidence (both objective and subjective) that prove to me that reducing the traps in a bank and starting more squads provides a better shooting experience for attendees than having fewer banks and more traps per bank. My perception is that more traps per bank and few banks appears to shorten the perceived time between events for shooters and does tend to provide a better shooting experience.

Addison also mentioned a rather bizzare manner in which practice rounds are handled at the shoot. Apparently in order to shoot a practice round you must join a practice squad and practice squads only shoot during the live event. So, to practice doubles you must shoot practice during the doubles event itself. Additionally, practice targets are charged at 32 cents per target rather than by the round. This method effectively ends practice for most shooters. That is there is almost no way they can practice and get done and still make their squad for the real event. I am not sure who came up with this stellar idea but it does not provide a convenient and carefree shooting experience for the tournament attendees...particularly if they need to make changes to their guns and check them out prior to shooting registered targets.

[jcallan]

Addison just finished Event 4 doubles and was a bit irritated when he called.

When I had pre-squadded him I had arranged for him to shoot primarily with some AA, A and B level shooters. Yesterday when he called for the "let me see one" doubles pair (he shoots post one and leads) he was shown an illegal pair. Left bird was straight and right bird was illegal. He asked for them to reset the targets.

The reset targets were still right of center and very high. When he asked them to fix it the trappers said that their boss only permitted them one change and they had to shoot them. They asked for a tournament director and was told to shoot them. Everyone on the squad was unsettled and performed poorly (he shot a 77 if you recall).

Well, today Addison had largely the same squad and the same experience. The targets were mostly illegal and the squad asked for them to be fixed. The fix also did not improve things and they were forced to shoot the crappy settings. An AA/A shooter posted an 89 and then rest of his squad ended up in the 70s, Addison with a 72. All were very unhappy with the targets, the trappers and the newbie scorers that lost track every now and then.

Addison told me that the squad was somewhat grateful when they saw that the squad shooting the field next to them was shooting wobble doubles and the pairs were shifting left and right all over the field. The trappers made them shoot those as well. Addison told me he really did not know what to do and really at this point does not want to return to shoot Tennessee again. He said that they really ought to read the rules surrounding legal targets before hosting a State shoot. I told him we should box up Billy Thigpen and send him to them for Christmas so they will know how to set proper targets next year

It sounds like a pretty tough shoot from an administrative and shooting experience standpoint.

Also, I am not certain how to advise Addison on how to proceed when this sort of thing happens. I know, based on stories, that the big shooters would simply walk off the field and refuse to shoot them. Typically, the club, not wanting to create an incident around the big shooters will reset the targets to make them happy. I have seen this twice at the Silver Dollar for Kay Ohye and others. I guess one could say that everyone shoots the same targets, but there appears to be high variability and inconsistency with regard to how the traps are set up in Nashville...with the worst settings occurring in doubles.


On a happier note, and to cheer himself up, Addison went by to pick up his singles trophy from yesterday and said that it was a very cool trophy (silver and gold shooting scene with a painted broken target). Ah, the things we do to try and manage our mental state...

[jcallan]

Wow, my last report was a bit of a downer...

Meanwhile, whilst Pat is providing moral support to our young shooter, Lisa has taken Carly and Kirby to the Nashville Zoo.


Here they are having a nice time.

They saw some excellent specimens of Koi.


And, they were delighted by the Flamingos...


And, soothed (as I expect we all need after my last post) by the aquarium.


So, someone is still having a nice time in Nashville today!

[jcallan]

I just received another update from the 2011 Tennessee State Shoot grounds.

According to the published program today was supposed to be a standard 3 event day run in reverse. That is, Thursday was a standard Singles (100), Caps(100) and Doubles(50 pair) program. Today was supposed to be a Doubles(50 pair), Caps(100) and Singles(100) program so they did not have to change the traps.

This morning they announced that they were going to deviate from the program and shoot Singles in the middle and end the day with caps. This was so that the scorer chairs and mikes did not have to get adjusted over lunch and they would be able to turn around Events 5 & 6 faster.

Well, 10 minutes before the call to the line NGC changed their mind and reverted back to the event order listed in the program. Needless to say all the caps shooters that need to switch chokes, lower combs and switch shells (Addison does none of these, but he had squad members that do) had to run back to the cars and switch everything around.
Compound this with the fact that over lunch the trappers had failed to switch over the traps from doubles and the squads were 1 full hour late getting to the line for Event 5 handicaps.

According to Addison the ratio is about 10% Non-residents to about 90% Residents in attendance. In speaking to the Resident shooters Addison learned that in 2010 NGC received a ton of complaints about how the shoot was run. Prior to this 2011 State Shoot they sent out a letter to the 2010 prior attendees and told them that they intended to correct the sins from 2010.

The grumblings on the grounds are that the 2010 shooters that received the letter are miffed that some of the sins of 2010 are being visited on this shoot as well. The Resident shooters are particularly upset. So, Addison is apparently in a large and growing crowd of shooters that are disappointed with how the shoot is being managed.

Weather during the caps was interesting, although weather has nothing to do with shoot management. It is an overcast day and winds are steady at 10 to 15 mph, making for some interesting caps. Addison said he had one of his hardest 90s ever with an 18, 21, 25 and 24. I did not have the heart to tell him that his math was off

It is looking like Addison is gaining some interesting experience in Tennessee this week.

[jcallan]

Addison just emailed a photo of his 2011 Tennessee State Shoot Preliminary Singles Open Sub Junior trophy from Pat's phone.



Looks nifty, and its in color.

[jcallan]

Lisa and the kids just arrived back at the Nashville Gun Club (NGC) (see photo of entrance below).



Addison is on the line now shooting the class singles event.

[jcallan]

Just received the update. Addison finished singles with a 96. I have not heard if the wind died down or if the sun came out. I have not spoken to Addison but that is a good score, and I am sure he is happy with that performance given how the morning started with doubles and handicaps.

More during tomorrow's singles event.

[jcallan]

I had mentioned the vendor's row. There are some familiar online vendors that have storefronts at the shoot as seen below.


So, I got an update on how Addison's 96 fared...

Yesterday the Sub Juniors began arriving for the Class Championships and really put together some nice performances. You will recognize several familiar All American Sub Junior names from last year.

Two Resident Tennessee Sub Juniors posted good scores:
Garrett Sweeney (95) and Taylor Bolin (99). Addison spoke with Taylor and Taylor said that it was the best 100 he has ever shot.

Several familiar Non-Residents made the trek to Tennessee.
The ever present Bobby Fowler posted a 99 to tie for a carry over to today with Taylor Bolin. Adam Mitchell from Alabama rang in well with a 95. Clayton Taylor and Brandon Sullivan came out from Indiana and posted 97 and 95 respectively.

It looks like tons more Sub Juniors will show up for today's Championship Singles. But, they had better had brought their shooting galoshes and staples for their hats. Addison reports that the winds have picked up and are blowing a good 30-35 mph (see the flags).


Addison said that the winds are so high that it has confused the river currents on the river in back of the clubhouse and the river appears to be slowing down and trying to reverse direction.

You can see the storm brewing off in the distance.


They were already supposed to be shooting but have delayed the start to see what
happens with this storm. Addison's squad is first on deck.

More when I have it.

[jcallan]

At around 10:37AM the wind died down a bit because a thunderstorm blew through and left a bunch of rain in its wake. Addison said the wind reminded him of the last day of the Southern Grand (Florida) last year. The skies did look rather ominous. The following phone photo does not do it justice.



They had them pull back because of lightning. This is kind of inconsistent. He said that sometimes they had them shooting in lighning and sometimes not. Pretty dangerous either way.

The following shot is a Sub Junior and Junior squad (3 girls, one of which is the sister of one of the boys shooting). It is nifty to see all the kids shooting.



Addison posted his first round complete at 12:53PM (NOTE: He was in the first wave of shooters). He had a 96, which was OK, but definitely not high for Sub Junior, as there was a 99, 98 and 95 in the pack with him. He was a bit disappointed with that performance (heck I am pretty happy with a 96 when I see one

Here is another shot of a squad shooting.



Lisa also just posted a photo of a barge parked on the river just in back of the clubhouse.

[jcallan]

So much for broken targets. I guess rain gets them soggy.

Addison finished with a 195/200 for a pretty respectable end to the Singles Championship.

He did not win Sub Junior Open but at last check he was high for Class "B" and may take home some goods anyway. I should find out later. Lisa's phone is out of power so I may not hear back.

I will not be able to post Handicap and Doubles tomorrow as I will be working the Durham County Wildlife Club shoot. Hope everyone can come out to join us.

After Lisa and the kids return and I go through the photos I should be able to post final results from the tournament.

[jcallan]

Word was last that Addison was tied for "B" class and waiting for a possible shoot-off if a Sr. Vet won his shoot-off. I am not sure they will eat tonight.

[jcallan]

Well, the club never did shoot-offs last night.

Winners, I am told, were decided via flip. The Sr. Vet lost his flip, thus he fell
back and took "B" class.

Today, has more bad weather and attendance has dropped off quite a bit.

Addison won the Doubles Championship Sub Junior Open with a 91. Bobby Moore posted a very close 90, leaving Bobby ahead of Addison by one bird for HAA Open Sub Junior going into the final handicap event today.

Addison is out for HOA because of some pretty poor doubles performances on Thursday
and Friday.

We hope he does well in the final event.

I believe that despite a case containing too many blooper factory loads, a rattle
doubles barrel, broken bead, illegal targets, high winds, rain, lightning and some pretty amazingly bad tournament help NC was represented well in TN and will be bringing home some Swag back to the Dogwood state despite all the distractions.