ClayShootingUS May/June 2022

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PUBLISHER THADDIUS BEDFORD

CONTENTS JOURNAL NO. 120

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REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: BRUCE BUCK PAUL COOK BILL ELLIOTT MATTHEW GAY JIM KRALIK DEREK MOORE DEE ORR HARVEY SCHWARTZ LOUISE TERRY SPENCER TOMB MIMI WILFONG

DEFENDER OUTDOORS CLAY SPORTS RANCH

60 TRIDENT CUP

AFS GAMEBORE CLASSIC

COVER PHOTO: MIKE BASHAW Blowing off steam at the US Open Photo Credit: Thaddius Bedford

editor@clayshootingusa.com

OFFICE MANAGER HAYLYN HANKS

56 TEXAS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

64 A SHOOTER’S JOURNEY TO LASER VISION CORRECTION

BY MATTHEW GAY

70 GAMALIEL CUP 10 EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP HUNTERS POINTE

TODD HITCH TAKES CHAMPION

74 FITASC GRAND PRIX

JOE CANTEY’S HERMITAGE FARM

14 GATOR CUP

GEORGIA EDITION

78 2022 U.S. OPEN

20 TEXAS MAJOR LIVESTOCK SHOWS

NOT JUST FOR COWS, SOWS AND PLOWS

SETTING THE BAR HIGH

2022 U.S.OPEN

24 ACUI COLLEGIATE NATIONALS

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32 2022 WESTERN REGIONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS & ALL DEPARTMENTS: CLAYSHOOTINGUSA 3921 127TH STREET LUBBOCK, TX 79423 TEL 210.377.1117 WEBSITE: www.clayshootingusa.com

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36 2022 FLORIDA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP AT QUAIL CREEK SPORTING RANCH

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It is used in the editorial and advertising pages of this magazine to report on such events, promote the discipline and advertise upcoming events by kind permission of the FITASC representative for America.

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52 2022 WORLD ENGLISH

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Technical ballistics and other information provided by our journalists, contributors and correspondents is published in good faith and should not replace established safe practices. Neither the author or publisher accept responsibility for injury or equipment damage resulting from its use.

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112 PARTING SHOTS

NEWS, PEOPLE AND EVENTS

FROMTHEPUBLISHER

8

PUBLISHER’S NOTES

A

s many of our readers may already be aware, Dana Farrell has resigned from his position of Editor at ClayShootingUSA. Dana took on the role in July 2017 as the Brunton family retired from the sporting clays community, handing over the reins of ownership to myself. I thank Dana for his editorial prowess over the last nearly six years and wish him well in his future endeavors, both on and off the course.

Change is inevitable and ClayShootingUSA has had its fair share over the years. The publication began in the UK under the capable leadership of the late Michael Brunton, who led multiple industrial and leisurely publications, including the original ‘Clay Shooting’, prior to launching ClayShootingUSA here in the States, in 2002. In fact, this issue, Journal 120, marks 20 years of sporting clays coverage here in the U.S., including many international events. We will be bringing you an anniversary edition right behind this issue, as the first published issue of ClayShootingUSA, Journal 1, launched July/August of 2002.

This anniversary issue will be full of our favorite stories over the years—a look back at shooter profiles, retail therapy at the time, historical tidbits, a visit to retired columns, days gone by and plenty of photos—you’ll never know who we might run across!

Along with this visit to the past, ClayShootingUSA is also looking to its future. This publication has always been known for its quality photography and I am proud to announce we have partnered with one of the best photographers in the shooting industry, Thaddius Bedford. Thaddius is well known in this sport, traveling the country and beyond over the last 12 years covering the shooting sports, including NSCA, ATA and most recently USA Shooting sanctioned events. Many of you have been on the other end of Thaddius’ lens, whether you knew it or not. What many of you are not aware of is that Thaddius has a background in publishing as well. He was the brain behind one of our sister publications, LadyShooter LifeStyles, a shooting lifestyle magazine just for the ladies.

LadyShooter LifeStyles was

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established before women became the largest growing demographic in the industry. It began as a digital publication, long before there were many women in our sport, and is currently evolving into the vision Thaddius had when he conceived the idea of a Lady Shooter centric publication. Along with his publishing and photographical expertise, Thaddius brings a fresh approach to an ever-changing industry. You’ll see some more in-depth coverage on the life Thaddius led as a photographer before he came to the shooting world in a future issue. There are so many people in this great sport that have stories behind our common love for shooting and we can’t wait to tell those stories.

We’ve added another great asset to our team—Haylyn Hanks. Haylyn is studying Business at Texas A&M

and is a part of their collegiate shooting team. She will be doing a multitude of things here at the magazine—she’ll be the friendly voice on the other end of the line when you contact us, she’ll be managing our subscriptions, she’s going to dabble in some writing and do some advertising work. She’s an absolute gem and we’re so happy to have Haylyn on board.

Along with some staffing developments, we’re making some expansions in the area of content. As you know, we are a very niche publication, focused solely on competition sporting clays coverage and shoot results. You’ll notice in this issue, there is a new section on USA Shooting and how our team members that travel the world are representing the USA. You may say, but that’s not our game, and you’d be correct. However, these shooters

often shoot cross-disciplines and represent our country at the highest level in shotgun sports. We want to support them in any way we can by sharing what they’re up to, and how others can get involved is important to us.

Additional areas of content development you’ll see are in the additional clubs that we highlight.

There are so many beautiful and successful clubs across the country that don’t get their fair share of coverage, simply because they don’t throw registered shoots. There are more recreational shooters out there that shoot for fun than there are serious competition shooters, it’s time we included more content of use to those shooters that may be looking to move to the next level.

Lastly, you’ll begin seeing more crossover into bird hunting/wing shooting articles, ranging from gear and guns to stories and dogs. We’ve historically avoided the inclusion of hunting articles, but with the knowledge that bird hunting was the historical impetus for the clay target sports (we call targets birds for a reason), and a large portion of our readership participates in bird hunting, we’ve decided to expand our horizons to include that subject matter.

If you’re just joining us as a newer subscriber, we’re so glad you’re here.

And if you’ve been with us since the very beginning, we thank you for your loyalty over the years and hope you enjoy the direction we’re heading. We especially want to express our gratitude for the patience and grace we’ve been given throughout the magazine’s difficulty in the past year. We’ve seen challenges with delays due to paper shortages, the pandemic, death within the ownership and staffing changes. We’re turning the corner and thank you all for sticking with us through it all. We have the best subscribers and advertisers! n

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With the 2020 Olympics postponed to 2021, we have even less time to raise funds for our USA Shooting Olympic Team. As the only non-government supported shooting team in the world, USA Shooting relies heavily on donors and sponsor to help maintain a history of success! Last year USA Shooting Olympians came home with 6 medals, of which 4 were Shotgun! (2 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze) Come out to American Shooting Centers in Houston, TX to help us Push to Paris!

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HUNTERSPOINTE

10

EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 HUNTERS POINTE

MARCH 10 -13, 2022

BY DEREK MOORE

I

enjoyed this event so much last year I just had to come back.

Last year it was my first tournament of the year—this year I have already a couple under my belt now that I live permanently in North Carolina, where the weather is usually 10 - 15 degrees warmer than New Jersey. This weekend 318 shooters braved the oncoming bad weather that even my mom couldn’t stop altogether. Friday was beautiful, a really nice day. Saturday was a mud pit when the rain stopped about 10.30am, but produced snow and more cold stuff in the afternoon and Sunday was back to cold.

The layout was a little different this year—the 5-stand moved to the open field on the left over where the trailer parking is when you come in off Decoy Drive. The Super Sporting, Sub Gauge, SxS, 12 Gauge and Pump were all the way to the right over that same field and the FITASC was all the way at the back. A little change of scenery.

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5-Stand The change in layout made a big difference for the 5-stand as it was set over the big open field rather than at the back, confined in a small area as in previous years.

Once more Marianne Ulloa was in charge, this time of the entire event. She really understands what shooters want to hear and called out each pair to be shot and did the scores as well as I have seen it done by anyone. The 5-stand is a different format from any other I have shot. The variation is that each stand had ten birds, three report pair and two true pair. With eight targets to choose from, the most difficult was the 2 bird from a high tower at left, crossing left to right with some pace and very slowly dropping as it ran out of steam.

The 8 bird was a fast climber from the center of the course going straight up at a 45-degree angle and out some distance. Not too

hard as the first bird but made more difficult when it is the second. High gun was Dillon Epp, a top shooter with a 46. I should note that six shooters in master class shot in the 20s which shows you that the targets were tricky and not as easy as they looked.

High lady was Carrie Metheny with a 29.

Prelim The Scott Downs Prelim shot on Friday. Fifteen stations were thrown—five stations of eight targets and ten stations with six targets. All were fair in the air with no vision tests at all. I thought it was one of the nicer set courses. The weather was conforming and was downright nice by afternoon when

HUNTERSPOINTE

we started the prelim at 2:30pm.

Our squad was one light as James Justice wasn’t feeling well enough to shoot, so our squad was Jared Rumer, Andrea Seefeldt-Knight, James McGowan and myself. I was impressed by Andrea’s new vest by Barepelt. It’s very light and colorful as opposed to the heavy vests we are used to. Her vest shows her riding in the Kentucky Derby, she was one of the only ladies ever to do that. Barepelt vests can be designed specifically for the shooter, and I think they will become prevalent in our sport.

We started on station 9 with three report pairs from C and D—the D

and a 90mm traveling together with the D bird but then veering left towards the trees. Again, this could be taken either way. The last pair on Station 8 traveled up the tree line and magically appeared in the sky. They crossed the clearing until they ran out of steam requiring very little lead but taking a bird here and there in the battle of the scorecard. On 6, we had two true birds from the left curling like a snooker ball, weaving in and out. After you took the C bird, the D proceeded to take off to the left, an interesting pair. Andrea claimed High Gun for the ladies with a 78. Well shot Andrea. HOA was Wesley Elliott with an

quartering away a little right and on report the C bird going out at about two o’clock and vearing right at the end of its path. On 12, we were treated to three true pair of rabbits, one from all the way back maybe fifty yards and one crossing from the right at thirty yards and full face screaming “Me! Me!” as it crossed in front of you. I took the back bird first before the crosser appeared, I had plenty of choke and when done the crosser was right there in front of you. The others in the squad took the crosser first and then the back bird was readily available. We had three true pair on 11, a standard climber

outstanding 99.

next day—an unexpected chilly start for this time of year in North Carolina.

I will bet that the targets looked very different to when they were set in the nicer weather, making some sight difficulties where the bird disappeared in the tree shade. However, we all shoot the same targets. Station 5 from the wood stand saw a true pair— target A from the left, traveling at high velocity down the hill to crash into the ground and target B came from the back of the trees and was only visible for the last ten feet. Our squad did pretty good under the difficult circumstances with Jared Rumer running the

11

station on his way to a 97 win for the day. I have to say I shoot with him often and have never seen him more focused.

The other station due a mention is station 7—a fast left to right low crosser in front of a berm with a flopper coming from back behind the berm and dropping down behind as a true pair. I saw lots of misses here as you had to take the crosser as early as possible so as to have time to shoot the flopper when you saw it and before it dropped behind the berm.

Again, it was one we held together well with Jared and James running them all. There were 15 stations, five with eight targets and ten with

East Coast Championship Saturday was the start of the main event. A major East Coast storm arrived during the night.

At 8.30am, it was 67 degrees and by 10am it was only 42 degrees.

After heavy rain all night, it slowed down to a drizzle as we started and by the time we finished, we were all soaked.

Temps dropped to 24 degrees that evening but we were due sunshine and a high of 48 the CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

N EW

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six targets a comfortable number to shoot.

At the end of the day, Wesley Elliott and Jared Rumer were in first place both with 97 and Bill Dennis right behind them with 96. New Jersey’s Grace Callahan was easily in the ladies first place with a 91 with second place Katelyn Alligood back at 79. John Commerford of the NRA was in first place with a 90 in AA, tied with Zack Reaves and Frankie Owens.

Sunday the weather had calmed down but was bitter cold for the morning flight, everybody was bundled up like it was still winter. The targets were looking better in the light but they were still good targets with clear presentations.

A couple of targets for discussion—stand 15, the C bird was a chandelle rabbit cruising from right to left into the trees. On report, a left to right low bird much slower and diving. On 13, we had two very high targets slowly going from

left to right and stalling before dropping each with its own curve. Overall, I think the targets for all events were spectacular and better even than last year. Braxton Oliver and his crew are to be commended.

The battle for first place on FITASC, for me, was the story of the weekend. Grace Callahan and Andrea Seefeldt Knight tied for 91, with Grace being high gun on Saturday, having finished all of her targets. High gun after the dust settled was John Truitt, only one target better with a 92 tied with Mitch Hines.

With two ladies with second place scores for the entire event, it is only a matter of time before we see them in first place—they are already fighting it out with the guys. So with that I will remind you all to be ready for next year’s shoot at Hunters Pointe — I am sure you won’t regret it. n

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CHEROKEEROSE

14

GATOR CUP GEORGIA EDITION

BY HARVEY SCHWARTZ

T

he first Gator Cup, Georgia, Edition was held at the historic Cherokee Rose in Griffin, Georgia. 593 total competitors entered overall, with 492 participating in the main event.

As an outdoor sport it’s not always sunshine, rain was predicted for the week. At the event Mother Nature threw several curveballs, which were handled by the staff like professionals. Thanks to the unruly rain spigot, the overflow parking area became unusable. Management was able to adapt and overcome, securing offsite parking for competitors.

The owners of Lowe Toyota of Warner Robins, Georgia stepped up and provided shuttle vans from the offsite lots to the entrance of Cherokee Rose.

Fred Fanizzi, owner of The Gator Cup, told me the primary reason he relocated the shoot to Cherokee Rose was his relationship with the owner, Dave Dalton. To host a shoot of this size CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

requires managing complex logistics on all fronts. Cherokee Rose did not disappoint, and the shoot went one with few hitches.

The Fanizzi’s and owners of Cherokee Rose provided the shooter an experience to remember for years to come.

Side Events The five-stand event was a fiftybird event held on two-banks of twenty-five each. Anthony Matarese, Jr. and Chris Ferres both shot well, dropping only one of the fifty targets and besting all competitors. After the tie breaker, Matarese claimed HOA. Madison Sharpe posted a 47/50 to earn the Lady’s title.

The Winchester Super-sporting event was the second highest attended this weekend with 322 entrants. Laid out over eight stations, the fifty-target event proved quite popular and fun for shooters.

When all the scores were counted Todd Simmons and Rich Pazderski had tied things up with a pair of 49s.

Simmons prevailed in the tie breaker to earn HOA honors.

Sub gauge events were held on an eight-station course offering .12, .20, .28 gauge and .410 bore events.

Sub gauge FITASC was held in an area at the beginning of the designated FITASC area. A total of ten traps graced each layout, with each gauge shooting completely different targets from the pegs.

This approach makes it much

SIDE EVENTS 5-STAND CH RU

ANTHONY MATARESE CHRIS FERRES

49 49

SUPER SPORT CH TODD SIMMONS RU RICH PAZDERSKI

49 49

20 GA FITASC CH WILL FENNELL RU JAMES GILMAN

48 48

28 GA FITASC CH ARIK PARASCHOS RU MICHAEL CLARK

50 49

BRILEY 12 GA CH GARY PYRON RU TODD SIMMONS

49 49

BRILEY 20 GA CH FRANK WATSON RU CHRISTOPHER MOORE

49 48

BRILEY 28 GA CH CRAIG SINGLETARY RU MICHAEL MARELLI

47 47

BRILEY .410 BORE CH JOHN CRLJENKO RU ALEX SUMNER

44 44

CHEROKEEROSE

more interesting than shooting the same targets from different pegs.

Krieghoff / Rocky Creek / Federal / Remington Preliminaries

Kolar FITASC

Three preliminary events were available to get shooters into the groove before the main. Thursday’s prelim was shot on the Rose course. Braxton Oliver claimed the HOA spot with a 98/100, a single target ahead of Wendell Cherry.

Friday offered two additional preliminary sporting events, one on the Creek and another on a fresh set of targets on Rose. On the Friday Rose course, Wendell Cherry continued to perform well claiming the HOA spot with a 96/100 outpacing Joseph Pinchin by two targets. The Creek course prelim saw a three-way tie between Clint Hinton, Lady Champion Madison Sharpe and Zach

PRELIMINARIES THURSDAY PRELIM - ROSE CH BRAXTON OLIVER RU WENDELL CHERRY FRIDAY PRELIM - CREEK CH CLINT HINTON RU MADISON SHARPE FRIDAY PRELIM - ROSE CH WENDELL CHERRY RU JOSEPH PINCHIN

Kienbaum with 97s for the top spot.

After the ties were broken Hinton came out on top, ahead of Sharpe and Kienbaum respectively.

98 97 97 97 96 94

The shoot began on Tuesday with two rotations of FITASC. Joe Cantey provided target setting services for the one hundred target event. Parcour one may have been the most difficult

FITASC CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH

ANTHONY MATARESE WENDELL CHERRY GEBBEN MILES DOMINIC BETHEL JOEL LOVE BRODY SAMSON HUNTER RALEY BRYSON ELWER KNIGHTLY DURIS KAREN SHEDD TODD HITCH WENDELL CHERRY MALCOLM PARKER GARY WALSTROM

98 96 95 87 83 81 86 63 65 91 93 96 94 90

layout with the C target below your feet as an outgoer. Parcour 3 had a tower to the left of the pegs with a black bottomed standard and midi being thrown as outgoers. Parcour 4 had one rabbit target and one battue target. Cantey did an excellent job making sure the targets were challenging yet fair to all.

Anthony Matarese, Jr. continued his tremendous shooting, dropping only two targets to earn champion honors, two targets

15

ahead of Wendell Cherry and three targets ahead of Gebben Miles. Karen Shedd dominated the lady division posting a 91/100 to outpace the closest competitor by seven targets.

Beretta/Cole Main Event The Main event was held on two, sixteen station courses, the Rose, and the Creek. Matson and Luongo set the Rose course with Hemingway and Dorsey setting the Creek course. Our first stand was station two on the Rose course. It is commonly referred to as ‘The *itch in the Ditch”.

Shooting from well above the ground, a report pair with a

SPORTING MAIN CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

RODNEY DISBROW CLINT HINTON TODD HITCH BOB CARLETON GABE COLLINS JACKSON MAY RYKER SIMS MILES CARSON WILLIAM MERCURE KAREN SHEDD GRIFFIN HOWE TODD HITCH BILL MCGUIRE JAMES GILMAN JIM BELLOWS PERCY NEWTON

189 189 188 171 170 156 163 154 137 174 185 188 186 175 163 130

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

CHEROKEEROSE

16

runner-up slot. Karen Shedd shot consistently well on both courses to earn the lady’s champion trophy after posting a 174/100.

All-in-All Vendor row was well occupied with shooters and vendors alike.

No less than eighteen vendors were on site to display their goods and services. Beretta, PMS Firearms, DuPont Krieghoff, Pure Gold Chokes and Woolley Shooting clinic were there, just to name a few.

quartering out rabbue followed by an incoming battue was the menu.

It was a very entertaining station with each target being very visible and hittable. Station nine of the Rose course was a report pair with a high chandelle going right to left over the pond along with a lazy, right to left crosser.

The crosser caught more than a few shooters asleep at the wheel.

Station eleven on the Creek course had a true pair with the first bird being on edge outgoer, followed by a slow rabbit. There’s nothing like off-speed presentation to keep a shooter on their toes. These were very fun, and wells set targets.

After all the smoke had cleared a shoot-off was required to settle the winner of HOA crown.

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Montanan Rodney Disbrow and Georgia’s Clint Hinton finished the event with a pair of 189s. Disbrow prevailed in the shoot-off to claim the top honors with Hinton in the

The Banquet kicked off on Saturday night. Several guns were given away, as well as many other vendor provided prizes. The shooters attending the banquet were served one of the best meals at an event of this magnitude that I can remember.

Congratulations to all the winners of this inaugural event.

The Fanizzi family, and the owners and staff of Cherokee Rose should be commended for a job well done. n

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YOUTHSHOOTING

20

TEXAS MAJOR LIVESTOCK SHOWS… NOT JUST FOR COWS, SOWS, AND PLOWS

A

ny true Texan will tell you everything is bigger and better in Texas and that definitely holds true for their livestock shows. You may be thinking what does a livestock show have to do with shotgun sports? In Texas, the major livestock shows are not just about showing lamb, goat, and cattle— they also include shooting sports.

Texas has eight major livestock shows across the state of which five of these shows include shotgun tournaments as part of their events. The season starts with the Heart of Texas Fair in Waco, which occurs during October, as well as this year the Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo added a tournament. The next stop is CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

BY BRANDY ELROD Rodeo Houston and then the San Antonio Stock Show in February.

Coming in 2023, Rodeo Austin will be adding a shotgun tournament.

Each of the stock shows has their own individual requirements for youth to enter, but all of them have the following same criteria: n Must be a member of a Texas 4-H or FFA n Must reside in the state of Texas n Must have participated in one major show qualifier per the entry deadline n Must be between the ages of 9 and 18 as of or on August 31st or the age of 8 in the 3rd grade

The two largest in attendance and prizes are Rodeo Houston and San Antonio Stock Show. San Antonio Stock Show Junior Shootout started the legacy of major show shooting sports in 2013 with 340 athletes. Since this time, San Antonio Stock Show has grown to 1057 athletes coming from 108 counties across the state of Texas. The stock show has also given millions of dollars in scholarships and prizes throughout the 10 years of the tournament’s history. San Antonio Junior Shootout takes place at the

National Shooting Complex on the outskirts of San Antonio which boasts 696 acres of shooting heaven and can host a tournament of this size. Texas youth spend up to four days shooting three main scholarship events as well as various other games throughout the tournament. Youth athletes can win a $10,000 scholarship in American Trap, Modified Trap, and Sporting Clays. This year, male & female athletes for FFA and 4-H were able to win these scholarships in the three respective shooting events. Other

YOUTHSHOOTING

events in which the athletes can test their skills and win prizes are Super Sporting and always a fan favorite Make-A-Break.

San Antonio Junior Shootout never disappoints in keeping everyone occupied during their time on the grounds. There are always vendors open including Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing, Blaser, Rhino Chokes, Trainer Hale, and Soundguard to name a few. Educational classes with a variety of information including professional athletes and coaches occur every hour. By attending these classes, a person can earn tickets for the various nightly drawings that include rifles, shotguns, and a plethora of shooting enthusiast gear. At night, athletes and their parents can partake in fun shows with trick shooting from Travis Mears, the Make-A-Break finals, as well as the Blaser & Zoli shoot-offs. The Blaser and Zoli shoot-offs are a great opportunity for the athletes to win the respective brand guns if their number (between 1 & 100) is randomly drawn from a bucket and called. All of the athletes that have the drawn number, if they shot that number in a scholarship event, the athlete gets the chance to shoot for a Zoli or Blaser under the lights.

The last three athletes standing win guns, with first place winning a Zoli or Blaser shotgun.

San Antonio Junior Shootout also tops the major stock show tournaments in terms of prizes awarded. Sporting Clays and Modified Trap each award 22 buckles as well as prize packages along with four $10,000 scholarships in each event.

American Trap provides the largest opportunity to win a buckle, by awarding 52 buckles with prize packages and four $10,000 scholarships. Each prize package averages $750-1000 and can

include gift certificates, ammunition, chokes, shooting glasses, and firearms.

Rodeo Houston takes a different approach to their shotgun tournament. I would compare Rodeo Houston to a high-end charity tournament in terms of hospitality to the athletes, range used, and management. Rodeo Houston Young Guns started in 2014 with 278 athletes at American Shooting Centers in Katy. After a few years, the tournament was moved to Greater Houston Gun Club and has now grown to 500 athletes in Sporting Clays and 400 athletes in American Skeet. Rodeo Houston does cap the amount of athletes in order to keep the tournament limited to two days.

Rodeo Houston wins the award for hospitality by providing sit-down meals for their athletes and parents as well as an awards banquet for the winning athletes. The facilities are also top notch as the event is hosted by Greater Houston Gun Club. Each squad of athletes is also given a Rodeo Houston Wildlife Committee member that travels

from station to station with the athletes and is basically like having their own personal caddy/ cheerleader. Another difference for Rodeo Houston Young Guns is the format of the tournament.

Rodeo Houston separates the males & females as well as the age groups and places them all on different courses. They only take the top 10 male & female athletes for each age group to the finals, while San Antonio squads all ages and genders on the same courses as well as takes the top 70 athletes (or more depending on the number needed to meet all of the prize spots) from each course to the finals. Rodeo Houston also offers American Skeet as one of their events.

In terms of prizes, Rodeo Houston does a great job and has definitely upped their ante over the years. Each athlete that makes the finals in Sporting Clays is guaranteed money, a buckle, and a prize package. The Ranching & Wildlife Committee award up to $37,000 to the Sporting Clays and Skeet athletes based on a Lewis

21

class system payout for each age group and each gender.

San Antonio Junior Shootout and Rodeo Houston Young Guns have provided an avenue for many athletes to compete over the last ten years. The impact the two tournaments have left on the athletes, both financially and the firearms they have won, is the most important aspect of the tournaments. Ryann Phillips, a senior from Bordon County 4-H has competed in San Antonio for six years. During this time, she has won two $10,000 scholarships, two Blaser F16 shotguns and numerous other prizes. Ryann attributes San Antonio to opening the doors to a world she would have never considered competing in—Olympic Trap due to shooting the Modified Trap event. Ryann is the current USA Shooting Junior Female gold medalist and is also on the Women’s National World Cup team. All of Ryann’s success has been accomplished shooting the Blaser F16 she won at the San Antonio Junior Shootout.

Hunter Martinez, an 11th HUNTER MARTINEZ

RYANN PHILLIPS CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

YOUTHSHOOTING

22

grader from Hidalgo County 4-H, won a Blaser F3 shotgun during the Blaser shoot-off. He stated that he loves shooting at San Antonio Livestock Expedition (SALE) because you are shooting on a very high level and there is so much pressure due to the caliber of athletes. He said SALE has increased his confidence as a shooter and thus it paid off under the lights when he won his Blaser F3.

Rodeo Houston has changed the lives of many athletes as well.

Micaela Valesquez, an 8th grader from Taylor County 4-H, has been competing for four years. During this time she has competed at Rodeo Houston three times, placing in both American Skeet and Sporting Clays. She stated making the finals in Sporting Clays is very intense due to the level of the competition and this has helped her build her confidence and become a better shooter. The increase in confidence competing at such a high caliber tournament has helped her win the Make-ABreak finals at San Antonio Junior

Shootout where you compete in front of thousands of people under the lights.

Lane Picklo, a 10th grader from Austin County, embarked on a unique approach to all of his award money that he has won the last three years in American Skeet and Sporting Clays from Rodeo Houston. Lane used the $5,000 to open his own laser engraving business, Republic Designs.

The major livestock shows of Texas are not just about cows, sows, and plows. They are not only changing the lives of the students that raise animals through the state of Texas—they are opening the doors of thousands of youth shooting athletes each year. The stocks shows provide an opportunity for scholarships and prizes that are life changing to the athletes. The major stock show tournaments have built confidence, allowed athletes to become entrepreneurs by opening businesses and even making national shooting teams due to the firearms they have won. If you have a youth shooting athlete in

MICAELA VALESQUEZ CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

LANE PICKLO

your household and you have thought about entering them into a major livestock show tournament,

the memories and camaraderie are worth the time and sacrifices made to attend. n

PAVE THE WAY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. Youth development thru the shooting sports. It’s what we do.

Join us to help grow youth shooting sports with a tax-deducible gift to the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation. From simple donations to legacy gifts, your help ensures the future of your sport. See how at sssfonline.org/donate or scan the QR code with your mobile device to learn more.

SHOOTREPORT

24

2022 ACUI COLLEGIATE

CLAY TARGET Championships BY: JAKE DEANE

T

he end of March saw over 950 Collegiate Shooters from all over the United States travel to The National Shooting Complex (NSC) in San Antonio, Texas, to participate in the 2022 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championships. Athletes spent the week of March 26th shooting at over 600 different targets per competitor in pursuit of the ultimate title for their college teams of National Champions.

Widely known college teams in the clay target field like Texas A&M, Lindenwood, and Schreiner all fought hard for the Division I Championship. Also, well-known shooting teams like Hillsdale, Midland, Bethel, and William Penn all shot for the Division II, CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

III, and IV titles. ACUI treated the competitors with exceptional targets, an energetic atmosphere, and fierce competition throughout the week.

In total over the five days of competition, the collegiate competitors shot at more than 570,000 trap, skeet, and sporting clays targets. It may help to put this large number of targets into some perspective—one case of White Flyer clay targets holds 135 clays, and a pallet of White Flyers has 63 cases. At ACUI, 67 six-foot-tall pallets of White Flyer clays were shot during the event in competition alone. Almost every trap and skeet field were in use during a competition event slot.

The ACUI hired familiar faces to

PHOTOS BY CARLA DAWSON

the NSC that had worked collegiate events in the past to trap and score the event for these competitors.

This consideration provided a layer of friendliness and ease to this highly stressful event. Additionally, the NSC hosts many events over the course of the season and the fields were in perfect condition for the event. The Texas weather offered somewhat mild conditions with overcast temperatures and a gnarly wind affording the shooters an almost optimal environment for competition.

The trap targets were near perfect in terms of accuracy and consistency, and the sporting clays targets were sufficiently challenging, leaving the athletes scratching their heads and having

to strategize their shots. A few stations on both sporting clay courses were notoriously named, like “Twisted Sister”, for their challenging presentations.

Shooting started on Monday, March 21st, with all competition rounds commencing on Tuesday, March 22nd. Teams had the option to plan out their competition schedule, with all six events being available for teams to shoot throughout the week. Each competitor shot 100 targets of American Trap, Trap Doubles, American Skeet, Skeet Doubles, Super Sporting, and Sporting Clays. Teams put up impressive scores in each event with a few individual competitors achieving near perfect scores.

SHOOTREPORT

Shoot-Offs and Self-Scoring The ACUI’s Clay Target director Shawn Dulohery debuted a new way to conduct collegiate shootoffs. A common problem in previous championships was shoot-offs running late into Saturday night, often causing universities to forfeit their chance at a title because they needed enough time to travel home.

Dulohery realized this problem and mobilized his creative thinking around a viable solution. He instituted daily preliminary shootoffs following the conclusion of each day of competition. The high scoring shooters for the day, with a cut off at 95 for the American disciplines, shot-off until they missed twice. This solution allowed competitors to still have a chance at the coveted individual titles without having to stay an extra night. This system worked well for its first run with few if any

competitors and teams having to stay late into Saturday evening.

Given this idea’s success, it is hopeful it will be used in future events.

The ACUI also debuted a selfscoring system where athletes could enter their scores into a software program that would act as a live scoreboard for fans and coaches to follow the event in real time. It is important to note that these scores were not official as they were, as the name implies, self-entered by the shooter and that decisions on scores and shootoffs were made only using the official scores from the scorecards. However, it did provide some quick information to athletes, their coaches and teams, and any family members who may not be able to attend the event, which was beneficial. While athletes were not required to use this system, it was there if they wanted to utilize it.

American Trap and Trap Doubles In the American Trap event, Lindenwood University took the Division I Trap trophy with a 497, which included two 100s and three 99s. Iowa Western took the 2nd place title, tying Texas A&M with a 492. After a shoot-off, A&M came in 3rd. Lindenwood’s Klayton McGee, a 2021 Junior AllAmerican trap shooter, won the individual title after running a third 100 in a Saturday shoot-off.

For the women, Lindenwood’s Gianna (Gigi) Mitchell won the women’s individual trophy after a 50-target shoot-off with Midland University’s Amy Cawley.

For the Trap Doubles competition, Division II’s Iowa Western took the overall title with a 487/500 (100, 99, 99, 95, 94). In Division I, Lindenwood took the title with a 482/500 (97, 97, 96, 96, 96) besting Schreiner University by five targets, and Texas A&M by 12 targets. Mitch Germany took the Individual men’s title with the only perfect 100, avoiding the need for a shoot-off. For the women, Doane University’s Payton DeTavernier shot a 99/100, three targets ahead of the closest competitor, to take the women’s individual title.

25

These targets were consistent and dependable, with minor wind gusts that only slightly affected the target conditions.

American Skeet and Skeet Doubles The American Skeet targets were forces to be reckoned with as the shooting was held on the middle fields where the wind was most present and picked up during these rounds. The location essentially created a wind bowl, and when the Texas wind was blowing, it was blowing. However, this did not seem to affect ten top notch shooters—Eli Christman, Griffin Toliver, Garrett Meier, Adam McNutt, Ross Wilson, Heath Garrett, Reece Sparks, Zack Reaves, Woodrow Glazer, and Eric Brown all tied with perfect 100/100 scores. Ultimately, University of Tennessee Southern athlete Eli Christman, who is also a member of Team USA for Olympic skeet and the Team Krieghoff Olympic team, came out on top with a perfect 75/75 in the shoot-off. For the women’s title, Sydnee Craven of Texas A&M University won with a 100. In the team competition, Texas A&M CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

SHOOTREPORT

26

(92), Trent Allen (89), and Austin Kiemsteadt (89) combined to give A&M their Sporting Title.

Super-Sporting The Super-Sporting course was similar to the Sporting Course, but the targets were a bit softer than those seen on the regular course.

“Twisted Sister” again was seen on the Super Sporting course, but this time with three machines.

This station was essentially a copy of the sporting station, but a battue was inserted in the middle of the two traps. A decent number of entertaining birds allowed University took the title with a 498/500 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99), besting William Penn University by three targets, and Lindenwood University by four targets.

In American Skeet Doubles, Lindenwood University won the team title with a 487/500 (99, 97, 97, 97, 97), surpassing Schreiner and Fort Hays by one and two targets respectively. The men’s champion shoot-off was between Schreiner’s Louis Oviedo and Lindenwood’s Reece Sparks. Oviedo ultimately won the shoot-off breaking 12 targets to Sparks’ three. Sparks’ combined scores from both American Skeet and Skeet Doubles (199), though would ultimately clinch the Combined Skeet National Title. In the women’s category, Fort Hays State’s Hailey Zulkoski won the competition outright with an outstanding 99/100.

Sporting Clays Now, for the results you’ve been waiting for. The Sporting Clays course was set to challenge every shooter, whether they be Team USA members or Trap specific CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

shooters. Multiple stations carried notorious nicknames as the first few days passed, such as the aforementioned “Twisted Sister”.

This station most notably comes to mind because of its true pair, extreme doubles, trap style target with both machines placed next to each other. Both machines were positioned in opposite directions with about a 95-degree angle separating them. They also differed in height and speed with a high fast bird on the right and a moderate speed, low target on the left. The station score distribution was all over the place, and this station seemed to be a challenge for every competitor.

For scores, Dominic Grossi of Texas A&M and Zach Abbot of Jacksonville University both tied with massive scores of 95/100.

Grossi ultimately took the men’s title by hitting nine shoot-off targets to Abbot’s eight. On the women’s side, Haylyn Hanks of Texas A&M took the title outright with a 92/100. Finally, in the team standings, Texas A&M University took the title with an impressive 458/500. Dominic Grossi (95), Joseph Fanizzi (93), Haylyn Hanks

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shooters to unwind a bit. The score distribution was much better on this course, with 50% of male shooters breaking the 80% threshold. For the male shooters, Austin Carleton (Tennessee Southern) and Clifford Seibert (Texas A&M) tied with 96s for the champion shoot-off. Carleton took the title with ten shoot-off targets.

For 3rd and 4th, Wyatt Hargrove of Emmanuel tied with Tristan Stubbs of Lindenwood with a 95, Hargrove beat Stubbs by one target to take 3rd. For women, Sarah Schwacher of Concordia tied with Haylyn Hanks of Texas A&M, with both athletes breaking 88s. Schwacher won the shoot-off with a score of eight in the shootoff, topping Hanks by one target.

In team competition, Lindenwood University’s Tristan Stubbs, Matthew Blankenship, Konnor Vohs, Trace Hatfield, and Elias Tollefson shot a 467 to take the team Super Sporting award back to Missouri.

High Overall Team Awards In the men’s and women’s categories, Texas A&M pulled off a clean sweep with Joe Fanizzi and Haylyn Hanks winning their respective men’s and women’s titles. In Division I, Texas A&M shot a 2862/3000 to take the National Championship. A&M stated the importance of this win for their team as they do not receive any funding from the university. Instead, they rely solely on corporate and individual sponsors to financially support their team as well as having the A&M athletes pay for the majority of their tournament fees out of pocket. A&M shot ten targets ahead of Lindenwood University in Division I. In Division II, CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

University of Tennessee Southern shot a 2832, defeating the Division II runner-up Emmanuel College by over 35 targets. In Division III, Georgia Southern University shot a 2792 to win their division. Ross Wilson, NSCA AllAmerican, posted the top three team scores in four of five events

for Georgia Southern. Finally, William Penn and Iowa Western tied for the Division IV title with Iowa Western taking the championship after the tie breaker sequence.

The National Championship event is what all collegiate shooters dream of attending, and it is a special

experience for each shooter that attends. The ACUI and the NSC put on a great competition for all collegiate shooters attending the event. With this event posting record attendance numbers, it is important to note that the organization upheld its reputation as the premier collegiate shooting event. n

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32

WESTERN REGIONAL SHOOT REPORT

BY CYLE FOLEY

T

he Tucson Trap and Skeet Club hosted the 2022 Western Regional Championship offering a total of 1150 targets to shooters from all over the country. By all measures the event was a great success. The shooting grounds as Tucson are vast with plenty of room to spread things out and facilitate a smooth flow for such a large shoot.

The background in the desert offers something different for many around the country. The relatively flat landscape dotted with Saguaro cactus is accented on the horizon by the view of mountains.

The target setters used the unique terrain to throw a wide variety of presentations. They particularly enjoyed airing out solid black targets into a big sky background.

The food was great and readily available. The staff was pleasant and helpful, and the grounds were well maintained and welcoming to shooters from all over.

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Side Events Tucson offered a plethora of side events catering to every shooter’s pleasure. In the 20-gauge FITASC, former National FITASC champion Dan Bailey’s 48/50 claimed top honors, one target ahead of Alexandra Wampler. The 28 gauge was just as competitive with William Walton posting an impressive 49/50 to beat out Ryan Holmes by a single target.

In the sub-gauge sporting event Ken Sides claimed a pair of first place finishes, winning the 28 gauge and .410 bore fifty bird events. Beau Nyrehn performed well with the little guns, claiming top honors with the 20 gauge and tying with William Walton for the runner-up spot with the 28 gauge.

Kevin Olmsted and Armando Perez tied with 48s on the short 12-gauge course. After a tiebreaker, Kevin Olmsted earned the top spot.

PHOTOS

BY CYLE FOLEY WESTERN REGIONAL SIDE EVENTS

20 GA FITASC CH DANIEL BAILEY RU ALEXANDRA WAMPLER

48 47

28 GA FITASC CH WILLIAM WALTON RU RYAN HOLMES

49 48

20 GAUGE SPORTING CH BEAU NYREHN RU BRIAN POTVIN

46 45

28 GAUGE SPORTING CH KEN SIDES RU (TIE) WILLIAM WALTON BEAU NYREHN

47 46 46

A pair of gentlemen duked it out on the pump and side by side events. Jason Leleck and Kyler Hamann tied up with a pair of 49s in the pump gun, prompting a tie breaker of which Jason prevailed.

Leleck also took the champion spot in the side by side event outright by outpacing Hamann by three targets.

.410 BORE SPORTING CH KEN SIDES RU (TIE) KRIS SOLLER JAMES NEIL JEFFERY BISHOP

42 41 41 41

12 GAUGE SPORTING CH KEVIN OLMSTED RU ARMANDO PEREZ

48 48

PUMP GUN CH JASON LELECK RU KYLER HAMANN

49 49

SIDE X SIDE CH JASON LELECK RU KYLER HAMANN

48 45

WESTERNREGIONAL

Preliminary The one hundred target event started off the festivities and saw some heavy competition for the champion spot. Zachary Kienbaum and Nicolas Berry posted a pair of 96s to set up another tie breaker in this event. When all the smoke cleared, Zach took home the top placement. Karen Shedd outpaced the balance of the field posting a 95 to take the Master first, Lady and Junior titles.

Supersport In what seemed to be a theme at this event, a pair of highly skilled shooters tied things up in supersport to set up yet another tie breaker. Zachary Kienbaum and Kevin Demichiel put up a pair of 97s, just one target ahead of M1 Mike Wilgus. After this tie breaker, Kienbaum earned the nod as this year’s Western Regional Supersport Champion. Karen Shedd took the lady top honors with a 93.

American Field Sporting The new discipline has been attracting large numbers of shooters to events all around the country and world. 182 shooters set out to play this new game at the Western Regional. This event was fifty targets on two separate “fields”, offering the infamous “X-bird” on each. Trevor Jensen posted a score of forty-eight out of a possible fifty-two points on these two layouts (remember the “X-bird” is worth two points if hit on the first shot), to outpace the eventual runner-up, Anthony Naatjes, by three points. Madyson McFarland took the lady top spot

with a total score of 40/52.

WESTERN REGIONAL PRELIM CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

ZACHARY KIENBAUM NICOLAS BERRY KAREN SHEDD MIKE CLASSEN KYLE PRICE JOSHUA RANDALL HALEY SATTERWHITE JONATHAN WILLS KASSIDY CARPENTER KAREN SHEDD ANDREY SEMECHKIN JR. KAREN SHEDD CHRIS HIGGINS MARK TIPTON RICHARD MCCREADY DENNIS BRISTLE

96 96 95 85 91 82 80 79 71 95 87 95 94 95 82 69

WESTERN REGIONAL SUPERSPORT CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

ZACHARY KIENBAUM KEVIN DEMICHIEL MIKE WILGUS NEIL MARSHALL JACK RAMOS PAUL DEMKO BRIAN ALQUIST JONATHAN WILLS KASSIDY CARPENTER KAREN SHEDD LANE PICKLO KAREN SHEDD MIKE VANDE NOORD BERT STELLY STANLEY PETERSON DENNIS BRISTLE

97 97 96 87 88 86 76 82 67 93 92 93 94 95 84 78

Five Stand In true fashion, where would the fun be without another shoot-off to break some very good scores?

Anthony Matarese decided he’d prefer to just take the top spot outright and did so posting a 97/100, one target ahead of Kevin Demichiel. However, five other shooters felt such clear separation wasn’t eventful enough and set up a five-way tie for third which had to be decided by shoot-off. Abel Spire, Mike Wilgus, Chris Ferres, Gebben Miles and Nicolas Berry faced off to determine the balance of the placements. Spire prevailed in the match to take the third-place

33

spot ahead of Wilgus, Ferres, Miles and Berry respectively.

Not to be outdone, the ladies decided to have a bit of shoot-off fun of their own. Madison Sharpe and Desirae Edmunds each put up a score of 90/100 to set up a tie

WESTERN REGIONAL 5-STAND CH RU 3RD M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

ANTHONY MATARESE KEVIN DEMICHIEL ABEL SPIRE MIKE WILGUS KAYLA WILGUS TRAE WORKMAN JAXON SMITH DAVID GOLIK JR. DAVID HANGARD STEVEN MARTI MADISON SHARPE KAYLA WILGUS JOSEPH FANIZZI BRUCE HOGER RICK MEIN JIM BELLOWS NORMAN SMITH

97 96 95 95 88 82 81 77 65 52 90 88 94 92 92 84 64

WESTERN REGIONAL AMERICAN FIELD SPORTING CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET

TREVOR JENSEN ANTHONY NAATJES OLE VANDBORG NEIL MARSHALL TRAE WORKMAN MADYSON MCFARLAND DANIEL SCHACHER MELVIN COHEN DAN THRELFALL MADYSON MCFARLAND MADYSON MCFARLAND JONATHAN RUMBARGER OLE VANDBORG JAMES GILMAN JIM BELLOWS

48 45 43 41 40 40 32 30 25 40 40 39 43 40 41 CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

WESTERNREGIONAL

34

WINCHESTER LADIES CUP

CH MADISON SHARPE RU KAREN SHEDD DESIRAE EDMUNDS 3RD

MAIN 183 180 163

The Winchester Ladies Cup

breaker for the top lady spot.

Eventually Sharpe came out on top and took home the lady first place trophy.

FITASC Eight parcours of challenging targets faced the field of shooters at this year’s Western Regional. As has been the theme of this event, a great shoot-off to establish placements was on the docket.

Dominic Gross, Nicolas Berry and Anthony Matarese all posted phenomenal scores of 190/200.

These juggernauts slugged it out in a shoot-off for top honors with Dominic Gross going the distance to earn the champion slot. Nicolas Berry ended in the runner-up spot with Anthony in third. This was some excellent shooting from CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

some very skilled shotgun pointers. Well done gentlemen!

The top trophy in the ladies division went to Karen Shedd who posted a 177/200.

WESTERN REGIONAL FITASC CH RU 3RD M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

DOMINIC GROSS NICOLAS BERRY ANTHONY MATARESE ZACHARY KIENBAUM KAYLA WILGUS DEAN DIERKSEN JOSHUA RANDALL ABRAHAM GARZA JONATHAN WILLS DEAN THRELFALL KAREN SHEDD JOSEPH FANIZZI NADIM NASIR JR. MARK TIPTON JIM BELLOWS NORMAN SMITH

190 190 190 185 176 164 159 153 146 108 177 185 179 180 167 142

Winchester has generously supported this concept throughout the country at major events with great success, giving recognition to the ladies in the sport that have contributed so much to the industry as a whole. This year’s Winchester Ladies Cup winner, by two targets was Madison Sharpe.

Madison’s 183 in the Main tied for second place overall, and combined with her 175/200 in FITASC and a 90/100 in five-stand to propel her to the top spot. Right on Sharpe’s heels for the runnerup spot was Karen Shedd who shot consistently well across all events.

Desirae Edmunds picked up the third-place trophy putting up a total of 425/500.

Main Event Four hundred and seventy shooters faced off on the 100-target Winchester and Beretta courses to decide this year’s Western Regional Champion. All I can ascertain is that Zachary

FITASC 175 177 172

FIVE STAND 90 89 90

TOTAL 448 446 425

Kienbaum had his fill of shoot-offs and decided to just take the top spot without having to expend additional ammunition. Zach stood alone at the top of the podium with an outstanding performance. His 93/100 on the Winchester course paired with a 95/100 on the Beretta course to put him a full five targets ahead of the closest shooter. Madison Sharpe and Armando Perez each posted 183s to set up for yet another shoot-off at this event. Perez ultimately prevailed to take the runner-up spot with Sharpe finishing with the ladies champion trophy and in third overall. n

WESTERN REGIONAL MAIN CH RU 3RD M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

ZACHARY KIENBAUM ARMANDO PEREZ MADISON SHARPE GEBBEN MILES LUCAS CORSELLI KYLE PRICE HOLLY MACLEOD KYLE NEUBAUER JONATHAN WILLS KASSIDY CARPENTER MADISON SHARPE LUCAS CORSELLI MADISON SHARPE WILLIAM WALTON BERT STELLY GARY WALSTROM NORMAN SMITH

188 183 183 182 174 159 148 139 139 114 183 174 183 176 170 153 149

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36

BY LOUISE TERRY, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM DEE ORR

T

he Florida Sporting Clays State Championship was held this year at Quail Creek Sporting Ranch in Okeechobee, Florida March 31st through April 3rd. As in past years, this event was open to Florida residents as well as out-of-state competitors. The 200-bird Main event titles, which recognize the Florida State Champions each year, were limited to the 226 state residents in attendance. All other events in the program were open to all competitors, with the Main Event also being “open” for the guaranteed money and points. This year, after weathering COVID for the past-two years, we had a great showing with seventy out-ofstate competitors, including our Canadian snowbird friends who had been trapped north of the border since 2020. Doug Vine did yeoman’s work setting every one of the 875 targets we shot over the four days. With many different events to deal with, Doug did an amazing job creating excellent presentations which were fair and visible, yet technical and challenging, without being over the top. Doug also was responsible for arranging for the $75,000 in guaranteed payouts spread across the portfolio of events, delivering a real winning program.

Red Prelim Events kicked off Thursday on a hot, beautiful but breezy, spring day. I say breezy with tongue-incheek, because by the afternoon the winds had built to 25-30 mph, which conveniently aligned with my FITASC rotation. The crowds CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

were generally light on Thursday but those, who did get there on day one, were able to shoot Sub-gauges (50 each including 12 ga.), Super Sporting, FITASC, or 5-Stand, in addition to a Thursday Prelim.

Several of those early participants were out-of-staters who have become familiar faces to shooters

in this area due to the amount of time they spend here during the winter months. In the first Prelim, set on the red course on Thursday, Bill McGuire, despite missing two straightaways towards the end that he wasn’t happy about, started out posting a big 95/100 on the last flight in the wind to take HOA

2022

FLORIDA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

THURSDAY PRELIM RED CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

BILL MCGUIRE BRIAN PALMER JOHN BALUKOFF WIVERSON TRECENTI LARRY GRENEVICKI MIKE JOHNSON LEVI BARTOSCH NORMAN MCCOLLUM KACEY YOUNG BRYAN HOLTKAMP BILL MCGUIRE KEITH MILLS KENT OLSEN BILL TERRY

95 94 93 85 79 78 76 61 79 81 95 88 92 68

honors and the $500 guaranteed money. Vero Beach’s Brian Palmer was close behind with a 94, one ahead of Brad Kidd. Kacey Smith Young carded a 79 to take the Ladies title.

FLORIDASPORTING

FRIDAY PRELIM (BLUE)

BILL MCGUIRE

Blue Prelim (DEE ORR) The second Prelim was shot Friday on the blue course over seventeen stations. Vine provided a well-set course with lots of variety.

Crossers, teal, true pairs, high rising quartering birds, all belly, in your face, incomers, and “clubhouse” opportunities were all on display. The weather was changing all day with wind in the morning, then becoming stormy enough to delay the 2:30 flight due to lightning in the area. Course manager Rick Pittenger is very diligent about course safety in this scenario, as storms tend to come up fast and strong in this area.

REANNA FRAUENS

CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

WENDELL CHERRY BRAD KIDD JOHN BALUKOFF KACEY YOUNG RORY WILSON JASON PIKE LEVI PIERCE CHASE SCHULTE REANNA FRAUENS BRYAN HOLTKAMP REANNA FRAUENS WENDELL CHERRY BRIAN DUQUESNEY JERRY SASINA BERT BAUMGARTNER

37

MICK HOWELLS

FITASC 98 97 89 87 84 85 75 60 92 86 92 98 86 88 84

There was a 40-minute delay, but when the storm passed, so did the winds that afflicted the earlier rotations and everyone was able to finish in good daylight. Station thirteen had an interesting true pair; a midi going away low from the left of the stand fading slightly right with a full crosser from the left. A flat ‘bat’ on Station sixteen went nearly straight away followed by a midi thrown from the ground about fifteen yards to the left of the cage, steeply rising and coming through the tree branches to the left revealing itself finally out of the top of a large tree, reaching its peak soon after making this a very cool pair of targets. 173 Shooters shot this event with some familiar faces at the top of the leaderboard.

Wendell Cherry earned HOA and the Veterans title with a 98/100, closely followed by Brad Kidd and Bill McGuire with 97s.

Reanna Frauens’ commanding 92/100 took lady honors.

CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET

MICK HOWELLS BILL MCGUIRE JAMES HARROD CADEN CARTER KEITH HICKAM JASON PIKE LEVI BARTOSCH GARY HOLLETT REANNA FRAUENS BRAYDEN WOJCIESZAK MICK HOWELLS JOHN WOOLLEY WESLEY BATES

97 95 85 81 73 75 80 65 89 93 97 89 82

FITASC FITASC was squadded using Casey’s new “Flexi-FITASC” rotations to allow more shooters to squeeze this event in over the 4 days of the tournament. The squadding options were either; the full 100 targets any day, or fifty targets each day on Fri/Sat or Sat/ Sun. Laid out on the new area to the northwest beyond the blue course, across “the bridge to nowhere”, these four parcours were set the way FITASC targets were meant to be set. Challenging targets with plenty of space and lots of variety in a beautiful and wild area of palmettos and tall southern pines. There was a high tower positioned between parcours three and four that threw the E bird as a high crosser, at what looked like half a mile back to peg one on parcour three. This tower was also the launch pad for the A bird on parcour four which was a high, fast 90mm. I did find that a couple of the fast, low crossers were tough for me to see in the late afternoon shadows against the thick ground foliage. Despite a few of those details, I really enjoyed shooting this course.

At the end of the first day, Christian Suter had posted the high score of those thirty-five shooters a very respectable 91/100. On

Friday, only three more scores made it into the 90s, but one of them was Mick Howells who posted a fantastic 97/100 by straighting parcours two and four.

Virgil Minchew added a 92 and Brad Kidd another 91. By Saturday night, Bill McGuire and Alex Clark had added their 95s to the leaderboard, putting only nine scores in the nineties. When all was said and done on Sunday, Mick collected his Champion’s trophy with McGuire and Clark taking M1 and M2 respectively with their 95s, and Wendell Cherry taking M3 with a 94. Reanna Frauens continued to perform well posting a solid 89/100 ahead of Dee Orr (83) and Gianna Santo (81) taking Ladies second and third.

5-Stand (DEE ORR) The 100-target 5-Stand event was on four layouts also out in the new area to the northwest. Both this section and the FITASC were newly developed for the 2022 Jack’s Links Cup in February.

Each layout offered six presentations; everyone started on layout one, with a new group scheduled every 20 minutes. The event ran through Sunday.

Thursday brought strong winds CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

FLORIDASPORTING

38

5-STAND CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

BRAYDEN WOJCIESZAK WENDELL CHERRY JACK MARTINELLI CADEN CARTER ANDREW HERR ROBERT SHUSTER PAUL HARRISON JIMMY JONES REANNA FRAUENS BRAYDEN WOJCIESZAK REANNA FRAUENS WENDELL CHERRY STEVE MIDDLEDITCH ROBERT FIELDS BERT BAUMGARTNER

92 92 82 80 72 73 70 53 86 92 86 92 82 73 73

out of the southeast. Several of the targets were very high and susceptible to those effects, moving the targets up and down while turning some a bit edgy.

Layout one offered a true pair from stand three, a high fast chandelle orange midi paired with an equally high black crosser from a tower, both from the left. It was a stout pair but while I was watching, Brad Kidd managed to clubhouse it .... pure serendipity. One tower serviced layouts one and two; both targets were crossing and rising with considerable spring. It was interesting to see how the scores developed over the weekend as the weather forecast was in a constant state of flux. Sub-Junior Brayden Wojcieszak and Wendell Cherry both shot late Thursday afternoon in the wind posting 92s which would hold the top spot all weekend. By Saturday night, Corey Rugg had mounted the only serious challenge to post a 90, while the Ladies race was getting tighter all the time with Carolyn Smith’s 74 being nudged by Nicole Williams’ 73 and Kacey Youngs’s 72. The ladies event changed considerably on Sunday with Reanna Frauens knocking down an 86, Kiersten Sales posting an 84 and Marian Zerby shooting 76 for CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

the top three Ladies spots. At the HOA shoot-off on Sunday evening, Brayden, the student, eventually outlasted his coach, Wendell, to claim the HOA spot.

50 Bird Sporting (DEE ORR) The 50-bird Sporting events in four gauges were set up over seven stations on the easternmost portion of the property along the driveway into the Club. The events ran Thursday through Saturday. Each station was set with three presentations, except for Station seven which had four. The targets, even in Thursday’s wind, seemed quite doable with Station six presenting the beloved rabbue.

The targets were paired differently for each gauge with a mix of report and true pairs. While I was watching, Steven Nelson posted a well-earned 40/50 with his .410 Side-by-Side. However, Alex Sumner ultimately claimed the .410 victory with his 44/50. Greg Rhodes (AA) was high score over the largest of these sub ga fields leading the eighty-nine 28-gauge shooters with a 47/50. Alex Sumner (M) and Corey Rugg (AA) both shot 47s in the 20- gauge event and Georgia’s Alex Ryan Clark posted the only perfect 50/50 in the 77-person 12-gauge event.

50 BIRD SPORTING 12 GA (50) 20 GA (50) 28 GA (50) .410 (50)

ALEX RYAN CLARK ALEX SUMNER ALEX SUMNER ALEX SUMNER

50 47 43 44

Super Sporting The Super Sporting course was located on what is normally the sub-gauge real estate at this club.

Doug decided to mix things up a

bit this year setting a 75-bird course which really proved to be a fun variation for the 191 shooters who participated. It was set over ten stations with the last station “overflowing” from the edge of the woods into the large open meadow at the far end of the blue course.

This gave Doug room to throw bigger targets, and he took full advantage. These final ten targets were the longest, highest and farthest birds, making this the toughest and most interesting station on that course. Bill McGuire led the field for the first day with a strong 71/75 (quite a recovery after what he himself - in his typically understated way characterized as a “slow start” by dropping all three of the singles on the first station). But, on Friday,

SUPER SPORTING 75 CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

COREY RUGG TODD SIMMONS JEFF JACKSON STEPHEN CIANCIULLI RORY WILSON STEPHEN WILEY LEVI PIERCE JIMMY JONES NICOLE WILLIAMS LEVI BARTOSCH CONNER MEHRER TODD SIMMONS JOHN MARTINELLI GREG RICHARDSON JIM THOMAS

73 72 69 64 63 61 64 54 63 61 61 72 65 67 59

Corey Rugg posted a 73 to bump McGuire back to second place, and when it all ended on Saturday, Rugg’s 73 left him on top as Champion, while Todd “Tonto” Simmons snuck in with a 72 to take M1, moving McGuire back to M2.

Nicole Williams led the twentyone-lady field to earn Champion honors, with “Yours Truly” taking the Ladies runner-up spot.

Main Event The Main Event blasted off at 8:30AM on Saturday morning on the red course. Doug had set a seventeen-station course with new challenging presentations.

Ironically, station “13” toyed with the superstitious, offering a funky chandelle on the left flying parallel to the station and a soft, deceiving second target, right to left out in front just far enough to make it hard to judge. As I watched the squad in front of us shoot that station, I saw some scary things happening (lots of zeroes). I was elated to run that station and quickly get the heck out of there.

Vine set a run across the front side from stations two through six to give shooters a chance to make up some ground if they paid attention. This course was more forgiving than the blue course Doug had planned for Sunday.

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40

Wendell Cherry ate up this red course posting a 98/100, ahead of the leading resident, Corey Rugg who posted a 97/100. Virgil Minshew and T. J. Hawk tied at 96.

Kiersten Sales, Marian Zerby and Gianna Santo were on top of the open Ladies leaderboard on Saturday night.

Saturday night the annual FSCA meeting was held to a capacity crowd in the pavilion followed by the Prelim, Sub-gauge 50s and Super Sport awards, giveaways and shooters’ dinner.

Peter Kallie was the winner of an A400 Beretta and Conner Mehrere won the A400 XL Beretta. Federal was the sponsor of the Main Event and there were fifty flats of 12-gauge ammo, courtesy of FSCA and Federal, that were random drawn from amongst the Main Event entrants. The evening’s drawings ended with a lot of happy campers who found their names posted on that winners list.

On Sunday, everyone headed out to the blue course for the grand finale. As always, the top guys didn’t miss much of a beat while the rest of us encountered varying degrees of challenges with these targets, which proved a bit stouter COREY RUGG AND WENDELL CHERRY

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

FL STATE SPORTING CHAMPIONSHIP (RESIDENT) CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

COREY RUGG VIRGIL MINSHEW FRANK PASIK EMILIO TEJA JUAN ALVARADO ROBERT SHUSTER LEVI BARTOSCH CHASE SCHULTE KIERSTEN SALES BRYAN HOLTKAMP KIERSTEN SALES VIRGIL MINSHEW STEVE MIDDEDITCH JERRY SASINA JIM THOMAS

KIERSTEN SALES AND COREY RUGG

192 191 174 176 174 165 162 135 182 181 182 191 182 170 167

than the prior day. Depending on where you started, stations two through six were straight-forward, getting those shooters off to a pretty good start. Stations further into the course left one wondering what went wrong. We started on station fifteen which was report pairs off the top two platforms of the old high wooden tower, followed by true pairs at station sixteen with a second bird that was somewhat elusive.

All in all, the course presented quality targets which required focus. If you read them right and made your move at the right time it would result in an “X”. This course shot only two birds less for both Wendell and Corey which kept them both at the top of the pack to take the Open Champion and runner-up, respectively. And, of course, that meant that Corey Rugg, Gulf Coast Clays finest, became the 2022 Florida State HOA Champion.

Congratulations to

both Wendell and Corey – they are both good ambassadors and great shots. In the Ladies Main event, the top three spots in the open field were won by Floridians. Kirsten Sales showed what she is made of by posting the only two scores shot in the 90s for the entire Ladies field in the Main Event. Shooting a 90/100 on Red and a strong 92/100 on the tougher blue course. Sales’ 182/200 earned her top lady honors as the Florida Ladies State Champion. Marian Zerby posted a 177/200 to take runner-up honors, just ahead of Reanna Frauens who ended this outing in third.

Kudos to Doug Vine, the FSCA, Casey Chase and Quail Creek Sporting Club’s home team DOUG VINE

for hosting a successful and enjoyable event. Things ran smoothly all weekend with great targets and a wonderful time. All the final scores are posted on scorechaser.com. We’ll see you next year at Bradford for the 2023 Florida State Championships! n

MAIN EVENT OPEN CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

WENDELL CHERRY COREY RUGG VIRGIL MINSHEW NICHOLAS FERRELL EMILIO TEJA JUAN ALVARADO ROBERT SCHUSTER LEVI BARTOSCH CHASE SCHULTE KIERSTEN SALES BRYAN HOLTKAMP HAYDEN FLOYD WENDELL CHERRY STEVE MIDDLEDITCH JERRY SASINA RICHARD HERRIFORD

194 192 191 174 176 174 165 162 135 182 181 187 194 182 170 170

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44

MEDALS

BACK TO BACK

TRAP TEAM WOMEN TOOK GOLD AERIEL SKINNER, KAYLE BROWNING AND RACHEL TOZIER

FOR

TEAM USA SHOOTERS

BY MATTHEW GAY

B

uilding on the success in Cyprus, Team USA performed brilliantly at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru.

Once again, the US Team led the way with the total number of medals earned by any country in attendance and this time landing in the top spot in the Trap and Skeet events with four Golds, three Silvers and four Bronzes.

Women Individual Trap Team USA’s Kayle Browning posted a total day one qualification score of 66x75. On day two of qualifications, Kayle dropped only 4 targets of the 75 attempted, including a perfect 25x25. After five rounds Browning’s 113x125 sent her to the semi-final round in the third slot. A 21x25 in the semis jettisoned her to the medal match CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

SKEET TEAM MEN TOOK GOLD AS WELL DERRICK MEIN, JAKE WALLACE AND WILL HINTON

facing India’s Shagun Chowdhary, and a pair of Italian shotgunners, Gala Ragazzini and Alessandra Della Valle. It took 33 targets in the medal match to cement Kayle’s Silver medal for Team USA.

Women Team Trap The American ladies kept rolling in the team event and maintained a dominant pace throughout. The three-person Team USA squad of Kayle Browning, Aeriel Skinner and Rachael Tozier posted a 191x225 to take the number one spot in the qualification round by seven targets, setting themselves up to face the Guatemalan team in the gold medal round. In the gold medal round the Team USA squad posted a 66x75, outpacing the Guatemalan contingent by three targets to secure gold in the Women’s team trap event.

Mixed Trap Event The mixed trap event takes a team of two shooters from a given nation, one from the women’s team and one from the men’s team.

Those two-person teams then compete for medals after a 75 target qualifier. After posting a collective score of 129/150 the USA-1 team of Kayle Browning and Derek Haldeman secured a trip to

TIMELESS Tim eles s c r af ts m an s h ip w ith s leek , c uttin g edge, ligh tw eigh t an d p r ec is e des ign f o r th e c o m p etitiv e s h o o ter .

Th e S elec t an d S elec t Go ld en gr av in gs o n o ur n ew es t r o un d bo dy r ec eiv er .

Or der y o ur s to day .

262. 554. 0800

P r o udly m ade in th e U S A

K O L AR AR M S .C O M

46

the Bronze medal match against the Guatemalan team of Brol Cardenas and Soto Abril. After dropping six targets each, the match was decided in a shoot-off.

Haldeman and Browning ultimately prevailed to claim the Bronze medal for the American team.

COACH JAY WALDRON WITH TRAP MIXED TEAM MEMBERS KAYLE BROWNING AND DEREK HALDEMAN

Men’s Trap Through the first two days of qualification, the four representatives of Team USA maintained placements in the top ten. Derrick Mein, Will Hinton and Jake Wallace all qualified for the semi-final rounds and would face

LIMA WORLD CUP MEDAL STANDINGS RANK - NATION GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL MEDALS

shooters from five

other countries to vie 1 - USA 4 3 4 11 for a spot in the medal match. When the smoke cleared Derrick 2 - ITALY 3 2 1 6 Mein’s 19 in the semis qualified him to 3 - SPAIN 2 1 1 4 compete against Spain’s Alberto Fernandez, Italy’s 4 - PERU 1 1 2 Erminio Frasca and

Mexico’s Jorge Orozco

Diaz. After 25 targets 5 – PUERTO RICO 1 1 2 attempted, Derrick’s score of 20x25 earned him the Bronze medal 6 - ARGENTINA 1 1 for Team USA.

6 - GUATEMALA 1 1

6 - MEXICO 1 1

The delegation from

Team USA was not 9 - FRANCE 2 2 done making their presence known. The team trap competition 10 - INDIA 1 1

Men’s Team Trap

partnered up a squad CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

consisting of Derrick Mein, Will Hinton and Casey Wallace. This squad held the number two slot after the qualification round, just four targets back from the team from Spain.Their performance qualified them for the Gold medal match against the Spanish contingent. After a relatively even match the Americans came out on top, claiming Gold for the USA Shooting Team.

A Dominant Performance Outpacing the closest country in attendance by five medals, the United States Shooting Team dominated the Lima World Cup event. Building on this continued success in Peru, they headed to Lonato, Italy for another World Cup which ran from April 19th through April 30th.

ClayShootingUSA magazine would like to congratulate Team USA on

a phenomenal performance and recognize the dedication and hard work it takes for them to compete at such a high level on the international stage. We continue to be in awe of what these athletes are capable of, while being thankful for them as they travel the world representing our nation. We wish them continued success in Lonato and look forward to highlighting their future achievements. n For information on the Team USA members and events visit usashooting.org

Editor’s note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, the Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, a bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

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BUNKER TRAP: DECODED N

early all shooters have heard of “bunker”, “Olympic Trap” or “International Trap”, but how many shooters have a grasp on the finer points and details of the game? In this article we are going to explore the discipline in an attempt to give American trap shooters a better understanding of the game.

American trap and bunker trap are both shot at from, roughly, the same distance (sixteen yards in American trap and fifteen meters or 16.4 yards in International trap).

The targets are thrown in varying trajectories “away” from the shooting position and a “round” consists of 25 targets attempted.

That is about where the similarities CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

BY MATTHEW GAY

end when comparing these two disciplines.

The Field, Squad And Rotation We all know the intricacies of American trap. One oscillating machine which throws targets at a standardized height in an area with a maximum outside radius of 27 degrees from center, left and right.

A five-man squad shoots one target at a time, five at each of the five shooting positions, rotating after completing five targets.

The international trap field is vastly different. The reason it is referred to as “bunker” is the building, which holds the trap machines, resembles a militaristic

bunker insomuch as it is dug into the ground and facilitates objects being launched from an opening at ground level. Housed within the 57-foot-wide bunker are 15 specialized fixed trajectory

machines. Each of the five shooting positions is served by three of the 15 machines, presenting targets at the foot level of the shooter.

49

The bunker squad consists of a maximum of six shooters as opposed to five in American trap.

Although also only having five shooting positions and consisting of twenty-five targets per round, the sequence and rotation is different. Each shooter attempts one target before rotating to the next shooting position. After shooting their fifth target the sixth position is a “park” position, essentially a break before rotating to station one. The international rules prescribe time parameters on how long a shooter has to call for the target once it is their turn. The ranges typically have a light on the microphone stand which indicates to the shooter when it is their turn, and when their time limit begins.

There are a couple of nuances in terms of etiquette that differ from American trap. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to move from station to station (except for when moving from station five to the “stand-by station” next to station one) with rounds in the chamber, provided the action is open. This may seem strange for American trap shooters but remember, you only shoot once then move and you have limited time to call for your target. There is also a permissible test firing of the shotgun permitted prior the commencement of the match where each shooter may load two rounds and test fire their shotgun

downrange (there is no target thrown for test fires).

The Targets The international targets are similar to the common 108 mm targets used in most clay target sports but are designed to handle the additional stress of higher speeds than American trap. The target’s diameter is 110 mm and is thicker than the standard 108 mm counterparts. The heavier and slightly larger targets make the target more difficult to break. In contrast from the 42 mph speed of an American target, the bunker

target exits the trap at 62 mph.

Where American trap targets are somewhat predictable, in that the height is consistent and the radius from center of the field in which a target will emerge is limited to 27 degrees, an international target has been liberated to push the limits a bit more. The maximum outside radius from the center of the shooting position for a target to be set is 45 degrees. Height is variable which opens the potential “field of play” significantly. ISSF regulations permit a target to be presented between 1.5 and 3 meters high at a point measured ten meters from the front of the bunker. Essentially the target can run flat out of the bunker, almost shaving the grass or can look more like a springing teal in afterburner.

In order to get just a taste of the challenge, one can crank up the speed on a standard wobble machine and widen the potential angles. But be warned, such an exercise could lead to a new hobby.

The Game Bunker is a very dynamic yet regimented discipline. Moving after each target and generally not knowing what target angle will be presented presents an additional complication to the game. The machines are controlled by computer, facilitating various “schemes” (target release sequence). Each scheme will present each shooter with ten right targets, ten left targets and 5 straight-away targets. It is possible for some shooters to mentally count-down in an effort to predict targets toward the end of the round, but it seems as though this would add an additional mental component to the game that could prove detrimental to performance.

In international competition the over-under shotgun is almost exclusively used as the tool of choice. Ammunition is limited to 24.5-gram loads (7⁄8 ounce).

Chokes tend to be tight with modified or improved modified as the first shot, and improved modified or full as the second. Yes,

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

50

I said two shots. A shooter can take two shots at each attempted target.

But be advised, as quick as these targets move, that second shot does not always counteract an initial bad move to the target.

A bunker tournament is typically conducted over two days.

The first day is the qualification match (125 targets over two days for men and 75 targets in one day for women). After the qualification match the top six shooters return for a 25 target final match to determine placement. A match referee is positioned behind the shooting positions to observe and regulate the shooters and is assisted by flankers on each side who provide two additional sets of eyes when determining whether a target is hit or lost. Score is kept on a board located in a position which is visible to the shooters on the line. This board utilizes movable tiles which are reversible with red on one side and white on the other.

White indicates a hit target while red indicates a lost target.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Considerations It is clear that bunker trap was designed to be more challenging than American trap. The look points and hold points are different and the target difficulty level will challenge the best of the best in every discipline. Combine all the above with the continual movement and necessity to reset and this is a complicated game that requires the very best of mental preparedness and concentration.

As I mentioned above, this game can be frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. I encourage everyone to find a bunker close-by and give it a whirl. You will laugh, possibly cry, you might utter a few choice words, but I can assure you, regret it you will not. USA Shooting in the national governing body for the Olympic disciplines in the United States. They offer a lot of information on bunker trap which can be found at usashooting.org n

Editor’s note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, the Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, a bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

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52

2022

WORLD ENGLISH SPORTING

CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP

BY JAKE DEANE

T

he 2022 World English Sporting Clays championship was an event that all competitors will be sure to remember. One thousand plus sporting clays shooters and outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world converged upon the National Shooting Complex (NSC) in San Antonio, Texas, their goal being the same—to win a world championship, but only one shooter would come out on top to claim the 2022 World Champion Title. The tournament drew in household names like George Digweed, Wendell Cherry, and CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Anthony I. Matarese Jr. Seven shooters would eventually qualify for the super final Sunday night to decide the champion.

Once again, the National Shooting Complex produced a first-class event. Sixteen total courses and over 400 traps accommodated the massive number of shooters that competed throughout the week. Sought-after shoot coordinator Neil Chadwick managed the event. Chadwick owns Long-Range LLC, one of the most reliable target counting and wireless release systems on the public market. It is no surprise that

the NSC utilized Chadwick’s technology to vastly improve the quality this shoot.

Shooting commenced on Tuesday April 19th with the sub gauge sporting, sub gauge FITASC, American Field Sporting, pump gun, and side by side courses open for European squadding on those days. The practice course was also open all day throughout the week.

The Main Event consisted of three technical courses that presented considerable challenge to every shooter. The majority of target presentations were closer

than 40 yards, but an unstoppable combination of angle and speed caused all shooters to scratch their heads.

Caesar Guerini Prelim The Caesar Guerini Prelim was held on the traditional sporting clays course on the east side of the complex. Shooters were squadded for this event Wednesday through Friday. If this event was any sign of the shooting to come later in the week, then it foreshadowed stellar

SHOOTREPORT

performances all around. Two near perfect rounds from Ryan Harper and Gebben Miles, both shooters only missing three targets for a 97/100, resulted in a shoot-off for the Prelim HOA title. Harper ultimately came out on top, with Miles taking the runner-up title.

HOA 3rd-M2 titles were all tied as well, with Tom Murphy, Richard Faulds (UK), and George Digweed (UK) all breaking 96 targets. A Sunday shoot-off before the super final resulted in Murphy taking

ZOLI 5-Stand

Krieghoff FITASC

The World English team presented four 5-stands to hopeful shooters. Lincoln Traps provided partial sponsorship and traps for this event. George Digweed won HOA for the 5-stand event with a 93. An educated guess can be made on the difficulty of the targets by the HOA score, but the score distribution was quite good. The majority of the master class

The Krieghoff FITASC was shot throughout the week. This event was conducted in the “new style” where each peg and station are shot at a different layout with a different referee. The design of this new style of FITASC allows more shooters to compete in the event and more target presentations to be available.

The most infamous layout was Parcour 2, peg 4, which used ground

third place, and Faulds and Digweed taking M1 and M2 respectively. While these top shots made it look easy, there was no room for error when shooting the prelim course.

Sam Sander-Waldrop took AA Champion with an impressive 95, shooting six targets ahead of the next shooter. Abigail Chambers and Savanna Barks both tied for the B class title with joint 91s, Chambers ultimately came out on top in an impressive shoot-off performance to cap off a successful week.

scores were within 10 targets of Digweed’s score. Three 92s from Trevor Jensen, Mark Tipton, and Virgil Minshew entered a 5-stand runner-up through M1 titles.

M2-M5 awards also had to be decided by a shoot-off. 2021 NSCA National Champion Joe Fanizzi took the Junior Champion Title after a joint 89 shoot-off with Karen Shedd, who then also claimed the Lady Champion. Rockstar Griffin Howe took Sub Junior Honors with an 88.

rabbits for all four targets. The targets got progressively further out and included increased angle and speed to confuse all shooters.

Shooters got within close distance of the herd of cattle adjacent to the complex. These cattle often observed shooters attempting to break some challenging targets.

The Krieghoff FITASC, held at the northernmost combo fields on the complex, provided shooters with multiple changes of scenery.

The targets were medium distance, but a combination of

53

target size and angle posed quite the challenge for shooters who tend to overthink their shots. As a result, this location allowed the target setter to keep the shooters second guessing their shots. The complex chose the perfect, challenging location for the FITASC competition.

Missouri native Eric Harvey won HOA in the FITASC with an outstanding 97, an impressive 24-2425-24 split. Harvey looked in form all weekend, with trophy finishes in the

Main Event as well. Cory Kruse took runner-up with a 95, Zach Kienbaum followed in thurd shooting a 94. Kienbaum tied with Austin Kiemsteadt, who took M1 after the third place shoot-off. Heath Garrett put up an impressive 91 to win the A Class title. In Juniors, Kiemsteadt took the title with Joe Fanizzi, Joseph Pinchin, and Karen Shedd all following close behind with 92s. Fanizzi took runner-up, with Pinchin taking third and Karen taking fourth, after the shoot-off.

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SHOOTREPORT

54

Super Sporting The Beretta Extreme Challenge Super-Sporting is designed to test the strengths and weaknesses of all shooters. This event holds a fierce reputation for presenting some challenging targets. Wendell Cherry, Richard Faulds, and Anthony I. Matarese Jr. all posted impressive 98s to tie for the HOA Title. Gebben Miles held sole possession of M1 at the end of the week, with Zachary Kienbaum following right behind Miles with a 96. A five way tie occurred for the M3-M5 trophies, with Harvey Holden, Nicolas Berry, Chris Childerhouse, Todd Simmons, and Cory Kruse all posting stout 95s.

Holden won M3, Berry won M4, and Childerhouse took M5.

Yanks vs Brits A World English Classic continues for another year as the USA Sporting Clays team and Team England sought to claim the DuPont Cup. Seven members of each of the teams all faced head-tohead in a matchup that the Brits previously claimed. The energy was high for this fun event. Team USA came out on top in the end, bringing the DuPont cup back to the states.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

The World English Main Event The Main Event was the most anticipated event of the week.

Multiple stories could be told just about the sheer amount of top talent that arrived in Texas for this event.

The Main Event saw a plethora of impressive scores, pushing the limits of near perfect shooting on multiple occasions. Established pros and aforementioned household names like George Digweed, Wendell Cherry, Anthony I. Matarese Jr., and Zach Kienbaum all sought to add to their impressive resumes. On the other hand, newer faces like Eric Harvey, Ryan Harper, and Dalton Kirchoefer all fiercely fought to add a world championship to their resumes. As a result, the competition was fierce and sure to be worth the price of admission for all in attendance.

The green course presented the greatest challenge of the three courses. Nathan Flanagan, as a target setter, used distance and specialty targets to put shooter’s minds to work. The green course used a nice mix of power and fluff to present an enjoyably challenging course.

The Fiocchi-Rhino chokes Red course set by Jason Menke featured the most speed and angle because the course is situated in partial woods and gaps of open

crops. Menke used all of the tools at his disposal to create a challenging and technical course.

Red featured the infamous angle combo, nicknamed Twisted Sister from ACUI Nationals a few weeks prior. This aptly named station included two outgoing targets set at similar speeds and slightly crossing before making an outgoing arch pattern.

The Winchester Yellow course was set by established setter and Colorado native Jon Kruger, who used tough pairs and window shots to test shooter’s visual acuity and split-second instincts. Matarese Jr. led this course with a flawless 67/68, missing only one target.

Super Final A fierce three days of competition all culminated in the most anticipated event of the Annual Competition, the 25 target superfinal held under the lights at the shoot-off stadium. The final day of shooting ended with Digweed in the lead with a 187/200, with Ryan Harper (186), Eric Harvey (186), Anthony I. Matarese Jr. (186), Wendell Cherry (185), David Radulovich (185), and Zach Kienbaum (185), all securing a spot in the super final. Seven shooters entered the stadium with a chance to become a world champion, but only one shooter would be able to claim that title.

The shoot-off commenced with the lowest scorers in the final shooting first. Radulovich shot first,

missing one target on the first stand.

Next entered Zach Kienbaum, who missed a pair. Wendell Cherry, Ryan Harper, and Eric Harvey all shot well on the first stand. Matarese looked in good form, dropping only one target on the first stand. Then George Digweed entered the stand. George looked unstoppable from his first pair on. Digweed cleared the first stand — the only competitor to do so. George showed no stress in the shoot-off, he looked determined and focused on one goal. Digweed would end up winning his 28th World Title with a 22/25, becoming the first shooter to win a world championship in five seperate decades. American Ryan Harper, shot one target behind Digweed to take an outstanding runner-up finish for the weekend. Eric Harvey capped off a superb week of shooting with a third place title.

When asked what this championship meant to him, Digweed said “For me, that was a very important one. This year, I came in with a very different attitude. Previously, I was trying too hard to win another one, but this year it doesn’t really matter whether I win or not. And that thinking paid dividends.”

The emotions were high for all who placed in the tournament. It is a sought-after goal for many competitors to win a podium finish at a world championship.

Congratulations to all the winners.

They showed true athleticism and provided a true show for all those who observed their performance! n

Congratulations!

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TEXASSPORTING

56

SHOOT REPORT

BY CYLE FOLEY WITH SUPPORT FROM MATTHEW GAY PHOTOS

BY CYLE FOLEY

TEXAS STATE SPORTING

CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP

E

verything is Bigger in Texas, including their State Sporting Clays Championship. 929 sporting shooters descended on the Defender Outdoors Clay Sport Ranch in Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the largest State Sporting Clays Championship in the United States.

Clay Sports Ranch President, Travis Mears and his staff put on quite the show for Texas shooters.

But this event draws far more than Texans. This year’s event drew shooters from twenty-eight different states and international shooters from five countries. A plethora of events were on the menu for shooters to partake in.

Side Events Galore The crew at Clay Sports Ranch had plenty of room to layout this massive event. One hundred bird sub-gauge sporting events offered the little gun aficionados the opportunity to test their limits. Jeff Swayden claimed .410 bore top honors posting a 94/100, three targets ahead of his closest competitor Jerry Rackley. The .28-gauge event was won by Dan Callahan’s 98/100, two targets ahead of Tyler Pedersen. Rollins Brown and Billy Jensen tied it up with 95’s on the 20-gauge course requiring a tiebreaker. Brown prevailed to claim the 20-gauge crown.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

doubled as a fundraiser for the Texas 4-H youth shooting program. After the smoke cleared Ronald Mericle and Ricardo Vargas tied up at 95/100.

After the final tiebreaker, Mericle claimed the number one post.

5-Stand TEXAS STATE SIDE EVENTS .410 BORE SPORTING CH JEFF SWAYDAN RU JERRY RACKLEY 28 GA SPORTING CH DAN CALLAHAN RU TYLER PEDERSEN 20 GA SPORTING CH ROLLINS BROWN RU BILLY JENSEN SIDE BY SIDE SPORTING CH JUSTIN NAPIER RU PAUL MONTEALEGRE PUMP GUN SPORTING CH DAN CALLAHAN RU CHRIS HAMILTON TRUE PAIR 100 BIRD CH CORY KRUSE RU PAUL MONTEALEGRE 20 GA FITASC CH DAVID SCHMIDT RU BILL ETHRIDGE 28 GA FITASC CH ROLLINS BROWN RU NICK WELCH ADIOS CUP CH RONALD MERICLE RU RICARDO VARGAS

94 91 98 96 95 95 99 98 96 96 100 100 49 48 49 49 95 95

The classic shooters hit the side-by-side course to try their skills on some excellent targets.

Justin Napier posted a monster

score of 99/100 to earn the champion slot, one target ahead of Paul Montealegre. Dan Callahan built on his win on the .28-gauge course by winning a tiebreaker in the pump-gun event against Chris Hamilton, after both ending their round with 96s.

Cory Kruse and Paul Montealegre were perfect on the one-hundred bird true-pair course.

After yet another tie breaker, Kruse outlasted Montealegre to claim the top position. The fifty-bird FITASC events boasted some impressive scores. David Schmidt dropped only one target to win the .20-gauge with Bill Ethridge in the runner-up spot.

In the .28-gauge event Rollins Brown and Nick Welch finished both parcours having dropped only one.

Rollins prevailed in the tiebreaker to claim the .28-gauge crown.

The Texas Sporting Clays Association put on what they called the Adios Cup. This was a onehundred bird sporting event that

The 5-Stand presented challenging but very fair targets for the 330 entrants in this event. Cory Kruse kept rolling to claim HOA honors as a result of his near perfect 99/100.

Nipping at his heels and only one target back was Cade Faetche for the runner-up spot. Kayla Kane put up a 92/100 to earn the top position in the Lady’s division, two targets ahead of Katie Fox.

TEXAS STATE 5-STAND CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

CORY KRUSE CADE FAETCHE RONALD MERICLE CARTER BURKHOLDER TY ROARK SIDNEY COFFIN ALEX HARTMAN CALVIN LEATHERS MARCUS CLEVELAND KAYLA KANE LANE PICKLO CADE FAETCHE RONALD MERICLE MARK TIPTON JIM BELLOWS RALPH WENTZLAFF

99 98 97 93 88 87 88 79 60 92 91 98 97 95 90 77

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Preliminary Super Sport In keeping with the mantra of doing things bigger, the Texas State Sporting Championship held their preliminary as a Super Sporting event as opposed to a standard sporting layout. Nearly four-hundred shooters participated and faced very sporty targets in this prelude to the main event.

Abel Spire and Justin Napier ended their round tied at 95/100. After a shoot-off Spire claimed HOA. In a rematch of the 5-Stand event Kayla Kane and Katie Fox squared off chasing top Lady honors. Katie Fox’s 86/100 earned her the champion trophy by one target.

TEXAS STATE PRELIM SUPERSPORT CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

ABEL SPIRE JUSTIN NAPIER THEO RIBBS ED ARRIGHI MAL CROWELL DYLAN LITTLE CHRISTOPHER AYRES TONY FLOWERS MARCUS CLEVELAND KATIE FOX LANE PICKLO AUSTIN KIEMSTEADT DAN CALLAHAN ED ARRIGHI GARY GREENWAY GENE SHERROD

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

95 95 94 91 85 86 79 75 71 86 93 93 94 91 86 72

The top of the Lady’s leaderboard had some familiar names on it. Janet McDougall claimed the Lady’s crown with her 177/200. Kayla Kane and Haylyn Hanks took the runner-up and third places respectively, just a couple targets under McDougall.

Conclusions Texas State Texas State FITASC Championship The four parcours set for the Texas State FITASC offered wonderful targets and yielded some impressive scores. Bill McGuire straightened pars one, two and three, and only dropped one target on par four. His 99/100 was enough to earn him HOA. Although Bill’s score was impressive, it was not a run-away victory. Dominic Gross straightened pars two and four to claim the runner-up spot with a 98/100. Haylyn Hanks claimed the top spot in the Lady’s division with a 91, outpacing Grace Mabry by one target.

TEXAS STATE SPORTING CLAYS CHAMPIONSHIP CH RU AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

CORY KRUSE BOBBY FOWLER CARTER BURKHOLDER HUNTER NORRIS DYLAN LITTLE ALEX HARTMAN GARY CARD GRAYSON MILLER JANET MCDOUGALL LANE PICKLO AUSTIN KIEMSTEADT BILL MCGUIRE MARK TIPTON GARY GREENWAY RALPH WENTZLAFF

190 188 175 168 158 154 145 143 177 171 185 188 177 178 144

Three courses made up the 2022 Texas State Sporting Championship. The Caesar, Fabarm and Syren courses were set in a manner to determine the best sport shooter on the grounds.

The challenge with breaking up two-hundred targets across three courses, is the higher number of targets that the shooter must read as opposed to a pair of traditional one-hundred target courses. This tests the shooter’s ability to adapt to ever-changing presentations and challenges.

The 2022 Texas State Sporting Clays Champion is Cory Kruse.

Kruse performed brilliantly, posting a sixty-five on the Fabarm course, a sixty-four on Syren and a sixty-one on the Caesar course. His 190/200 was two targets better than runner-up Bobby Fowler and Veteran Champion Bill McGuire.

The weather was excellent for this event, a little wind but quite pleasant. Defender Outdoors Clay Sports Ranch put on a great show. Food trucks were plentiful around the facility with a wide variety of cuisine.

The banquet featured an excellent entrée with Filet Mignon and fine accompaniments. As if the aforementioned accommodations were not enough, the staff also arranged a concert featuring Country artist Aaron Copeland. Vendors were plentiful on site and offering any and all items of interest for shooters.

This year’s Texas Sporting Clays Association Hall of Fame inductees were Clay Sports Ranch’s own Travis Mears and the very gifted Meagan Harrington. Defender outdoors and their staff has set a high standard for a quality Mega-Blast event in terms of quality and accommodations. Congratulations to all the winners and to the Clay Sports Ranch for a top-notch event. n

TEXAS STATE FITASC CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH

BILL MCGUIRE DOMINIC GROSS TONY RIVERA GRACE MABRY HEATH GARRETT RALPH HUFFAKER GARRETT BARKS MITCHELL JONES MARK ALDRIEDGE HAYLYN HANKS CLAY ROBERTSON BILL MCGUIRE MARK TIPTON M DAVID CHANDLER

99 98 97 90 91 86 83 73 65 91 95 99 90 89

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60

TRIDENT CUP AFS GAMEBORE Classic

BY HARVEY SCHWARTZ

T

he Trident Cup and American Field Sporting Gamebore Classic was held at Meadows Clay Sports Facility. Located in Forsyth, Georgia and in operation since the 1990s, the Meadows has a penchant for hosting major tournaments consisting of medium to hard degree of difficulty targets.

The 1998 NSCA US Open, zone shoots, state shoots and regional tournaments have all taken place at this sporting clays facility.

The Trident Cup and AFS Gamebore Classic consisted of a sporting clays main event, preliminary, FITASC and the AFS competition, which was a qualifying event for the AFS Invitational. Target setter Eric Dorsey has garnered a reputation for setting challenging targets that push the shooter to the edge of their comfort zone.

In keeping with the aforementioned reputation, Eric’s targets did not disappoint.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Trident Prelim

Sporting Main

The preliminary sporting event was held on Friday with a total of seventy-five shooters. Alex Ryan Clark took HOA honors posting a dominating 96/100, five targets ahead of runner-up and Junior Champion Gabriel Boggs. Melanie Parker earned the top lady spot with a 74/100, joining her husband Malcolm who’s 88/100 garnered the Senior Veteran Champion slot.

The Sporting Main competition was held on the newly constructed White course and could be shot on either Saturday or Sunday. The white course had some terrain in what is usually a “flat as a pancake” area with several stations presenting targets thrown below the shooter’s feet. Eric Brown, a student at Georgia’s Emmanuel College, posted a 96/100 to claim

SPORTING PRELIMINARY CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

ERIC BROWN KEVIN DEMICHIEL WILLIAM MORRISON REID MADDUX BRODY SAMSON JAKE STAPLETON NATE GLEATON MARK COLLINS SHELBY MOON BRODY SAMSON ERIC BROWN ROBERT PURSER MALCOLM PARKER DOUGLAS BRIDGES BILL HENLEY

96 95 91 84 88 77 85 63 88 88 96 89 90 67 76

HOA, just one target ahead of Macon’s own Kevin Demichiel.

Shelby Moon outpaced the competition by six targets to claim lady champion honors.

SPORTING PRELIMINARY CH RU

ALEX RYAN CLARK GABRIEL BOGGS

96 91

NEW

720 SERIES

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62

FITASC

TRIDENT FITASC

The FITASC event was held in an area traditionally known as the Red course. Parcour four was particularly picturesque, situated in an area on the north side of Evans Lake. The C target on par four was quite memorable, originating on the end of the pier and throwing a high orange domed outgoer, this made for a fun and challenging presentation. None of the layouts were straighted and there were only two scores in the 90’s. Matt Miller took the HOA spot with a 95/100, just four targets ahead of M1 and Lady Champion Shelby Moon.

CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH

MATT MILLER SHELBY MOON CADEN CARTER JACOB TARLTON BRODY SAMSON BEN HOWARD HENRY JOHNSON RYAN DOYLE SHELBY MOON RENNIE WILSON III BORIA CONDREY JACKIE CAULDE JIM KEESEE

95 91 86 85 78 77 79 58 91 89 78 83 72

AFS Gamebore Classic Qualifier – FOUR FIELDS EXPLAINED American Field Sporting was available all three days of the tournament, consisting of a Red,

TRIDENT CUP

CH KEVIN DEMICHIEL M1 RENNIE WILSON III AA1 CADEN CARTER A1 DALTON DENNIS B1 BRODY SAMSON C1 JAKOB R. DUKE D1 HENRY JOHNSON E1 RYAN DOYLE

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

SPORTING 95 94 82 80 88 75 76 62

FITASC 88 89 86 72 78 69 79 58

AFS 97 88 76 82 70 80 81 56

TOTAL 280 271 244 234 236 224 236 176

White, Blue and Green field and drawing ninety-seven entries. Our squad started on the white field which had six traps total, one of which launched a midi chandelle for the X-bird. This field is shot from three hoops or shooting positions. The targets were able to be viewed from each station.

The Blue course consisted of two shooting stands with two different menus to shoot at each stand. This field more closely resembles super sporting, offering seven traps including the X-bird.

The Green course, which most resembles 5-Stand, offers six traps, again one of which being the famous (or infamous depending on one’s perspective) X-bird. This particular X-bird was a barn burner. A black midi target was thrown as a crow in afterburner.

Unfortunately, not one shooter on our squad was able to connect with this monster X-bird. The Red course had five shooting positions (hoops) from where the shooting took place utilizing six traps

AFS QUALIFIER CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH

KEVIN DEMICHIEL KYLE MILLWOOD SETH GROVES TJ PERKINS NATHAN HYDE JAKOB R. DUKE HENRY JOHNSON JIMMY JONES SHELBY MOON DALTON DENNIS RENNIE WILSON III ROBERT PURSER GLENN DAVIS JACK EZELLE

97 93 81 83 79 80 81 67 87 82 88 90 83 59

including a lofty X-bird.

Kevin Demichiel ended this outing at HOA with a 97 out a possible 104 (the X-bird is worth two points if hit on the first shot) outpacing the closest competitor, Kyle Millwood, by four targets.

Shelby Moon continued to perform well earning the Lady champion spot with Rennie Wilson III taking the Junior title. n

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LASERVISION

64

A SHOOTER’S JOURNEY TO LASER VISION CORRECTION

BY MATTHEW GAY

P

rior to age forty years old and four months, I had 20/10 vision in both eyes with a strong right eye dominance.

Then all the sudden it seemed like someone had flipped a switch, four months after my 40th birthday. I went from being able to clearly see the ridges on a target at a significant distance, to only seeing an orange blur traversing through an undefined trajectory. Much to my dismay, it was time for an expedited eye exam with the foregone conclusion that I needed correction. So begins the six-year journey from glasses to laser vision correction.

I Only Wear Shooting Glasses!

My disdain for wearing corrective glasses runs quite deep, so contacts were the way I planned to go. The greatest challenge was the astigmatism in the right eye. This defect in the eye, likely caused by age, made it so that the shape of the cornea was no longer perfectly spherical. In order to apply a contact to an eye with an CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

astigmatism, the contact must be weighted so that it orients to the proper position naturally. These contacts are commonly known as Toric lenses. Although apprehensive, I ordered contacts and decided I would try prescription shooting glasses as another option. My adventure with prescription shooting glasses included not only a style with lenses, but also prescription inserts in my other frames. These are great options for some people because everyone’s eye and expectation of vision quality is different. In my case, the contacts combined with standard shooting glasses became my first choice.

The problem I had with Toric contacts was that occasionally the lens would rotate, right before I was about to call for a target. This presented multiple problems. One, I would try to blink rapidly in order to get the contact to move back to its proper position and into focus which negatively impacted my thought process. Second, with this interruption to my pre-shot routine, I often rushed to the call for the target leading to my hold

point sometimes being altered from my initial set-up. I had just about made peace with the fact that I was simply going to have to chock it up to getting older when a co-worker decided to check into laser eye correction surgery. His results were outstanding. He claimed his vision was better than he could remember at any time in his youth, and getting better by the day post-op.

Apprehension I had some major questions considering I shoot competitively and need clear vision at distance, but I also spend a lot of time on the

computer for my day job and writing for various publications. I did some research on the facility where my co-worker had his procedure done and was impressed with the experience of the doctors and staff. Although I had been told many times that I likely did not qualify for laser correction, I elected to make an appointment for a consultation which was free of charge, so what did I have to lose? The protocol for the Laser Eye Institute in Troy, Michigan was to send your information through their website and wait for a call to schedule. I was shocked when my phone rang about ten minutes after I sent the

LASERVISION

info. The scheduler was helpful and answered my initial questions.

She proceeded to make me an appointment to check things out and see if this was a solution that could work for me.

Dr. Daniel Haddad M.D. and Dr. Jeffery Rautio O.D. I did extensive research on the doctors at the Laser Eye Institute. I was impressed to read about Dr. Daniel Haddad’s experience and pioneering contributions to the field. Dr. Haddad founded the Laser Eye Institute in 1987 and has been serving patients in the metro Detroit area since. He developed a custom RK procedure in the 1990’s, has worked on the improvement of eye tracking technology used in modern lasers and provides continuing education programs for multiple national and international institutions which educate currently practicing surgeons and students. Dr. Haddad has traveled the world lecturing surgeons, has instructed at Wayne State University and has even been on the cover of Ophthalmology Times Magazine.

Dr. Rautio has an equally impressive background and pedigree in the field of Ophthalmology and would be responsible for my pre and postsurgical care. Having spent three decades providing eye care to patients, with the last twenty exclusively treating pre and post-

operative care for patients of LASEK, LASIK, SMILE and cataract surgery, it seemed he would have the expertise to make sure my results would be the best possible. Rautio was appointed the team Optometrist for the Detroit Lions in 1991 and held that position for nine years, providing care to players, coaches and staff.

Dr. Rautio has also traveled to lecture and provide instruction to other eyecare professionals and has authored and published several professional papers.

With all the above considered, I figured these two doctors could be trusted with my eyes.

Consultation and Penance Arriving on time, I was brought into what I figured would be a standard eye exam like I’ve had many times before. That was not the case. The staff and doctors spent about two and a half hours with me, conducting multiple tests (I believe seven or eight). The purpose of these tests was to determine several things about my eyes ranging from correction needed to dryness. Inquiring as to the purpose of all these tests Dr. Haddad responded: “the truth is I value very much that patients who are putting the most precious sense in my hands, that’s why I have also strived to give my patients the best technology, not only in terms of the Lasers, but also the diagnostic devices to help me screen patients

who may not be good candidates.

I’d rather say no to someone as opposed to proceeding with treatment and have the patient encounter subsequent complications. Unfortunately, some doctors have become “LASIK Merchants” advertising $250 LASIK, baiting and switching, and not seeing the patient until the day of the procedure.”

After this thorough battery of examinations, Dr. Haddad advised me that I was a good candidate. He discussed a couple of options for me. First, we could correct both eyes for distance, but I would need reading glasses in perpetuity for close vision. The other option was “mono-vision” correction. With this approach the dominant eye (my right) was corrected for long distance while the non-dominant eye was corrected for closer reading distances. I clearly articulated my concerns with having only one eye corrected for distance and its impact to depth perception for shooting. Dr. Haddad explained that it likely would not be an issue. However, if it presented a problem for me, we could simply apply a contact to the non-dominant eye for shooting.

With my disposition towards corrective lenses and considering my daily tasks, the mono-vision option seemed to hold the most efficacy for me.

There were a couple considerations with this correction process that made me comfortable that it would work for

65

me. First, the astigmatism in my right eye would be corrected during the laser surgery. This would allow for light to pass through properly and not cause distorted refraction and consequently blurry objects or glare. Second, the non-dominant eye would be corrected to an extent that the disparity between the two eyes when it comes to distance was not so much as to cause peripheral problems such as headaches, or intense eye strain. As I have mentioned in previous articles, the brain sees… not the eyes. The brain can adapt to significant changes with great efficiency. Even with a learning curve for my brain to adapt, I was optimistic that this would work.

With a surgery date scheduled it seemed as though I still had to “pay the piper” for taking advantage of this advanced correction method that would free me from glasses and contacts. For two weeks prior to surgery the patient cannot wear contacts as they can temporarily alter the shape of the eye, creating the potential for issues with the surgery. They also can introduce bacteria into the eye which could negatively impact healing.

Consequently, I was burdened with wearing two-year-old glasses for the two weeks prior. A small price to pay for the results I realized. The only other prerequisite was antibiotic and steroid eye drops for a week prior at certain intervals, in order to

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

LASERVISION

66

prepare the eyes for a successful outcome, free of infection and quick healing.

Surgery Day The day of surgery was not a big deal at all. The staff at the Laser Eye Institute did a couple of preoperative tests to verify their plan.

They gave me some meds to relax me and off we went to the surgical suite. The technique being used on my right eye is called SMILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction). To put things into lay terms, with this technique the laser makes the corrections through the lens and creates a lenticule (tiny disc shaped piece of corneal tissue). This lenticule is then removed through a small incision and the procedure is complete. This procedure has the benefits of having less of a chance for dry eye issues and a very quick healing time.

The left eye was treated with the LASIK procedure (Laser Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis).

With this procedure a laser makes tiny bubbles within the top layer of the cornea allowing a flap to be

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

lifted, leaving a hinge on one end of the outer section. This flap is then folded back providing access to the middle portion of the cornea where the laser reshapes the lens to correct vision. The flap is then replaced over the middle section of the cornea without the need for any mechanical fixation. The flap adheres naturally through the healing process. Both procedures occurred quickly. I do not believe I was in the surgical suite for a total of thirty minutes. I had no pain and instantly could see better at completion of the procedure.

The after care is important with these procedures in that, if not careful before complete healing, the flap from the LASIK procedure could become dislodged. It was for that reason that I had to sit in the back seat for the ride home and was clearly told not to rub the eye that had LASIK done. For a week after the surgery the patient is given plastic shields to apply before falling to sleep in order to make sure no inadvertent rubbing occurred during sleep.

The funny story about post-op and the drive home evolved around the medication I was given to relax.

Sitting in pre-op, I did not feel any effects of the meds, so I was administered an additional small dose. I really did not notice it until after the surgery and we stopped to get a burger on the way home. It was all I could do to finish my burger

and then it was nighty night all the way home. Once home, I walked straight into the bedroom and took a four-hour nap, which is exactly what the doctors at Laser Eye Institute wanted post-op. Following up with the required eye drops as prescribed to make sure healing proceeded as expected was a priority but all in all, I have had teeth cleanings that were more involved from my end than this surgery. I had no pain and no issues to speak of. In fact, I had surgery on a Thursday and shot a round of sporting clays with my collegiate athletes on Sunday.

Results Dr. Haddad, Dr. Ratio and their staff were clear that initially there could be some glare for a period after the surgery. This was evident at the above-mentioned clay outing. I had an incoming 60mm, with full sun hitting the dome. The glare on this target made it appear to glow brightly. I switched to a darker lens to cut the glare on subsequent targets with reasonable success.

The folks at Laser Eye Institute advised me that this glare will slowly dissipate as healing proceeds. I am currently three weeks out of surgery and have already noticed marked improvement from that first clay outing.

In terms of the mono-vision; I currently do not see this as an impediment to my transition from soft to hard focus on targets. I will probably have the contacts on hand in the event I feel a need for them in my left eye. Having shot sporting, skeet and trap thus far I see no need to use them. During the first couple weeks I was closely monitoring stimuli from driving for feedback on any potential impact to depth perception based on the monovision. I clearly recognize depth at what I believe is the same

level I did previously with my eyes corrected by contacts. Besides keeping eye moistening drops handy I see no real difference in the quality of my pre-age-forty vision and what I have now after laser eye surgery.

Summing It Up I have spoken to several friends prior to having this surgery done and found that many find the thought of such a procedure frightening. I can unequivocally state that there is no reason to fear this type of vision correction. One factor that gave me additional confidence in Dr. Haddad and Dr. Rautio was their policy of standing behind their work by including two years of follow-up appointments with the cost of the surgery.

Waking up in the morning and being able to instantly see clearly without any need for glasses or contacts is truly priceless for this forty-six-year-old shooter.

Do your research, find the best provider in your area and schedule a consultation. If you are within striking distance of the metro Detroit area and want the best of the best, contact Dr. Haddad at Laser Eye Institute. I can’t say enough about their professionalism and the amount of time they spent explaining the process and considerations to me.

You can find more information on the Laser Eye Institute at lasereyeinstitute.com Editor’s note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, the Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, a bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

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SHOOTREPORT

70

2022

GAMALIEL CUP

BY JAKE DEANE

T

he 2022 edition of the Gamaliel Cup Sporting clays tournament certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the premier “Big Blasts” for shooters to attend during the year. The cup is often regarded as a “must shoot” tournament by many hobbyists and professionals alike. The Nashville gun club utilized all their extensive property to conduct the tournament, and they were quite successful in doing so. 448 shooters descended upon Nashville, Tennessee to compete for articulate trophies and a large amount of added prize money. The cup paid places first through sixth in each class, offering six shooters in each class the opportunity to win some money back. The Gamaliel cup consisted of ten traditional twelve-gauge events; a sporting Main, FITASC, Preliminary, 5-Stand, Super Sport along with 50-bird 12-gauge, True Pair, Side x Side, Prelim 5-stand, and pump gun events. The cup also hosted traditional sub gauge events for 20ga, 28ga, and .410ga, as well as FITASC events in 20ga and 28ga.

The Preliminaries The traditional prelim was held through Friday on the Gold course, the same course that would be used for half of the Main Event.

The targets were set to be close yet technical and peculiar, to test the skills of the competitors. This course sported several deceiving stands, with shooting positions set on hills and dense tree coverage, it was easy to cause a “fluid” perception of target distance and speed. Wyatt Hargrove mastered these targets, taking HOA In the prelim with a near perfect 99.

Hargrove mastered these window targets and tough transitions to win the event.

The second prelim event held was the Preliminary 5-Stand. This 5-Stand was set on one of the gun CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

club’s combo trap and skeet fields. Two shooters seemed to master the targets on these stands, both posting 49s to tie for HOA in the shoot. Christian

SPORTING PRELIMINARYGOLD CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

WYATT HARGROVE MARK HALL CODY MATSON MIKE BARTON CAILE BRADHAM MATT BRODERICK JEFF IVIE FABIANA DEBESELL MADISON SHARPE MORGAN HILLIARD MADISON SHARPE GARY PYRON MARK HALL LANNY GRIFFIN RONALD SHAFER

99 96 93 88 87 88 77 69 94 85 94 95 96 89 81

FITASC

Crawford and Cody Jesse both shot identical round splits, 25-24, to trigger a shoot-off. Crawford eventually came out on top, winning HOA in the Prelim 5-stand and starting the weekend off with a bang.

The FITASC event consisted of 100 targets on four sold style parcours on the western area of the gun club. The target setter used a variety of target combinations to create a deceptively challenging course for all shooters involved.

Parcour three used a combination of distance and uncommon target presentations to challenge shooters. A particular target that stood out was a black Battue. This target was extremely hard to see in its first half of flight only becoming visible after its apex. The score breakdown demonstrated that this parcour represented the highest

5-STAND PRELIMINARY

GAMALIEL CUP FITASC

CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH

CHRISTIAN CRAWFORD CODY JESSE BRYAN WOOSLEY JEFFERY BROTHERS JAXON SMITH AVA CAULEY VINCE SIMS JASON WEST AVA CAULEY COLT MATSON LANDEN PRESTAGE STEVE GRANTHAM RANDY RYAN ALBERT FLEMING

49 49 47 45 47 45 41 30 45 27 48 46 47 42

CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

WYATT HARGROVE STEVEN TZOTZOLAS TRACE HATFIELD JAMES CLARK HUNTER RALEY BENJAMIN KARCHER ROBERTO DESBESELL GREG FRANCK MADISON SHARPE TODD HITCH JEFF CRAMBLIT MARK HALL TONY GOSLEE RONALD SHAFER

95 95 89 84 84 82 78 45 89 92 88 90 85 88

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SHOOTREPORT

72

Main Event

level of difficulty amongst the four layouts.

Parcour 1 had a nice amount of crossing targets with the peg location prompting shooters to think twice on how they analyzed the target presentations. Wyatt Hargrove shined on these targets, running the first two parcours and managing a 21 and 24 on par three and four to end out with a stout 95.

AA Shooter Trace Hatfield performed well on the parcours, straightening parcour 1, to end his outing with an 89/100.

5 Stand The Gamaliel Cup 5-Stand was held on the trap and skeet fields that Nashville gun club owns. The target setters were left with restricted space, but Top gun Shooting offered their target setting assistance to aide in the development of the 5-stand course.

Eight full layouts were set up in 5-stand configurations with two practice 5 stands, two Make-ABreak, and four competition 5 stands. Every target on the 5-stands were designed to prepare

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

shooters for the main, and from personal experience it was successful in that task. The 5-stand competition was fifty targets.

A few shooters were able to fully master the 5-Stand. Daniel Tate earned HOA in the 5-stand event by straightening the first layout to end with the course high 48/50. Three master class shooters, Wyatt Hargrove, Chris Ferres and Madison Sharpe tied with a 47s for Master First honors. After a shootoff, Hargrove came out on top.

GAMALIEL CUP 5-STAND CHAMPIONSHIP CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

DANIEL TATE WYATT HARGROVE TRENT FREDERICK MIKE BARTON JASON HUBBARD AVA CAULEY JIMMY WRAPE HUNTER SCHMEISSER MADISON SHARPE PAXTON FUGETT MADISON SHARPE STEVE GRANTHAM DONALD NEHRING DOUGLAS HESS NORMAN SMITH

48 47 45 43 42 41 37 35 47 40 47 44 42 37 38

The 2022 Gamaliel Cup main event was one to be enjoyed by every shooter in attendance. The courses were relatively complex, with ever changing terrain across the bluffs of the smoky mountains. Nashville Gun Club always provides a topnotch variety of targets. The course seemed to involve a large amount of trap style birds, ranging from 15yds to 60yds in distance.

The terrain allows the target setters to present otherwise soft birds in a way that causes an extreme challenge to a shooter’s mental game. The course also provided a mild amount of specialty targets, Midi, pro-70, rabbit, battue, at its stations. 366 total shooters combined to shoot over 72,000 targets over the course of the weekend.

GAMALIEL CUP MAIN EVENT CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

TODD HITCH TOM SEAY MARK HALL TRACE HATFIELD JOHNNY RICH CHRISTOPHER KELLER MATT BRODERICK CALEB DARNELL CADEN HARRIS MADISON SHARPE PAXTON FUGETT TODD HITCH GARY PYRON MARK HALL LANNY GRIFFIN RONALD SHAFER

191 189 188 178 171 171 162 155 140 179 158 191 177 188 170 155

Multiple contenders and past winners were in attendance to attempt to claim the coveted Gamaliel Cup trophy. Notable shooters included Team USA’s Todd Hitch, Tom Seay, Madison Sharpe, Mark Hall and Hayden Fisher. All these shooters were in contention to win the title. Todd Hitch and Mark Hall both had good green course scores, posting 96s to tie for the tournament high. Tom Seay shot the high score of 96/100 on the Gold Course, to end his outing with a 189/200. Tennessee native Todd Hitch posted a powerful 191/200 to ultimately claim HOA honors and the Gamaliel Cup.

Hospitality The Nashville gun club provided multiple food trucks and entertainment to occupy shooters between scheduled shooting flights. These amenities included a large barbecue truck, seafood/ burger truck, and a full-service cigar bar. The clubhouse offers a large wooden deck overlooking the beautiful Cumberland River.

This provides a peaceful place to get away after shooting had finished. Overall, this shoot was a perfect time to relax and enjoy the Tennessee southern hospitality.

The 2023 Gamaliel Cup will be held April 27th-30th at Cherokee Rose Sporting Clays in Griffin, GA. Registration can be found on scorechaser.com n

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GRANDPRIX

74

2022 FITASC US GRAND PRIX

BY DEE ORR

M

ay 6th through the 8th led me to Joe Cantey’s Hermitage Farm, the location of the 2022 FITASC US Grand Prix and the second leg of the FITASC Triple Crown World Cup. Hermitage Farm is in the beautiful small city of Camden, South Carolina, a town which is rich in history and culture. Few would suspect that just at the south side of this quaint town lies a 1500 acre shooting Mecca which boasts diverse terrain, making for phenomenal target presentations.

Joe Cantey brought in some of the best in the industry; with Casey Chase handling registration and scoring utilizing her Scorechaser program, Eric Dorsey on site to help with traps and target setting and Danny Moss in the kitchen.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

The parcours were staffed by some of the best FITASC referees in the country and Cantey’s targets, as always, were superb.

Many shooting opportunities were available this weekend for the 188 attendees. The 200-target Main FITASC event was set over eight parcours, each having its own unique challenges. Word around the club was that parcour eight, with its two battues and a rabbue, was one to beat. Other events available included a 100-bird Cypress Sporting event, a fifty target Sporting event for the 20and 28-gauge shooters, and a fifty target 5-Stand. In addition to the Main, there were two, fifty-target sub-gauge FITASC events.

Side Events The side events were available to shooters all three days. Britton Condon had a great weekend, winning the Cypress 100 with a 98/100, the 20-gauge sporting with a 48/50 and the 28-gauge sporting with a 46/50. Condon tied for HOA with Gabriel Boggs, both posting 46s on the 5-Stand.

SUB-GAUGE FITASC 20 ga CH 28 ga CH

WILL FENNELL WILLIAM MALONSON

SPORTING SIDE EVENTS CYPRESS 100 BRITTON CONDON 20 ga CH BRITTON CONDON 28 ga CH BRITTON CONDON 5-STAND CH BRITTON CONDON (tie) GABRIEL BOGGS

49 44

98 48 46 46 46

William Malonson and Mike Primavera led the 28g FITASC with 46s and Will Fennell’s 49 was top score on the 20g FITASC.

FITASC US GRAND PRIX HOA WILL FENNELL M1 GEBBEN MILES AA1 XAVIER RUSSELL A1 TROY PEAK B1 WILLIAM JENNINGS C1 HENRY WALKER D1 TRISTAN LOWE E1 GEORGE MAIOCCHI LADY ASHLEY LITTLE SUB JR CADEN CARTER JR THOMAS ROSE VET WILL FENNELL SUP VET DALE BOUCHILLON SR SUP VET NORMAN REUTER LEGACY TROY PEAK

193 185 180 164 161 148 157 124 178 168 185 193 180 173 164

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GRANDPRIX

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FITASC Grand Prix My FITASC Main started at 10:30 Friday morning on parcour one. It was quickly becoming hot and humid. This layout was arranged around a large pond with targets coming from all angles and varying greatly from peg to peg. With a high incoming teal from across the pond to a steep edgy chandelle from the platform at peg three, this parcour offered a nice set of targets at a lovely location.

Onward, to parcour two where each peg was shot from very close to the edge of the cliff. Nearly all the targets came from the valley, about twenty-five feet below our feet. These targets were quite challenging, primarily as a result of the cliff itself. Parcour three took us into the same valley and made good use of the both the cliff and the tree line. Both the D & E targets were thrown from the cliff over the treetops with a red flagged marker that declared when the target was ok to shoot in order to control shot fall. These targets were being affected by the wind and became a true pair on peg three. By end of day Friday, it was quite warm, and the wind was a friend to the afternoon shooters.

Saturday morning was overcast and a bit cooler. A welcome change, notwithstanding the occasional drizzle. We started on parcour four at 1:00 (Pro tip: you need a cart at Hermitage Farm

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

considering the distances between courses and the hills on site).

Parcour four was one of those sets of targets you go home wondering how you missed. Situated in an opening behind a hedgerow, it had very technical targets which changed from peg to peg and tended to turn or drop at the most inopportune moment. Parcour five was the opposite of parcour four, it seemed as though targets were just running into my pattern.

Initially it looked ominous, but the lofty birds ended up being kind to this shooter. We finished the day on parcours six, which offered more of the same challenging but fair presentations. Although cold and wet by the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the targets and the thought that went into them.

Camden offers multiple fine restaurants. Our venture to Sam Kendall’s resulted in an excellent meal at a reasonable price. This town was the site of some major battles during the Revolutionary War and is historically significant to the beginning of our Country.

Camden is also home to the National Steeplechase Museum on the grounds of the historic Springdale Racecourse. Things to do abound, as I drove through on Saturday there was a sidewalk sale going on all over town.

Sunday morning I was glad that I just tossed that pair of jeans and jacket in my suitcase. It was cold for us Floridians, but fortunately

no rain was in the forecast. I arrived at the club early, just ahead of two of my squad mates from FITASC, Mike Able and James Joines. After gathering our equipment, we all set out in our cart to shoot the Cypress sporting course. I have shot here before and always thought they could use this course to design roller coasters, the hills make for amazing terrain to work with.

three. This seems to be a signature target from Mr. Cantey we experienced different renditions of this weekend. This parcour offered many challenges and arguably lived up to the hype.

As the day ended, Will Fennell had secured the HOA spot with a stellar 193/200. A three-way tie with 185s between Gebben Miles, Thomas Rose and Nadim Nasir Jr. resulted in that order after a shoot-

After lunch, we headed out for the final two, starting on parcour seven. High chandelles, lofty belly shots and crossers were the theme making this the most user friendly parcour thus far. The next stop was the notorious parcour eight. The E bird, a screaming green rabbue, was playing havoc with scores and became the “talk of the club”. It was rising from the right side of the field, peaking at about forty yards. The pegs here ran right to left. Flat and away from peg one and by peg three crossing where the option to shoot it falling came into play. The A target was a high rising battue thrown as a chandelle, the C, another battue, thrown as a chandelle, quartering in on peg one and crossing by peg

off for M1. Ashley Little earned the Ladies Champion title posting a 178/200.

It was a fun weekend of shooting great targets and seeing friends. I had a good squad to shoot with which always makes it better. I highly recommend a visit to Hermitage Farm, it is a great place to shoot world class targets set by the Master himself, Joe Cantey. Southern hospitality and a beautiful little city are icing on the cake. n For full scores go to: scorechaser.com For more information on Hermitage Farm visit their website at: hfsporting.com

2022 US OPEN BACK WOODS QUAIL CLUB GEORGETOWN, SC MAY 16 - 22

BY DEREK MOORE AND CYLE FOLEY PHOTOS BY THADDIUS BEDFORD

SHOOTREPORT

80

I

t was the sunniest week of the year until Saturday when the intermittent storms set in. They only affected the early rotations on Saturday and the later ones on Sunday afternoon. 1392 entrants came from all over the United States, as well as a few from the United Kingdom and Columbia— the US Open event opened to much fanfare. With Covid-19 seemingly behind us, we can get on with what we do best, enjoy sporting clays. It was my first time at Back Woods, but it has always been on my radar having known Rick Hemingway for many years and having bumped into him at many different events over that time. Rick has always operated his own way and marched to his own drum and this was no different.

No less than 1500 target settings were thrown over 17 events and with the exception of the Welcome 100, all the other events continued into and throughout the weekend. A total of 717,000 registered targets were thrown, more like 900,000 if you include practice targets. With 52 portable toilets and 250 trash cans that were kept clean throughout the event, in effect the shoot ran like clockwork. Like a corporate event each part of the event was ran by different fully qualified people.

Scorechaser was on hand to run the paperwork part of the event—making sure squads were set up and the shooters notified of any changes with registration and scoring. Casey Chase and perennial scorekeeper Lois Neely were on hand with the team to do the job. It is impressive how organized they were and how efficient they were at getting the scores updated. They are the team to beat, I understand they will get a shot at the Nationals this year.

There was a book signing by CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Anthony I. Matarese Jr. Friday night, his new book is called “Straight Shooting” and is already in great demand. The book signing was located at the Beretta booth, and they sold 100 books, no mean feat. If you want to buy it go to clayshootinginstruction.com It is available for $89.95 and worth every penny. I talked briefly to Anthony after the shoot. I asked him how he liked the course - he thought the shoot overall was a great shoot. He thought the targets were a little tough for the average shooter, but we all shot them. I agree, no complaints here either.

Make a Break was sponsored

by Kolar Guns and Elite shotguns.

Friday was dedicated to A-E and Saturday to Master class and AA. $5000 to first place, $3000 to second place and $2000 to third place. The top 16 qualifiers in A-E and the top 16 in M-AA had to earn the right to compete. The A-E winners Friday night were Carl Holland who claimed the top spot and William Johnson and Philip Jones in second and third. On Saturday, the AA-Master winners were Brandon Powell in first with Wyatt Hargrove and Nate Wannabo winning second and third.

Prelim

Sponsored by SGS Performance Eyewear One of two courses set by Mike

Luongo, the prelim ran through the whole shoot. With eyewash stations everywhere to keep your glasses clean, Frank Robertson, owner of SGS, pulled out all the stops. He makes regular shooting glasses and prescription shooting glasses on site and is one of the best in the business. The prelim was set in the hills behind the clubhouse. Mike set a good course that was talked about all weekend and almost 800 shooters shot it over the seven days it was available. I don’t think I have ever been to an event where the prelim lasted the entirety of the shoot.

High gun was Wendell Cherry with a 94. Wendell had pneumonia but battled through it all weekend.

Brad Kidd was runner-up with 93.

WENDELL CHERRY BRAD KIDD LANDON DELOACH AVERY BILES ADRIAN CERTAIN HENRY JOHNSON KEVIN MERRITT REID STANLEY SHELBY MOON CONNOR DANIEL TURNER PARCELL WENDELL CHERRY MARK HALL GARY WALSTROM CARTER STANTON

Super Sporting Sponsored by Cole Guns

PRELIM HOA M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

High Lady was Shelby Moon with an 87.

94 93 86 88 84 78 74 69 87 88 93 94 89 85 75

This is one of my favorite events. It was set by Joe Scull and located across the road in the new area all the way in the back past the lake.

With the vast amount of terrain to set targets, this was spread out wide on both sides. Not flat with plenty curves in the land to make for interesting presentations, Joe had about four targets in there to separate the top shooters. As always, his course was a success.

With David Radulovich at 98 for high gun, I think the porridge was “just right” with scores going down

SHOOTREPORT

appropriately through the classes—a sign of a well thought out course. Lady Champion Karen Shedd with an 89 shows how the ladies are becoming serious contenders.

Main Event Sponsored by Beretta

The first course we shot on Friday

A Chat with Rick Hemingway I caught up with Rick Hemingway when he had a few free moments to chat: n This is the second time you have had the US Open here.

What did you learn the first

81

SUPER SPORTING HOA M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY SUB JR JR VET SUP VET SR SUP VET LEGACY

DAVID RADULOVICH MARTIN MYERS JACKSON FERLAND KEVIN ALLEN CHRISTOPHER KELLER GAGE YARBOROUGH HUNTER SELF REID STANLEY KAREN SHEDD LANE PICKLO THOMAS ROSE WENDELL CHERRY RANDY RYAN ALAN SPEIR NORMAN SMITH

98 95 87 83 86 74 76 61 89 90 92 92 89 77 72

time to make this second one such a success?

To my knowledge, I don’t know anyone who applied for it twice and got it both times. I did not have many issues in 2013—in fact, I have been very proud to say I have had a huge amount of compliments right on up to showtime 2022 that

2013 was the best US Open they ever attended, so with that said, I feel like we did pretty well in 2013.

Having a great shoot is rewarding to me. It’s the employees that make a tournament great, I just like to make the best event possible and not go broke. My objective and my goal was to try to figure how to enhance it. What can

I do different? Better? I just felt like I could do better personally.

From the mechanical side, try to make the traps the best they could be to prevent mechanical failures, minimize no birds and breakage of targets and down time, which I think we did pretty well. In 2022, I utilized 411 traps in operation. I don’t know how CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

SHOOTREPORT

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many we had in 2013, but I do know on this shoot because it is fresh in my mind. We had a couple of breakdowns, but we were able to get to them and repair them in a timely manner throughout the week. But the amount of service calls we had was minimal for an event of this size, so I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish in that department. n I see that everything was individually sponsored.

For the sponsorships and vendor area, we were able to hire Dominic Bethel, the owner of The Meadows Gun Club in Forsythe, Georgia. He managed and operated that domain and I think he did a very fine job in all of the details of the shoot— trash cans, needs of vendors and ongoing situations he was able to take care of and make things better for the shooter’s experience. He got us sponsors for every event and focused that effort to include them on all advertising, giving the sponsors their money’s worth.

I hired the target setters to control their courses outright and that went very well from my perspective. No negative reports. We started months ago to have training for our trappers. Obviously, you have young high school kids or young adults to do the job. A lot of the trappers we had in 2013 have gone on their way to other jobs so we had to start from scratch going through the training process again with new trappers. Many were inexperienced and so they needed classroom help and hands-on-training, doubling up with experienced trappers to learn the job fully. In my CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

was the A400 Xcel set by Rick Hemingway and I saw immediately that the difficulty level was set at US Open height, which was occasionally higher than my skill level.

The memorable bouncing bunnies come to mind immediately. A great target, but not always as easy as it looked. Some of the true pairs were a strain for many. There were a few including stations 10, 11 and 13 that caught even the Master shooters. Please note that I thought the targets were all seeable and fair in the air, just that they were tough. This was the course that held two extra targets over the other two main courses.

By Saturday, it was determined that DT11 set by John Snowden was the hardest, then A400 and the “easier” course was the 694 set by Mike Bashaw. I watched the Super Squads shoot DT11 on Friday and I saw them fighting for each target.

Many of the top shooters were on 51 out of 66 or 77% for this course.

It helped me to see how the top guys approached it and shot it.

What an excellent idea having the

top shooters squadded together. It gives them head-to-head competition and gives spectators

the chance to see competition at that level. Station 12 was particularly testy with a 67-yard speedy and slowly dropping target from back left to right with a high crossing incomer from the back left also. I saw many shooters attempt the crosser and many opted to take the three incomers for a definite three count at that station. Looking at the scores, there were only two Master class shooters that ran that station.

Station 6 in the corner had a true pair of targets. One from the right of the stand arcing up fast and back with a target from the back that was dropping by the time you shot the first one if you weren’t quick on the first. I saw the wind affecting the incomer on Friday, but we did not have that problem when we shot.

Sunday morning, we were brighteyed and bushy-tailed at 8am to shoot the final 694 field. I was glad we were on the early flight as nasty weather was due to arrive by the

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e h t t a e p p a i n g La n e p O S U 2 2 0 2

I

f you are unfamiliar with the term “Lagniappe”, it basically means a little something extra.

The U.S. Open this year had a lot of these to offer both at the club and the surrounding area. A person could engage in a myriad of activities ranging from Make-A Break to exploring the South Carolina coast.

At the club, one could see many people both shooting and watching Make-A-Break. This game has both a competitive aspect while maintaining an entertainment for the spectator.

Friendly trash talk is the norm here and some light hearted heckling among friends is cause for some great laughs. It is also a place to see families and friends congregating to cheer (or jeer) each other. It is not unusual to see a mother/son, father/daughter, or siblings competing with each other for bragging rights. Taking a moment to stop by and hang out is

bound to garner a person some laughs and even some new friends.

Most people filtered back to the club area hungry after raging war on the various events set by masterful (and quite possibly evil) target setters and followed the glorious smell of pulled pork to find a nirvana of food options consisting of food trucks, some free-standing vendors and club/ sponsor meals. The variety of choices was excellent as diners could readily feast on the ubiquitous hamburgers and hot dogs to the amazing Pileau (chicken and rice). A taco Tuesday fan would not have been left out as there was a vendor serving a variety of those tasty standards as well. Having pulled pork, ice cream, kettle corn and chicken strips on demand was definitely detrimental to this writer’s waistline! The Friday night meal provided at the club was extremely well thought-out although some

not familiar with southern cuisine were in for a shock when they mistook grits for mashed potatoes. The prime rib and green beans were amazing. Saturday night’s meal had people talking before they had even started forming lines. There were so many options it was crazy— from shrimp and grits to sushi and chicken and steak options. Holy Cow! How could I not mention the desserts?

They were all amazing, from the moist cupcakes to the delicious cookies and pecan bars. The free beer trailer and wine table was a huge hit after the shooting stopped. It was stunning to see

that much variety under one roof, and the fellowship was quite

enjoyable ,both during the lunch and dinner noshings.

Having been to many of these events, this writer has to say that Rick Hemingway has set the bar pretty high on this one.

Vendors at Back Woods Quail Club had much to offer from advice to mechanical help.

Every day it was a buzz with people buying talking and just having fun. Hopping from tent to tent is a favorite past time of many, this writer included. The conversations with professional shooters and coaches will give you a new perspective on your shooting of a specific target and CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

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CONTINUED FROM PG 80 opinion, it is just the proper way of doing business. We had successful, trained trapping in all events. Very few clubs have the real estate to put on so many events at one time. I thought the targets were set for a world class event and apart from a few targets on DT11 that I would have changed, the event ran well. On DT11 Station 8, I would have brought one of the targets a little closer. Station 11, the tower birds, I should have had them as report pairs instead of true pairs and Station 12 with the 67-yard crosser was a little over the top. The rest I thought were fine for an event of this stature.

The amount of land available for this event is now 6500 acres and we used 900 acres for all of the events presented. This includes all of the new land at the opposite side of the road where the FITASC, Sub Gauge FITASC, all of the sub gauge, Super Sporting and American Field Sporting were. In 2013, we only used 450 acres, so the shoot and its possibilities has grown immensely.

There are so many target setters that wanted to help that I only ended up setting A400 in the Main Event and Parcours 1 and 2 in FITASC myself.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

US OPEN MAIN EVENT

HOA BRANDON POWELL RU ANTHONY I. MATARESE JR. 3RD GEBBEN MILES M1 BRAXTON OLIVER AA1 DYLAN WOOD A1 MATTHEW CROTTS B1 JOHN DEAN DANIELS C1 JACK STAPLETON D1 CARSON LINGLE E1 REID STANLEY LADY MADISON SHARPE SUB JR BRAYDEN WOJCIESZAK JR MADISON SHARPE VET BILL MCGUIRE SUP VET JAMES GILMAN SR SUP VET JACK CONCANNON LEGACY CARTER STANTON

afternoon, and it did, though not extended. I personally enjoyed the 694 course, more targets in my skill level, but I found that it pays to battle with targets, you learn

A400 59 61 59 62 50 53 53 51 39 35 54 57 54 59 52 47 43

DT-11 55 55 57 50 54 47 43 44 33 36 51 47 51 51 48 46 29

694 63 61 59 62 53 49 53 46 52 48 64 57 64 61 59 55 51

TOTAL 177 177 175 174 157 149 149 141 124 119 169 161 169 171 159 148 123

from it. Station 7 had two true from the right side in the trees, high and arcing together. The bottom target of the two was bright yellow, drawing your eyes to it for the first

hit, the second target was then right there in your field of vision for the second hit.

Overall, the main event was an absolute success, we all felt we had been put through the wringer, but we did not give up and it felt good to finish the last course 15 targets ahead of the first course I shot.

Though I was probably a little rusty having not shot much due to touring with my band, I could not miss a major tournament as close to my house as this one—just 31/2 hours from my new home in North Carolina. n

SHOOTREPORT

85

CONTINUED FROM PG 81 they are always willing to give advice and encouragement. Gun dealers help with choosing what is right for you and help you find that perfect fit. Its always nice to pick up a piece of new gear to travel home with.

Some may need a break after a long day of shooting clays, for that this area has just what you need!

Beaches, restaurants, nightlife and much more. Venturing out one can’t help but notice how many people are decked out in their favorite gun/ammo shirts, more often than not a short conversation can lead to lasting friendships down the road. Just a short distance from the club is Georgetown where one can dine, imbibe and relax on its beautiful waterfront. Restaurants like SOCO Grille, River Room, and Roots offer impeccable dining. These places offer a nice variety of seafood and southern cooking. Some of the favorites are the seafood platters at River Room, The chicken lollipops at Roots, and the fried okra at SOCO. A little further down the road is Pawleys Island where you can dine on anything from steak to

American Field Sporting Sponsored by White Flyer

This is fairly new to our sport so I spoke to its creator, Mark Baltazar, to see how it was going: “Despite what you may have heard and seen online I thought it was great. Rick did an amazing job. I thought the targets were hard, but I enjoyed the hell out of them. With AFS, we exposed hundreds of new people to the game. I talked to the refs and at least half of the

pasta to seafood. A stop at Hog Heaven for a buffet of southern cooking twill make you think you are at home with granny cooking.

Hog Heaven also provided one of the food trucks at the event and their non-buffet menu items are just as good. Another place that’s popular is the Pawley’s Raw Bar. Don’t let the name fool you—their selections of cooked and raw foods will astound you. On the night we dined here it was overrun with Open participants. Pawley’s Tavern is the nice little eclectic place that reminds one of those fun bars everyone went to at home. It may feel strange with thousands of dollar bills hanging overhead but don’t let that keep you from enjoying their calamari and one heck of a hamburger! There are just way too many good places to write about here, but this writer would be remiss if he didn’t point out that there is an ice cream parlor about every quarter mile from Pawley’s Island to Myrtle Beach. Each one has its own individual uniqueness and is a must try. No matter where you go, dining and reveling with like-

minded people just makes the meal better.

The beaches of South Carolina are a great place to unwind. A quick trip to Huntington Beach State Park was just what was needed one day. The beautiful beaches and nature area could lend a vacation vibe to your shoot.

Raised nature viewing areas over tidal flats provide many photo opportunities. Alligators, crabs, and hundreds of birds and various small creatures pose with great opportunity. The beaches were populated with sun worshipers as the sea waves lapped at their feet.

Surfers ride waves just waiting to cut into the curls and swimmers frolic with pure joy in the blue-green water. In observing the beach, I noticed several families from the Make-A Break area enjoying some family time seemingly without a care in the world. In essence, this beach was

what people want on a beach!

The whole shoot experience is never summed up in a “shoot report” there are so many different aspects that make a shoot unique.

In writing this article I am reminded of all the good times and incredible friends I have made in this sport. Rick Hemingway and his staff did an amazing job putting on this shoot and truly it was an event to remember. The residents of this area were just what you would expect in the South—polite, helpful, and very hospitable. Back Woods Quail Club is definitely a little paradise nestled in a piece of heaven. This unique area has even this Texan more than willing to pack up and move. n

shooters had never shot it before.

The feedback I have heard from shooters and the refs and other people who had no skin in the game was that people really enjoy it. Eric Dorsey, who set all of the targets for AFS, did an amazing job. I may be biased, but it was one of the best set courses at the shoot. What I hope is that a lot of people who were exposed to it for the first time will go back to their home club and say let’s give this a shot. Everybody who has done that, end up doing more and more.

Michigan had its first shoots this year and are now doing three more. On Memorial Day, it was

presented in Colorado and now They have three more shoots scheduled. I could not be more grateful to Rick Hemingway for adding it to what was already a full list of events. We were very close to being sold out through Thursday, so Rick extended it to Monday and we were very close again. Our Monday rotation was missing a few people but other than that, we were sold out all the way with 656 entries over both events.

Go to americanfieldsporting.com if you are interested and the website will give you all you need, with video, to put on the

shoot. We did the World English this year for the first time and will be throwing at the Nationals this year too. n

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TECHNOID’SCOLUMN

86

GUNFITTING

BY DON CURRIE H

aving a shotgun that fits is like wearing properly sized shoes. It avoids pain. We humans are pretty adaptable creatures and can often come to terms with a single shotgun that isn’t quite the right fit for us. But when you buy that second shotgun—as you eventually always will no matter what you say now— shooting two different guns will usually bring out the fact that one doesn’t fit as well as the other. You begin to realize that you need a gun that fits properly to bring out your full shooting potential.

That’s where “gunfitting” comes in. It may be as simple as adding a recoil pad of a different size. Or, it can get very complicated when you get into the minutiae of length, cast, pitch, height, grip and balance. Some shooters are more adaptable than others, but you will never know just how good a shooter you can be unless you have a gun that fits properly.

Enter Don Currie and his new book “Gunfitting”. In it he discusses what proper gun fit is and the many ways it is achieved.

And Currie ought to know. He is currently the chief instructor of the National Sporting Clays Association, a popular coach and a gunfitter with many years of experience. He is also quite an author, having written the awardwinning book “Mastering Sporting CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Clays” and producing the DVDs “Target Tactics” and “Focus, Movement, Faith”. Currie’s gunfitting experience includes a great deal of work with Purdey & Sons of England and Orvis here in the USA. As you will see from reading “Gunfitting”, Currie knows his stuff.

As Currie points out, we don’t aim shotguns. Or, at least, we shouldn’t. Our total focus should be on the target, not the barrel.

“We allow our eyes to lead our hands and gun to the target” just as if we were catching a baseball.

“The goal of a fitted shotgun, then, is for the center of the shot cloud to arrive at the identical spot where the shooter’s visual focus is concentrated.” Currie goes into detail showing us what proper eye alignment with the rib looks like so we can check it ourselves.

The pages on basic gunfitting are where it gets down to business.

The four basic elements of gunfit are length-of-pull, pitch, drop-atcomb and cast. Length-of-pull is measured from trigger to butt, but Currie measures effective LOP of an average shooter by looking for about 1½” or so between the shooter’s nose and the base knuckle of his thumb when the gun is properly mounted.

Pitch is the angle of the butt pad in relation to the rib line.

Typical down pitch is 4° or so. The goal is to have the butt’s contact to

the shoulder flush top and bottom, so as to evenly spread out the recoil.

“Cast refers to the lateral or horizontal deviation of the center of the comb from the centerline of the rib.” It is the bend of the stock to the left or right to allow correct lateral eye alignment. Adjustable combs are helpful in this area as they also are in adjusting stock height.

A BOOK REVIEW

Stock height is also called dropat-comb and is the distance between the rib line and the top of the comb. The measurement is taken at the peak of the stock, or nose, and at the heel, or butt. This measurement governs whether your shot goes high, low or spot on.

A later chapter on more advanced gunfitting includes Currie’s measuring sheet diagrams

TECHNOID’SCOLUMN

for various stock configurations.

These sheets list stock length, pitch, cast, drop at peak and heel, plus grip dimensions. This is the formal fitting sheet that is given to the stock maker to follow.

A good bit of time is spent on discussing the design and fitting of the wrist and grip area. He discusses the eleven different grip measurements he takes and why each one is important in achieving a perfect hand fit for a particular shooter. He also goes into the importance of mounted gun butt to shoulder relationship and why the stock’s heel should not be above the shoulder.Another portion of the book focuses on the principles

of shotgunning where proper stance and gun mount are discussed. The different types of lead (maintained, pull-away and swing-through) are explained as is the importance of starting the muzzle on-line with the breaking point, not above or below it.

Eye dominance, usually one of the first things a coach checks in a student, rates its own chapter.

Currie discusses the unique test he uses to check dominance. It will show whether a shooter is completely right or left eye dominant, or has some centerocular shift. That means that information from the non-dominant eye may influence gun movement,

resulting in a misplaced shot.

Depending on the severity of this, Currie may employ a small occluding dot on the off-eye lens or ask the shooter to blink the off-eye when shooting.

Naturally, every gunfitter and stockmaker deals in wood, so a chapter is devoted to the different types of shotgun wood plus how they are harvested, aged and, most importantly, cut. It should be noted that he stresses the desirability of straight grain at the head and wrist of the stock to avoid cracking. The pretty grain goes aft of that.

Properly making a stock can be time-consuming. An “English Best” shotgun can take about two

87

years and 900 hours to make. A good chunk of that time goes into the wood. On mass-produced guns, stock work is courtesy of machines. The difference, other than wood quality, is that you get your individual fit from the good gun makers, while you get a generic fit from the others. There is an interesting chapter on stock styles, such as game, sporting and trap as well as grip styles like English, Prince-of-Wales, Woodward, Pistol Grip and SemiPistol Grip. All come with photos for easy identification. Forends are broken down into English, Splinter, Beavertail and Schnabel.

By the way, Schnabel means

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

TECHNOID’SCOLUMN

88

“beak” in German, and it looks it.

There is a nice bit on the actual making of the stock with many pictures showing the various operations.

Of course, all stock fitting is not perfect and certain problems can occur. A face slap may have been an occasional well-deserved occurrence when we were dating as teenagers, but it shouldn’t be an issue with a shotgun. Currie says that face slap is usually the shooter’s fault for too much or too little cheek pressure or head lifting. Other problems such as shoulder and arm bruising, canting the gun and improper grip are also discussed.

How do you know if your stock fits? If the gun is comfortable to shoot and is consistent in mount and recoil, that’s a big part.

Another major factor is point of impact. Does it shoot where you are looking? Currie takes us to the pattern plate and discusses how to check POI. He also says you can check POI by the way the target is being broken. If you hit the bird on the right, broken pieces should

spew left and so on.

The actual gunfitting procedure is discussed in detail as Currie takes us through one of his fitting sessions with a client. He makes sure to do the fitting where the client can actually shoot a pattern plate and then moving targets, avoiding the purely static environment of just a gun room.

His fitting involves seven steps.

After going through an introduction, he has the client warm up on the clay course. Next he is fitted to a try-gun and the fit is verified on the pattern plate and then on flying targets. Then all the measurements are recorded and can be sent off to the stockmaker.

Aftermarket modifications are covered in a chapter on cutting, shaving and refinishing a finished stock, bending a stock, installation of an adjustable comb and butt plate plus installation of a recoil device. Adjustable combs are certainly popular on target guns today, even though they do look as fussy as a trailer hitch on a Ferrari.

Also, recoil devices and adjustable butt plates can add weight to the

rear of the gun and change its balance, so be aware of that. There is also a nice bit on the mechanical robo-stocks for those who are really adventurous.

For shotgunners who care about looks as well as performance, Currie adds a chapter on engraving. He mentions automated engraving by laser, because that’s what you see on most production guns. It can be quite nice, but lacks the multiple depths that make expensive hand engraving excel. The chapter has some great photos of the best engraving as well as a good discussion of the two main hand engraving techniques- hammer/ chisel and bulino.

It is most fitting for a coach of Currie’s experience to discuss the balance, weight and “pointability” of a shotgun. These basically consist of the weight of the gun, the balance point and the moment of inertia. Moment of inertia is the gun’s resistance to swinging. A gun that is very heavy at the muzzle and butt would have a high moment of inertia. One that was

light at both ends would have a low MOI. MOI really doesn’t have much to do with balance point as both the high MOI and low MOI guns could balance in the middle.

In all, this was a most informative book. It should appeal to the beginner as well as the seasoned pro. It certainly will make the reader begin to wonder whether a stock with perfect custom dimensions might improve his shooting. There is so much hope. The book retails for $39.95 at DonCurrie.com n That’s it for now. Boots off. Beer open. If you have any questions, email me at TheTechnoid@gmail.com For unlimited amounts of Technoidal drivel, take a look at our website ShotgunReport.com It’s been on the internet since 1995.

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BACK-TO-BACK

WORLD CUP EVENTS

FOR TEAM USA

BY MATTHEW GAY

T

he USA National Team has been quite busy travelling to represent the United States at World Cup matches across the globe. Their successes in Nicosia and Lima continued through to the matches in Lonato, Italy and Baku, Azerbaijan. As a nation, we are fortunate to have such representation on the national stage. The United States continues to recruit, develop and deploy the finest shooting sports athletes in the world… and the medal count proves it.

Lonato World Cup In Lonato, the US Trap contingent struggled a bit, with Derrick Mein narrowly missing the finals match in the qualification round. The story was much the same on the women’s side with Aeriel Skinner also just out of the final round. The challenges continued into the Mixed Trap event as well as the Team Trap events. Nonetheless, our phenomenal athletes persevered and represented the United States well.

In the skeet events Team USA took no prisoners. The multi-time CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

gold medalist Vincent Hancock was in the driver’s seat from the beginning. His perfect 125/125 combined with six straight in the shoot-off against Italy’s Luigi Lodde, guaranteed his opportunity in the medal match in the top spot.

In the medal round Lodde shot forty straight to claim gold two targets ahead of Hancock, who claimed silver.

Caitlin Conner represented Team USA in the women’s skeet event and shot a brilliant round to best Great Britain’s Amber Hill by a target to claim gold. Germany’s Nadine Messerschmidt claimed

VINCENT HANCOCK WINS SILVER IN LONATO

VINCENT HANCOCK AND CAITLIN CONNER WON INDIVIDUAL SILVER AND GOLD, RESPECTIVELY

CAITLIN CONNER WON THREE GOLD MEDALS IN LONATO

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SKEET WOMEN'S TEAM WON GOLD IN LONATO

bronze after 26 targets in the round, outpacing Italy’s Martina Bartolomei.

Neither Caitlin nor Vinny were finished with the individual round.

This pair of skeet powerhouses teamed up in the Mixed Skeet event to shoot their way to yet another gold, easily outlasting France’s squad of Anastassiou and Lejeune.

In the form of a true champion, Conner teamed up with two other women’s skeet juggernauts in the team event, Dania Vizzi and Amber English, to cruise to yet another gold defeating Italy’s Bacosi, Maruzzo and Spada. At Lonato, Conner clearly had the Midas touch helping Team USA once again lead the medal count amongst all countries present.

Baku World Cup Team USA’s Derrick Mein led the pack after the qualification round to secure a spot in the ranking match. Mein’s 22/25 in the ranking match guaranteed his spot in the medal match. Two unfortunate lost targets in the first fifteen was enough to leave Derrick in the fourth-place spot. Those two lost targets did not deter Mein from continuing to strive for excellence.

Derrick teamed up with Will Hinton and Casey Wallace to outpace all other teams by two targets, securing their place in the CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

gold medal match. Facing a stout resistance from the Kuwaiti team, the USA squad shot with determination and ended the match bringing home silver.

Despite Team USA not sending a shooter to the individual finals, the women’s team of Aeriel Skinner, Kayle Browning and Rachel Tozier remained focused and did not waiver. These three phenomenal shooters led the pack from the qualification round through the medal match of the women’s team trap event.

Demonstrating amazing poise in the shoot-off, Skinner, Browning and Tozier sealed the deal for gold over the Australian team.

The American skeet delegation continued to roll in Baku with another outstanding performance.

In the men’s individual event Vincent Hancock dominated throughout to claim the gold.

(Photo 10) In the Mixed event Hancock teamed up with Austen Smith to shoot their way to yet another gold, leading the field from the qualification round through the gold medal match. In the form of a true champion, Hancock completed a golden hattrick in the team event with his squad mates, Phillip Jungman and Colt McBee. The trio handily outpaced the Greek contingent and brought home another gold for the team.

The ladies of Team USA performed brilliantly in the Baku

skeet events. In the individual event the US sent two athletes to the medal match. After a hardfought match with France’s Lucie Anastassiou, Caitlin Conner earned silver ahead of her teammate and Austen Smith who added this bronze to her gold in the mixed event. From the beginning of the qualification event, it was clear that a slugfest was brewing between the German team and Team USA. These two powerhouses did not disappoint.

The even match had to be decided by shoot-off, after which the US team claimed silver to bring the total medal count for the American shotgun pointers to eight.

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Team USA This group of American athletes continues to demonstrate an impressive level of competitiveness and determination throughout this grueling schedule of high stakes events. Keeping sharp and dealing with the plethora of challenges they encounter illustrates the caliber of athlete we have representing our country. As a country we have a long history of excellence in the shooting sports but this current team is not only building on that history but writing their names in the books as perhaps the most gifted group of shooters to wear the stars and stripes. n

For more information on USA Shooting please visit: usashooting.org To keep up with the team you can view events and results at: www.issf-sports.org Editor’s note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, the Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, a bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

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SHOOTREPORT

96

THE

BY MATTHEW GAY

GENTLEMAN’S CUP I

t’s important to remember why we started shooting sporting targets in the first place, the enjoyment and camaraderie of likeminded individuals who share an affinity for wingshooting. I enjoy participating in dedicated side by side sporting events whenever my schedule permits and finally, after have to reschedule three years in a row, I was able to make it to the 22nd annual Gentleman’s Cup at the Freeland Conservation Club in Freeland, Michigan.

Freeland Conservation Club is located in central Michigan and offered a very diverse variety of sporting targets for side by side aficionados of every caliber. From .410 bore and black powder classes to the twelve and sixteen class, every shooter had the opportunity to put their skills to the test. Many dressed the part despite it being

GENTLEMAN’S CUP CH ROD DROUSE

97

1ST (63 AND YOUNGER) 12 & 16 GAUGE MATTHEW GAY

90

1ST (64 AND OVER) 12 & 16 GAUGE ARTHUR GOUDIE

90

1ST 20 GAUGE (63 AND YOUNGER) BRETT GUSHER

81

1ST 20 GAUGE (64 AND OVER) GARY SOULE

86

1ST 28 GAUGE (63 AND YOUNGER) TRENT VATTER

67

1ST 28 GAUGE (64 AND OVER) ROBERT WOODCOCK

74

1ST .410 BORE (64 AND OVER MIKE GILLESPIE

52

BLACK POWDER TODD DEW

53

LADY CHAMPION ONNALY DROUSE

78

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

the first eighty-degree Michigan day in months. All had a great time, great meal and wonderful

conversation joined by the nostalgic affinity for the “old school” double gun.

With a nice mix of presentations in the woods combined with field shots, the targets were all fair and breakable, with the caveat that the shooter had to pay attention to first shot selection on true pairs. The target setters utilized the topography and landscape to their advantage in order to offer audience appropriate targets, but not gimmes. Freeland sports a nice course that is user friendly and easily walkable. The staff was welcoming and genuinely enthusiastic about this event.

Having been afflicted with the love of side by sides for many years, I relish in any opportunity to get one of my old American double guns out and stretch her legs on a clays course. My choice for this event was my six-pound AH Fox sixteen gauge. The problem with jumping from my ten-pound fitted sporter to the Fox is the point of impact learning curve and weight

difference. A couple of droppers caught me off guard initially but after realizing and making an adjustment, the I was able to wield the Fox as she was intended.

It is possible that I enjoyed this shoot, just a little more because my son has recently completed his service in the US Navy and has come home. My lad was able to reacquaint himself with his Ithaca side by side and it seems as though his six years away didn’t cost him much in terms of target breaking skills. Perhaps the regular care packages, which included issues of Clay Shooting USA magazine, I sent during his deployment to Afghanistan with a Marine unit allowed him to keep up on certain techniques. Either way he dropped only 17 targets of the hundred, showing less rustiness than I expected.

After my dropping target learning curve at the beginning of the course, I was able to post a 90/100 which tied for the Gentleman’s Cup…until Rod Drouse came in with a very

impressive 97/100. When all the scores were tallied, Drouse took home the Gentleman’s Cup, while I was relegated to the runner-up position in Men’s aged sixty-three and younger, and Arthur Goudie claiming the top spot in Men’s sixty four and over also with a 90/100.

All in all, it was a great opportunity to spend time with old and new friends while enjoying the classic shotguns of yesterday. For anyone within striking distance of Freeland, Michigan I would highly recommend dragging out that old side by side and attending this shoot next year. You can find the Freeland Conservation Club on Facebook, be sure to like and follow their page for updates on next year’s Gentleman’s Cup. n Editor’s note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, the Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, a bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

TARGETTECH

98

BY MATTHEW GAY

MEC

OUTDOORS

SMART SERIES

MACHINE CONTROL

G

enerally speaking, from manufacturer to manufacturer, clay target machines have mechanically remained pretty consistent in their design. That has just changed with the introduction of the MEC Smart Series control. This innovation changes the status quo in terms of machine data acquisition and is not limited to just MEC machines.

The Idea MEC wanted to update the capability and interactive nature of their equipment in order to help their customers more efficiently and timely diagnose, fix and record data from their clay target machines. This morphed into the conception and commission of the Smart Series. The Smart Series allows a user to view a lifetime target count, separate from a resettable target counter and combined with a battery level and machine status display, all available at the push of a button. The integrated control also provides notification of machine failures with the goal of allowing for quicker diagnosis and repair.

CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Robust Design The physical construction of the control itself is stout. All electronics are encased within Nor yl Resin. This extensively tested pod construction feature completely encapsulates the entirety of the components so that moisture, dust and extreme heat and cold are non-issues.

The modular nature of this unit eliminates the days of separate relays, breakers and fuses. In the unlikely event of a circuit board failure the control is covered under the factor y warranty and can be fully swapped out in minutes.

Not Just For MEC The unique thing about this new product is that it is not only able to be retrofitted onto existing MEC machines, it is also compatible with many competitors’ equipment.

When a customer purchases this control module, they are provided with an easy to follow step by step instruction guide on upgrading existing equipment.

For decades shooters have relied on MEC reloading equipment to produce quality ammunition. Since MEC Outdoors entered the clay target machine manufacturing industry in 2013 they have continued to innovate, quickly becoming a leader in the industry. MEC equipment is widely used in the United States and throughout the world with American made clay target throwers serving courses and fields in Australia, New Zeeland, Mexico, Canada and Eastern Europe. n For information on the Smart Series electronics and MEC equipment visit: www.mecoutdoors.com

Editor’s Note: Matthew Gay is a shooting instructor from Michigan, Head Coach of the Olivet College Clay Target Team, Vice-President of the Michigan Scholastic Clay Target Program Board of Directors, bunker trap junkie and Master Class Sporting Clays competitor.

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GEORGIACHAMPIONSHIP

100

GEORGIA SPORTING CLAYS ASSOCIATION

2022 CHAMPIONSHIP

BY HARVEY SCHWARTZ

I

n seventeen years of shooting sporting clays, I recently attended my seventeenth Georgia Sporting Clays Association Championship having missed only one.

Prelim The Prelim event was held on the pheasant course where Wendell Cherry offered his services as target setter. The fifteen-station course started with the memorable station-one. A left to right orange chandelle with an orange outgoing standard enticed several shooters to attempt the outgoer first resulting in the chandelle dropping into the hedge row and out of play.

The strategic competitors who attempted the chandelle first had greater success, then taking the CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

COLE GUNSMITHING PRELIMINARY CH M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

CLINT HINTON THEO RIBBS III RONALD KUKLINSKI DAVID PUTMAN DONALD DUTSON IV RHETT GRUBBS WILLIAM BRYANT CHASE SCHULTE SHELBY MOON CONNOR DANIEL RICH PAZDERSKI RICHARD CHEEK GEORGE GIBBES DOUGLAS HESS NORMAN SMITH

96 95 84 78 75 80 69 60 86 86 90 88 88 68 77

outgoing target as a dropper. It was a great station to set the pace for the course.

Clint Hinton was HOA with Theo Ribbs placing second. Lady Champion was Shelby Moon with Madison Sharpe as runner up.

GEORGIACHAMPIONSHIP

Super Sporting The Bill Keith Memorial Super Sporting event was held in honor of Jessica Cherry’s brother Bill, who passed away due to covid complications.

Minnesotan Randy Travalia was invited to be the course designer. There were eleven stations with either three or four traps per station. Station seven sticks out in my mind as a fun presentation, with four traps including a midi on the D machine.

Anyone who hit the D bird was entered into a drawing for a quail hunt donated by Big Red Oak. Zach Kienbaum was HOA shooting an almost perfect score of 99/100. Chris Ikner and Ryan Harper were second and third respectively, each posting 97s. Lady Champion was Desi Edmunds just ahead of Madison Sharpe.

FITASC Big Red Oak has not been afraid to hire highly skilled target setters to assist during some of their major tournaments. If you recall, they hired Richard Faulds of Great Britain to assist them in the 2017

P.M.S. / E.S.P. FITASC AMERICAN GRAND PRIX CH RU 3RD AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

WILL FENNELL GEBBEN MILES WYATT HARGROVE DAWSON WILLIAMS BRODY SAMSON DONALD DUTSON IV CHRISTOPHER AYRES DOMINIC KELSEY RICHARD KIRBY KAREN SHEDD CONNOR DANIEL WILL FENNELL RANDY RYAN CHARLIE FORTNER NORMAN SMITH

189 185 182 167 157 149 147 135 96 174 177 189 169 150 138

US Open. This year, they hired Jamie Peckham, also of Great Britain, to set all the FITASC targets. Jamie is one of seven world FITASC course designers.

In fact, in July of this year, he will be setting targets for the World Championship in Italy. Quite a few of Team USA were present to get a sampling of the targets they would see in a month.

Parcours one through four were located in the quail woods along Church Street, while the balance were arranged in open fields. Parcour three was an old/ new style parcour. Pegs one and two utilized the five traps necessary in World Cup events.

Peg three had its own set of five traps to the left of a hedge row.

Each peg had five singles and either one or two pairs. Two of the pairs were rafale, or following pair, which we don’t see very often in the states. One of the following pair was off a tower, with the second being a pair of stout crossers.

Will Fennell of South Carolina captured HOA with Gebben Miles taking runner up. Wyatt Hargrove earned third place and In-State champion honors. Lady Champion went to Karen Shedd with Desi

101

Edmunds taking the In-State top spot and runner up.

Main Event Both main event courses were situated on the traditional courses Big Red Oak Plantation typically uses for tournaments. Mike Bashaw and his team utilized the grounds in such a way that most of the station placements occurred in areas never shot before. For example, stations three through nine were pushed out into the pheasant course with different backgrounds.

Station eight made use of a ninetyfoot tower to present shooters with a pair of driven targets.

The quail course was laid out in similar fashion, with most of the stands pushed out toward Church Street. Station three was a report pair with two traps place behind a berm. The level of detail and planning put into this set of targets was demonstrated when Mike thought most kids and small statured ladies might be unable to see the targets on three.

Consequently, he went out the

next day, got in the stand on his knees to ensure the targets were fair to all. Station ten might have been the most talked about station.

It was a true pair of teal from behind two large trees. We watched most shoot the left bird first. Our squad shot the right bird first which was curling to the right and dropping into the trees. This approach proved successful.

Brandon Powell and Gebben Miles shot the same scores on both courses. They posted incredible 100s on the Perazzi High Tech Pheasant course.

Brandon won in a shoot off and was our 30th anniversary state champion. Gebben earned runner up just ahead of Clint Hinton who took M1. Madison Sharp was lady HOA outpacing Desi Edmunds who ended her outing with the

GEORGIA STATE PERAZZI MAIN EVENT CH RU M1 AA1 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 LADY CH SJR CH JR CH VT CH SVT CH SSVT CH LEGACY CH

BRANDON POWELL GEBBEN MILES CLINT HINTON WILLIAM MORRISON MILES HENDRIX LANE MONTFORD DRAKE TINGLER MILES CARSON JIMMIE MURRAY MADISON SHARPE CONNOR DANIEL THOMAS ROSE WILL FENNELL GERRAL PEARCE HARVEY MULLINS NICHOLAS CLEMENTS

192 192 191 177 170 164 165 150 132 180 184 186 182 170 153 141 CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

102

runner-up and In-State Lady Champion awards.

GSCA Annual Meeting and Dinner Our annual meeting and dinner were held Saturday night under the Pavilion. Our Hall of Fame Inductees were Jessica Mitchell Kent and Jon Kent. Both have been around the sport for a very long time and have made tremendous contributions. Wendell Cherry donated a free lesson and the GSCA gave away ten free entries to the shoot. The announcement was made for our 2023 event which will be held at Meadows Clay Sports.

GEORGIACHAMPIONSHIP

spot on. Abby is an up-and-coming star in this State and we look forward to her future accomplishments.

Mark Fitzpatrick was a firsttime entry in the shoot. Some of his observations are as follows: As I traveled past the gas station and collection of 5 additional buildings, known on the map as Gay, Georgia, I had no idea what to expect a mere 2 miles down the road. Would it be as sleepy as the town of Gay? What lay ahead of me was a championship, I never imagined.

A New Views and Perspectives from Attendees Abby Chambers is a nineteen-yearold college student from Savannah, Georgia. She has participated in sporting clays for approximately three years achieving A class along the way. She started shooting with her brother Will, but in her first outing failed to hit a single target, but “loved every minute of it”. She has competed in several large tournaments including a US Open, World English, Seminole Cup and Gator Cup. She currently works with John Woolley at Saltwaters Shooting Club in St. Augustine, Florida, where she assists in the clubhouse and coaches youth shooters. She enjoys the opportunity to experience challenging targets and reconnect with friends in the shooting world during event like this. She remarked about how the Georgia Sporting Clays championship was one of the hardest tournaments to win due to the level of competition and she is CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

Regalia and professionalism were everywhere at the level of an NSCA Regional Tournament or an NSCA Mega Shoot. Hats off to Mike Bashaw and his Big Red Oak Team, Harvey Schwartz and his GSCA Team, Jamie Peckham, and of course, Jessica and Wendell Cherry and all the other contributors to this Championship made so perfect by these collective efforts.

Sporting Clays is not a hobby in Georgia, it is a full-on culture which reaches the depths of every Georgia shooter's soul.

This is the womb of American Clay Sporting. There is no doubt, the Championship somehow felt

more important to me and its participants then other state championships...if you don't believe me, just ask the 578 registered shooters who passionately committed to this weekend as if it were the last game of the season and Michigan was playing Ohio State for all the marbles.

This championship is unlike any other championship in America. When numerous big named shooters enter the event, and Jamie Peckham from E.J. Churchill travels 8,400 miles from the United Kingdom to set your FITASC layouts, you know you have reached the pinnacle of

American state championships. n

MAKINGTHECASE

104

THE CASE FOR

HANDICAP SPORTING PART ONE

BY TONY RIVERA

A

fter careful analysis of the National Championship one unequivocal fact about sporting clays, as it is currently constituted, has become evident.

Of the more than 2200 shooters who participate in the main event, 99.99 percent of those participants are guaranteed to not win (lose).

Leaving, at most, twenty participants who have a reasonable chance to win.

I would like to first acknowledge the National Sporting Clays Association as the single reason the game of sporting clays exists today. It has, over the years, promoted and created the greatest shooting sport in the world. The NSCA has built and maintained the premiere facilities at which the greatest sporting championships have been decided. There is no CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

question that we all owe immense gratitude to these founding fathers of the game. We must respect and admire the wisdom and leadership of the Hamptons, the Du Ponts and many others. The staff at the headquarters works tirelessly to manage the never-ending work of the administration of our game. I submit a heartfelt thank you for all that you have accomplished.

I have been competing in sporting clays competition for more than twenty-seven years, I’ve shot flyers and Helice tournaments all over the United States and hunted from Saskatchewan to Argentina. I am the 2006 National Sporting Clays Champion, have taken more than 500 HOAs, a college graduate, commercial contractor, musician, long range rifle hunter, bow hunter, boat owner and tournament

fisherman, home builder, Texas State Sporting Clays Hall of Famer and finally, part owner in Ferguson Farms Sporting Preserve (a brand new, soon to be semi-private sporting and event resort located 19 minutes from the San Antonio River Walk). My experience in the game and across many segments of life is diverse. Over the next two editions of Clay Shooting USA, my intent is to explain what I believe are the inherent flaws and the reasons why the game of sporting clays has not reached its rightful place in the Pantheon of all-time great outdoor games. Not to simply identify a problem without offering a solution, I will also be proposing a new methodology by which I believe we can elevate all aspects of the game of sporting clays.

Evolve the Game Because We Deserve More I can think of no other game in the world that brings joy to its competitors the same way sporting clays does. I will never tire of smoking targets, it simply does not get old. However, if you’ve played the game as long as I have and participated in other shooting games, there is one overriding factor that has the potential to dampen this joy. Participation in our game rarely (if ever) becomes a break-even proposition. Winning or finishing in the financial black is even more elusive. Perhaps by leveling the playing field in one event only, it may be possible to extract a compulsory fee from each entrant. By instituting this

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106

simple modification, in a onehundred entry tournament, a $100 back to prize money would result in a $10,000 pay-out. This would be applicable to every single shoot across America.

Another issue I see is the current class system. The classification of the individual shooter has, in my opinion, become archaic. The elimination of a classification system that propels competitors into classes they do not belong in, may be in order. I understand that some people strive to achieve a Master classification, but then what? The motivation isn’t cash, and most shoots have nothing in terms of prizes anymore.

I’ve formulated a new way to play the game, it’s called Matchplay Sporting. Matchplay, to put it simply, is chess with a gun. It will test not only the skill of a shooter, but also one’s ability to strategize on their feet, much like calling the correct combo in a snooker game.

Matchplay Sporting will require no NSCA classification. The shooter will compete in a division and will be handicapped based on their latest shooter scoring averages.

MAKINGTHECASE

This methodology will generate the opportunity for much greater payouts than ever before.

Matchplay Matchplay is about solving the inherent problems of the game today. Target difficulty is one of the biggest complaints from the average shooter attending major tournaments. I reside among the slightly smaller group of shooters who love tough PSCA style presentations, and dislike soft, corporate-style targets. For those shooters who are not as successful on the tougher targets, Matchplay provides an option. The shooter can focus on the simple targets and utilize the handicap advantage.

Every station will offer three options—Easy, Medium, and Pro targets. A shooter can select the targets necessary to beat the score of their squad mates, like a MakeA-Break contest. The average shooter selecting a simple 1-2 combo, when added to the handicap, makes themselves a contender in most cases.

Taking Sporting into the Mainstream How many years have we tried unsuccessfully to bring sporting to television? The Outdoor Games and PSCA events with a revivalist calling the play by play are the most recent in memory. Although worthy endeavors and extremely well done, both lacked one element, the compulsion to watch.

In Matchplay, there is no menu, you choose the targets much like snooker, which creates a scenario where the outcome is in a constant state of flux. The compulsion to watch is the key in televising anything. Golf will never let a layup shot or a “going for the green” moment proceed without a commercial in between. If there ever was a sporting event where you can’t change the channel because you need to see how it plays out, this is it. Just know Crazy Quail will be even better with all five targets thrown at one time, but that discussion is for another time.

We have witnessed other outdoor competitions reach much

greater commercial success than our own and that does not sit well with me. I turn on ESPN to find bass fisherman competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars, The Redfish Series, the next channel has dart throwing competition for big money, axe throwing on another channel, Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments playing for millions in prize money, and curling (curling…really?) This Matchplay game is not bound by traditional shooting menus and offers a constantly evolving storyline. The viewer would have no idea what the shooter will call, hence the compulsion to watch.

Missing the Boat Where have we missed the boat on the proliferation of the sport? My bet is on the fact that we have not evolved to a point where real money could be distributed for winning the game. As it stands currently, most of the purveyors of the game are relegated to the need for bigger and better sponsorship.

Sponsorship is necessary and wonderful, but with a total membership hovering at the 25,000 mark it becomes a very difficult sell. All sponsors want some semblance of a return on their money, whether it's a monetary return, product visibility or brand recognition. In sporting that is an extremely tall order based on our current reach. We must applaud the sponsors we have today and honor them with our patronage. Thank you to you all who support the game.

Evolution What have others done to evolve their games? Let us examine the other sporting events that appear CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

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on the television, YouTube, social media Et. al. I found no other sport that was as fun to play as sporting.

Am I biased? Sure, but I couldn't get around one unequivocal fact; in all the other competitions every single competitor believed they had a shot at winning. I challenge anyone to go to the boat ramp on the Bass Master Classic and find me a competitor that tells you “I know I can’t win, I’m just here to fish with my buddies”. Find me a card player that says, “Oh hell, I’ve got no shot”. Sporting clays in its current form guarantees 99% of its participants that they will fail to win, i.e.: lose. However, our game is so fun that even losing hasn’t deterred people from showing up week after week or attending Nationals with more than 2000 competitors, where maybe twenty shooters have a chance to win.

In golf, a player must register himself with the organization which will track his or her ability, CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

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then apply a suitable handicap to raise their probability of winning.

The competitor then must qualify for the main event. In our sport anyone with an entry fee can participate in the biggest event of the year, pitting amateurs against “pros”. This approach fails to elevate the status of the game.

How many would watch the Kentucky Derby if half the participants were mules on the same track?

How about the sports book?

How many would place a wager on the Cowboys against Tom Brady’s Bucs straight up...very few.

However, give the Cowboys supporter a 14-point advantage and it’d compel many to take that bet.

In drag racing, different size engines 500 horsepower vs 450 horsepower compete. The slower of the two cars is given a handicap head start equal to the difference of the two-time slips. The green light illuminates slightly earlier for the

lower powered car. The point of these examples is to suggest a method by which we get a larger portion of the shooters to wager on themselves, consequently elevating both the odds and the rewards.

Level the Playing Field Other games have redesigned themselves throughout their history; basketball didn't start with a three-pointer, football did not begin with prolific passing, soccer has a game today with three teams on the field and three goals, rifle shooting went from killing a turkey to one-mile targets, track and field went metric, volleyball begat hackie sack, horseshoes developed into cornhole, and NASCAR is in a constant state of change. There are many examples, but the point is every sport will experience an evolution for the advancement of

the game. It’s part of life but unfortunately humans tend to hate change. Particularly when it strays from 40 years of precedent.

When I speak of leveling the playing field, the objective is not to change the current form of the game. The intent is to add something our sport currently lacks, a game that will provide the average shooter an event that offers them an opportunity to earn significant prize money. Here is how it could work; a $100 compulsory fee attached to what we call a “super combo shoot”, with 100-member participation tournament on any given day would pay out $10,000 for that event. Now to make everyone happy, you simply share the option money with the other events and now everybody skilled and not as skilled has a purpose to play with gusto. The real option for the shooter is: place a one-hundred dollar bet for the chance to score a significant payout or shoot the side-by-side event. That should be an easy call. If we can to a point in the future where 300 competitors buy-in in, and possibly even evolve to a $200 compulsory fee, that single day event will pay out $60,000. No more five-day hotel cost and car rental combined with four flats of shells to do it all. The best part is you do not need one red cent of sponsorship money to make this happen.

With the above outlined structure, the sponsorship will throw in as they will no longer have to foot the bill for the entire pay out. It’s much easier to ask YETI for 20 coolers than it would be to ask for one million dollars.

For the near future, it would be the intent to concentrate tournaments in order to lessen the financial burden on the shooter and increase the payout. The high-end, or “pro” shooters are not excluded,

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as all the events at the super combo shoots offer prize money.

The game today is suffering a decline in participation. With the high cost of travel, ammo, and cart rental it is prudent to lower the financial burden on the average shooter. Most major shoots in the new format would maintain a fiveday tournament but the Matchplay events with big payouts will always be relegated to weekend only tournaments. Matchplay does not stray too much from the traditional shoot format. For example, the Matchplay tournaments would be a three target, ten station course, like Super Sport. With competition amongst squad mates, like snooker and randomized squadding to be determined the day of the shoot a la World FITASC. Consider the potential for a day when the year end championship has 2,000 participants, all with a $200 stake in that game. The result would be $400,000 in prize money, no need for sponsor cash and with no effect to the club’s bottom line. With that kind of money, the networks will come calling.

Impacts and More to come So how does this evolution of the game lift all aspects of the industry? In the current form, to have a chance at a HOA, a true high-end competitor will practice four to five days per week, shoot 1000-2000 practice targets per day for at least two weeks prior to a major shoot. That individual will have to beat shooters who have also prepared the same way and shoot and/or instruct for a living.

It sounds easy but it is not. What is simpler is to utilize a handicap and strategize one’s shooting ability in

a strategic fashion to outscore the opponents. In the current form the training routine is a non-starter for many. However, utilizing a handicap requires the shooter to only be slightly better than they usually are. Now that shooter has a realistic chance to win the event.

This should motivate competitors to shoot more practice, take more lessons, shoot more tournament targets, resulting in a tide which raises all boats.

To be perfectly clear this does not promise a “free meal”.

Matchplay payouts will be a result of the confidence each player has in themselves and their willingness to wager on their ability. Currently prize money must be wrenched from the bottom lines of donors and clubs. Payouts should be a return on investment or someday with the networks involved, derived from advertising money.

Ultimately, one must play in order to win, and you’ll reap what you sow in terms of effort and investment. Not to worry there will always be events where you can just hang out with your friends.

Matchplay is looking for the red meat of the true competitors.

How do you play the game, you ask? Stay tuned for the rules and regulations in the next issue. n

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PEOPLE, NEWS AND EVENTS

IN THE HEADLINES

THE COLE EXPERIENCE JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

BLASER GROUP NAMES JOSHUA MCBRAYER DIRECTOR OF SHOTGUN PROGRAMS

San Antonio, Texas (April 6, 2022) Blaser Group is pleased to announce Joshua McBrayer as its Director of Shotgun Programs for North America. McBrayer has spent the past six years working with Blaser Germany, first as International Sales Manager for Blaser in Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Benelux, South America, and the USA. Most recently, he served as Brand Manager for the company in addition to his sales role.

In his new position as Director of Shotgun Programs, McBrayer will be responsible for managing the company’s strong competitive shotgun sports presence, as well as building additional Blaser, Mauser, J.P. Sauer, Liemke, and John Rigby & Co. programs and relationships with consumers and dealers.

“We have worked with Josh for years and are thrilled that he is moving back to the United States and joining our team in San Antonio as Director of Shotgun Programs,” said Jason Evans, CEO, Blaser Group. “Josh has done an CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

outstanding job establishing and managing sales channels and dealer networks on behalf of Blaser throughout the world and building long-term relationships with partners. His proven track record and shotgun expertise make him an invaluable part of our team.”

“I am truly excited to be joining the Blaser Group team in San Antonio as Director of Shotgun Programs,” said McBrayer. “This group is one of the best in the industry, and I look forward to working with them to increase brand awareness and market share for Blaser here in the U.S. After working in the international markets for Blaser for the past six years, I look forward to leveraging my knowledge and experience to build on the already strong reputation of Blaser here at home.”

Born and raised in Birmingham, AL, McBrayer, a degreed engineer, has spent more than 15 years in major account management. He is a lifelong hunter and an avid shooter.

FORMER BLASER OWNER GERHARD BLENK PASSED AWAY

Isny/Canada On 28 March, former Blaser owner Gerhard Blenk passed away at the age of 81 in his adopted home of Kelowna, Canada. Gerhard Blenk took over the company from Horst Blaser at the end of 1985 and led it as its owner and managing director for almost 14 years.

During this time, the number of employees and the company's turnover tri-pled. This success was mainly due to the bolt action rifle R93, which was developed under Gerhard Blenk's direction and sold internationally in many variations.

Blenk's motto "It is not the big that beats the small, but the fast that beats the slow" proved to be particularly true. In keeping with this mot-to, Gerhard Blenk also attached great importance to optimising business processes in a pragmatic way.

Another important factor in his business success was Gerhard Blenk's outstanding ability to motivate employees and give them responsibility. He showed a distinctly collegial attitude towards each employee and listened to their concerns.

Gerhard Blenk was not only a passionate entrepreneur, but also an avid hunter. As a very sportive person in top physical condition, his favourite hunts were those, that were physically demanding. Last but not least, it was the experience he gained while hunting that inspired him and thus al-lowed his company to grow steadily.

Our deepest sympathy goes especially to the Blenk family, all his friends and companions.

Cole Fine Guns and Gunsmithing is excited to announce the addition of industry professionals to the Management Team.

We are pleased to welcome Dion Payton as Director of Sales. Most recently, Dion has managed the Beretta Gallery in Memphis Tennessee and previously managed travel events for Beretta USA. Dion brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise. He will oversee and coordinate the sales division in all Cole shops, enhancing daily operations and the customer service experience.

Cole San Antonio is pleased to welcome Andrej Gorjup, formerly of Blaser USA to the Management Team. Andrej will be joining the San Antonio crew, bringing with him, many years of product development experience as well as extensive technical training and knowledge.

NEWS UPDATES

Product manufacturers, retailers and club managers wanting to submit news for the next issue should email: info@clayshootingusa.com

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