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FRANCIS MARION MEMORIAL SWAMP FOX ASSAULT XXXI MATCH
RESULTS
Prepared by Mike McGreer, Match Director Every year at the Francis Marion, we strive to do the following:
- Create courses of complexity, length and difficulty
that challenge the mind, coolness under pressure and the raw
shooting skills of the shooters. Check
- Create courses that introduce extreme physical
stress which challenge the shooter’s physical strength,
dexterity, speed and stamina. CHECK
- Create courses that place environmental stresses on
the shooter, weapon and equipment, which will induce
“natural” malfunctions and failures of all types.
CHECKITY-CHECK-CHECK-CHECK.
I swear to the ancient, nameless swamp gods, that I did my best to throttle back swamp course designer Jason “El Diablo de la Ciénaga” Henthorne. For example, I made him replace the skinny, half-rotten pine branch that he originally had as a “bridge” with two utility poles. The barbed-wire was originally at a height that would have required everyone to do a low crawl on their elbows through the mud. The problem is, every time I looked away, he was adding other stuff. Regardless, the result was one of the longest, most challenging swamp courses in the history of the Francis Marion. I felt so sorry for the shooters, I knocked 20 lbs of concrete out of the drag dummy, and shortened the distances in the woods course. It definitely separated the men from the boys. Or to be more honest, especially in the case of your battered Match Director, it separated the skinny and fast, from the fat and slow.
New for this year’s match, was the “Swamp Death Rule”. Basically, this was a rule that imposed a 60 second penalty if a shooter was not able to engage all targets, due to: physical injury, running out of ammo or completely rendering a weapon inoperable or unsafe. In this year’s match, this penalty was awarded FOUR times. We witnessed everything from a barrel literally being shot off of a gun, to rims being torn off shells, to guns completely locked up with mud. In many other cases where shooters were able to continue shooting, their guns required constant “help” to keep functioning. Luckily, there were no physical injuries inducing the Swamp Death, although some egos may have been bruised.
In the end, Nathan “New Blood” Wilson, with his trusty Mossberg pump, ran away from the competition in the Stock Riot Gun Division, even edging out slightly, on total raw score, the Swamp Fox Shotgun Division winner, Jason Henthorne. Although there was a limited field of shooters in Enhanced Division, Eric Walton turned in a very respectable score to claim the top spot in that division.
Like every year, we have our new shooters. Most go home, having learned a few lessons, and usually smiling. This year’s new and bright, young star, was Danny “Swamp Boy” Tan. Although his mom still has to drive him to matches, he is on the verge of leaving the old veterans in his dust (or rooster-tail of mud). With some slight changes to his system and a little more match specific preparation, I have no doubt I’ll be seeing my name under his on next year’s match report.
In other highlights:
- Future blessings by the swamp gods have been secured
by the blood sacrifice of SO Dave Clute. His ricochet injury
to the forehead (right above / between the eyes) not only
satiated the voracious appetite of the swamp, but the
photographic evidence will surely be used as a lesson for
future shooters, about why we ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION.
Luckily, Dave was wearing his.
- Special thanks to the IDPA guys, John Moson, Tony
Lavalle, Dave Clute and Phil Tolbert, for dreaming up a
challenging and relaxingly mud-free course up on the ranges.
The props and gadgets those guys put together always make
the stuff we have in the swamp and woods look like
cobbled-together garbage that it usually is.
- Paul LeMassena’s After Match Dinner was once again,
a culinary masterpiece. Year after year, it amazes me that I
find myself sitting in an old pavilion, at a picnic table,
next to a swamp, frequently with monsoon rains falling a few
feet away from me, eating a meal that surpasses the dining
that I have had at some of the finest steak houses in
America. Kudos to Paul and the Fine Chefs of Combat Cuisine.
- And finally, huge thanks to Nathan, Roy and Jason,
who are foolish enough to burn vacation days to come out and
play in the swamp with me every year. We usually have a
small army to clean up after the match, but year after year,
it’s just a handful of crazy, misguided fools, dragging all
of that steel into the swamp and woods.
Check the media
gallery for photos and videos.
Scores:
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SWAMP
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WOODS
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DRY
LAND
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TOTAL
NORMALIZED SCORE
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NAME
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DIVISION
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SWAMP SCORE
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NORMALIZED SWAMP
SCORE
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WOODS SCORE
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NORMALIZED WOODS
SCORE
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DRY LAND SCORE
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NORMALIZED DRY LAND
SCORE
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Walton, Eric
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Enhanced
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179.72
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100.00
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90.29
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100.00
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157.51
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87.30
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287.30
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Parrack, "Dirty"
Doug
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Enhanced
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233.30
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77.03
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102.42
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88.16
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137.51
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100.00
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265.19
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Wilson, Nathan "New
Blood"
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Stock Riot Gun
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137.07
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100.00
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78.92
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100.00
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126.70
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83.66
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283.66
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Mitchell, Roy "Parma
Hillbilly"
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Stock Riot Gun
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145.41
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94.26
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94.38
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83.62
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115.94
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91.43
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269.31
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Sim, Han "The Frog
Man"
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Stock Riot Gun
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217.90
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62.91
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84.32
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93.60
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106.00
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100.00
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256.50
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Kohl, Tom
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Stock Riot Gun
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155.72
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88.02
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105.83
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74.57
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149.91
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70.71
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233.30
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Hinkle, Wayne
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Stock Riot Gun
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215.60
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63.58
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85.58
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92.22
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137.13
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77.30
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233.09
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Gerhart, Jeff
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Stock Riot Gun
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182.48
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75.12
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95.50
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82.64
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152.81
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69.37
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227.12
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Boggess, Jerod
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Stock Riot Gun
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217.80
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62.93
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82.93
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95.16
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197.45
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53.68
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211.78
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Schweinberg, Rick
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Stock Riot Gun
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182.30
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75.19
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125.70
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62.78
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202.20
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52.42
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190.40
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McKean, Bryan
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Stock Riot Gun
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241.00
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56.88
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151.58
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52.06
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187.06
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56.67
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165.61
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Irvin, Robert
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Stock Riot Gun
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283.30
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48.38
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153.74
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51.33
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181.23
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58.49
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158.21
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Proud, Mark
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Stock Riot Gun
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222.70
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61.55
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212.25
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37.18
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189.37
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55.98
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154.71
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Leppert, Jeff
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Stock Riot Gun
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380.00
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36.07
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141.01
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55.97
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188.36
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56.28
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148.31
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Schweinburg, Neil
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Stock Riot Gun
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DNF
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DNF
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166.59
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47.37
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292.30
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36.26
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DNF
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Henthorne, Jason "El
Diablo de la Ciénaga"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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150.58
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96.62
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71.14
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100.00
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122.13
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96.25
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292.87
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McGreer, Mike "Swamp
Hoss"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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202.00
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72.02
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85.20
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83.50
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117.55
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100.00
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255.52
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Tan, Danny "Swamp
Boy"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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145.49
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100.00
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106.92
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66.54
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169.04
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69.54
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236.08
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Lavalle, Tony "The
Mechanic"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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146.88
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99.05
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89.56
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79.43
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205.00
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57.34
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235.83
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McGreer, Sean "25
Stone"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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202.80
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71.74
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110.64
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64.30
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129.48
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90.79
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226.83
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Taylor, Ray
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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206.40
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70.49
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121.15
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58.72
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156.12
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75.29
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204.50
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Tolbert, Phil
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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270.70
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53.75
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145.30
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48.96
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138.99
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84.57
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187.28
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Clute, Dave "The
Sacrificial Lamb"
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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288.00
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50.52
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131.97
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53.91
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185.73
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63.29
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167.71
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Fuscoe, Fred
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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297.00
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48.99
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157.67
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45.12
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302.00
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38.92
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133.03
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Dean, Doug
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Swamp Fox Shotgun
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666.20
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21.84
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170.86
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41.64
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224.10
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52.45
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115.93
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