Our Featured Shooters are the Truebloods, a great father and son story!
Zach pictured below:
Harry pictured below:
Their stories: Harry's first then Zach's
I guess the question might be, what drew me to Vintage Benchrest.
I wanted to introduce my son, Zach, to the world of shooting, as my father had
done for me as a young boy growing up. Not living in the country now, my son Zach
did not have the same advantages I had of walking out my back door to all the hunting
and fishing a boy could ask for. My dad loved to hunt, and taught be the importance of
firearm safety, and knowing the responsibility I took every time I picked up a firearm.
So there I was wondering about where to start and where to go. I talked to one of the guys
I work with, Neil Greenwell about shooting. Neil told me about Vintage Bench
Rest and the matches they held once a month in the summer. Listing to Neil talk about
what a good group of people that he was shooting with, I could tell that Zach would be
surrounded by a group of people with a wealth of knowledge about firearms and safety.
I decided that a 22 rifle would be a good place to start with for my son. Thanks to Neil,
We were steered in the right direction on many things. Neil’s advice saved Zach and I
a lot of time, money and wasted effort.
I proceeded to build Zach a nice rimfire with a budget in mind. First we purchased a
Savage Mark11 with a thumbhole stock. We toped it off with a fair starter scope of 36
fixed power. We then went in search of a front rest and and good quality rear sand bag
for the rifle to rest on. We then purchase some cheap ammo and started shooting at
Bush Wild Life where I started teaching Zach about gun safety and how to shoot a
firearm with some accuracy.
We practiced that fall and joined Vintage Bench Restʼs rimfire competition in the spring
of 2011. I can tell you that I have not been disappointed one bit with the event or the people
that run it. Everyone I have met at this event has shown me good comradery, and offered
me good advice when I have asked for it.
Zach has picked up so much knowledge and tips in shooting from everyone, that he has
excelled in his first year shooting. Zach has gone much farther that I could of hoped for.
At out latest match 09/17/2011, Zach took first place at the sporter bolt event that he
was competing in. I got a lot of good ribbing for second place from some of the guys on
how the kid had showed up the old man. I could not have been more proud or happy at
that moment.
I want to give special thanks to Neil Greenwell for getting me interested in the sport,
Lee Lawson, who saw me and Zach there last fall watching Nell Shoot, and ask Zach to
come over and shoot his Awesome Kidd 10/22, If you had saw the smile on Zachs face
when he got up from the bench, after shooting a finely tuned precision rifle, I could see
that Lee had just hooked a big fish, and I would have no problem getting Zach to shoot
next year.
Also special Thanks to Bob Hightshoe, Shane Seals, Bruce Andrews, and Glenn Hachey
for the good advice, and tips that have helped excel Zach's and my ability to compete in
our first year.
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My name is Zachary Trueblood and I am an 18 year old senior at Barat Academy. I am shooting in the Vintage Benchrest rifle matchs for an independent sports credit for my school's athletic program. I am a first time shooter this year and have a learned a lot over the little time that I have been shooting. I owe a lot of thanks to my success to my dad, Harry Trueblood, to Bob Hightshoe and Lee Lawson. They have given great advice whenever I see them either in the competition or when I practice, Last I owe thanks to Neil Greenwell for making me want to take the extra mile and strive to win the competition.