I went to the 2016 sportsman's challenge in Sprague, Wa this year. When I got there, I was a little nervous because there were a lot of nice rifles, and guys that looked like they could shoot them. I overheard people talking about if they are competing in the next Sniper's Hide Cup PRS event, and good job at the last PRS event. This was my first long range comp. I didn't know what to expect. The winds were wicked, between 12 and 20 mph with the big game targets from 500 meters to 900 or so meters. I got my ass kicked by that wind, it was brutal for me. But in the end, for the big game targets, I think I tied for 7th out of 50 in the big game with my Remington 700 LR. I say, I think, because the end scores weren't in any type of order, and I had to search through all the people to find other scores, so I could have missed 1 or 2 people. Some of the shots I had were very lucky to have hit, as I must have guessed the wind at that very second correctly. But nonetheless, regardless of score or rank, I felt like I shot pretty well as I had never seen any winds over 2 or 3 MPH at those distances. I had an absolute blast at this shoot. This was the most fun I've had with a bolt gun. I learned that there are some really good shooters out there, far more experienced than I, and I have a lot more to learn. I also learned that you can't throw money at long range. Just cause your gun is capable of shooting a 1/2 minute, it doesn't mean anything at 1000 yards. I did better than a lot of people that have a lot more money into their guns than I do.
The winds started to calm down for the small game, under 550 meter shots. I was happy with how I shot during this shoot for my first time. But with the smaller targets, luck had a lot less to do with it. The experienced shooters started to really stand out from the pack, whereas during the big game, everyone was getting beat up by the wind so bad, that there were novice shooters with the same scores as experienced shooters. I struggled a little in the small game shoot on some of the smaller targets that were elevated on stakes. I don't know why, but they were hard to hit for me.
I won a raffle for 50% off of a Defiance Machine action. It's awesome I won it, and I plan on using it, but it sucks because my wife is going to be mad that I have to spend the other 50%, not to mention, the rest of the rifle. I know that I will eventually build a rifle, I just didn't plan on it right at this moment, so I will the action and sit on it for a little while until I'm ready to build on it. Great shoot, well coordinated, great prize table.
Thank you to everyone that help set this up, I know there are some members on here that were there.
