Monday, April 04, 2005
The Godfather
I heard over the weekend that the man who I call the Godfather of American Field Target, Rodney Boyce, is retiring from field target. I was saddened by the news but knew that this would happen one day. His retirement was officially announced at the Cajun Classic in Baton Rouge on Sunday. Jack Kirkendoll announced it to the crowd of airgunners before the awards ceremony and reviewed with us some of the things that Rodney had done over the years for field target here in the US.
I know I won’t remember everything from Jack’s speech but here are some the highlights of what Rodney did for the FT sport: he pioneered the use of high magnification scopes used to rangefind targets, was one of the first airgunners to use PCP rifles in competition, he came up with the squadding system we use at our matches, he pioneered and then eliminated the chair class, he helped write the bylaws and shoot rules that we currently use, he helped to form the world FT organization, he help in the development of the Crosman premier pellet, (if memory serves me right) his club held the first US Nationals in 1987, he was an AAFTA governor for a lot of years, he also help bring gentlemanly conduct into the sport.
On top of all that, he was a huge promoter of the game. He brought a lot of us airgunners into the sport of Field Target and now we are forever hooked on it. It was Rodney that encouraged Jack and Terry Kirkendoll to start a club in Baton Rouge that is now one of the best clubs in the country. Over the years he has persuaded and encouraged many more guys to shoot FT and to start their own clubs. I was just one of them.
Rodney was my mentor as a match director and a shooter. I lived just two hours north of him when I lived in Florida. I bought my first real adult air rifle (an HW97) in September of ’94 so that I could shoot in the back yard and hopefully to shoot Silhouette. I bought it from Bob Koschler in the Tampa area and he gave me Rodney number to talk to about field target. I called him and he talked me into attending the upcoming state match in December. I read a bit about it and decided to give it a try. I went to the match with a Bushnell 9x airgun scope on my rifle and shot a dismal 24 of 60 but after I hit my first target, a blue bird in a tree, I was hooked.
It was Rodney that suggested I should go to Baton Rouge the following April and shoot the US Nationals there. I decided to upgrade to a Bushnell 6-18x scope for the match and shot another dismal 60 of 100 but took second place in Standard piston class. It was after that match that I decided to start my own club and a local gun club and Rodney took me under his wing to help me get things organized and get the club running.
Over the years Rodney helped me prepare and run a lot of matches including my first Nationals in 1999. He encouraged some of my own new ideas for that match like the use of timers on all lanes and it was him that put my name in the hat for AAFTA governor. He has had a pronounced affect on my shooting career and much of what I do as a match director and shooter is because of his influence.
On top of all of that, Rodney was a heck of a shooter. He won the national championship three times and many other matches that he shot in. He was always looking for an edge and constantly tinkering with his equipment and coming up with all kinds of innovations to help him shoot better. On top of all that he was a friend and a just a nice guy. Our game will miss him and I doubt that it will ever be quite the same again.
I know I won’t remember everything from Jack’s speech but here are some the highlights of what Rodney did for the FT sport: he pioneered the use of high magnification scopes used to rangefind targets, was one of the first airgunners to use PCP rifles in competition, he came up with the squadding system we use at our matches, he pioneered and then eliminated the chair class, he helped write the bylaws and shoot rules that we currently use, he helped to form the world FT organization, he help in the development of the Crosman premier pellet, (if memory serves me right) his club held the first US Nationals in 1987, he was an AAFTA governor for a lot of years, he also help bring gentlemanly conduct into the sport.
On top of all that, he was a huge promoter of the game. He brought a lot of us airgunners into the sport of Field Target and now we are forever hooked on it. It was Rodney that encouraged Jack and Terry Kirkendoll to start a club in Baton Rouge that is now one of the best clubs in the country. Over the years he has persuaded and encouraged many more guys to shoot FT and to start their own clubs. I was just one of them.
Rodney was my mentor as a match director and a shooter. I lived just two hours north of him when I lived in Florida. I bought my first real adult air rifle (an HW97) in September of ’94 so that I could shoot in the back yard and hopefully to shoot Silhouette. I bought it from Bob Koschler in the Tampa area and he gave me Rodney number to talk to about field target. I called him and he talked me into attending the upcoming state match in December. I read a bit about it and decided to give it a try. I went to the match with a Bushnell 9x airgun scope on my rifle and shot a dismal 24 of 60 but after I hit my first target, a blue bird in a tree, I was hooked.
It was Rodney that suggested I should go to Baton Rouge the following April and shoot the US Nationals there. I decided to upgrade to a Bushnell 6-18x scope for the match and shot another dismal 60 of 100 but took second place in Standard piston class. It was after that match that I decided to start my own club and a local gun club and Rodney took me under his wing to help me get things organized and get the club running.
Over the years Rodney helped me prepare and run a lot of matches including my first Nationals in 1999. He encouraged some of my own new ideas for that match like the use of timers on all lanes and it was him that put my name in the hat for AAFTA governor. He has had a pronounced affect on my shooting career and much of what I do as a match director and shooter is because of his influence.
On top of all of that, Rodney was a heck of a shooter. He won the national championship three times and many other matches that he shot in. He was always looking for an edge and constantly tinkering with his equipment and coming up with all kinds of innovations to help him shoot better. On top of all that he was a friend and a just a nice guy. Our game will miss him and I doubt that it will ever be quite the same again.
