Match Announcement 2021 AAFTA National Field Target Championships
I believe we can all feel confident we will have won the battle with the Virus by next fall, so I’m very glad to announce the 2021 AAFTA National Field Target Championships will be held Oct 15th, 16th, and 17th in Morro Bay CA. The address is 3270 Gilardi Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405.
https://goo.gl/maps/FXKqzhizs6ou8e7t9
More info and online registration can be done on our website https://airgunoregon.com/
As you enter coming off Cabrillo Hwy 1, bear to the right on Gilardi rd and go about ½ mile, then turn left at the power substation. Follow that road, bearing to the right again. The match will be held at the range at the end of that road. There will be signs to follow as well. Please also plan to practice “social distancing” at all times even though we should be to herd immunity by that time, some might not be there still.
Please check in as soon as you arrive and finish your registration if it has not been done already. Bring your pistol and rifle kits so we can approve them. Then you may proceed to the site in range if you wish. Check in will start at 7am on Friday the 15th. The site in range will be open from 7 am until dark except for times we might need to go down range to work on the course. We will try hard to have the course totally done before Friday, so the site in can be open all day Friday. Saturday & Sunday mornings site in will open from 7am. To 9:30am.
The Pistol match will start at 3:00pm on Friday afternoon with the safety meeting at 2:45.
Saturday’s Rifle match will start at 10am with the safety meeting at 9:30, allowing time after the meeting for competitors to get to their assigned lanes. We’ll have at least 15 lanes on two courses depending on number competitors. We might have to have a “resting lane” in addition to the on course FPE testing lanes. Keep your air guns tuned under the limits of 12 and 20fpe so you are not disqualified. Act with courtesy, keep quiet while others are shooting, and give a “well done” with hits especially when scoring to let the shooter know you know they hit it. Again, please also practice “social distancing” at all times.
The lunches after the matches will be catered and we will want you to spread out while getting your plate and sitting at tables. Lunch should be ready when you finish shooting Saturday and Sunday.
The annual AAFTA board meeting will be Saturday at 3:00pm. The auction will follow at around 4pm.
Sunday’s Rifle match will start at 9:30 with the safety meeting at 9am allowing more time in the afternoon for awards and an earlier departure for those traveling. We hope to be done with the match and lunch by1 or 2pm. Awards should start about 2 or 3pm on Sunday.
I’ll post more info as we progress about the food and best places to stay. Limited Camping is available on site. If interested email me to secure a spot. I think there is about 6 spots with power hook up and 12 or so dry camping spots. There are two flush toilets on site and we’ll have a few more out houses spread out on the course. If we win the battle with the virus, we will also have meals for campers in the morning and evening if you choose the “Campers Meal package” at check out. Blessings on us all in these trying times…. Stay tuned
Wayne Burns
Match Director
2021 AAFTA National Field Target Championships
2021 AAFTA National Air Rifle & Pistol Field Target Championships - 3270 Gilardi Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 - Pistol Fri Oct 15th , Rifle 16th & 17th
Print and mail in if you like..
Registration Form
Name_________________________________ Phone _________________
Address_______________________________________________________
City_____________________________ State________ Zip___________ Email________________________________________________________
Air Rifle __________________________________Pellet & speed_________
Scope__________________________________________ Ft. Lbs._______
Rifle Divisions
Open PCP ____ Open Piston ____ WFTF 12fpe Piston____
WFTF 12fpe PCP ____ Hunter PCP____ Hunter Piston____
Air Pistol ____________________________Pellet & speed______________
Scope___________________________________________ Ft. Lbs. ______
Pistol Divisions- All divisions have a 12fpe limit with a 12 power scope only
Limited PCP____ Hunter PCP____
I ____________________________________ hereby release all the owners of the property and managers of the “2021 AAFTA National Field Target Championships” event from any and all liability from any injuries, losses and any other liabilities that might occur before, during, or after the air gun matches at any San Luis Obispo Sportsman’s Ass Properties.
Signed by competitor_____________________________________Date_______________
Cost for Rifle only is $155 if paid by Aug 15th, 2021, or $165 if paid after. Add $35 for the AAFTA Championship Pistol Match. Add $20 per team member for Team Competition. Registration ends when 110 competitors have registered. A reserve list for replacing dropouts will also be kept. Use pay pal Friend and comment “Nationals” here (wayne.burns@naturalyards.com), or make your check payable to Wayne Burns, for 2021 AAFTA National FT Championships. Add Camp Meals Package $50_____
Send to: Wayne Burns, PO Box 3180, Ashland, Oregon 97520 Match Director:
Wayne Burns 541-531-6926 email wayne@airgunoregon.com
Head Range Marshal: Scott Hull - Cell – 805-234-4963
Woohoo!!!!
Getting excite already! I've been having to tell myself all winter that I didn't miss the 2020 Nationals. Weird feeling to say the least.
Already been to my first club match of the year, prepping for the grand finale in October early this year!
Anyone know if the California State match is going to be before this at the same location? I think we have August or September slots open on the west coast schedule...
Is there a list of attendees somewhere?
TIA
Knobs
Howdy Hey Keith, Not as yet, we only have a few who pushed their registration fees into the next year. As soon as we get a dozen or so registered, I'll post a list.
Also, everyone, I'd prefer that you print out the registration form and mail it with your payment to the PO Box, 3180, Ashland, Oregon 97520. The website registration using cards, costs the club 7.5% to process, so please mail a check with your form. Make checks to "Air Gun Oregon" or Wayne Burns.
Thanks, and
Blessings, Wayne
I'm pretty sure I paid. I never went through with asking for a refund. Email me with your record of my payment status. I'll check on my end.
I got an email from a new to the game competitor, who was asking if it's alright to compete in the Nationals match as a brand new shooter. He said he doesn't have any clubs close to him.
I responded that it's not against the rules, like it is in the World Championships, where one must have competed and done well in local and regional matches. The spots are allocated first to the highest level competitors, and if spots are still available, they go to less and less qualified competitors. I don't know if a brand new shooter would be allowed to compete at the Worlds... but I doubt it..
But, I highly recommend, at least learning the game and equipment at a few local matches before jumping into the National Championships brand new to the game. It's really not cool to expect the squad mate to the new shooter to be a "guide" while trying to focus on the Nationals match themselves. It seems like a competitor must at least know the game and equipment enough to compete on their own without help.
Local matches is where we LOVE to help new shooters learn the game and what equipment might work best for their class and shooting position.
So, did I answer correctly? We most likely will NOT get to the 110 limit of competitors, so there will likely be a spot open for a brand new shooter... and maybe someone who doesn't want to focus on winning/doing well at the event, would really like to help someone at the Nationals, because it's more about being there with everyone more than competing.. I think we might have a few like that in our group.. so???
Wayne
I believe so...
For my first GP (which was in Oregon in 2012) I may have been to one or two local matches and then attended the Nationals the same year in Oregon. I was about as green as you could get...
I have always thought that was the beauty of the AAFTA rule set. You could literally have zero experience and compete in the Nationals.
I had a college professor that would always tell every class (I had him for three semesters for math, trig to calculus 2) that unless a class with prerequisites was full the teacher could not keep you out of that class due to not having fulfilled the "required prerequisite courses". He said you have an inherent 'right to fail'.
I believe we also call that 'the pursuit of happiness'. 😉
Technically, during a GP match a squad-mate is not allowed to convey any shooting information to another competitor (I would understand that to mean, wind drift, distances, etc, not necessarily technique and how to do this and that kind of stuff).
I know some people compete in the Nationals purely for fun and could be inclined to have a ride along and show them the ropes so to speak. Or someone may be amenable to having a ride along even if they are a serious competitor, the new shooter would likely be best positioned as the last shooter of the bunch so no shooting information could be gleaned from the coaching process.
New shooters are what we need 1000%.
I don’t feel its ok for a brand new participant because its not fair to experienced shooters that they might be squadded with that really put in a lot of time practicing, traveling, etc., and a newbie might distract him enough to affect his game. The match is to determine the BEST in the nation, its not just an informal club event.
Larry
The AAFTA org is chartered to be an organization of, and for, the benefit of member clubs. Clubs host periodic matches, often monthly, but need only host one match per year following AAFTA rules.
AAFTA selects a member club to host a yearly Championship for all the memeber clubs to decide the overall National Champ within the clubs. The org provides some support to the host club.
The AAFTA org mainly just supports the National Match and keeps reecords. Individual shooters are not AAFTA members, and only have voice by joining a member club.
I realize there is no longer a pre-requisite that National competitors be a member of an AAFTA club, but this practice takes away from individual clubs, bypassing them, in effect.
While the draw of a Nationals is open for all ..... as they all are or have been in the past in my perspective, they are by in large a LOCAL event having mostly near by shooters drawn to said event because it is easy access not requiring extreme travel distance. certainly some come from coast to coast or between, but there a minority.
While i have only been shooting FT less than 10 years, i do get to hang with some of this country past national FT champions, a few whom even shoot worlds WTFT events. In that game where its base is in @ western Europe, those from other continents become the minority making it once again a somewhat local event.
Air gun competitions are a NANO SPORT that in the world of shooting sports is .. SMALL .. super small. Do we want growth ? More competition and wanting to shoot against others whom we have never met prior ? ABSOLUTELY !!!
Only way we get growth is by being welcoming to ALL ! If they get the bug, itch etc to continue then they become future contenders and every ones game needs to step it up. Which is in the structure of competing a good thing.
Scott S
Personally, I still think the new competitor needs at least one or two local matches under their belt to attend a National event. But, I'm taking notes of those who don't mind squading with a new shooter... if it comes to that. The new shooter I'm been emailing is about 3 hours north east of the Sac Valley club in the mountains. He has agreed to attend some of the SacValley matches, where I let him know he'll learn a lot real quick. I've got him practicing on his land now, learning the basics of trajectory and equipment setup. He'll be wanting to upgrade his equipment too.. again, if he can make it to a SacValley match or up to our place in Ashland, like he says he wants too, he'll get the experience and equipment he needs to attend the Nats.
A new shooter also needs to know the scoring rules, so they can do a good job scoring the experienced shooter they are shooting with at the Nats.
We say we want to "grow the sport"...
But do we really? AAFTA fees are really to low ($25/year per club), that's not enough money to promote the sport. Maybe each shooter within the club needs to pay the $25 each. That would greatly increase the budget for promotion. I've proposed this to the BoG in the past and it wasn't received well... so..
I really don't think that AAFTA wants to grow the sport. If we had 200-300 competitors at our national event, where could we host it? None of the clubs have a facility that can handle that. Hosting the worlds was an extreme challenge to find a location that could handle that many competitors. The Nationals would most likely have to be held in the same location every year. How would the clubs like that?
If we really want to grow the sport, we need a plan to really do so.. but I doubt it myself.
Wayne
@wayne-burns
Wayne, I agree with you that growing our game is not a priority. We tried for two or three years to get a Freestyle class going. They (AFFTA) did give is a no count trial year and many thought it worked out well and were promised at the end of the 2017 Nationals that we would have a class the next year. Well, we remember how that went. With a small number of shooters we will not grow. I hate to bring up Archery but that is all I have to compare FT to. I spent 15 years of my younger life enjoying it just as much as I do Airguns. We had more shooters on a Sunday shoot at my local club a mile from my home than we do at our AFFTA Nationals. In so many ways Airgun Field Target mirrors 3-D Bowhunter Competition. The min and max target distance were almost the same. Shooting at life like animals the same except FT is resettable metal targets and Bowhunter events used ethafoam. We all walked down to the targets and scored the one arrow we shot at each of 2 to 4 targets, pulled our arrows out before moving to the next target was the main difference. An average Match consisted of 30 to 40 shots and group size was 2 to four shooters. The cost to play including equipment and match fees were about the same. One of the biggest differences was that we had more classes and promoted the game to families (Dad, Mom, and the offspring) 3-D Bowhunter shooting etha foam targets stated out here in the states about 1980. I have always thought the UK took our bowhunter rules and adapted it to their airgun games or maybe we did the opposite and adopted their game. Which ever came first the chicken or the Egg it is crazy how similar the games are.
As far as where the participants come from that shoot our nationals I would guess that 75 to 80% come from out of the state. 15 to 20% from the hosting state and 3 to 5% from other countries or territories. I think it would be fun to have our National in PR one of these years. They always usually come and support the lower 48. In the case of our 2021 Nationals in Morro Bay. With 4 or 5 FT clubs in California they indeed may exceed the average National in home state attendance. I hope they all take advantage of it.
Frank,
Yes, that's the right attitude. You really just need to do a little better than your last match to be happy. We are, on the whole, a great bunch of folks to just hang with, and the game of FT is mostly about hanging & BSing about equipment and shots made or missed... and some shooting.
But for some of us who spend a lot more money on equipment and travel, it can become a struggle for a place at the top of the podium. Two different groups of purpose for competing... we are mostly the first group. The second group is the small number of competitors who will travel across the country for a National event.
A new club has a real challenge. Big investments of time and capital to get a course together. A course large enough, with facilities that can support 300 competitors is not anything our local clubs can do... We had to find a facility that could handle it for the Worlds that was not one any club was using. Our local and national events facilities are designed for 120 competitors at best.
It's too much to expect a local club to step up more than we are at about 120 competitors. More support is needed for the local clubs who plan to host grand prix and the national events. And that can't happen from AAFTA when they have such a limited budget to work with.
The AAFTA BoG are all working for free. That's great for a small percentage of your time. But AAFTA needs at least a few people working part time for real money, who are held responsible to get things done... and support the clubs who host the bigger events.... if we are wanting to grow the sport... then more money needs to be invested by the clubs for that effort. And I think we don't... it's too hard to make that transition. So, we'll stay small and scramble like hell to host the worlds when it's our turn.
That's my opinion:-)
Wayne
Wayne;
I looked for the online registration in your website, but cannot find it either in the calendar/schedule, or the events tabs/pages.
Can you please post the exact link?
Thanks!
HM
here is a link to that page
https://airgunoregon.com/competitive-matches/
Tom, What kind of a flight schedule do you have on your flight to St Luis Obispo and departure flight? Maybe we can work something out for I'm not sure if my wife will be going?
I found it positive on getting in Friday but departure Sunday evening was impossible. Maybe Monday or later in the week would work better. I have looked at flights into Santa Barbara and Bakersfield and didn't see much I was interested in.
As of July 28th the CA covid regs are as follows
"In California, unvaccinated persons continue to be required to wear masks in all indoor public settings. This guidance is an update, in light of review of the most recent CDC recommendations. To achieve universal masking in indoor public settings, we are recommending that fully vaccinated people also mask in indoor public settings across California. This adds an extra precautionary measure for all to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, especially in communities currently seeing the highest transmission rates. Local health jurisdictions may be more restrictive than this guidance.
In California, fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask in indoor non-public settings, particularly if they are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease from COVID-19, or if they have someone in their household who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease, not fully vaccinated, or not yet eligible for vaccination.
In workplaces, employers are subject to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) or in some workplaces the Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard and should consult those regulations for additional applicable requirements."
At this time the rules all apply to indoor situations and are targeting unvaccinated peoples. If necessary the entire nationals match can be held outdoors. So at the moment there should be no impact on the event.
Jim in Sacramento
Tom, I am planning on leaving Maine early Friday morning 6am and arriving in San Luis obispo around 5:45pm. Let me know what Hotel you are staying in so that I can get reservations. If you can pick me up at the Airport Friday evening I will spilt the rental car with you and drop you off at the Airport Sunday night. I will return the rental Monday morning. Let me know if that works for you. Regards, Bill
PS Wonder if a Taxi might be a better alternative?
@bill-day
Bill, I'm thinking about the Best Western its near the Airport I was thinking about a taxi as well. the car rental would cost 330.00 total Friday to Monday 165. each
I'm getting in late Thursday so I have to take a cab or Uber to the hotel and back to the airport Friday Morning to get the car getting you later is no problem let me know if I should book the car.
Tom
@tom2009 Tom send me your e-mail address dayjd@sacoriver.net we probably shouldn't be litering this thread. ?
Let's go folks, only a little more than 2 months to go until the AAFTA National Championship in beautiful Morro Bay, CA Oct 15-17th. There should be many of you itching to get out and have some fun. This should be a great match at a great location so come out and join us. Below is the link to the registration, scroll down the page to the registration information on the match and click on the link to "Register Today"
Register 2021 AAFTA National Championship
See you in October!
I just returned from my first Gran Prix, down in the Morro Bay facility. I stitched together a little video on last weekends match, hopefully giving you a good taste of what is to come?
If it's anything like last weekend, it's a not to be missed event!
Great video Martin, it captured the feel of the match. Great shooting on your part especially your pistol, 3rd place in your first match is exceptional.
Jim in Sacramento
Thanks, Jim- if you and the two Scott's hadn't arranged such a smooth running event- well, just color me IMPRESSED!
Fine time, lots of great memories and I have to get Santa Cruz Scott's phone number- that Pinot Grigio was amazing.
@motorhead agree 100%, perhaps pair the new shooter with someone who welcomes him/her to the sport.
Update Competitors List:
Please check to see if your shirt size is correct. Some folks didn't specify when they registered or didn't register as yet.. so I had to guess. I'm ordering soon and will order some extra so you can buy more than the one you get free with your registration if you desire.
Changes made:
How late will the sight in range be open on Friday 10-15
Generally until dusk .... unless there is a need to be downrange for final tweaks on the rifle course ?
Tho said as one of the MARSHALS and helpers in setting up, we should be good to go and have range open late as we can knowing late arrivals may wish to practice a bit not getting in the Sat AM practice rush.
Scott S
How late will the sight in range be open on Friday 10-15
Generally until dusk .... unless there is a need to be downrange for final tweaks on the rifle course ?
Tho said as one of the MARSHALS and helpers in setting up, we should be good to go and have range open late as we can knowing late arrivals may wish to practice a bit not getting in the Sat AM practice rush.
Scott S
Yes, that's the plan. Our crew will be setting the courses and sight in area starting on Monday. So, Friday should be open all day for those who have registered and had their equipment checked and have their sticker on their equipment.
Please be sure to go directly to the check in station upon arrival, whether or not you have paid and registered. You also need to sign the waiver and have your equipment approved before you sight in.
Thanks,
Wayne Burns,
Match Director
2021 AAFTA National Championships
How late will the sight in range be open on Friday 10-15
Generally until dusk .... unless there is a need to be downrange for final tweaks on the rifle course ?
Tho said as one of the MARSHALS and helpers in setting up, we should be good to go and have range open late as we can knowing late arrivals may wish to practice a bit not getting in the Sat AM practice rush.
Scott S
Yes, that's the plan. Our crew will be setting the courses and sight in area starting on Monday. So, Friday should be open all day for those who have registered and had their equipment checked and have their sticker on their equipment.
Please be sure to go directly to the check in station upon arrival, whether or not you have paid and registered. You also need to sign the waiver and have your equipment approved before you sight in.
Thanks,
Wayne Burns,
Match Director
2021 AAFTA National Championships
about what time is dusk