Mar 12

2015 Bushnell Brawl hosted by Rifles Only

b1As I left my house early Thursday morning headed for Atlanta to catch my flight to Corpus Christi, Texas, I just couldn’t get warm enough even though I had layers of clothes on with my heavy coat. It was a crisp 27 degrees but felt like -1300 to me. I was looking forward to shooting in warmer weather and well, just looking forward to the warmer weather in general!

As our plane came to a screeching halt in Texas, I looked out over the horizon and noticed dust balls, dust clouds or whatever they call them, kicking up with great speed. Again, I wasn’t paying attention to how windy it was, just so happy the weather was much warmer now than how I left it 6 hours earlier!

Match day got started early at 8 a.m. I had my competition rifle Jake  and all my gear ready to hit the stages. Jake is my custom built Ashbury Precision Ordnance 6.5 Creedmoor that is wrapped in the SuperSport chassis with my Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30 scope. I use Hornady 140 gr AMAX for ammo. There was a light breeze and much anticipation in the air with the 120 shooters that were present. I love how Lisa and Jacob Bynum run their match at Rifles Only. Instead of squadding everyone up, they open so many stages at one time and you choose what stage to shoot in what order. There are several pistol stages, so you had to wear your pistol the whole time during the match. My Husband Jim was fortunate to score a spot (last year he was my caddy), so he was right with me every step of the way.jimi Our friends SFC Brandon Green (from the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit) and Stephanie Payne walked the course with us. We all decided to do the Helicopter stage first and the winds were starting to get a little stronger. This stage is one of the shooter favorites!  Before approaching the helicopter, they put a rigger belt around your waist. When you approach the helicopter, Jacob then attaches you to the safety strap and then places a headset on you. Once you get comfortable with your rifle, off you go. This particular stage required 5 pistol rounds and 16 rifle rounds. Once airborne, the aircraft flew over to a large container (looks like it contains some sort of powder), and you have 2 shots to hit it. Then you get flown to the trench warfare. Your first stage when you land is a pistol stage that you engage 5 rounds. After this you jump down in the trench. You have three different positions that you must shoot from with 3 rifle rounds at each position. Oh and did I mention, you are still on the clock with the helicopter being your “clock”. Once the chopper gets back with the next competitor, your time is up. The trench is no laughing matter. You have to find a good stable position while avoiding the prickly cuckaburrs that stab in your arm all while trying to get your first three shots fired. You must take your mag out and climb through the obstacle in the trench to reach your second shooting position. Again, once your three shots are fired, mag out and you had to climb through a concrete culvert to get to your third position (go ahead and envision the bruises on your knees and shins not to mention the elbows). This is probably one of the funner (yes I made that word up) stages of the match.

The winds kicked alot up by the time I got off the helicopter stage. Kestrel’s were clocking winds up to 38 mph that day. Each stage had its own difficulty and that’s not counting the wind. b3The rooftop stage gave you 5 different angled simulated rooftops to shoot from. This along with 25 mph with your target at 540 yrds is no easy feat. I was fortunate to have a Harris bipod that cants so I could use this feature on the side rooftops. With my Bushnell Elite XRS scope right on target, it made firing the rounds a lot easier by being able to see your trace. For the rest of the day, the wind itself never died down. It stayed variable between 18-35 mph, which made all the stages on top of their own difficulty, well difficult. There were stages with moving targets, and some that had a paper target with 1” dots that you shot weak side off of a barricade at 60 yrds. I utilized my Armageddon Gear sling on the kneeling stage that you had to shoot 5 rounds at 400 yrds. I love this sling because once you get in it comfortably, your in and your rifle is rock solid. And talking about my sling, due to the high winds, on the Net stage you had 5 shooters start from the top each taking a turn. I was proud of myself on this stage. I’m a little afraid of heights. After you shot your 1st rounds, you had the choice to climb over the barricade at the top of the net and climb down the other side, or you could scoot back down the net. Jim was shooting next to me and I went first. After my first rounds were shot, I took my rifle which was still strapped to me by my Armageddon Gear sling, and climbed over. When I started climbing down I looked at Jim and smiled real big and said “I’m actually climbing down”!!

Day one was most challenging with Day 2 being somewhat better when it came to the wind (Day 2 wind was 10-18 mph). The 2nd day wrapped around 3:30 pm with a great Barbecue brisket that was prepared by Lisa Bynums brother. Congratulations to Jim See for placing 1st and all the winners/competitors who competed. Thanks to Bushnell for sponsoring another great match. Thanks goes out to all the sponsors that donated prizes (Especially Patriot Cases which I picked up) and to Lisa and Jacob Bynum for hosting another successful match. HUGE thanks to my sponsors Ashbury Precision Ordnance, Bushnell Tactical, Armageddon Gear, Wiebad, Spuhr mounts, GunGoddess.com and FrogLube. See you all at the next match!

Permanent link to this article: https://thelifeofmissy.com/2015/03/12/2015-bushnell-brawl-hosted-by-rifles-only/

Dec 09

KMSC Long Range Match December 6, 2014

km1

“Jake” my custom built Ashbury Precision Ordnance 6.5 Creedmoor rifle with Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30 scope, Armageddon Gear rear bag and Wiebad arm bag.

I LOVE shooting matches down at K & M shooting Center. Whether it’s a two day or one day match, this facility and people that surround themselves there, never disappoint. The match day started at 9 am. We arrived pretty early (around 8:30, lol) and got our day started. I work for Armageddon Gear so it was only fitting that I brought some gear with me in case anyone forgot something. Our AG competition data armbands was a huge hit and I sold out by the end of the match. I love these armbands! Most stages you will have multiple targets at different distances, so these armbands are a blessing on these stages. You write your DOPE on the board so when you are running through your stage you can dial quickly. Of course, my trusty sidekick and badass custom Ashbury Precision Ordnance competition rifle “Jake” was with me. I love this rifle so much and not just because he is so accurate, I’m extremely comfortable with him and know that he will perform flawlessly. On top of Jake is my favorite Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30. This scope once again proved itself in a couple of stages during this match.

The match started at 9 am with a 300 yard cold bore. After the cold bore, we all formed 4 different squads. My squad consisted of some really great shooters and everyone was so much fun to be around. The game plan was to shoot 4 stages before lunch, break for lunch, then shoot 4 stages after lunch. All stages were 2 minute stressors, which means you had to complete course of fire within 2 minutes.

3 ladies were competing among the 48 shooters

3 ladies were competing among the 48 shooters

My squad started with the stair step barricade. You had 5 different positions with one shot from each position at approximately 550 yrds. The difficult part about this was getting into the positions. This is one of the huge reasons why I love these matches, they are so challenging. You challenge yourself as well as your skill.  Stages such as this one is where the Wiebad bags really help out!

The next two stages were located at the 800 yrd range and the tower. The first stage had an orange barricade. You had to shoot support side prone (which means if your right handed, you started with your rifle in your left shoulder using your left eye for the scope). You had one shot at 350 yrds, then you had to hop, jump or roll to the right side of barricade and shoot unsupported at another distance. We all got a kick out of my Husband because he did some “tactical” rolls between the positions!

There were 2 other stages to complete before we broke for lunch, one being the car stage. km7You could not touch your elevation turret and you had to do holdovers. 3 shots from the hood, top of car and back of car at 250 yards, 350 yards and 735 yards. You could only shoot each target once. I approached this stage and just left my turret dialed at 0. I wrote my holdovers on my AG Competition armband and when I got up to the stage, I just used my reticle. I absolutely LOVE my Bushnell Elite XRS. The G2 reticle is so easy to use and I get so excited doing holdovers using my reticle. I was extremely confident using my scope and I did well on this stage.km6

Misty Morgan and crew really outdid themselves at lunch. Everyone loved the grilled bratwursts, chips and cookies! Everyone doing all the behind the scenes are greatly appreciated.

After lunch, we all squaded back up and hit up the 4 other stages. My performance in my afternoon stages were a lot better than the morning. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the white Monster energy drink I had or if I was determined to try to beat my Husband, but I was really focused on the task at hand. There were a lot of new shooters out competing so it is always a pleasure to try and get to know people and help them out as much as you can.

The day ended with Ronnie Bryant taking 1st place, Brian Allen in 2nd and Jim Saunders taking 3rd. Out of the 48 shooters, I placed 26th. I love these competitions and comradery that goes with it. These matches are like no other and I welcome everyone to come out and try. I hear people say well what if I come in last place. So what if you do! It’s better than not even trying and at least you showed up to give a shot. I would personally like to thank all the RO’s who took time out of their day to be here at the match. Without the RO’s, there really isn’t a match, so thank you. Thank you also to Bryan and Misty Morgan for hosting another great one day match. The K&M facilities are one of the best places to shoot precision rifle. Check them out at www.kmshootingcenter.com

Permanent link to this article: https://thelifeofmissy.com/2014/12/09/kmsc-long-range-match-december-6-2014/

Dec 05

Hunting with Jake

jakehuntingOver Thanksgiving weekend, my Husband and I decided to spend the Holiday deer hunting in our hometown. It’s something that we both enjoy doing and a great way to spend time together. I usually bring my Weatherby Sub MOA 308. This year I decided to bring my prized competition rifle Jake. Jake is a custom built Ashbury Precision Ordnance 6.5 Creedmoor with a Pinnacle Series 24” fluted barrel, AAC Blackout brake, Xtreme titanium action, Huber Concepts single stage trigger, with a Bushnell Elite XRS 4.5-30 scope with a G2 reticle. All this glory is wrapped up in an APO Supersport alloy series chassis. Jake has been my partner in crime this past match season. We have traveled all over the U.S. shooting in tactical precision rifle matches from Colorado and Texas to Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and a few states in between. It was only fitting that I brought my bad boy out in the woods to see if he could hit a deer as well as he hit steel during matches. I feed Jake Hornady match 140 gr AMAX and he performs well.

Jim got a head start on me the first morning. We awoke at 4 am and I checked the weather on my phone. 23 degrees outside. I was so warm and comfy, I decided to stay at my in-laws home and hunt in their back yard where there were a lot of deer sightings plus I could enjoy the big cup of coffee in my pajamas. I promised my dear Husband that I would join him in woods that evening as the temperature was sure to be a little bit warmer (a whole 45 degrees). That evening as promised, I joined my Husband. We got in our deer stands around 2:30 pm. I was in a stand facing a big green field and my Husband was in another deer stand about 300 yrds from me. I absolutely love being out in the woods with nature. I had 6-7 big turkeys come out in the field just scratching around and doing their thing.20141129_082721 They all had beards on them but I didn’t shoot. I didn’t want to scare away any potential deer. Those turkeys stayed around for at least 20 minutes before moving on. A few hours had went by and suddenly I saw 4 does. They were about 50 yards in front of me and I looked at each one through my scope. They were beauties. But I just knew that there would be a big buck coming out so I waited. And…..I let them walk away with no big buck in tow. It got to be about dark and Jim texted me to see if I was ready. We went back to the camphouse where the other men were and I just sat around listening to their stories. Jim and I went back to the house to get ready for our next morning adventure.

4 am comes awfully early. I looked at the weather on my phone and it showed that it was 38 degrees. So I jumped up, had a little bit of coffee and got my “hot hands” ready to go! We were back in our deer stands by 5:30 am before daybreak. And…..we sat. And sat. It was Black Friday and I thought to myself, I’m not fighting crowds nor am I spending any money, it’s just me and nature and I was quite content. I’m not a big shopper anyway and truth be told, I shop a lot online. A few hours went by and out came the big turkeys again. 2014-11-29 07.42.39I got bored so I did a selfie photo, trying to entertain myself. I played around on Facebook while keeping my eye on the green field in front of me. Around 12 noon we came out of our deer stands for lunch and around 2 pm jumped back in the stands. It wasn’t until it started to get dark that those 4 big does came out again. I measured each one in my Bushnell XRS scope and tried to pick out the biggest one. I aimed right behind the left shoulder because that is where the biggest mass of vitals are, plus that is where my Husband has taught me to shoot a deer. Now, I’m not a person that likes to go out and kill an animal for the fun of it. I like to hunt to provide meat for my family and others. I had perfect placement of my crosshairs on the deer and then I cleanly broke the trigger. One shot and the deer went down. I thought Jake might get a little nervous as he is not use to deer hunting. But he was a pro. I got so excited I texted Jim and immediately I texted Morris Peterson, owner of Ashbury Precision Ordnance to tell him the good news of Jake. After Jim and another guy loaded the deer we took her back to the hunting camp where they cleaned it up. I was so excited over this big doe I got. We iced the meat and got ready to go watch the Iron Bowl. Our night ended great, with a Bama win and thinking about the tenderloin breakfast we were going to have the next morning!bigdoe2bigdoe

Permanent link to this article: https://thelifeofmissy.com/2014/12/05/hunting-with-jake/