Monthly Meet – Running Boar & Wild Turkeys

by John White

To all, our shooting season has come to an end this year. This match is our final one for the year as we prepare for the family holiday season of thanks. We moved the shoot date up a week rather than the normal 4th Saturday which is the weekend of thanksgiving specifically so we do not conflict with your family time and the holidays.

We started our shoot at 9:15am, safety brief and shoot program description was held starting at 9am. We tied our record with 21 shooters, 4 administrative type and 2 guest observers to see what all the fuss is about. 11 shot offhand and 10 shot from a bench.

We shot two relays, 2 with 10 shots each, patch and roundball, any caliber in these two shooting classifications offhand and bench. The classifications did not compete against each other for prizes, just bragging rights. Boy did it start off windy. The rear berm seemed to protect the targets there but the 25 yard ones we had to weigh down the bases with all kinds of stuff to keep ’em from blowing over. Still lost a few so had to go cold but that was just a quick run out and back. We ended the day with beautiful blue skies, mild wind, and upper 60’s temp. What a nice varied day for our shoot that ended in such a special way for all.

First Relay:
10 shots at 50 yards at a running boar. The shooters did not see much of him but they sure could voice their ‘where do I even aim!?’ loud enough.

Second Relay:
Five targets, small but full turkeys. 2 shots each at 25 yards, small target for points. They were a tough but colorful little bugger of a target and boy did I hear about it. Someone commented the toughest combination of targets the whole year. Almost not fair. Only fairness about ’em was we all had to shoot ’em.

Both relays were added together for placement within the appropriate shooting category off hand or bench rest. It is not about the prize although it was meat and more meat with some pie and taters thrown in. We had our dry-balls, fail to fire, lock troubles, flint troubles and other troubles but as always everyone stepped up to help, provide tools, advice, hands you name it if it was needed. Thank you to all.

Although this is not all of our shooters listed today, everyone went home with some kind of meat, pie or potatoes to help with their thanksgiving meals. We also thanked Barney, Chris, Doug and Mike for their personal sacrifices in not shooting but helping administer the program. Thank you all and to the others who were ill today or hurting and could not make it, thank you from all the members and guests of the TRBPS gatherings. It means a lot what you do for all the folks.

Our shoot results were:
Off Hand:
1st – Brad Thomas
2nd – Billy Townsend
3rd – Jim Gravely
4th – Bob Wilson

Bench:
1st – Mike Lamb
2nd – Steve B.
3rd – Barry D.
4th – Charlie Russell

As we looked back on the shoot last year it seems appropriate to remember the words written by Chris, our intrepid video camera guy, whose work is indispensable for our website as our final words.

“Well, here we are at the end of another year of black powder shooting adventures on one of the most treasured of family holiday seasons – Thanksgiving – where we reflect on our many blessings and those things that make us most grateful. Just managing to hit the target within the score rings is but one of my most gratifying experiences for which we are thankful. Watching the dust fly off the berm where the projectile ends its flight is another – “thank you Lord that one’s trajectory didn’t take it into the next county…“

We are thankful for paint, grease rags, dirt clods, target markers made by Ken, that we use to uniquely identify our targets so as to reduce the confusion of whose is whose at 50 yards.

We are thankful for the collective experience we seasoned veterans of the black powder arts possess in methods of foreign object removal from rifle and musket barrels. We are also grateful for those that bring unlikely and seemingly unnecessary tools that will indeed likely become necessary to fix some bizarre break, malfunction, or weird occurrence of synchronized events that resulted in a most absurd condition – that none of us can foresee, have never seen occur before, and hope we never see occur again, although we know it will. We hold that anticipation in quiet and grave solemnity, mild gloominess and astute pragmatism. And yet we press on doggedly determined to have fun anyway.

We are most appreciative of God’s peculiar sense of humor in putting together this rogue band of miscreants, misfits, scoundrels, rascals, retches and knaves forming the dubious Talking Rock Black Powder Shooters. It’s like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a bender. Sane people stay away and avert their eyes, while those of questionable repute stand and watch in wild-eyed splendor the controlled mayhem.

That wraps it up for TRBPS’s 2023 black powder shooting meets. It has been a fun year, a successful year, and we’re all grateful for the new memberships and friendships, good times, and dubious experiences. Take good care and be sure to stop and count your blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving & Merry Christmas. See you next January.”

Enjoy the video linked below.