For the Shotgun Discipline, the competitors will face a course that is intended to be a duck hunt somewhere in the Dakotas. Blind, decoys, a little pothole; all you’re missing is a retriever and real birds.

The birds come out in pairs, just like you would expect when hunting. Screamers coming in low, high flyers, flaring, incomers, and jumping teal are all represented on the course of fire. Point system is based on degree of difficulty of the shot.

The incoming bird is a gimme and worth 2 points. It’s paired with a tough jumping teal that’s worth 10 points. The screamers are from left-to-right and right-to left and are worth 4 points each. The flaring bird is worth 6 and is paired with a right-to-left screamer. The high flyer is worth 8 and is paired with a left-to-right screamer.

The order is the pair of right-to-left screamers, the pair of left-to right screamers, the right-to-left screamer and flaring bird, the left-to-right screamer and high flyer, and finally the incomer and jumping teal. You will shoot one rotation from the right station and then one from the left station, for a total of twenty shots. ... [ Read Full Post ]

     If you wanted to check out scoring from all the Regionals the overall rankings and scoring sheets are now posted for viewing.  The information could be useful in planning for next year’s competition; deciding where to go, where you need to improve, if that shot at the ten dot put you out, etc.  It’s just another resource to use, if you so choose.

     Links to all four Regionals are provided below, so just click and you are there.

Grapevine

Nashville

Independence

Leeds

Every year, very talented outdoorsmen show up to the TOC and get embarrassed. Be it lack of nerve, not fully understanding the competition format, or just off their game that day,  they just don’t put on the show they expected. Most of ‘em disappear from the competition, but sometimes they get flat mad and spend the next year seeking redemption.

Cade Crawford pulled it off in Grapevine to start the Regionals, and David Smith finished them with a like performance. Both these guys were beaten badly and disappointed in the Canyon last year, but neither complained or made excuses; they just worked to prove that it was a fluke. Talent and drive (whether from anger, some psycho babble complex, or just innate desire) is a great combo for this deal, and Cade and Smitty both have it this year.

The standings in Leeds, Alabama, flip-flopped from event to event and not a soul had any idea who was going to advance until the final scores were plugged in. David Smith thought he was out after he boned Archery, but he moved over to Air Rifle and smashed the pop-ups for the discipline win. Good enough in Bait... [ Read Full Post ]

Two storms hit Independence, Mo., last weekend. One blew in from Kansas with heavy rain and 70 mph winds. The other came from Rogers, Ark., with dead-on accuracy and a cool that made it hard to believe that this man was a TOC rookie. The southern storm was Luke Hitt, who put on the best individual performance ever at a Regional.

Big words to be put on a guy who has never been to Dogwood, but in the largest field in Regional history, he put up a winning score of 10. Ten! With a field of 52, including 5 former Finalists, a 10 in a single discipline is a pretty good score. But a final tally of ten? Unbelievable!

Luke won three of the four disciplines before he flubbed (note: sarcasm) Air Rifle for a seventh-place finish. Like most residents of the Natural State, he was raised in the outdoors and nothing he saw made him even slightly uncomfortable. Luke is also filled with Southern etiquette and has to learn to quit calling everyone sir or ma’am, especially me.

A Bloomingdale, Ill., resident, Jason Kaatz, came home from his honeymoon early for his shot at the Finals.... [ Read Full Post ]

The Texas sun beat down like a giant orange fun-vacuum, but it couldn’t slow a strong field in Grapevine. Three native sons, who overcame the heat from both the death orb above and fellow competitors, are headed to the finals in September. Oh yeah, did I mention it was African-plains, mid-drought, wearing-a-wool-suit hot?

Cade Crawford is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, (as a Finalist last year I barely heard a peep outta him), but I actually saw him full-mouth smile after the Archery discipline. Saturday, he was cool-headed and strong in all four events to win the Grapevine Regional. Cade is ready to make the leap from also-ran to contender in the Finals.

One of the regulars of this site, Loren Autrey, heads to Missouri with a second place finish. The only discipline I actually got to see was Archery, and Loren can smooth shoot. He seems to understand the game very well for a rook, but I will have to see the rest of the Regionals before I let him get all swole up about predictions.

The third and final golden ticket went to Shane Harden. Shane’s also pretty good at the... [ Read Full Post ]

If you were to compare the three that advance to Finals and the rest of the top ten at each Regional site, there is typically very little difference in talent. Nerve and attention to detail will cause the scoring separation between these two groups. Let’s apply the “attention to detail” aspect to the Baitcasting discipline.

Before you get to the casting platform (a bass boat), you will have the chance to have the rig you will compete with in your hands. Make sure it’s strung through all the eyelets, the lure/jig you want is tied on with a strong knot, and there aren’t any hidden backlashes. If you get on that boat with the clock ticking and then find something wrong, the ol’ pucker factor is going to set-in hard.

Remember that you can move in the boat. One angle may be bad, but a step to the right makes the obstacle not seem so intimidating.

Keep up with your time. Unless you backlash several times, there is plenty of time to complete the nine casts with ease. If the wind gets up and you have managed your time properly, you should be able to let it... [ Read Full Post ]

Working events is a different sort of job: The work is temporary. Most of the business relationships you have are temporary. And you try not to be too attached to any part of it because it can go away as quickly as it came. The TOC is different.

Everyone who knows me knows how I live this gig, but I’m not the only one. Everyone involved seems to love this event the same way I do. So when a mistake that affects the TOC happens, well, honestly, all of us get sick over it.

The mistake was a simple one, but it affected many. A mouse-click-gone-wrong sent the “congrats on making the Regionals” e-mail to the 2009 qualifying list...instead of the 2010 qualifying list. (Apparently, this sort of stuff doesn’t just happen on Wall Street.) Some of those people who received the e-mail had actually made the cut this year, some didn’t even try to qualify (they were probably really confused), and others actually missed the 106 cutoff. I understand the time a lot of the gals and guys put into trying to qualify.

I understand how bad it sucks to be told that you advanced, and then having to hear... [ Read Full Post ]

Note: This year's Air Rifle course will have the same pop-up target system as last year's. The time and brand of air rifle will change, but I will post that info as soon as it’s set in stone.

The biggest challenge to the Air Rifle course is not accuracy; it’s your ability to perform under pressure and staying ahead of the targets.

Being able to perform under pressure just seems to be a natural trait, but training in front of others can help ease the pressure you may feel at the Regionals. Get used to others watching you and it won’t feel so alien when it happens.

Loading the rifle smoothly and making movement efficient is the key to staying ahead of the targets. Even if you don’t have access to the same brand of air rifle that will be used, you can practice the mechanics with any pellet gun.

Learn a system of handling pellets, cocking, and bringing the rifle to a firing position with as little distance as possible. Travel takes time and if your barrel moves a full 180 for every shot, you will burn the seconds you have to aim.

Relax and enjoy your time... [ Read Full Post ]

I know as fact: A child on a big wheel, her hyperactive retriever, a park full of geese, and soccer moms will cause local leash laws to be amended.

I know as fact: If you go out to eat with a member of the law enforcement community, most will not find it humorous when you whisper to the waiter, “It’s for a cop."

And, I know as fact: This site will be pounded by folks with one question: “When will the scores be posted?”

The short answer is start looking the first week of May, but don’t get worried if it’s the second week of May.

The score cards go from Bass Pro Shops, to Field & Stream, to an accounting firm that specializes in this sort of thing, back to Field & Stream, and then are posted. A whole bunch of people check and re-check to make sure it’s all done right and everyone gets a fair shake.

But be sure to check this site early and often and make the hits go through the roof. [ Read Full Post ]

Whether it’s the last five of a work break or while the rookie washes your patrol car, there is always time to work in a practice session for baitcasting. Tote around a hula-hoop and your casting rig and you will be ready whenever the opportunity arises. Form and lure control are the two most important aspects of accuracy in this discipline, so the more time you spend perfecting them, the more likely it will show in competition.

A casting platform is easy; tailgate, big rock, kid’s Barbie jeep, whatever…just get yourself a little elevation so you don’t have to adjust your form to avoid bouncing the lure off the ground. Like a golfer does with their swing, build muscle memory for casting until the motion comes with no thought required.

The competition distance in Quals will be fifty feet, but training at varied distances will help you learn control. It’s about being able to cast accurately at any distance, not just one set distance. And when you cast at seventy foot target, it looks a lot bigger when it comes back to fifty. [ Read Full Post ]

F&S columnist Bill Heavey once suggested that I’m a reasonably bright fellow, and that maybe I actually did know a little about this TOC thing. (The comment did lose some of its shine when I heard that Bill once expressed admiration for Elmer Fudd’s game-tracking skill.) Well, after watching the Qualifier instructional video, I know join a long line of those who get to tell Heavey that he was dead wrong. I am too dumb to follow my own advice.

As long as the Qualifiers and Regionals have been happening, I have preached that the most important shots of the day are those on the practice range. Get a group and find where the rifle or bow is shooting. For the video, my dumb butt grabs an air rifle, shoots a round, and feigns looking at the shot group.

If you watch the video, there are quite a few more than just two practice shots in the target. I shot a few times before the camera was on without checking the target. So when looked at the target after the practice round, I had zero idea of which shoot came from off the rest. For the video, I had a great... [ Read Full Post ]

This TOC deal has grown from watching a few invitees battle it out in a little city park in Lynchburg, Tenn., to a thousand or so serious outdoorsmen and -women who put heart and soul into it for just a chance to reach the finals at Dogwood Canyon. Every year has been fun and competitive, but 2009 will always stand out as the year that things changed. 

     It started with the Qualifiers and seeing the big-time scoring from rookie competitors:  No more “easy” route to the Finals; all four Regionals were going to be tough. The dust settled and several talented veterans didn’t advance, and a few got blistered by the rooks.        

     During Final’s practice you knew that all 16 could flat play the game and that the bar was about to be pushed through the roof. Every point would be contested and every slip punished. The givens just weren’t given anymore. Steel was sharpened and... [ Read Full Post ]