5th Annual Vermont States Championship
Caledonia Forest & Stream Club100-200yd Championship - St. Johnsbury, VT
September 26-27, 2009
VFS: Jim Borden (center), first; Joe Petrikonis (left), second, and Rocky Murray, third.
Great weekend in VT with moderate foliage, beautiful day on Saturday and steady light to moderate rain all day Sunday. Twenty-nine guns made it a great show.
Joe Petrikonis from PA made his first-ever trip to VT (with about a 25' "loading trailer" with full power, full loading bench, futon and HD TV) and shot to second and third in the Grand Agg with HV and LV guns. Also making their first appearance at the St. Johnsbury range were Shinny Shinglock from PA and George Jones and Andy Buzzell from ME.
On Saturday, the 100-yd. match in VFS was won by Petrikonis with his heavy gun, putting up 21X with a 250, followed by strong showing by Dennis Diego and Butch Randall. Ten shooters stayed clean at 100. Bill Gebhardt took himself out of second place by dropping one on his third target. Sunday dawned with rain falling and it would be a day of soggy targets and damp shooters, but spirits still high. The 200-yd. agg. saw five shooters put up 250s with Jim Borden topping the list with 10X. Shinglock shot second with nine and Wyatt Fox third with seven. Rocky Murray nailed 12X but dropped a point on his first paper. So the Grand Agg. and VT State Championship went to Jim Borden with 500/27X in first, Petrikonis second with 500/26X from his HV, and Rocky Murray third at 499/30X. Note, Petrikonis shot into third with his LV rifle, but range policy is to only count one gun per agg., and third fell to Murray. Dwayne Garfield would have been third with his 26X, but dropped one on his last target when his gun fired unintentionally.
Hunter Class had six shooters for the weekend and went to Bill Sargent with his 497/17 in the Grand Agg., followed by Orland Bunker (497/14X) and Peter Wass (491/14X). In the 100-yd. agg. Bunker led with 250/9X, followed by Denis Thibault (248/12X) and Sargent (248/11X). In the rain on Sunday it was Sargent (249/6X), Bunker (247/5X) and Wass (243/3X).
Peter and Parker Hills ended the weekend with 494/17X and 488/11X, respectively, in the Grand Agg. of Varmint Hunter, followed by George Jones with 485/9X. Peter Wass' shooting on Sunday was as soggy as the weather, leaving him in fourth with 483/9X. At 100-yds. it was Peter Hills (248/11X), Wass (245/8X) and Parker Hills (245/6X). Peter Hills put up a 246/6X at 200-yds., followed by brother Parker (243/5X) and Jones (241/5X).
In Factory class Willie Valley showed his best effort this year with 242/9X and 245/4X for a Grand Agg. 487/13X. He vows to be back next season with a VFS rig and we look forward to having him in the mix.
Hunter Class: Bill Sargent (center), first; Orland Bunker (left), second, and Peter Wass.
Varmint Hunter: Peter Hills (center), first; Parker Hills (left), second, and George Jones.100 Yards
200 Yards
Grand Aggregate
Equipment List
Dennis Diego (right) is congratulated by Bill Sargent after putting in one of his best showings on Saturday with a 250/19X for second at 100-yds. in VFS.
Denis Thibault, one of our faithful supporters, from Sherbrooke, PQ did a best-ever 248/12X on Saturday in Hunter.