Canuck223, on Sep 22 2009, 05:58 AM, said:
Many moons ago, I was at a match where the course designer expected that this one target would be shot from a position about 15 yards back. All was well until a competitor for reasons lost to time, fired a shot into it from nearly contact distance.
The problem was the target was placed in a shallow pit, and the competitor was in effect putting a bullet within 3 feet of his tootsies.
He was DQ'd, but won on appeal that he was engaging a target.
Another match I attended had a couple of stealth ninja RO's and scorekeepers, running behind the competitor at his 5 and 8 o'clock position while he was whacking targets left and right.
On realizing that he'd missed a close 90 target, he slammed on the breaks, only to be overshot by the two officials on either side. The competitor immediately raised his muzzle upwards, out of thier direction, and was DQ'd for breaking 90.
He lost on arbitration. His argument was it was RO interferance that created the situation, and his actions were a reasonable response.
As to th4e first part...
10.4.2 A shot which strikes the ground within 10 feet of the competitor, except
when shooting at a paper target closer than 10 feet to the competitor.
No DQ
As to the RO out of position... Technically correct, but a bad call imo.
8.6.4
In the event that inadvertent contact from the Range Officer or another
external influence has interfered with the competitor during a course of
fire, the Range Officer may offer the competitor a reshoot of the course
of fire. The competitor must accept or decline the offer prior to seeing
either the time or the score from the initial attempt. However, in the
event that the competitor commits a safety infraction during any such
interference, the provisions of Section 10.3 may still apply.
It could be the ROs thought the guy put the brakes on to cause a situation that would get him a reshoot. I'm not saying that's the case here. just that it has to be considered in such a case.