Hey ho, most enjoyable thread so I thought I would add my thoughts on HFT courses etc. The first thing to say is these are thoughts and observations, not gripes as my philosophy is to turn up and shoot what has been put out with thanks to the course setters.
When I started HFT there is no doubt the courses were 'easier' with bigger kill zones at closer ranges. Then came the various revisions with smaller kill zones at longer ranges than before. This made good scores, for me, much harder ... I am only a mediocre shot but enjoy it. What I observed though was that courses became harder as there seemed to be a subconscious element of competition for course setters to set the hardest course permissible; hence small kills were set at the maximum range allowed, some shots required the skills of a gymnast to be able to see the kill ... getting more difficult for me as the years pass by. But, hey ho ... shoot what is set and enjoy it. I did notice a few newcomers getting low scores on their first or second shoots though and they were a tad disgruntled; never to be seen again. The reason for the changes to course design were, I believe, to separate the top shots and so avoid too many ties and shoot offs at the end of the day. I am not sure this was achieved?
Then there are other rules ... being allowed to rest the rifle butt on the ground? I was surprised at this being allowed as, to me, it is akin to turning a prone shot into a form of bench rest. If I was the rule maker I would stop this practice; but I am not, so am happy to accept the rule. Beanbags?? Again I would not allow them for kneeling shots; I have seen shooters with bean bags that could, for all intents and purposes be sitting on a stool. But I do not make the rules so am happy to follow what is set. Maybe if rules were changed to fit my thoughts the desire to separate the top shots would be achieved?
I stress that these are just thoughts, not gripes but I have no doubt some people will think them a whinge. As it is, I only have admiration for the 'two Petes' for all the effort they put into rule setting and organisation for HFT and happily shoot whatever is set.

Cheers, Phil