Wednesday, November 30, 2011

LaRue Range Day 2011

I was very excited (and honored)  when I got the call from my buddy Sheldon Caruth of Texas Multigun requesting members from A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League volunteer for the annual LaRue Range Day at Best of the West Shooting Sports in Liberty Hill TX.  Texas Multigun has been a huge sponsor for our league this year, supporting us in many ways.  We were asked to return the favor by volunteering at the annual LaRue Range Day as hospitality, but it was more like another big boost of support for us.
Sheldon calls me up and says I need 10 women to drive around in carts and pass out water.  I put out the call for volunteers and 11 gals stepped up for what became a very long day in the sun and wind.  Our task sounded very simple, but when you put us women from AG & AG in charge of hospitality, it became so much more than just handing out water.
We had so much fun!  First we had figuring out how to drive the mules, which were a bit persnickety anyhow; we organized food delivery for the Range Officers and Vendors, and interacted with all the participants waiting in line to shoot the big guns!  We made new friends at our information booth, even signed up a new member on the spot!  (Welcome Jane S.) 
Several of the gals that volunteered just completed the Babes with Bullets camp, shooting AR15s for the first time.  They were eyeballing the demo equipment, and before the end of the day, many where planning an AR build of their own!
You might not think that our job of passing out water and soda was very important, but in the grand scheme we had an awesome job that made a difference for a lot of people that day.  Can’t wait till next year’s Range Day!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Women Outdoors Media Association

I am very proud to say I am a member of www.TheWOMA.com  I am on a new path to becoming a blogger... Feels kind of strange to take the snipits from facebook and turn them into stories that other people find interesting to read. 

This year I have discovered several blogs by woman who hunt, educate, participate in competitive shooting sports, "product test" equipment for women, etc and didn't know that many of their blogs are availalble at WOMA.  This website is a fantastic resource for finding female focused information about all things outdoors!

Fellow Austinite Rhonda Esakov is a featured blogger, and is a friend to A Girl and A Gun Women's Shooting League and Woman's Safety Academy Texas

Monday, November 28, 2011

Babes With Bullets Texas Camp

Late spring I sent an email to Babes with Bullets asking if they would consider adding another camp to the 2012 calendar.  I was surprised to get a phone call back asking if I could pull together a camp for November…. of 2011!  They had a Texas location that wasn’t going to work out but didn’t want to cancel the camp.  I didn’t even waste a breath to tell Kay Miculek “YES I can make it happen”!

Deb Ferns, the camp director made quick work of updating the changes to the online camp registration, and I got to work spreading the word via my A Girl and A Gun facebook page.  Within 6 weeks we were full and had women from all over Texas, 1 from Oklahoma, 1 from Florida and 1 from Virginia on the roster for the FIRST ANNUAL TEXAS Babes Camp!

One of the  many things that is special about the Babes with Bullets camp is that is all inclusive: retreat style housing, healthy lunch, catered dinner, range fees and loaner guns and equipment is all INCLUDED in camp fee of $675.  Patricia Cashion is a local member of A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League’s Leander Chapter and is a student with La Cordon Blue Cooking School.  She was hired on as our Chef for the weekend and made 3 delicious for us.  Knowing at the end of the day that there was a healthy meal that tasted sinful made a huge difference.  It allowed time for all the campers to share in community about all the events of the day, and I think the best part… listen to the funny stories of our instructor’s travels and life experiences in the wild, wacky world of competitive shooting.  A special shout out to Patricia as she has been hired as the Chef for two camps on the 2012 schedule! 

Thursday evening the campers arrived in Burnet at Lake Buchanan and settled in for our 3 day camp.  Being the camp host, I met Kay, Maggie, Athena and Lena early around 7:00am Friday morning at Best of the West Shooting Sports to set up.  It was kind of funny saying hello in the cold dark morning all huddled around trying to get the padlock off the equipment area.  By 8:00am the campers had all arrived and the fun began!  First order of business was passing out belts and holsters to those that needed to borrow or try something different.  Then it was on to a 1 hour range safety class going over the basics and expectations of the camp.  You could feel the excitement from the women in the room, they were ready to shoot!

This was a beginner camp so it was all about the set up a good foundation and getting the basics down.  For some women it was their first experience shooting a gun, others it was their first formal instructional course.  A few gals, this was their 2nd Babes Camp and were there for a refresher of the basics.   Day one went by so fast, a lot of information was given out and you could feel that the women to want to learn more, but Patricia was at the condo cooking, so we were out of there right on time!  Day two and three were full of excitement, especially when we moved in to the rifle portion of camp.   There was so much to learn and the girls wanted to know more, and repeat the drill again… and again… but there wasn’t time or enough ammo for that!   Ladies usually think that shooting rifles is hard or has strong recoil, they were very surprised how smooth it is, and I could see the spark of a new love flashing in their eyes.  I have to say the most exciting part of the weekend was watching these women sight in the AR’s, learn to shoot and move and how to take long distance shots accurately.  By Sunday afternoon they were running and gunning competition style with handguns and ARs, safe to say… they were hooked!  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

My favorite part was being able to ask questions about technique and strategy on how to improve my shooting game from National and World Champion Shooters!  I totally get star struck when in the presence of “professional shooters”.  I told Kay in an email prior to camp that every time I see her husband (Jerry Miculek) at an event all I can manage to say is “how is Kay?”  Jerry was so cool, he sent along an autographed picture for me and Kay said next time I see him to run up and give him a hug.  We will see how that works out at SHOT Show! LOL. 

As Deb Ferns says “it is part adventure camp, part firearms training and part pajama party.”  Texas can’t wait till next year when the Babes are back in town!

Special thanks to our instructors:
Kay Miculek
Maggie Reese
Athena Lee
Lena Miculek
Deb Ferns

MVP: thank you to Texas Multigun for sponsoring the range facility fees for this camp.

This camp was made possible by the following sponsors:
Smith and Wesson
Otis
USPSA
Pro Video 4U
HiViz Shooting Systems
Atlanta Arms and Ammo
JP Enterprises, Inc
Sarfiland
Howard Leight
Nikon
Insight Technology

Monday, November 14, 2011

2011 USPSA Multigun Nationals!

My road to the USPSA Multigun Nationals is a bit unconventional, but that is ok, I like that!  I saw an opportunity to step way out of my comfort zone and grabbed it!  I got mixed feedback from my trusted friends in the shooting community that I wasn’t prepared for this and that working a major match was extremely hard work, all the way to you will learn so much and you can’t pass this up.  I can tell you it was the best decision I have made in a long time… sore feet and all. 

A call for volunteers went out across the country to help the understaffed match a week before the event.  I commented on a message board that it sounded like fun, wish I could go and that was all it took.  NROI Instructor Troy McManus messaged me back and said “come on”.  I explained that I am new to USPSA and not certified to RO a major match.  That didn’t stop the invitation, but instead welcomed me with open arms and said I that I they could use me somewhere.  So I booked a ticket and the next Wednesday was on a plane to Vegas!
My first of many new friends was Mike Carraher.  We meet up at the airport and right away he made me feel welcomed and was so nice to explain what I was to expect for the next 4 days.    I told him that he would be my favorite if we could find a Del Taco!  It became the joke of the week to keep me happy was to get me Del Taco.


Thursday morning was the staff meeting, it was so exciting to be involved and I didn’t even know what my job was yet.  Turns out I was to be a scorekeeper!!!  I love that job.  I was wonderfully paired with Fred & “Butch”.  I am sure they were not so thrilled to have a USPSA newbie on their stage, but they were very kind and helpful to me.   On the way back to the hotel for the required NROI course (National Range Officers Institute) was another stop at Del Taco, keeping me a happy girl.  I had the good fortune to meet another Nationals first timer Chris Palmer from Georgia.  We became fast friends and were able to share the experience as newbies together. 

Friday morning, or “Game Day” as Butch called it arrived with my first bit of nerves.  The reality of what I had signed up for hit me and I was a little scared and a lot star struck.  I got a crash course on the dos and don’ts, and off we went.  After the first squad, my nerves settled down and I began to really enjoy the experience.  I didn’t see myself as someone with authority, so I was careful to wait for instructions.  That worked well most of the time, except for a situation when competitors were too close to the pre-loaded shotguns and I found out that I was responsible for watching that area.  As the match progressed, I could feel the trust that Fred and Butch were feeling in me when they said “hey you are supposed to be in charge of that”.  Good to know! 
I was lucky enough to score keep the La Rue match last April hosted my Texas Multi Gun, and squad after squad I recognized shooters from that match.  It was fun for me to “say I remember you” and thrilled that they remembered me too.    There is definitely a proper way to interact with the competitors, and took ques from them on when and how to engage them.  There is an exchange that happened between me and each shooter when they sign their score sheet.  They were either happy or not with their performance, at which I could offer up kudos or remind them that it was still a better day than not shooting at all.  I made many new friends that way, and that felt very rewarding to me.  I enjoyed watching the dynamics of how each competitor prepared for the stage.   Some were very serious and quite, other serious but talkative, and a few just down right hilarious.  Besides the obvious friendships that these shooters have, the support of each other to do well was impressive. 
 It was very exciting to meet the Super Squads! I did my best to contain being star struck and not say anything stupid.  I can say without a doubt being able to RO this match was a huge benefit to me as a new competitor.  I had the opportunity to observe the best shooters in World plan a strategy and work the stage.   That kind of visual education is priceless as it helped me connect the dots in my brain on marksmanship and how to move the body in the most efficient way possible. 

These gals met for the first time
at USPSA Multigun Nationals!
Both are from the Vegas area
and are future competitors!
Looking at the match from the female perspective, there were not many gals around, but the ones that were there are completely awesome.  There were women there working hard with the set up crew, working as lead RO’s and several that competed.  The women in the stat shack were also experienced competitors, and it really hit home to me how skilled all these women are.  Not only do they run the behind the scene work, they are shooters as well.  It left me feeling inspired that the women in competitive shooting have a very bright future… and the sport needs us.  There were many women there in support of their husbands/boyfriends and kept the squads organized.  I asked some of the gals that were spectators if they were shooters too, and many of them said yes!  They were new shooters and not ready for a match of this caliber… yet!  These women are leaders regardless if they know it or not and I was happy to meet them. 
Working a major match is exciting, but is a really crazy thing to do.  Why on earth would anyone want to get up early and go to be late, be on their feet all day walking the stage hundreds of times, plus set up and break down over the course of 4 days?  In the middle of your braining telling your feet that the situation sucks and you can’t believe you volunteered for this, your eyes are already looking forward to next time to you can do it again because of the people you get to spend time with and the sense of accomplishment you feel by creating a great experience for the competitors. 

I am very happy that I decided to jump into this opportunity.  A special thank you to Michael Voigt, John Amidon, Kim Williams and Carl Schmidt for welcoming me to the USPSA family, and for the invitation for me to come back next year, with the requirement to get certified.  Too cool!