This Saturday Bob Vogel, the full-time cop from Wapakoneta, Ohio, will shoot the Smith & Wesson IDPA Indoor Nationals. He is likely to win...again. Make that very likely.

Since 2008 Bob Vogel has owned the Smith & Wesson match. Photo by Yamil Sued

Consider this, since his first Indoor Nationals win in the Stock Service Pistol division in 2008 Vogel has won his division and posted the top overall score every year, including shooting the Enhanced Service Pistol division from 2009 to 2011. And not only has he won but the Team Panteao member has often been the most accurate shooter in the match. Over the past four years Vogel has dropped just 102 points at the Smith & Wesson match which comes to a staggering 2.21 points down average per stage shot. During the same period he's recorded only two Non-Threat hits (a 5 second penalty), three Procedurals (a 3 second penalty) and zero Failures to Neutralize (a 5 second penalty). Vogel's dominance in the International Defensive Pistol Association isn't limited to Smith & Wesson's Indoor Nationals either. For the last five years he's won the IDPA National Championships shooting SSP (2011, 2007), Custom Defensive Pistol (2010) and ESP (2009, 2008). At the last five IDPA Nationals he's averaged an even better 2.02 points down per stage shot with 178 total points down. During that time he recorded zero Non-Threat and zero Failure to Neutralize penalties, with just a single Procedural in 2007 marring a near perfect run. And he's shot clean on a third (33.5%) of the combined 134 stages in these nine championship matches. That stat jumps to 36.4% if you add in his 2006 and 2005 IDPA National Championship appearances when he finished second in SSP and ESP respectively. Adding to his major match wins, Vogel claimed IDPA's triple crown in 2011 in what was his first appearance at the Carolina Cup, taking the SSP title while again posting the top overall score.

Vogel's ability to balance speed with accuracy has propelled him to the top of IDPA. Photo by Yamil Sued

No other competitor in IDPA has racked up such an impressive track record as Bob Vogel, which probably explains why he is the sport's only three division Distinguished Master - the highest skill level now recognized in IDPA. Vogel's ability to put together both blazing speed and incredible accuracy, and deliver that combination seemingly at will in any of the sport's three main divisions, makes him the undisputed number one ranked shooter in IDPA...as well as the obvious odds on favorite to win (again) in Springfield this Saturday. With no sign of his slowing down it's likely that shooting sports observers will look upon this period of time as the era defined by the Vogel Supremacy. - Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network Got shooting sports news? Send us an email at info@shootingwire.com.