I'm going to post the shoot scenarios here in the thread, everyone can get a look. This is what the fellows got to see in the package. I will post the 'secret dispatches' later.
First Alexander Mackenzie Online Muzzleloader Trail Walk
Scenario
The shooter in this match will take on the persona of a young scout/hunter who works with Mackenzie and his crew of ten men from Fort Chipewyan in search of a Northwest Passage, in 1793. Historically, the journey was packed with adventure and dangers, including events like capsized canoes and attacks from hostile natives. Eventually the crew had to abandon the canoes and make their way on foot down the ‘grease trail’. It was a trade route used by natives to carry goods (mainly Eulachon [fish] Oil, or ‘grease’) between the coastal people, Bella Bella and Bella Coolas and the central interior bands of Carrier and Sekani. As the expedition traveled, their native guides abandoned them and new guides had to be bartered for. This led to trade sessions with the friendly villages the men encountered.
Mackenzie reported noticing British and American coins, steel tools and glass beads amongst the natives’ belongings, and took it to be a sign that indeed, the Pacific and the trade that occurred there, couldn’t be far off.
After locating the Pacific, and being confronted by 10 canoes filled with angry Bella Bella natives, the expedition spent the night fortified on a large rock. The explorers literally had to flee back into the mountains to avoid the angry natives, who sent out a war party the next morning. Mackenzie calmly scribed the words, “Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by Land, the 22nd of July, 1793” on their rocky fortress before their hasty retreat.
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Each of the shooting stations will have an envelope that is NOT to be opened until the shooter is ready and on the firing line. The envelope will contain instructions to set up the target and shoot the single station. When each station is complete, and scored, the shooter will open another ‘dispatch’ envelope and follow the instructions. The score will be tallied and submitted to ‘Smokepole’ in a P.M.,@Canadiangunnutz.com.
Plan well, and Good Luck to all!
Target Bag Checklist
Apart from your shooting supplies, there will be several items you will be required to gather for the shoot. Along with the items you will be sent out in the packet, these will form your ‘Target Bag’, to construct the actual targets for the shoot. These items are separate from your shooting bag and are NOT to be used for any other purpose than to construct targets:
1. Two dowels, or sticks about 4’ long to place targets on.
2. A roll of tape (duct, packing, electrician, masking etc.)
3. Three, 1-litre (or less) pop bottles filled with water.
4. One raw egg.
5. A length of string of cord, 40 yards in length with a knot tied every ten yards. A nail, to drive into the ground, or a weight should be tied to one end. The string will be used to measure the distance to your targets.
6. 10 feet of light string or cord for target set-up.
7. Drinking straw supplied).
8. 3 balloons (supplied).
9. Elk vital target (supplied).
10. Bear target (supplied).
11. Paint stir stick (supplied).
12. Pencil to keep score.
Shooting bag:
You will need a bag to shoot from, rather than a range box. If you don’t have a traditional bag, a fanny-pack or haversack will do. The shoot will be scenario style, so you must carry on your person everything you will need for shooting the event. Keep in mind you will be taking on the persona of a young hunter/scout with the Alexander Mackenzie expedition. Extra points will be awarded for your preparedness. In order to ‘stay alive’ and finish the shoot, you may have to improvise, or make do with what you have.
Trail walk rules:
1. Read all the rules before assembling anything.
2. Do not open the station packets/ envelopes until you are ready to shoot. Each additional station packet will be opened sequentially after completing the previous station.
3. The Trail Walk may be shot with any traditional side lock, or under hammer, iron sighted muzzleloader. No ‘scopes.
4. Read the scenario. Pack your shooting bag and a haversack or backpack with everything you will need to complete the tasks. You may use modern gear, ‘in the spirit of the competition’ if you don’t have traditional, period correct gear. Put yourself in your character’s frame of mind. What would you take on the journey?
5. You are to shoot ‘from the bag’, meaning you are to use the items from your possibles bag, powder horn and haversack while on the walk. No range rods or shooting boxes. If it’s not on your person, you can’t use it.
6. Once you begin shooting the match you are to continue and complete the match in one day, regardless of weather, equipment failure, or other consequences. If you are forced to stop shooting for any reason, you tally your score to that point.
7. This is an individual competition. If you are shooting with a group, each shooter will place his own targets and use the equipment on his person.
8. Each station packet will include precise instructions on how to set up the targets for that station. It will also tell you how and when to load. Do not load until instructed by the outline in the packet.
9. Each station packet will include instructions to score that station. You may score ‘plus points’ (+), or ‘minus points’ (-), or ‘zero points’.
10. If you are told to do a ‘penalty action’, that action will remain in effect for the duration of the match, unless instructed otherwise.
11. If you are told to discard an item, it is lost to you for the duration of the match.
12. Read all instructions until you understand exactly what is required. Do not try to ‘read between the lines’. Follow them as written.
13. You may shoot the match anytime before the deadline.
14. This match is designed to eliminate some of the shooters from the competition. It seeks to find the weaknesses that would be a harsh reality on the frontier.
15. When (or if…) you are eliminated, tally your score to that point. You may continue the shoot for fun, but the scores will not count on your final tally.
------------- "since the pigs ate my little brother "
really tried this before
Good to hear everyone had fun.
