Buffalo Match - October 8, 2005

Buffalo Match Results
Hawkeye Pierce 3rd
Annual Club Championship

October 8, 2005

Competitor	Hits	Gongs	Bullseye	Total Points
John Knesek	5	1	0	6
Chris Soupene	4	1	0	5
Frank Scott	3	1	0	4
Wayne Doering	4	0	0	4
Ken Wienken	4	0	0	4
Jack Elliott	3	0	0	3
Jerry Harres	3	0	0	3
LeRoy Tanner	3	0	0	3
John Knesek, Jr.	2	0	0	2
Tom Berwick	1	0	0	1
Tom Krupp	0	0	0	0
Marion Woods	0	0	0	0

The early October afternoon sun, as it gently settled towards the western horizon in the blue, afternoon Texas sky, made the alabaster skin glow and highlighted the lean, muscular structure to those that took the time to look. Conquest was in the air, causing nostrils to flare in order to fully savor the aroma of the passion of the moment.

No, this isn’t a pulp romance novel opening paragraph nor is it a description of what happens when Nick comes to a match with his legs exposed. That is what twelve Yaupon Creek Club members, who loaded an extra 10 rounds to shoot in the third annual YCSA “Hawkeye” Pierce” Buffalo Championship, were thinking as they came to the line to compete.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature keeps a trick or two up her sleeve to dash ambition in a heartbeat & she brought out both for the match: switching wind and mirage. Add to that the fact that, with six competitors per relay, there was a LONG time between shots and conditions can dramatically change from the last time a shooter launches a round.

The spotters for both relays had a similar experience with Mother Nature’s tricks: there was so much mirage running that spotting was like trying to see something in a scope focused on an object at the far side of swimming pool under the surface of the water. Body hits took a while to identify, ‘tonks’ took forever to find.

I wonder: there was not as much verbal jousting this year on the line. Hmmmmm . . . is this getting SERIOUS ? ? ? ? ?

Only one competitor was able to hit “Whitey” on all five for-score shots and only three shooters were able to score one sub-‘tonk’ during their time on the line. There were no “X” hits shot during the entire match.

As it turns out, one of the shots that hit the buffalo for the entrant who did the five-in-a-row was in the gong. That provided the margin for victory for John Knesek.

He is this year’s winner of the match & will be the custodian of the traveling trophy that Dave Cook passes to him with just as much reluctance as I had last year.

Last but not least, recognition and sincere thanks must be accorded Glen Dickson for making the medals that are awarded for this match and our monthly club matches.