Following an uneventful trip to Mainville, PA, we arrived at about noon on Thursady, Sept. 11. As a fitting tribute to our liberty, Al and I browsed about the locale and stumbled onto R.W. Hart & Sons, where we invested a little time and $$, then perused one of the local gun shops, where there were many older and interesting guns/reloading tools on display and for sale.

We spent Friday at the range, setting wind flags, doing a little shooting and a LOT of BSing with those who showed up early for the doings. Here I'll mention our gratitude to Michael Ralph, who did most of the work involved in settig flags for "OUR" rotation (OUR being Craig Nagel, Roy Oines, Peggy O'Keefe, Michael, myself and Al Nuhus) - AND, Michael accomplished the feat while enduring disparaging remarks from the lot! Thank you, Michael!

Collectively, we shot well, demonstrating that, we "know wind" - we shot well enough that at least one of our [regular] area [Holmen/Webster City] shooters made the top five in each of the three classes: Hunter; Varmint Hunter; Varmint for Score.

Conditions on Sunday (200 yard) were somewhat troubling - a number of shooters launched shots which scored no better that a SEVEN . . and at least one individual had a shot, aimed at the sighter bull, stray into the first record target box, scoring a ZEROn his number one bull!

So, exactly what did Al do? Well, he scored a semirespectable 250-17x at 100 Yd., and was slightly "bummed out", believing that he should have posted at least three more Xes . . . ok, BUT 17x was respectable enough to best 75% of the VfS field! So, Al was in position to make his move during the 200!

The conditions on Sunday, were almost the complete opposite of what we experienced on Sat. - that is, one could have imagined that it was windy throughout the 200 Yd. stage. ;) Al managed his time and equipment well and posted a 244-8x, which was, I believe, good enough for third place - again very good shootin'!

When the points for both yardages were tallied, Al Nyhus, by virtue of his consistently excellent shootin (494-25X), had nabbed the prestegious IBS National Hunter Rifle Championship! CONGRATULATIONS, Al!

And then, we bagan the drive home : a WINNER and a WHINER . . but THAT is another story! We did invest a fair amout of time trying to set fire to the ears of a certain Stan Ware . . and now, I have enough evidence to lay claim to my "player to be named later" ! ;)

 It was another GREAT adventure; thank you, Al for sharing the experience with me! Now, every time you look in the mirror, you'll note the bulls eye on your forehead! Seriously,AL was/is a humble Champion - I already knew he is a decent man; a class act; his demenor and attitude following his victory only strengthened my opinion of him - a worthy CHAMPION! Al, Take your bows . . . Keep 'em ON the X! R.G.