By Tom Claycomb
Montgomery, Alabama--(Ammoland.com)- The 1st Annual Squirrel Master Classic was held Feb. 20 2014 at the Southern Sportsman’s Lodge west of Montgomery, Alabama. It was sponsored by GAMO and of course we used GAMO air rifles.
Everyone was impressed with their accuracy, how light weight they were and how they’ve reduced the sound with their new technology.
On Feb. 19th 2014 Tony Dolle picked up Justin Morrissey, Kendall Hemphill and myself at the airport and we got in early at the lodge and headed to the gun range to sight in our rifles.
We then hit the dinner and opening ceremonies. Teams were assigned and we were good to go. Each team had a Press member, 2 outdoor TV stars, GAMO executive, a 4-H kid, guide and a dog handler. I was assigned to the “Afflicted to The Outdoors” team with Jon & Gina Brunson.
We woke up to a great southern breakfast, jumped in the trucks and hit the woods. Right at daybreak we were in Red Alert Squirrel Mode. Whoa, this was going to be a lot more intense than I figured. The dog would jump on a tree and mark a squirrel for us. I’m glad as a last minute hunch I had Bass Pro Shop send me a pair of their new 10×42 Oculus Binocs. The squirrels would get up in top of a tree, hug the branch and I spent half my time glassing.
We were limited to a three hour morning hunt then back to the lodge for lunch and then hit it that afternoon for another three hour hunt. At noon we had a mid-day weigh in. On the scoreboard they marked how many squirrels we had and the weights. At the end of the day we had an afternoon weigh in and points were totaled.
That night there was an awards testimony and Buckmasters team members Jackie Bushman, Jacob Landry, Lou Riley, Adam Heggenstalker, Jim Shepard and Callie Littlefield won 1st place and were awarded Wooden Squirrel trophies. It was a fun event.
Gamo Outdoor USA is a leading consumer products company that designs, manufactures and markets a diverse portfolio of outdoor sporting goods products under such world class brands as GAMO, BSA Optics, Laser Genetics, Aftermath, Stunt Studios and is the exclusive distributor of BSA Guns. For more information, visitwww.gamooutdoorusa.com; Facebook.com/GamoOutdoorUSA; Twitter.com/GamoOutdoor; and YouTube.com/GamoOutdoor.