Bullseye Marathon

Having just completed the OH/IN Tour and now sitting at Indianapolis Airport waiting for my flight back to the West Coast I thought that I would throw out a few opinions.

Four major events over four weeks is like a marathon. I realised after completing the 45 match at Atterbury this morning that I am exhausted! The shooting is not the problem, it is in/out of variable accomodation, not getting enough restful sleep, probably not eating consistently and healthily (although I have been careful not to consume much alcohol). And I think the biggest issue for my impatient nature - the constant "hurry up and wait" syndrome.

At Perry, where there were a LOT of shooters, potential weather delays, etc., I totally understand the need for Relay 1 to start early. Fair enough and it is up to every shooter to organise themselves accordingly. I moved from Port Clinton to Fremont to find a peaceful hotel (cheaper too)!

But at Atterbury, even with 2 relays required this year cause the planned full range is not yet complete, I do not understand why we had to commence at 07.30. Each day Relay 1 was typically completed by 09.30 and Relay 2 by no later than 13.00. The team matches were fast, I'm told (not a team member, sob 🥵). Then we all sit around for the rest of the day. I would be much more comfortable with, say, a 09.00 start. The problem is not waking up early, but being in accomodation where others are partying till midnight and thereby struggling to get a restful sleep. If the number of shooters at Atterbury in future years increases significantly, and therefore a lot of folks will only be able to find accomodation a long drive from the base, the early starts will become a big turn-off for many. Just sayin'.

I definitely sufferred from the "that's Perry" syndrome and did not shoot well for many of the matches over the four weeks. Had a couple of disasters, sorry if I disrupted adjacent shooters, but am frustrated by my inconsistency. Although I did have a couple of decent matches.

Definitely learned a lot. I need to make a number of changes to my "tour lifestyle" if I am, hopefully, able to do it again in future. I am now going to streamline my gun/ammo/eqpt choices, many shooters had advised to do that previously, but I guess that I needed to really test everything "on tour", if only to prove that their advice was indeed "sage". Ho hum!

Biggest plus was meeting many faces again from last years Bristol/Cardinal/Canton and making the acquaintance of many new faces. Excellent!

Oh, and enjoying the opportunity to observe Sgt Greg "the machine" Markovsky at close quarters. Excellent!

Well done…!! Just remember, Cardinal starts in 345 days…!!!!

I agree with you on the marathon part. I felt fine and have gotten good sleep but yesterday I started to feel sore and today my arm had enough finally. Think I am going to take a week or two off from the guns and then start by dry firing only to remove any bad habits gained along the way. Great seeing you, let’s do it again next year!