New Shooter to 2009 Canadian Championships

I received an email from Keith Skjerdal, an experienced F-Class shooter from Saskatchewan and a first-time entrant to the Canadian Championships, with a bunch of great questions. With his permission, I am posting it here, with my reply to it; hopefully this might be useful to other first-time participants at our matches.

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We have nine very full days of shooting and an extremely comprehensive (one might say dizzying) programme, but believe it or not there really is a method underlying the apparent madness.

In last years CFRC I see the Long Range Challenge was shot 8 times at 900m and it ran the same days as the ISSF.
Question: Can I shoot both the ISSF and the Long Range Challenge this year or is it one or the other?

A competitor fires the Long Range Challenge four times at 900m (there are two relays, so that might be where you get "8" from). You will shoot twice on Friday afternoon, twice on Saturday afternoon.

The ISSF match consists of 60 shots on Friday morning, plus another 60 shots on Saturday morning, for a total of 120 shots on score. Each morning there are two relays scheduled, you would be assigned to one of them, in which you have 105 minutes to fire an unlimited number of sighters, and then 60 shots for score. If you want to shoot only 60 shots on Friday, or only 60 shots on Saturday, there is an option for that on the entry form.

So to answer your questions, yes, you can enter both the ISSF(fired Fri. AM and Sat. AM) and the Long Range Challenge (fired Fri. PM and Sat. PM). As well as these, you can also enter the Army and Navy Veterans Match (2ss15 900m Sat. PM).

(Connaught has good challenging wind conditions. It's a "fair" range, but it can be quite hard at times. The Long Range Challenge is a really great way to get some good exposure to this, particularly before the Grand Agg. Highly recommended!)

(Another FYI: we have *lots* of warmup matches on Friday and Saturday. Shoot as many as you care to, but keep in mind that if you try to shoot them all, that that is a *lot* of shooting. This is especially hard for TR shooters, but even F-Class shooters might want to at least think about pacing themselves)

Another thing to know is that on Friday morning there are practice opportunities available at 800m and 900m. For $3 you can buy a ticket that allows you to fire ten practice shots. It's a great way to get sighted in and set up, and get a few non-competition shots downrange, as you start your time at Connaught. Conditions in the morning are generally pretty easy, so you can get good zeroes and verify how well you and your rifle are shooting. You can enjoy the full fury during the afternoon's matches ;-)

Question: Are the Gooderham, Army & Navy, Tilton and Ottawa Reg. in the ??th agg of the Century? They were in 2008.

Yes.

The "Champlain Aggregate" consists of the warmup matches (Ottawa Regiment, Gooderham, Army and Navy Veterans and Tilton).

The "Aggregate for the 21st Century" consists of nearly everything - the Champlain, plus the Grand Aggregate, plus the Governor General's Final or F-Class Final.

Perhaps a little this might help you understand the structure of the shooting at the Canadian Championships:

There are three ranges at Connaught that we use. We usually use two of them at any one time, but for the first couple of days we have all three in use at the same time.

"A" Range is on the far left, and has 40 firing points. We usually fire 500y or 600y on it, though we sometimes also fire 300y there.

"C" Range is in the centre, and has 76 firing points. We usually fire 800m or 900m there (and occasionally 700m too).

"D" range is on the right, and has 34(?) firing points. We fire 300m there.


Here is how the 9 days are broken down:

1st Friday morning through Sunday morning - warmup matches

Sunday afternoon through Thursday morning - Grand Agg. Two distances are fired each morning (08:00-about noon), and two distances are fired each afternoon (~13:00 - ~17:30). You are given individualized, scrambled squadding tickets. You will always have at least 60 minutes from the between the end of firing at one distance and the start of firing at the next distance (and almost always, a fair bit more than this).

On Thursday afternoon the provincial TR team matches are fired, at 600y (The Provincial) and 900m (London Merchants). For people not involved in those matches, there is also the Outlander (for foreign visiting teams), the Rideau (4 man teams 2ss10 @ 900m), or the Street (Palma course 2ss15 at 700m, 800m, 900m).

Something to keep in mind w.r.t. the team matches, especially for TR shooters: if you are not chosen for your Provincial or National team, you should form a 4-man team of your own, or shoot one of the individual matches happening at that time, or you should volunteer to help with your Provincial or National team. Teams can always use register-keepers, and if you volunteer to help you will likely be asked to do this. I can highly recommend doing register-keeping duty as a really good way to learn about team shooting; it's much more educational than actually shooting on that team, since the shooters really don't get a chance to experience the whole match. A register keeper gets to watch (and listen!) to the whole thing; I have learnt more about wind reading and match tactics in a single hour while keeping score for a really good team, than in months of my own competitive shooting.

On Friday morning, the final distance of the Grand Aggregate is fired, which is the Gatineau 2ss15 at 900m. Squadding in the Gatineau is "seeded", according to standing in the Grand to that point, so you'll see the all the top TR shooters firing on one relay, all the mid-level TR shooters on another relay, all the F-Class shooters on another relay, etc.

Friday afternoon is the Commonwealth Match, which is a big international long range TR match (12 shooters, 2ss10 at 800m and 900m). There are also similar team matches fired on the same range at the same time - the Under-25 (TR), the Lum Trophy (4-man F-Class team), the Algonquin (4-man TR team). Also on Friday afternoon is the Hayhurst, which is 2ss10 at 300y, 500y, 600y. You are only able to fired one of these matches.

2nd Saturday is the final day, and it is pretty busy.

2nd Saturday morning is the Canada Match, which is the other big international TR match, fired at short and mid range (2ss10 at 300y, 500y, 600y). On the same range and with the same course of fire are also the Under-25 Short Range TR Team match, Seniors TR Team match, Lansdowne (4-man team, TR or F). Also fired on Saturday morning, on another range, is the Perry (Palma course 2ss15 at 700m, 800m, 900m). You are only able to fire one of these matches.

The "big glory" match for TR shooters is the Gov. Gen's prize, which is fired in the afternoon (2ss15 at 800m and 900m). Only the top 50 TR shooters get to fire this. This is the last match fired at the Canadian Championships, and the winner of this is carried off the range in a chair and with a marching band.

Here's a wrinkle. The selection of the Canadian TR team to Bisley uses an aggregate called "Canadian Target Rifle Championship (Bisley Aggregate)", which consists of the Grand Agg plus the Gov. Gen Final. Since not all Canadian TR shooters will be firing the GG Final, there is an equivalent course of fire match (called the "TR Bisley Qualifier"), which is open to all Canadians, which they fire in order to get a score that will be used to establish their place in the "Bisley Agg". Non-Canadians are not eligible for this agg, but there are spaces available for them and they are welcome to fire it ("Bisley Qual") as well, though their scores do not count for anything.

So here's the busy-ish part of 2nd Saturday. Over the noon-ish period, the "F Class Final" is fired (which is the F-Class equivalent of TR's Gov. Gen. prize). The F-Class Final is open to the top ten F-Class shooters, and is 2ss15 at 800m and 900m. Also at the same time on the same range the F-Class "Bisley Qualifier is fired, and also one relay of TR Bisley Qualifier.


So for F-Class shooters, and for some TR shooters, all their shooting is finished around 1pm on Saturday.

For the past several years, the F-Class shooters have taken care of running the scoreboard for the Gov. Gen prize, and have done quite a good job of it.

Saturday afternoon a 2pm-ish the Gov. Gen Final match is fired (and also the second relay of the TR Bisley Qualifier). Shooting is finished about 4:30pm.

People then disperse to shower, and perhaps have a quick snack, and then return for the prize ceremony, which is held Saturday evening. We have a really impressive array of trophies, which are well displayed.



Now on to your questions on the specific matches:



Question: What is the cost of the "walk up" matches and team shoots not listed in the form? (i.e., CANLOAN, Tilton, Coaches Team Match, Street, Hayhurst, Perry, Rideau and Lum Team)

The Tilton is included as part of your Grand Aggregate entry fee. If you want, you may delete it, for a $25 credit (but I would recommend that you shoot the Tilton. It is the only shooting happening Sunday morning, and it is exactly like the Grand Agg).

The Coaches Match is $60 per F-Class team of two shooters and one non-shooting coach. It is relatively expensive because $40 of this goes into the prize pool.

The CANLOAN is a Cadet match only; we are not eligible to shoot it. Our shooting starts Friday morning at 08:00.

The Perry (Thursday afternoon) and Street (2nd Saturday morning) are Palma (2ss15 at 700m, 800m, 900m) course matches. They are quite cheap, $20 if I recall correctly.

Rideau is four shooter team match, 2ss10 at 900m, Thursday afternoon. I will have to check to see if you can shoot this *and* the Perry, or if you can shoot only one of them. If you are able to shoot both, it will be pretty rushed (as soon as you finish the 900m of the Perry you will have to immediately fire the Rideau; it's doable, since it is on the same range, but it would be rushed).

The Lum is an F-Class team match of four shooters plus one coach (shooting or non), 2ss10 at 800m and 900m, 2nd Friday afternoon.

The Hayhurst is an individual match 2ss10 at 300y, 500y, 600y on 2nd Friday afternoon. It is fired at the same time as the Lum, so you can choose one or the other (as an F-Class shooter, I would suggest you form an F-Class team and shoot the Lum).


I want to shoot as much as I can since it is a wee bit of a drive (1800+ miles one way) but I do not want to include myself in something if it excludes me from the big aggs, like the Agg for the Century or the Cdn FClass Open.

The only matches that you have to (or can) enter now are the ones listed on the entry forms. The other ones (team matches, and the other post-Wednesday matches) are entered once the Grand is under way. Check the notice board there, etc.


Here is what I plan on shooting in Aug...

CANLOAN 7@5&6 Thur am (as noted above, this is a Cadet-only match)
ISSF Day 1 Fri am
Long Range P1 15*900mx2 Fri pm
*Ottawa 15@8m Fri Eve
*Gooderham 15@5+10@9m Sat am
ISSF Day 2 Sat am
Long Range P2 15*900mx2 Sat pm
*Army&Navy Vets 15@9m Sat pm

TILTON 10@3m&6 Sun am
MacD 10@3m&5 Sun pm
Beckett 10@3m Mon am
Brick 10@5 Mon am
Beckett 10@8m Mon pm
Brick 10@6 Mon pm
Leston 7@3m&5 Tues am
Coaches Team Match Tues pm
Alex of Tunis 10@9m Tues pm
Leston 7@6 Tues pm
Pres 10@3m&5 Wed am
Gibson 10@8m Wed pm
Pres 10@6 Wed pm
Gibson 10@3m&6 Thur am

STREET 15@7,8,9M Thur pm (choose Street *OR* Rideau)
Rideau Thur pm

Gatineau 15@9m Fri am

Lum Trophy team Fri pm (choose Lum *OR* Hayhurst; I recommend Lum)
HAYHURST 10@3,5,6 Fri pm

PERRY 15@7,8,9m Sat am
FC Final 15@8,9m Sat pm

I'm really looking forward to this experience!!
See ya there.

Keith Skjerdal

Keith, I'm really looking forward to meeting you there. I am sure you will have a wonderful time shooting! Will you be shooting F/Open, F/Restricted, or F/Farquharson?


Cheers,

- Daniel