Vortex Challenge
- Thread starter BrentM
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mtnwrunner
Well-Known Member
Brent, good luck and hopefully you'll draw an early start time---it's gonna be hot.
And have fun going up the widowmaker.................
Randy
And have fun going up the widowmaker.................
Randy
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
Sunscreen and hydration will be as important as windage and elevation.
BrentM
Well-Known Member
If anyone is interested the results have been posted by Vortex now.
Overall, we did better than I thought and way worse than we should have. We wound up 22nd out of 57 teams. 53 finished the event. Some teams didn't finish due to heat and injuries.
It was a great experience, humbling, and very educational. I will likely plan to do this event again as it was a lot fun. We had a lot of issues at first with communication, spotting, and working through the shooting pace. As the day worn on we did much better but still had a long way to go. My brother had zero experience with LR shooting, spotting, etc so I had to give him dope and quide him through the entire process as we shot. All in all he did great and shot pretty well, but he didn't find targets easily nor spotted well for me. So as he learned and adapted to the whole ordeal he was gaining a lot of momentum toward the end.
The last station had a 1725 yard target and we decided our score was so bad we would shoot the target for fun. I had not shot this far, so why not. Neither of us connected but we worked right into the elevation by the 3rd shot. We connected with the bonues and hiked to the finish.
It was awesome and tough. We started at 0945 and fought 90 degree heat the entire day.
Overall, we did better than I thought and way worse than we should have. We wound up 22nd out of 57 teams. 53 finished the event. Some teams didn't finish due to heat and injuries.
It was a great experience, humbling, and very educational. I will likely plan to do this event again as it was a lot fun. We had a lot of issues at first with communication, spotting, and working through the shooting pace. As the day worn on we did much better but still had a long way to go. My brother had zero experience with LR shooting, spotting, etc so I had to give him dope and quide him through the entire process as we shot. All in all he did great and shot pretty well, but he didn't find targets easily nor spotted well for me. So as he learned and adapted to the whole ordeal he was gaining a lot of momentum toward the end.
The last station had a 1725 yard target and we decided our score was so bad we would shoot the target for fun. I had not shot this far, so why not. Neither of us connected but we worked right into the elevation by the 3rd shot. We connected with the bonues and hiked to the finish.
It was awesome and tough. We started at 0945 and fought 90 degree heat the entire day.
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mtnwrunner
Well-Known Member
Right on Brent!
Randy
Randy
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
You have no idea how impressed I am. To even step up to the plate in that way has my respect. Go get 'em next year.
BrentM
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. It really was a great experience and a lot of fun.
My brother really struggled with the first station. It was awkward for him to locate the targets and in his haste and frustration he was hard racking the bolt and setting the trigger safety sear off. He had several until I was able to explain why it happens and got him to settle down. Then he hurried and lost track of the targets and ran out time. So bummed for him. Our next biggest challenge was communicating spotted shots. He had bit of a tough time with this and I would shoot and he was not on target. It was like watching dumb and dumber. I knew better and he knew nothing. Ha ha
What created a lot of the issues for us both was up hill shots and not having the correct rifle support to be comfortable. We needed more elevation. I am used to this and work with it ok, but he is not and scoped himself several times. Just bumps, nothing bad, but as you know it messes with you. As a result of poor sight control we had some missed targets that should have been avoided. I missed a few of the half moon shaped steel because I aimed at the wrong spot and shot the stupid straps. Duh
Wind reads were not too bad but I made a really bonehead call on my bonus shot. Still mad at myself for that 1. Very dumb.
My brother really struggled with the first station. It was awkward for him to locate the targets and in his haste and frustration he was hard racking the bolt and setting the trigger safety sear off. He had several until I was able to explain why it happens and got him to settle down. Then he hurried and lost track of the targets and ran out time. So bummed for him. Our next biggest challenge was communicating spotted shots. He had bit of a tough time with this and I would shoot and he was not on target. It was like watching dumb and dumber. I knew better and he knew nothing. Ha ha
What created a lot of the issues for us both was up hill shots and not having the correct rifle support to be comfortable. We needed more elevation. I am used to this and work with it ok, but he is not and scoped himself several times. Just bumps, nothing bad, but as you know it messes with you. As a result of poor sight control we had some missed targets that should have been avoided. I missed a few of the half moon shaped steel because I aimed at the wrong spot and shot the stupid straps. Duh
Wind reads were not too bad but I made a really bonehead call on my bonus shot. Still mad at myself for that 1. Very dumb.
Congrats Brent on the finish. Very well done for your circumstances.
Team No Off Season was in the Challenge again this year also. Ben and Gus made it home either second or third in the timed portion. They shot much better than last year as well although the conditions were much better this year. They finished 13th out of 57 teams. That put them in the top 25% with just seven points separating them from fourth place. I was really proud of them and they again learned some things that should help them in future Challenges. The Vortex Extreme is a well run event. I highly recommend going if you get a chance.
Team No Off Season was in the Challenge again this year also. Ben and Gus made it home either second or third in the timed portion. They shot much better than last year as well although the conditions were much better this year. They finished 13th out of 57 teams. That put them in the top 25% with just seven points separating them from fourth place. I was really proud of them and they again learned some things that should help them in future Challenges. The Vortex Extreme is a well run event. I highly recommend going if you get a chance.
BrentM
Well-Known Member
BrentM
Well-Known Member
Lot of really nice guys there. It was fun talking to people from all over. Congrats Tim.
BrentM
Well-Known Member
Tim, do you have the results in break down format? The one Vortex posted this year is just a total points. I am curious how we did on the antler score and timed portion.
BrentM
Well-Known Member
Timber338. Definitely tough to put on an event. I have raced off road motorcycles for years and know what it takes to put on any event, let alone one with such a high chance of a safety issue. They did fantastic overall.
As you can imagine I have a lot of take aways from this event. I have never competed in long range rifle competition so the learning curve was high.
- check scores with spotter after station is complete.
- practice rifle support set up for 10-15 degree incline shots off flat platform
- Shoot center of half moon targets instead of what appears to be center of a circle ha ha
- Make sure team member spotter is ready before engaging target.
- Make sure team member spotter stays on target for shooter.
- Verify distance given by staff is LOS or Shoot to
I didn't mind calling dope for my brother at all and it wouldn't matter if we did this again if he knew how to do it. We might swap shooter 1 and 2 around. I had him shoot first. While he was getting set I was running dope for him and then would swap my rifles data to dope for me after he shot. Basically I would run the program for both rifles and try to adjust him via spotting. All he had to worry about was getting on target and putting lead in the air. Seems simple but not quite that easy as I found out.
The course difficulty is something I fight in mind. The course itself is not that difficult. However, trying to do it fast, and in heat like that it becomes brutal. My feet were on fire, the air was difficult to breath, and you have to pack water and nutrients. The last couple of miles started getting pretty rough and I felt my legs starting to cramp. At that point I decided to jog the rest of the way down the mountain and to the finish as all the shooting had been completed. I would like to know how our pace was and that would help me decide what level of conditioning a person needs. I will say, I wouldn't want to be in worse shape than I am now : )
As you can imagine I have a lot of take aways from this event. I have never competed in long range rifle competition so the learning curve was high.
- check scores with spotter after station is complete.
- practice rifle support set up for 10-15 degree incline shots off flat platform
- Shoot center of half moon targets instead of what appears to be center of a circle ha ha
- Make sure team member spotter is ready before engaging target.
- Make sure team member spotter stays on target for shooter.
- Verify distance given by staff is LOS or Shoot to
I didn't mind calling dope for my brother at all and it wouldn't matter if we did this again if he knew how to do it. We might swap shooter 1 and 2 around. I had him shoot first. While he was getting set I was running dope for him and then would swap my rifles data to dope for me after he shot. Basically I would run the program for both rifles and try to adjust him via spotting. All he had to worry about was getting on target and putting lead in the air. Seems simple but not quite that easy as I found out.
The course difficulty is something I fight in mind. The course itself is not that difficult. However, trying to do it fast, and in heat like that it becomes brutal. My feet were on fire, the air was difficult to breath, and you have to pack water and nutrients. The last couple of miles started getting pretty rough and I felt my legs starting to cramp. At that point I decided to jog the rest of the way down the mountain and to the finish as all the shooting had been completed. I would like to know how our pace was and that would help me decide what level of conditioning a person needs. I will say, I wouldn't want to be in worse shape than I am now : )
