Sharpshooter Schaeffer copes with wind to win
Published 3:03 pm Monday, April 13, 2015
- Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain John Hollenbeck of Joseph looks at his target afer taking a 1,000-yard shot at the Eagle Cap Shooters gun range Saturday morning. Hollenbeck tied for second place in last week's MGM scoped rifle, steel target shoot. Hollenbeck was using a 6.5 Creedmore target rifle.
The Eagle Cap Shooters Association tournament season is underway with the association holding its second match of the year last Saturday. The MGM shoot is named after Mike Gibson Manufacturing, from Idaho, who produces steel targets and loaned them to the club with the option to buy later.
Saturday’s weather proved to be a daunting factor for the riflemen with wind gusts up to 27 miles an hour. The rain also added to a lower turnout than normal along with lower scores.
Ten people competed in the event, shooting both scoped rifles and iron sights. In the scope event each shooter was allowed eight rounds for each distance of 600, 700, 800, 900, and a thousand yards. In the iron sights competition the yardage goes from 200 to 800 yards with 10 rounds per target. Shooting positions for the iron sights event were standing, sitting, kneeling, prone and bench.
Club member Donnie Schaeffer won the tiebreaker in the scoped event with a score of 24. John Hollenbeck also shot a 24, with Keith Garoutte coming in third shooting a 10.
In the iron sight competition, Bob Jones scored 21 with Clarence Norton shooting a 15 and Kyle Burnett coming in third with a score of 13.
Spokesman for the group Bob Jones, of Wallowa, said things at the range are going well with lots of improvement over the years. “We have a new generator donated to us by the Wallowa County Search and Rescue. We’ve got a well dug, a new bathroom and a cover over the pistol range.”
Jones said members of the club who also compete at other locations have been scoring better in recent years because they now have such a good place to practice. Eagle Cap Shooters membership has also doubled.
This Saturday the association will hold its annual Egg Shoot. The event will feature three classes of shooters: pro, amateur, and novice, with different entry fees for the three categories.
The Egg Shoot is aptly named after the trophy design, which features an ostrich egg with a shooter on top. The trophy roams and different sponsors in the county display it for a year with the title holder’s name and picture on it. Eggs are also used as targets in the shoot.
A whole calender of events at the range can be found at eaglecapshooters.com.
