I spent nine hours in the car these past two Saturdays. Nine hours to get to two shoots and back to Johannesburg. One in the North West Province (at Stilfontein outside Potchefstroom) and, yesterday, to KSDPC at Kroonstad in the Free State.
That is quite a bit of sitting to take part in IDPA/SADPA shoots. But, you know what, I thought it was worth it after the car door closed last night. I didn’t win. In fact, I only got a silver medal at one of the shoots.
I did, however, get to take part in two very well organised events.
With courses of fire that tested me as a shooter. Moving targets and half-concealed targets; lots of HONTs and quite a few sitting shots. I got to sit in a boat and shoot … I got to shoot swingers, drop turners and targets moving towards me. I even shot at several targets while sitting in a Mercedes Benz. Papae!
What touched me, however, was the spirit I saw at both these clubs. It might sound slightly disingenuous, but I am quite sincere in saying that I met a few people at these two shoot that could easily be my friends. People who put in a lot of effort to host the shoot, people who had worked hard on their game to take part in the shoot. And then, importantly, people who were prepared to stand around the fire on a cold Free State morning. And talk about things that matter and things that do not matter so much. With a strangely dressed man (it was rather cold) from Johannesburg.
One or two people have asked me why IDPA and not any other shooting sport. I think it has something to do with the people I find shooting this specific game. People with similar interests, concerns and experiences.
Thank you Frontier and Kroonstad Defensive Pistol clubs. You’ll certainly see me at your next league if things go to plan. And I hope to see some of you in Ermelo in August. Another long way to travel; to meet interesting people and … hopefully … to win a medal.
sadpablog 