I feel so stupid, first USPSA match and got DQed on my second stage..................

DK47 · Jul 16, 2012

Well, I just attended my first ever USPSA match last Sunday 7/15 at Tri-County, I've taken a safe competitor course and shot a club tactical pistol match once before but this was a points match, the real deal.

I don't know if it was nerves or absent mindedness or what, but I was received with a lot of words of encouragement and support which I am thankful for.

I shot my first stage ok, it had a Texas star in the middle that killed my time, also, I got a Mike from hitting a steel popper that didn't fall, didn't think to call a calibration... After losing a little composure on the Texas star I was going to make it up in the next stage, Devil's Ports.

Being a new shooter I was always going to be last on the squad to shoot, and it was a pretty big day, I'd say there were 10 shooters in my squad. Doing my due diligence taping and resetting targets for about half an hour just builds the tension, and finally when I was up, I was directed to enter the shooting box and the RO made his way around me to my right side, and right before he was about to say "Make ready" I drew my pistol and sighted up. :nuts: WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?! I know this, I've practiced range calls with my buddy. AAACK! needless to say I'm very disappointed in myself. Maybe I was just too caught up in my mind about the the procedures, (have a loaded pistol in a briefcase, with your back turned away from the targets outside the shooting area with your arms on your shoulders) which port I was shooting first, second, third, etc. whether I was going to do the 3' port with my last six strong handed or just shoot it all and send the last six rounds into the berm....

The RO Alex, I believe was very professional and didn't make a big scene he just told me that I'm done for the day and to turn in my score sheets. He later came up to me as I was packing up and gave me some words of encouragement and a parable about motorcycles.. Being bummed from what just happened, I had my dumb dumb cap on and forgot to unload my magazines before packing them up in my range bag with my pistol in the safety area. That too would've sent me home..

People were coming up to me and telling me that "it happens to all of us, don't worry about it", One of the older guys from the squad behind us told me that, "..There are two kinds of shooters, ones that disqualified, and ones that haven't been disqualified yet.." which made me feel better. Even one of my ROs said he made it to stage 5 before he was disqualified...

Being my first match, at least I got it out of the way and I won't be making that same mistake again, you can count on it.. ... Such a horrible feeling.. at least I didn't break the 180, drop my firearm or muzzle anybody right? I just wish I could've shot more stages or at least the classifier.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that with everyone, maybe it can help out some other new shooters. But really.. how many other people have been DQed? I understand if you don't want to admit it or say anything but words of encouragement or bashing would be helpful...

Now to read through the little blue book about 10 times...

Key-Hay · Jul 16, 2012

Sorry to hear that. Yes it does happen. You could have come over to bay 2 and practiced steel targets with Snappy and I.

You may want to come shoot Speed Steel. Less things to think about but accuracy and time are coupled with consistency. Alex is one of the top shooters there.

Throckmorton · Jul 16, 2012

match DQ's just suck,and embarass the hell outta you.... i"had 2 in my shooting 'career'. but,you do learn from them.
the RO's at TCGC are great,and Alex is a good one for sure.
and Mikel is right,give speed steel a try,it's a hot and a half.

The B · Jul 16, 2012

Ohhhh, duuude... everyone's being really nice to you, 'cause that's freaken stupid as it gets. Way to go, FNG... did your face burn green when you got that DQ?

Just kiddin'. Everyone boneheads sometimes, ESPECIALLY when you're new. Don't sweat it.. seriously.

bruzer · Jul 17, 2012

Sorry to hear about your experience but at least your man enough to own up to it and my guess it will be a good learning experience. I've never done the USPSA but IDPA and Speed Steel are fun. I've dropped magazines and shot out of sequence but it is all part of learning. Loaded up 9mm into the .40 magazines and spent about a minute clearing jams with that one. Speed Steel is a blast and very low key.
Good luck and stay safe,
Mike

DK47 · Jul 17, 2012

Thanks guys, I'm not gonna let this discourage me, I've got a couple more matches lined up, it's just the next USPSA at TCGC is on the same day I'm doing the Southern Oregon sectionals with some buddies.. I guess I'll have to prove myself in September.

I have been interested in Speed Steel and IDPA for a while, and I'll give those a try, then I can have something to do almost every weekend! ...but with my schedule now I can probably only do 1-2 matches a month, and it seems that there's only about two USPSA ones in the area, I guess Albany and Eugene aren't that far..

mikeli said:
Sorry to hear that. Yes it does happen. You could have come over to bay 2 and practiced steel targets with Snappy and I.

You may want to come shoot Speed Steel. Less things to think about but accuracy and time are coupled with consistency. Alex is one of the top shooters there.

Thanks Mikeli, but you weren't shooting the match? I would've loved to stay but my embarrassment coupled with the pain of not getting to shoot the stages was too much, plus I didn't pack a lunch and was getting hungry..

Everyone there seemed real friendly, I look forward to meeting more people maybe we can squad up next time?

BillM · Jul 18, 2012

Don't forget the USPSA match at Dundee on the 4th Saturday. A lot closer than Albany or
Eugene.

Bummer on the DQ. It happens. We had 2 DQ's on that same stage. One was my wife,
and I was the RO. It was a L-O-N-G ride home.

DK47 · Jul 18, 2012

BillM said:
Don't forget the USPSA match at Dundee on the 4th Saturday. A lot closer than Albany or
Eugene.

Bummer on the DQ. It happens. We had 2 DQ's on that same stage. One was my wife,
and I was the RO. It was a L-O-N-G ride home.

O.O; ..... oh man, I can't even begin to imagine...

Yep, I'll be there in Dundee bright and early on the 28th!

spider · Jul 18, 2012

you'll get'em next time.

Swedish K · Jul 19, 2012

Hey - you don't even have to get a DQ to be embarrassed. A few years back I was shooting PPC and the local swat team showed up - one time and never again. Out of the entire team two were in the top half - the rest were at the bottom of the bucket for final scoring. They literally owned the bottom 4 scores and they get paid to train. I think my bonehead move was showing up to match only to find I had grabbed the wrong range bag so no holster, ears, or mags. Ended up having to borrow equipment from a friend and buy some ammo just in time for the power to go out (indoor range) ending the match after the first stage.
Look at the bright side- you learned something and will do better next time

Jacketed · Jul 27, 2012

Don't let that discourage you, I am not a USPSA shooter but I am a motorcycle rider. And in the motorcycle community they say "every rider goes down, sooner or later". I had my share of spill and I was very disappointed and was sad but then a senior gentlemen from our rider group came and talked to me and told me the same thing. Everybody goes down. The losers are the ones who fall down and don't get up, a rider always picks up his bike and rides on

So take this as a lesson learnt, and you will remember this event for your life, and will never do the same mistake again.

good luck and keep shooting and winning.

DK47 · Jul 30, 2012

Second match went off without a hitch! I just want to thank Bill and all the volunteers for running a tight ship @ Dundee, everyone was really friendly and really close, it's like family.

... The "Evil Star Returns" was brutal though.. I had 120 pts and 110 penalty pts -_- need to practice those Texas stars..