Bush flies make taking aim tough

The final round of the cowboy lever action was held this month in hot conditions approaching 40 degrees.

But the only real impediment was the mass of bush flies, which appear every October like magic.

The regular invasion by those pesky little insects would be an ideal idea for an Alfred Hitchcock thriller movie.

They sorely tested the concentration of the hardy band of competitors at the Sporting Shooters Range on the plains just north of Port Hedland.

The first event was rimfire lever action and it was won by a competitor known to all as the ‘fellow in the blue shirt’ (Cairn Green) with a top score of 21.

Second was club legend Nesbit Anderson on 18 with Jason (Buzz) Bassola on 17, a creditable effort in only his second shoot in this event.

Fourth on 15 was Belle Green who has come on in leaps and bounds this season.

The flies were unrelenting but they didn’t seem to bother ‘the fellow in the blue shirt’ with another score of 21 to win the pistol calibre event just beating Di Nicholls who stormed home to fall just short on 20, a personal best for the season.

Third was Peter Nicholls, unable to best his better half, on 18.

A host of shooters were grouped in the 15-17 range.

There was tension in the air, for the final event.

In a spirit of partisan anti-sportsmanship, everyone was hoping that someone, anyone, would beat the ‘blue shirt’ who always seems to win.

But alas it was not to be, as a season’s best 25 saw him take out the rifle event with Nesbit Anderson and Peter Nicholls making up the placegetters.

The ‘fellow in the blue short’ ended up winning all three events scoring over 20 points in each.

So apart from Cairn Green, only the bush flies were victorious.