More than likely, my days of SO'ing big matches are in the past. So I guess I have to respond to this as a "local" SO. But... IMNSHO... That is just WRONG! An SO who does not inform a shooter of a penalty is simply NOT doing his/her job. Yeah, we all get busy and hectic and slip from time to time. Lord knows I have missed one or two. But when it was brought to my attention, I explained to the shooter what happened and why I assessed the penalty. If the shooter gets upset in any way, I pull it. I made a mistake by not telling the shooter of the problem. I take the heat. Again.. all at a local level.

When I WAS So'ing at bigger matches, the shooter is required to sign the score sheet before moving on. If we both signed a score sheet without a discussion of the problem.. oh well. At big matches we are playing by Big Boy rules. You sign it... you accept it.

But.. in those big matches.. I was always EXTRA careful to make sure I did tell the shooter of any problem immediately after the gun was clear and holstered. I would never want someone to loose a match because of an inaccurate call on my part. I made sure that all the SOs were in agreement with me before making the call and that it was communicated to the shooter right then.