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DIE BONTEBOK
HANDGUN & MULTI-DISCIPLINE SPORTSHOOTING CHASA MULTIDISCIPLINE SHOOT ON 25 SEPTEMBER 2021, BLOEMFONTEIN being a keen handgun shooter as well as a hunter, he introduced a series of handgun shoots. Initially these were based on the NRA handgun events but over time were tweaked and modified until they suited our local shooters and local shooting environment. The handgun shoots still follow fairly closely traditional NRA events.
T
Ludy Starke
he Confederation of hunting associations of South Africa is forty years old this year. It has grown from strength to strength over the years and with the pressure on hunting and firearm ownership in general, has become one of the most active organizations in protecting and promoting responsible firearm ownership and hunting rights. With the growth of the organization, at present having more than 30 member associations, it is natural that in the off season, hunters have been looking for shooting activities to keep their skills sharp and to practice new skills. CHASA offers a dedicated hunter course that incorporates a shooting test, but this was not enough for the members and over time CHASA developed a string of Sport shooting activities. Initially, the focus was on hunting rifles and simulated hunting shoots where competitors competed against each other and the clock at life sized animal targets. These events became so popular that they were expanded to include .22 long rifle shoots along similar principals. Many hunters who engage in antelope hunting are also keen wing shooters and over time a shotgun shoot was introduced. Likewise, when William Smale took over the reigns of the Sport Shooting Committee leader,
As with all organizations with different member associations forming the body, there is stiff competition between clubs and individuals. CHASA introduced a national ranking system where shooters from anywhere in the country can take part in standardized shoots and submit their scores to CHASA to be ranked against fellow shooters. The top ranked shooters each year are awarded medals and certificates from CHASA. Along with the ranking system, CHASA introduced an annual shooting competition where each organization would send a team of their top shooters to compete against the top shooters from the other regions. With this the inter-association shoot was born and grew in popularity each year. This year, CHASA chose to hold a multi-discipline shoot. The shoot would comprise of three events and the total score for the team over the three events would then count for rankings. Since there is such a wide variety of events under the CHASA sport shooting banner, it was decided that each year the events included in the multi-discipline shoot would be rotated so that over a five year period all events would be covered. 2021 events were: 22 long rifle Standard range shoot 25 clay sporting range 25 plate handgun shoot
The 22 long rifle event consists of four ranges, each with their own unique challenges. Range one is shot from the prone position with either a bipod or standard block as a support and the target, an Egyptian goose, is placed 70 m away. While that does not seem far, the scoring zone on the goose is incredibly small and the 22 lr round is extremely wind sensitive, so this is a challenging shoot. The next range is the sitting range. Here shooters engage a porcupine target at 40m from the sitting unsupported position. 90 seconds are allowed for this shoot. I find this is the most difficult of the four ranges. After the porcupine, shooters move to the standing range where they engage a dassie target shooting freehand and having to make all the shots within 45 seconds, here it is fast and furious and anything that goes wrong can really upend a shooter. The final range for the 22 long rifle is the gong range. Here shooters again shoot from the prone position with front support. The gongs are 100mm diamond shaped plates and are at distances of 50, 60, 75, 65 and 75m. The diamond gong is a deceptive little creature as it looks nice and big but get your elevation a little off and it suddenly becomes very small. Throw in a bit of wind and it is frustratingly easy to miss them.
Sporting clays The sporting range was set up for 25 “birds” per shooter. The range was set to have crossing birds from both left and right, an incoming bird and a diagonally going away bird. While it looked easy, in amongst the mix of birds was always one that a shotgunner would find difficult. The sequence of shooting was that a competitor would shoot 3 single
