Whitehorse shooters on the mark at Yukon championships

Photo submitted

The summer season is officially underway for the Yukon Shooting Federation as the club held its first major competition using the outdoor range.
The 2008 Yukon Rifle Silhouette Championships went off with a bang this past weekend for the 11 competitors who participated this year.
With the exception of strong winds on Saturday, shooters enjoyed near perfect conditions and many of the scores were a reflection of that.
“I think we had some really good score shots this weekend,“ said Jim Sias, president of the Yukon Shooting Federation.

“The best part was the weather we had and everybody just getting together and having a really good, enjoyable weekend.“
The silhouette championships have been held in Whitehorse for more than 20 years.

The 2008 edition featured an exclusively Whitehorse group of participants, but in the past individuals have made the trip from other communities in the territory such as Haines Junction, Pelly Crossing, Ross River, Watson Lake and Dawson.

The competition has also enjoyed years were shooters from B.C. and Alaska have taken part.
A wide range of ages were also present at the event with three juniors taking part. The difference in ages ranged from mid teens to 70’s.
In total there were four events an individual could sign up for.

The different competitions were the Smallbore Standard Rifle, Smallbore Hunting Rifle, High Power Standard Rifle and High Power Hunting Rifle.
Each event was $10 to enter and consisted of a two-day shoot where a participant fired 40 shots per day. 
The shooting format involved four different sets of targets, which were all shaped like animals.

The closest target was shaped like a chicken, the next closest was a pig, which was followed by a turkey. The one at the furthest distance was in the shape of a ram.

The animals became progressively larger as the distances grew.
The target distances also differ between the Smallbore and High Power events.

The Smallbore category, chickens were located at 40 metres, pigs were at 60 m, turkeys were at 77-m and rams had an overall distance of 100 m.
The High Power targets were positioned at an even greater distance with the chickens at 200-m, pigs were set 300-m, the turkeys were located at 385-m and the rams were at 500-m.

Since the distance is greater in the High power silhouette events, the targets are quite a bit larger than in the smallbore events. All four events are done standing up.
Participants shot 10 of each target. In order for the hit to count an individual had to knock the animal off the rail.

Every hit was worth one point and at the conclusion of the championships it was an aggregate total for the two match event that determined a winner by adding together the two scores.
The matches involved a relay of two strings of five shots with a two and a half minute time limit before a short break was taken. After the break the remaining five shots were taken.
Awards were also given out at the event.

The most prestigious honour was called the Match Winner Award, which featured a plaque and the title of Yukon champion for a specific event.
In the shooting competition, there were also individual classifications for each event.

The purpose of having the different class categories is to level out the playing field.

The different classes were “B”, “A”, “AA” and “AAA.“ The top three point totals in each class were awarded medals.
Sias was one of the top winners at the Yukon championships, taking the match title in both the Smallbore Standard Rifle and the Smallbore Hunting Rifle events.

In the standard rifle event he scored an impressive 55 points out of 80, while in the hunting rifle category he hit 54 out of eighty shots.
The classification winners in the Smallbore Standard Rifle event included Dave Buchanan, who scored a 45 out of 80 to finish in first place in the “AAA” class.
For the “AA” category, Nich Rittel placed first with his score of 50, while Gregor Gabb came in second, shooting a 31.
Rittel, 17, has been a member of the shooting club for three years and this was the second time he participated in the Yukon Rifle Silhouette Championships.
Rittel had a particularly impressive outing at this year’s championships, winning two gold medals and one award.

His score of 50 also earned him a second place finish in the match category, losing only to Sias.
His other medal came in the Smallbore Hunting Rifle event for the “AA” class. He scored a 39, which was 10 points higher than the next best total. After the competition, he was he was given the High Junior award for his tremendous shooting.
Rittel, who used a new rifle at the championships, said he thought he did all right at the competition.
“It was pretty good,“ he said. “It’s always fun.“   
Rittel will participate at the nationals later this year and hopes to improve upon his showing from the previous year. In 2007, he won three gold medals, which raised his class position three levels in the standard rifle event.

Rittel ended up going from the “B” to a “AA” class.
At the 2007 nationals, he also had a great showing in the hunter rifle event, maintaining his “AA” position as well as winning two silver medals and a bronze medal.

This year Rittel hopes to move up to the “AAA” class.
He said he was glad about taking part in this year’s championships and that every competition helps towards improving his shooting abilities.
Other medallist in the Smallbore Standard Rifle event included “A” class winner Corky Repka, who scored 40 points.

The “A” class for this event featured the closest competition at the championships with each of the top three finalists separated by a mere point.
The other two winners in the “A” class included Kent Davy, who placed second with 39, while Doug Trombley came in third with 38 points.
Nora Trombley was the best shooter in the “B” class, scoring 31 points to take the gold medal.

Trombley’s score also won her the High Lady Award. Adrian Wheeler came in second in the “B” classification with 20 points and Cassandra Henderson’s score of 15 earned her the bronze medal.
In the Smallbore Hunting Rifle category, Dave Buchanan once again finished on top of the “AAA” class with his score of 43.
Besides Rittel, other medallists in the “AA” classification included Kent Davy, who scored 29 points to finish in second, while Corky Repka came in third with 25 points.
Doug Trombley won the “B” class scoring 27 points, while Cassandra Henderson wasn’t too far off with 22 points to place her in second.

Adrian Wheeler came in third place with 19 points.
In the High Power Standard Rifle event Dave Buchanan won the the match award, scoring an impressive 42 points, which was nine points ahead of the next best score.
Also in the High Power Standard Rifle event, Sias placed first in the “A” class.

He finishing with 33 points, while Corky Repka came in second with 24 points and Doug Trombley rounded out the top three with 23 points.
Kent Davy won the “B” class with 19 points. 
Buchanan also won the High power Hunting Rifle match event, scoring 29 points.
In the “A” class for the High power Hunting Rifle event, Kent Davy finished first with 16 points and Gregor Gabb came in second with 12 points.
Other upcoming shooting events at the club include the handgun silhouette championships, which will take place mid June.
The cost to sign up is $10 per event. Those interested can contact Jim Sias at 668-6776.