Payne-Horner Win Mammoth Sniper Challenge
(l. to r.) Nate Noble, John Paul, Daniel Horner, Tyler Payne and Nick Noble after the Mammoth Sniper Challenge.
By Chad Adams
While one would assume, that with $50,000 on the line at the upcoming 3-Gun Nation Championship Finale in Las Vegas, every competitor would be spending one of the final weekends prior that event working on his Shoot-Off game. One would be wrong though.
The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s Tyler Payne, who will shoot for $50K next week, teamed up with fellow AMU soldier Daniel Horner for the Mammoth Sniper Challenge last weekend. And as is often the case in 3-gun, yet another title went with the black and gold to the Home of the Champions – Fort Benning, Georgia.
The AMU Team of Payne-Horner, with a score of 97 points, won over a field of more than 50 two-man teams at the JP Enterprises Mammoth Sniper Challenge Jan. 6-8 at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky.
Not far off the pace was the team of Ryan Castle and Scott Satterlee (94). Three-gunners Ben Fortin and Jeremy Parker teamed up for third (91.5). Clark Kennedy-Jon Lester (91) and Benjamin Voss-Justin Daley (87) rounded out the top five.
But no one was more impressive than Payne and Horner. Trailing going into the final stage, Payne shot well before Horner, with the pair trailing by two points, hit a five-point bonus target on his final shot.
“It all boils down to who can shoot,” said match director Joe Harris. “But Daniel and Tyler did very well communicating. They know each other. They work together every day.”
The AMU team also overcame pressure not necessarily endured by other competitors. On the second day of the three-day event, darkness prevented Horner and Payne, the final team of the last stage, from shooting. So Sunday morning the two, who were competing in the Tough Man division, where each competitor carried all of their gear and supplies each day, had to pick up the extra stage.
“They had to get up, had more pressure on Sunday morning, then they had to get back into walking with the group,” Harris said. “They had a little more pressure on them Sunday morning than anyone else.”
After completing the course of fire, Payne and Horner then had to resume their Tough Man challenge, catching up to the other competitors marching toward the event’s final stage. Along the way, Horner, who was battling sickness, was throwing up while humping his gear—Army strong! Their march set up the final stage, where they were trailing until Horner’s final shot.
“When he hit the bonus shot I knew the match was won,” Harris said.
Also showing well was another 3-gun team in Ben Fortin and Jeremy Parker—the pair placed third. Previously, Fortin and Parker have a 6th place finish in last year's Team Mammoth Sniper Challenge, and Parker won the individual match last year. Their success continues a trend by 3-gun shooters fairing well at Harris’ challenging Mammoth Sniper.
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Tyler Payne will be racing for the title of 3GN Champion this week in the 3-Gun Nation Championship Finale.
“(3-gunners) can handle stress; they can handle timed stages,” Harris said. “And to be quite honest, they can flat out shoot. A lot of people don’t think 3-gunners can shoot (compared to precision shooters), but they can shoot. The top 3-gunners will always do well in this match. It’s a challenge, that’s why we call it the Mammoth Sniper Challenge.”
For winning the Tough Man division, where competitors packed all their shooting gear and supplies over 16.7 miles, Payne and Horner picked up a check for $2,500. For the overall match win, they took home a JP Enterprises LRP-07 rifle.
Now Payne heads to Las Vegas to defend Horner’s 2010 3-Gun Nation Championship title for the AMU. If he’s successful, he will also take home the largest payday in the history of the sport—$50,000 from Leupold Tactical Optics and NBC Sports.
Match Results
|
Squad |
Competitor |
Division |
Red Barn |
Golf Course |
Back Ridge |
Front Ridge |
T-Valley Short |
T-Valley Long |
Total |
Rank |
|
4 |
Daniel Horner/Tyler Payne |
TM |
18 |
10 |
17 |
10 |
16 |
26 |
97 |
1 |
|
4 |
Ryan Castle/Scott Satterlee |
TM |
19 |
8 |
19.5 |
12.5 |
14 |
21 |
94 |
2 |
|
3 |
Ben Fortin/Jeremy Parker |
TM |
12 |
11.5 |
24 |
8 |
12 |
24 |
91.5 |
3 |
|
3 |
Clark Kennedy/Jon Lester |
TM |
8 |
8 |
24.5 |
8.5 |
14 |
28 |
91 |
4 |
|
4 |
Benjamin Voss/Justin Daley |
TM |
7 |
16 |
22.5 |
13.5 |
13 |
15 |
87 |
5 |
|
2 |
Peter Eiberger/Will Hemeyer |
R |
5 |
11.5 |
29 |
11 |
10 |
16 |
82.5 |
6 |
|
3 |
Todd Conley/William Shuffett |
TM |
9 |
9.5 |
13 |
7.5 |
14 |
29 |
82 |
7 |
|
2 |
John Paul/Kurt Kisch |
R |
8 |
12 |
24 |
7 |
15 |
15 |
81 |
8 |
|
3 |
Sean Utsch/David Brennaman |
R |
20 |
3 |
16 |
8 |
9 |
22 |
78 |
9 |
|
4 |
Gabriel Kessay/Chris Walker |
TM |
7 |
13 |
20.5 |
7.5 |
15 |
15 |
78 |
10 |
|
3 |
Bryan Richman/Kevin Dimarto |
TM |
4 |
6 |
25.5 |
8.5 |
13 |
20 |
77 |
11 |
|
4 |
Charles Arbuckle/Logan Cook |
TM |
18 |
10.5 |
13 |
8 |
14 |
13 |
76.5 |
12 |
|
4 |
Jason Thompson/Walt Hasser |
TM |
10 |
8.5 |
22.5 |
11 |
10 |
14 |
76 |
13 |
|
4 |
Casey Hildreath/Justin Michael |
TM |
9 |
14 |
28 |
6 |
13 |
6 |
76 |
14 |
|
5 |
Michael Pridemore/Brian Marcussen |
R |
9 |
8.5 |
17 |
9.5 |
11 |
19 |
74 |
15 |
|
5 |
John Harris/Hill Redwine |
R |
7 |
6 |
16.5 |
3 |
9 |
25 |
66.5 |
16 |
|
4 |
Jim Saunders/David Tapp |
TM |
13 |
4.5 |
18.5 |
9.5 |
10 |
13 |
68.5 |
17 |
|
1 |
Ron Koenig/Trina Koenig |
R |
13 |
12.5 |
8 |
5 |
14 |
13 |
65.5 |
18 |
|
3 |
Chris Cerino/Tony Bequette |
TM |
0 |
9 |
22 |
6 |
13 |
15 |
65 |
19 |
|
4 |
Monte Long/Lonnie Devine |
TM |
3 |
10 |
15 |
12 |
9 |
15 |
64 |
20 |
|
1 |
Jason Greene/Chase Walls |
R |
2 |
8 |
17 |
13.5 |
12 |
11 |
63.5 |
21 |
|
4 |
Chuck Ledbetter |
TM |
11 |
6.5 |
7.5 |
8 |
15 |
14 |
62 |
22 |
|
1 |
Michael Bowers/Alex Logsdon |
R |
3 |
16.5 |
13 |
14 |
11 |
3 |
60.5 |
23 |
|
3 |
John Stimpson/Peter Smith |
TM |
7 |
5.5 |
14 |
6 |
12 |
15 |
59.5 |
24 |
|
3 |
Terry Lada/Scott Critzer |
TM |
11 |
3.5 |
6 |
9 |
10 |
19 |
58.5 |
25 |
|
3 |
JT Hearn/Brian Jennings |
TM |
8 |
5 |
11.5 |
6 |
13 |
15 |
58.5 |
26 |
|
2 |
Pete Laub/George Steedly |
R |
2 |
8 |
11 |
9 |
9 |
18 |
57 |
27 |
|
2 |
James Froelich/Walt Salers |
R |
2 |
4 |
18.5 |
8 |
13 |
11 |
56.5 |
28 |
|
4 |
Jeremy Manzonni/Joel Turner |
TM |
6 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
15 |
17 |
55 |
29 |
|
4 |
Ronnie Wright/Andrew McAlister |
TM |
9 |
4.5 |
6.5 |
6 |
14 |
14 |
54 |
30 |
|
4 |
Hunter Sykes/Robert Linck |
TM |
4 |
8.5 |
9 |
5 |
15 |
12 |
53.5 |
31 |
|
2 |
Brad Follbright/Theodore Miller |
R |
6 |
8 |
10 |
5 |
8 |
16 |
53 |
32 |
|
1 |
Sean Hausman/Mike Eddy |
R |
2 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
15 |
18 |
52 |
33 |
|
1 |
Dan Little/Dennis Carpenter |
R |
1 |
8 |
7 |
7.5 |
12 |
16 |
51.5 |
34 |
|
1 |
Matthew Terrier/Trinity Brown |
R |
4 |
5 |
8.5 |
6 |
11 |
16 |
50.5 |
35 |
|
5 |
Marcus Harrison/Mark Roberts |
R |
11 |
3.5 |
15 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
50.5 |
36 |
|
5 |
Scott Vandiver/Scott Holsenback |
R |
1 |
0 |
18.5 |
6 |
10 |
12 |
47.5 |
37 |
|
3 |
Rusty Trumble/Matt Sipe |
TM |
11 |
1 |
15 |
3 |
10 |
7 |
47 |
38 |
|
4 |
Charles Zalewski |
TM |
3 |
4 |
12 |
3 |
13 |
9 |
44 |
39 |
|
3 |
Jeff Bonee/Mark Kuczka |
R |
1 |
0 |
16 |
6 |
11 |
8 |
42 |
40 |
|
2 |
Brian Kholl/Allen Morrison |
R |
3 |
2 |
9.5 |
5 |
5 |
15 |
39.5 |
41 |
|
2 |
David Power/Jason Adams |
R |
0 |
1 |
15.5 |
6 |
9 |
8 |
39.5 |
42 |
|
3 |
Scott Powers/Dana Corriveau |
R |
5 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
36 |
43 |
|
2 |
Ryan Lebouf/Nick Mertz |
R |
0 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
11 |
5 |
34 |
44 |
|
3 |
George Reinas/Ryan Murphy |
R |
0 |
0 |
14 |
4 |
12 |
3 |
33 |
45 |
|
1 |
James Ramsey/Andrew Gilewicz |
R |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4.5 |
7 |
11 |
26.5 |
46 |
|
1 |
Jason Peck/Jeremy Kifer |
R |
3 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
5 |
26 |
47 |
|
1 |
David Walker/Eyan Bowers |
R |
1 |
3.5 |
6 |
3.5 |
11 |
1 |
26 |
48 |
|
3 |
Doug Lambert/Tom Smith |
R |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
5 |
22 |
49 |
|
2 |
David Pritchett/Adam Parnell |
R |
4 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
50 |
* Ties were broken based on Thunder Valley Long, Red Barn and Back Ridge in that order.
Match Stats
|
Red Barn |
Golf Course |
Back Ridge |
Front Ridge |
T-Valley Short |
T-Valley Long |
Total |
Percentage |
|
|
Max Points Possible |
36 |
24 |
35.5 |
18 |
16 |
36 |
165.5 |
100.00% |
|
Max Points Earned Per Stage |
20 |
16.5 |
29 |
14 |
16 |
29 |
124.5 |
75.23% |
|
Points Earned by 1st Place |
18 |
10 |
17 |
10 |
16 |
26 |
97 |
58.61% |
|
Average Points |
6.54 |
6.46 |
13.78 |
7.08 |
11.36 |
13.76 |
58.98 |
35.64% |
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