ISRPA at Camp Perry 2008

Whistler Boy Match
By Matthew Beaver

Of the many trips I have made up to Port Clinton with my family, I have never had the chance to shoot at Camp Perry until this year.  I was not planning to shoot any matches at Camp Perry until next year but I was drafted to shoot the Whistler Boy with another Indiana junior who just wanted to shoot.  We were the only team from the ISRPA to shoot at that match.  Our coach, Wayne Faatz was very helpful and was nice enough to give up shooting the Hearst match to assist in the junior team.  Thanks to all the people who contributed to our team this year, the Camp Perry experience was very exciting and fun for me and all those with me that day.

Pictured (L to R) are Matthew Beaver, Coach Wayne Faatz and Ben Smith.

My day started at 4:30 in the morning and we got off the 600-yard line at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  Throughout the day I had problems, starting with my offhand where the Camp Perry jitters got to me and going towards 600 where we were contemplating about what was wrong with my 300-yard zero, but at the end of the day I still had a smile on my face because of how much fun I had.  My coach helped me through it all and I am a better shooter because of it.  The Camp Perry adventure is something you cannot compare to anything else.  I caught some Camp Perry magic when I shot a miraculous last shot at 600, which hit the paper right before time expired.  Camp Perry is a must if you are a shooter, because it is such a great experience.

At first when I found out my uncle volunteered me I was hesitant but then he talked me into it and now I am glad I did it.  I had a great time and now I can say I have shot at Camp Perry in the National Matches.  It is a great place to shoot and if you are a junior you should really consider coming up to shoot in the Whistler Boy so we can have more teams.  As my coach said, “It doesn’t matter if you are a bad shooter or a great shooter, at Camp Perry you are running with the big dogs”.