Hey ya'll, what a cool new sub-forum!
Would anyone mind if I restarted the NRL Hunter thread? I've got a PRS rig, and I'm looking for my next rifle to be NRL-legal, probably in Open Heavy. I think I'll probably go for a lighter-weight version of my PRS rifle.
Later in August I'm planning on spending some time working on my backpack and integrating a Camelback and some quick-attach-release mounts. Do we have any ideas on when and where the next season might get started?
The NRL season finale in Iowa just wrapped up this weekend. I suspect the 2025 schedule is being worked on and hopefully they’ll publish it in the next couple of months since I definitely want to make plans for next spring and summer.
This was my first year shooting this venue and I shot three 2-day ‘national’ matches, RO’ed two of them, and also shot a handful of 1-day Hunter Games matches. I’ve got two more Hunter Game matches on my calendar for this fall, hoping to make them both.
There’s about six 2-day national matches within a a day’s drive for me, and I’m hoping to make at least three of them in 2025 (or more depending on when they are). What worked out well for me was to volunteer as an RO, camp at the range in my van, and also combine it with mtn biking/hiking or something else and take my time without being in a rush to get there or come home (I am retired, so there’s that…).
Quick recap of the three matches I shot in 2024:
Nightforce Snake River Outdoorsman, Juliaetta ID: Fantastic venue in a timbered canyon. We shot from one side of the canyon across to the other side. Moderate amount of hiking, but cool temps at the end of April. Moderately difficult to find targets, but everything was hittable. Just be ready to shoot from a tripod since there was a fair amount of brush and trees that limited the options for shooting prone.
Leupold Relentless Rifleman, Madras OR: Fantastic venue in a juniper timbered canyon. Not as steep or deep at Juliaetta, but still great scenery. Most of the stages were on the canyon rim and we shot across or down into the canyon bottom. Weather was pretty good, it rained on staff day and I got soaked but the two main match days were beautiful late May kind of weather you’d expect from central Oregon. And some really good mtn biking trails around Bend. I found this match to be very difficult to find targets, but if you did find them they were hittable. The MD’s are pretty good at hiding targets and they blended in well with the background.
Hornady Precision Hunter, Price UT: First off, let me say I love the central Utah book cliffs and the San Rafael Swell area, and this range is dab smack in the middle of all that. Great venue where most of the stages were up on a ridgeline, several were out another ridgeline. If you like sandstone and pinyon-juniper eco-type, this is the match to go to. Weather was starting to get hot but during staff match we did have a thunderstorm roll thru which cooled things off but it brought wind. Main match was beautiful hot weather into the 90’s but hey, it’s a dry heat. I found the targets a little easier to find because shot-up greyed out targets stood out better against the dirt and surrounding veg. Mtn biking and slot canyoning opportunities in the nearby San Rafael Swell abound, without all the crowds that you get at the National Parks. My favorite place to go is in NoTell’um Creek.
In addition to the three above, on my list for next year based on what I’ve heard:
Defiance Anti-Social, Belt MT: I used to live up there and would love to make a trip back to central MT. Plus I heard this was a great match in a really cool venue in the ponderosa pine. It’s Montana in mid-May, so the weather can be just about anything from awesome to 3rd winter.
Gunwerks Sheep Mtn Shootout, Cody WY: Its in mid-June, but it’s in Wyoming so the weather shouldn’t be too hot yet. But the biggest attraction is the venue. This is the same place the Gunwerks crew holds classes on shooting in extreme angles (up and down) so the challenge of shooting down off the big ridge at a 15-30 deg angle, and uphill, is what sounds very attractive to me.
Willow Creek Washout, Alberta CAN: I shot with the MD at an earlier match and he almost had me talked into attending until I realized it conflicted with one of the other matches. Hopefully in 2025 they’ll find a weekend that doesn’t step on another western match. But based on the pics I saw, it looked like a great venue. A road trip to Canada may be in order, eh?
The 2025 match schedule is open:
https://nrlhunter.org/matches-2025/
I'll probably only be able to make matches in the southeast, and I'll probably still be dragging along my PRS rifle and shooting in Skills (love that the sport offers this division). At least for this season.
One day I'm going to have either a Light or a Heavy. Wow, the optics!The FOV on that new Kahles 3-28 is wonderful. Everytime I dream up a Heavy build, I imagine using that scope. But is the weight worth it for a Light rifle? I know it's not nearly the optic that the 3-28 is, but the weight and mag range on the Leupold 4.5-18 seems really interesting. But I don't know? My only precision rifle is so unburdened by the concept of weight that it's funny, but it has made me understand how important the rifle's balance is to its utility in this sport.
From the context of a purely gamer rifle, is the recoil/wind performance of the new, high-BC .25s projectiles, at similar Power Factors, worth the logistics squeeze compared to more broadly available 6.5mm projos?
Shot my first NRL match for 2025. It was just a local 1-day NRLH Games match, but still a lot of fun in a low-key way and a good way to knock the rust off. I think there were about 32 shooters there, a handful of first-timers which is good. It was super calm during sight-in, which is not the norm for that area, but by the time we started shooting the winds kicked up to 8-10 with gusts 12+. Fortunately it was @ about 1:30 direction and on a couple stages it was a headwind, so didn’t have to hold too much wind and the wind was fairy steady.
As the saying goes… the only way to get gooder at wind calls is to shoot in the wind….
I haven’t made any changes to my gear yet, everything from last year is still working out, and rifle is still shooting right at 1/2 MOA with my handloads so no gremlins got in there to muck things up over the winter. I did switch to an inverted tripod towards the end of last season and only have one or two matches on it, but so far I am liking it a lot. Having the cuffs at the top of the second leg makes it so much easier to deploy and fine tune the height.
You shooting the one over at COSSA in Bend? I need to get over there and shoot one of those.Originally Posted by ECK
No, Mountain Home in Idaho. I’m about 6 hrs from COSSA.
You should definitely give one of these a try. The one-day Hunter Game matches that are scattered around the country are a great way to get started.
Paging @CDub_NW (even though that feature isn't currently working...)
Instructor/540 Training
Agreed, the COSSA group is sold over here. Some very high end shooters who are all super nice and always willing to help newer shooters. Plus its a great range!
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