14th Annual PA Chunk Gun Champioship

[hornturner]

The fourteenth annual Pennsylvania Chunk Gun Championship match was held Saturday, July 13, 2013 at Don Singer's Mehdia Hunting Preserve near East Waterford, PA in Juniata County.  As usual conditions were challenging and ranged from dull, damp overcast, to misty overcast, rain and clouds, and finally sunny conditions for the last two shots!
Results were as follows:
Match #1: Art DeCamp
Match #2: Bob Bird
Match #3: Ray Stahle
Match #4: Eric Fleisher (shooting the famous Don Getz "x-omatic!)
Match #5: Eric Fleisher
Match #6: Andy Baker (Sweetest Shot of the Day Best "X" with a .053")
Match #7: Chad Peterson
Match #8: Dennis Hemperly
Match #9: Kim Howe
Match #10: Don Baker

Overall Top 10 shot strings were:
First Place: Bob Hoyt = 8.592" (now a three-time winner of this match)
Second Place: Sam Shaffer = 9.274"
Third Place: Art DeCamp = 9.661"
Fourth Place: Don Singer (our host!) = 11.523"

Thanks to Don Singer and all those who assisted, a great time was had by all!

Art DeCamp

[Don Getz]

I know that a lot of the good chunk gun shooters are looking at those winning strings and saying, "I could beat that".  If you
feel this way, I will challenge you to shoot even a 4" or 5" string on this range.  The range is pointed toward the east and
about half way thru the match the sun comes aroound and changes everything.  So far, no has been able to figure out how to
remedy this............Don

[Robby]

shoot at night

[Old Bob]

If the sun don't get you the wind will bite you on the butt. Of the several ranges I've shot on, this is the most frustrating... but it's probably the most fun. Bob Hoyt and I were shooting side by side and had several twin shots although he managed to outwit the sun (what little there was) and the wind more than me. That range has never been easy for me. This year, the wind didn't bother me so much though I over compensated on a couple of shots. What made it tough was the subtle light changes after the first few shots. In overcast conditions it's tougher than just partly cloudy days. I appreciate the work that Don and the others put into the shoot to make it enjoyable and I look forward to trying again next year.

[Paul Griffith]

I've heard war stories about that range for years. Billy Burtt had it figured that Singer understood that there was a sort of "black hole" or "Bermuda triangle" sort of phenomenon. He would crawl into that one spot on the line where water would run up hill & be able to flirt with the X when on both sides of him people were pulling there hair out. Billy had it that Don had hooked up with some voodoo woman & had the range witched like you'd hunt for a water well or find a field tile with a couple welding rods.

Bottom line is that the Honerable Mr Bobby Hoyt handed y'all your butts on a platter.

Paul

[Old Bob]

Yep, Bobby did! He had some walleyed shots as well but not as many. I don't think there's been any mojo put on the place myself. It's the geography I think. Maybe. You're on the nose of a ridgetop to start with. The ground drops sharply away from the firing line for a few feet then gradually rises to the targets. When there is a wind which is usually the case, it either comes around the nose of the ridge below the barn or down from some slightly higher ground to the left front. Often it's going both ways. I've seen the flags blowing to all points of the compass. Kind of like Roundbottom at times. When the sky is clear what with it being July and all, the mirage is really bad unless there's a strong wind. Then you have other things to worry about. We didn't have that problem this year. It drizzled throughout practice and about 8 score matches. The sun popped out more or less on Match 9. But even while it was raining the cloud cover varied enough to make slight changes and glasses fogged up and some of the flinters had trouble keeping their priming dry. I've shot there 5 years now and I've never seen ideal conditions and I've heard some say that have shot there every time say it's been tough. If I heard right the shortest string ever shot there was somewhere in the 6's. If I remember right, Bobby shot it about 3 or 4 years ago, I'd have to dig up the scores. I'd probably do better if I had a chance to practice. Even better if I could practice there. The most aggravating thing to me is conditions change so often that you will get 2 or 3 groups and by the time you figure out where you want to put your card you will end up with another. My only good shot was a chased X on the second match. But it's a good shoot. It's anybody's game. You oughta get up there next year.

[hornturner]

This truly is a great match and always an even greater time!  The light conditions are especially tough.
The match has be won by some pretty good shooters over the years, but Bob Hoyt is always in there close and manages his shots well.  He won with the shortest string I can remember down around a 5.3" back in 2006.
By my records, here are the all the winners:
Annual PA Chunk Gun Championship         
         
Year   Winner   String    
2000   Lowell Gard   match stopped after 6 shots due to rain   
2001   Karl Klose      
2002   Bill Burtt      
2003   John Getz      
2004   Randy Sherman      
2005   Don Singer      
2006   Bob Hoyt   5.3"   
2007   Jack Patterson   6.5"   
2008   Bob Hoyt   7.029"   
2009   Art DeCamp   7.388"   
2010   Art DeCamp   7.071"   
2011   Don Singer   8.107"   
2012   Don Cherry   8.066"   
2013   Bob Hoyt   8.592"