So most of you who have been following along on my social media feeds may know this. This year I decided to attend my first major 3-Gun match, the 2016 3GN Southeastern regional in Frostproof, FL. Well things didn’t quite go as planned (not that any plan seems to stick once the buzzer goes off anyway). Before I get to the story of the Great DQ, let me first tell you a little bit about the trip. On Thursday at 4:30am IL time, I headed down from my home to the LaPorte, IN area to meet up with my Team mates (Toby and Hayden of The Tyr 1 Marksmanship Team). While traveling through Indiana we encountered a blizzard, once I arrived we we had to digg out the team trailer load our gear and hit the road. Our trip down, was plagued with a few small issues that cost us about 4 hours of travel time. On Friday, we arrived around 3:15pm local time at the range to do a walk through of the stages. My friend Jay Carillo (who’s an awesome shooter btw sponsored by Armalite) spent a little time with me working on breaking down the stages. So fast forward to Saturday the big day! I was super excited, and could not wait to shoot this match. Finally it was my turn, but I didn’t get to shoot.

Here’s what happened… During the shotgun preload, I made a big mistake I had chambered a round in my shotgun. For some reason I thought that I was supposed to have done this. Not to make an excuse because this was purely my fault, I normally run a magazine fed shotgun (My MKA 1919) this was only the second time running an semi auto tube fed shotgun. While I was pre-staging my rifle, I realized my mistake before I could say anything the other RO called it. The RO’s then had a huddle agreed it was a DQ, I said ok I understand not your fault, this was my mistake and misunderstanding. Then called Mike Sexton the match director over, we talked I explained what happened shook his hand, signed my DQ slip and packed up my gear. So I went ahead and for the rest of the weekend reset targets, took videos & pictures, helped load magazines, and just hung out with everyone. I had a lot of fun, and made the best of a bad situation.

I’m registered, and hoping to make the 2016 3-Gun Nation Southern Regional in Alabama this coming month. Hopefully I will have a chance at redemption. I don’t care where I rank, I just would like to finish the match with a smile on my face. Well either way I’ll be smiling! Oh and I forgot to mention, for those that do not know this. When you DQ, it’s tradition to go to the nearest Dairy Queen grab some ice cream and take your picture. #DQLikeABoss #SprinklesAreForWinners