David Phillips, a pupil at Elim Christian College in Botany, took honours at a recent club target shooting competition held in Piopio in the Waitomo District.
He competed in the P10 Practical, a 22LR premier event engaging shooters across the North Island.
Comprised of eight stages in six-person squads, it’s arduous as exposure to rapidly changing elements and rugged terrain can be tough on both equipment and bodies.
Each competitor is responsible for hauling their own gear and supplies.
The clock plays an integral part in the sport and a speeding timer is always a factor when loading, unloading and sighting targets.
Marksmen and -women must keep checking watches, and with riflescope settings, variable wind conditions and having to feed and change gun magazines it’s not an easy challenge.
The longer the distance, the more havoc fluctuating winds can play with a .22 round, travelling to a target ranging up to 150 metres.
Without wind or rain, it’s mentally bruising to aim and hit a target the size of a 50 cent coin at 30 metres or of a $100 note at 100 metres.
Finally, competitors in the sport also have to contend with tenacious local opponents who know the conditions inside out.
Against that backdrop, David had his work cut out as he and older brother Tim were also facing each other for the Top Junior Trophy.
Taranaki competitors hogged the multi-stage shooting match, but the Cockle Bay brothers fought back.
They fared well in a day of three halves where drizzle, wind and cold temperatures levelled the field.
Each juncture was designed to test the squads’ abilities to finish in an allocated time.
The lead changed hands multiple times as stages were completed.
With the final post beckoning, Tim had his nose ahead by half a smidgeon and looked the stronger of the two.
But then fatigue and nerves struck, resulting in him falling just five points short, as an exhausted but grateful David lifted the trophy at day’s end.
“This was a tough outing and I could not have wished for a better opponent,” David says.
“He was going strong, and I had to dig in. Mentally it was a real challenge but now it’s a small break and then off to the next shoot.”
His older brother Tim, tired and weighed down with half-baked mud, says he’d had his moments, however errors crept in due to pressure, and it cost him.
He says he was rapt for his brother collecting the spoils – an awesome trophy.
