US Flag ============> FreeIdaho <============

A Newby's View Of The 2007 IDPA Nationals

What a treat to shoot and SO the IDPA Nationals this year. Of course the Nationals had good, fun, and challenging stages. The props were first rate and each looked new. See the Match Booklet. The stages were well thought out and situated in the bays. There was a mover in my bay that challenged the shooters a bit. It was set on medium speed, and was very consistent all week. The targets shot underneath a car that fall prone when a leg is shot out from under them, were a hit. Many people agonized over the drop leg targets and the mover, but they were easier than they seemed. Generally the stages were great because they were self defense stages with different ways to shoot them, with well made and colorful props. Sometimes the decision of when to reload and how much risk to take, makes the stage for a shooter.

The staff was very friendly, and the shooters were friendly and fun to be around too. We had very little drama to talk about on our bay, and there didn't seem to be much in the whole match. The MD, SOs and other staff were responsive to shooters inputs, and most everyone, shooters, staff and spectators seemed to be having a good day.

The range was very nice indeed. There were tall walnut trees for shade in the morning and the afternoon and a live creek running through the property. The weather was near perfect. We were hot for a few hours on Wednesday, and there was a quick bit of rain on Thursday, but we covered the targets, and waited about 15 minutes and it blew over. We uncovered the targets and continued to shoot. The bays had grass in them and the roads are asphalt so there was absolutely no dust. There is a pretty good sized pond on sight as well which makes it more like a park setting than a shooting range. There is also an indoor range on the facility, which is where the low light stage was held. The ventilation indoors was great too. There was a huge tent setup with lots of tables inside, which made it nice for lunches. Along each long wall of the tent there were several vendors setup selling their wares.

The match ran strictly on time. We did not have more than 5 -10 minutes between squads, and never had a squad wait very long either. The water cart came by at least 3 times per hour with water, sodas, Gatoraide and picked up completed score sheets. Thank you Robert and JoAnn! The scoring was quick and accurate thanks to Beach Bunny Software and a great stats crew. Any time a bay need anything it showed up in just a couple of minutes, or it was there ahead of time. Thank you John! Interim results were posted at lunch and in the evening each day.

The match took quite a bit of stamina for the staff. Bedtime came about 11:00 or 12:00 each night, and started again by 6:00 or before. It was continual go, go, go in-between, and I loved every second of it. I was lucky enough to work bay 3 stages 6 and 7 with Edgar Coronado, Jerry Mosher, and Mike Burns.

The match hotel was nice too, where a shooters' sign in was held with a buffet each nite. I enjoyed my SO roommate Brad a lot. He was in first place at the end of the day Wednesday when the SOs shot. That score survived three more days of shooting and Brad Schilling won SSP Sharpshooter, and is a new expert. Edgar Coronado that was an SO in our bay also took home plaque for shooting his revolver well. Massimo Novati that attended the 2007 Idaho State IDPA Championship also got a plaque.

Brad Edgar Massimo

Every shooter received a very nice range bag with the match logo stitched into the side, and much to my delight the SOs got their range bag full of Tactical Elite clothing, provided by Backyard Outfitters. Three full outfits of clothing and a lightweight vest all stitched with the match logo. I really enjoyed wearing the clothing, it is very comfortable, and well suited to working or shooting.

A television film crew was there on Thursday taking some TV footage for the Shooting Gallery program and that was fun to watch. It is supposed to air in February 2008 sometime. It interrupted the shooting a little but we stayed on time. I got to meet Walt Rauch and Michael Bane at that point. Both interesting characters. Especially since the stage I got to SO was a real life self defense encounter of Walt's.

Walt Rauch and Michael Bane Michael Bane

Lots of vendors were at the nationals including S&W, Para, Glock, and Springfield in the shooting bays with guns to check out and shoot.

I got to watch some of the best pistol shooters in the world compete as they shot our bay. Donnie Burton, Bob Vogel, Ernest Langdon, Dave Sevigny, Mathew Mink, Curt Nichols, Craig Buckland, Jerry Miculek, Taran Butler and David Olhasso, to mention some of them I remember.

I would have too say the best part was meeting the people I have come to know on the internet. Ted Murphy, John Shuter, and Melissa Kruetz were excellent and I got to know them a bit more over the course of the week. I also got to meet Drew, Sandra, Robert, Joyce and Bill from headquarters. There were over 300 faces that came through my bay, and so I don't recall everyone, but I met many more people I know from the internet and the IDPAForum. Very nice people all.

I will be back to a Ted Murphy Nationals when funds and schedule allow. It was first class in every way.

A few videos taken while shooting the match on Wednesday:

More videos on You Tube, just search for 2007 IDPA Nationals

More pictures at the Alberta Tactical Handgun League

Pictures from Todd Green and pix of the super squad by Todd