South Mississippi Practical Shooting

The threat of rain never materialized, so the footing conditions were just great. However, the humidity was so high, that most shooters were soaked by match end. That didn’t deter some great scores though. We had 20 shooters, including one two new to the sport and one new to the club, and 5 great stages to test their endurance. The heat took a toll on some, but didn’t seem to bother others.

For the second straight month, we had a big surprise in the scores.

The surprise wasn’t at the top of the overall scores, but who was second. There were five Open shooters today, and normally, the dot people appear pretty much at the top of the list. Max Michel, a perennial winner in Poplarville, took the Open and Overall titles, but it was Josh Benton, the Limited, Junior shooter who took second. He outscored Charlie Black, a Master class Open shooter, by almost 1% for that spot. Now, those of you that know Josh well, have seen his potential over the past year or two, but he usually has a bad stage or two that cost him a better finish. However, today (and even last month at Pearlington, where he took top Limited honors) he kept it together for the whole match and roared to a massive Limited win, outscoring the next shooter by 13%. He has become a force to be reckoned with. And the worst part for the rest of us is he is only 17 and still getting better, while most of “us” are seniors and on the downhill side of this game.

Other winners included a bit of a surprise where Steven Mosher took Production. This past year, Production has been dominated by Bo Gray and Michael McDonald, but Steven shot very well and took the top spot in the plastic gun division (sorry, guys…). Bo wasn’t here today, so he couldn’t defend his reputation, but take nothing from Steven. In Revolver, Gerald Benton once again topped the entire wheel-gun field.

To see all the scores, click the score sheet at the right.

Bob Brandt was responsible for two complete stages today, (3 and 5) and both were fun and challenging. Thanks, Bob! And, as always, thanks to everyone who set up and tore down, and especially to those who renewed their membership and continue to support the club.