Danne and I finally made it over to the monthly shoot on Gabriola Island, here in BC. We go to the monthly shoots in Nanaimo every month, and at least a couple shooters from Gabriola make it over for that one. We'd been meaning to make it over to Gabriola for some time now, and finally did. Nanaimo's on Vancouver Island, and Gabriola's a quick 20-minute ferry ride over from Nanaimo. Then a quick drive once you arrive there, maybe 10 minutes, and you're at the Gabriola Rod, Gun & Conservation Club. They've got a pretty nice setup over there, and it was a good day of shooting, despite the bit of rain we got. Going to try to make it a monthly trip, in addition to the Nanaimo shoots. Had a good time, for sure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0sTUFUr7oM
Google Maps view of the range. http://tinyurl.com/4dew6b

THAT is beautiful!

Slow-motion clip of a miss, but you can (barely) see the bullet flying. It's still kind of visible here, but you can see it much better before youtube downsized the image.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kXJzfNzBw

Interesting to see the offhand stands they used. The matches I've shot all had tables or wide rails to rest the gun between shots if you chose. The mount method of the rifle starting with the muzzle high is similar to how my mentor taught me. The problem with that is that the club I shot today (Washtenaw) warns you that "...second warning of a high muzzle above the horizontal will ... be grounds for disqualification." So I made sure to keep the muzzle low while getting into shooting position.

First match in eight years went well - got to partner with another cancer patient! Only two people in my class - I won in a shoot-off due to superior mental preparation (ha ha). I never take my rifle off the rack at the end of a match until I check the scores for a tie to mine. In each of the three shoot-off's I've won, the other person had put their rifle away.

The score was no big deal but I only had one practice session in a rainstorm. The skills are starting to come back!!

Sounds a little too strict for my liking. We all know how to handle our firearms safely... The goal should be for keeping as many shooters as possible, not nitpicking how someone's style differs from your liking, and driving them away in the process.