Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces.

Christian Winter of the St. John’s R&GC shot his first 25 straight at the club’s Thursday evening practice night June 9. Christian started shooting trap in 2021 and plans to join the ATA this year and compete in the Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot. Congratulations, Christian, and good luck at this year’s shoot.

The Highland GC in Yarmouth, NS, held a singles marathon June 18. APTA treasurer Doug Blades had the combined high score, shooting a respectable 97 and 99 for a 196 total. I asked Doug how the shoot went, and he replied that “missing your last target for a 100 straight will haunt ya for awhile.” True words, for sure. Good shooting, Doug.

Pre-squadding is open for the 2022 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot hosted by St. John’s R&GC in St. John’s, NL, Sept. 1-4. If you need directions to the club, hotel information or ammunition for the shoot, check the shoot program that is available on www.shootatlantic.com for complete details. If you’re attending this year’s shoot and it’s been a couple of years since shooting at the four-trap club, you’ll notice a lot of improvements to the grounds and trapfields. Club members have been busy and are looking forward to a great shoot.

The Atlantic Provinces Club Points Challenge between the St. John’s R&GC and Highland GC is on again for this year. Each club is awarded points based on how their shooters place in the Atlantic Provinces Singles Championship—two points for the high score in each class and one point for the next score. The club with the most points wins the friendly competition, leaving the losing club the honor of displaying the trophy until next year’s championship. The St. John’s R&GC has lost the last two years but is hoping for a home club advantage this year. Good luck, shooters. May the best club win.

Complete results and scores for the 2022 Canadian Trapshooting Championships held June 29-July 3 at the Calgary FC are available on www.shootcanada.ca. Check under Shoot Results for a detailed shoot report, event scores and high gun reports. Check out the CTA Scoreboard.

For more information on the Atlantic Provinces Trapshooting Association, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or visit shootatlantic.com.

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

Delaware

Everyone at Delaware Trapshooting Association would like to thank the shooters from the surrounding area who participated in our shoot and help make it a huge success. Shooters from seven other states attended, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island, Florida and Minnesota. It was great to see you all.

Rickey Fortner regained his title as singles champion with 199. Fritz Carlsten was our doubles champion, and our handicap victor was one of our most senior senior veterans, Fred Minus. Fritz also led the state in the HAA and HOA. Congratulations to all our event champions and the winners of our $1,000 shootoff.

We at the DTA have been very lucky to have had Merlynn and Cindy Wegter, along with Fred and Paula Branscome, cashiering our shoot for many years. As all good things must come to an end, they have decided to retire from cashiering. I know we’ll still be seeing Merlynn and Fred at the shoots. Now they’ll be shooting and not working. Many thanks for all the years of dedicated service to our organization and all the best from all of us in the future. Also, many thanks to Jeff and Patty Slimm and their crew at Pine Belt SC. They do an amazing job managing the scorers and loader and keeping the line running. We also like to express our gratitude to the NJSTA for their continued support.

The DTA does its very best to provide shooters with a quality trophy package. Our goal in the future is to do even more. Added money and an even more enhanced trophy package will be topics of discussion at our next board meeting. Our mission is to encourage and enhance the sport of trapshooting. We exist at your pleasure, so when we succeed, it is our pleasure to give back to the shooters. Once again, congratulations and thank you!

All the winners can be found online at dtatrap.org. If you’re looking for a place to shoot in Delaware, come visit the folks at Wilmington TA. You can find their full schedule of events at wiltrapshoot.org.

As always, I am available at [email protected].

Shoot well and shoot often.

John Patchell

ATA Delegate

New Jersey

Well, we finally made to it being officially summer. The temperatures are still up and down here in the tri-state area. I’m just returning from attending some of the Maryland State Shoot at their homegrounds in Thurmont. I was happy to see several other Garden Staters in attendance. The Maryland blue claw crabs were a little pricy due to the inflationary spiral the country has been experiencing. The crabs still taste great!

The Delaware State Shoot was again held this year at the New Jersey homegrounds at the Pine Belt SC in Shamong, just prior to our New Jersey State Shoot. New Jersey shooters won a total of 42 trophies, with Rick Batesko and David Brown Jr. leading the way with five each; followed by Emily Malone and Scott Kalnas with four; Ellie and Santo Farro with three; Carlos Gomes, Jack Godwin, Patrick Shulack Jr., Richard Stonier and Zac Cucunato with two; and Elizabeth Hitchcock, Anthony Dionise III, Dan Biggs, Brian Skeuse, Duncan Stevenson, Jack Martin, George Snyder and George Wright with one.

As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the New Jersey State Shoot was next. The full report is covered in this issue of Trap & Field. I’ll just mention the big winners. Robert Jarvis secured the singles championship after a three-way tie, all having 197s, defeating Emily Malone and Tom Clarke. The doubles champion was Gomes, and the handicap champion was Ed Polini.

Saturday afternoon of the state shoot, the New Jersey Hall of Fame inducted Ralph Arnell posthumously. His grandson Aaron Arnell told us about his grandfather’s biography and shooting exploits. It was followed by Clarke telling us all about Nyda Wright and her shooting exploits on the trapline. She was also was inducted that afternoon. Nyda was on hand to greet all her old competitors on the trapline. Refreshments followed.

Sunday morning we had our annual state meeting; resignation letters by Thomas Wolf and Steven Burick were read, Tom as the trophy chairman and Steve as a state director and state program chairman. Without Steve working closely with the printer and getting ads set up correctly for the program, we wouldn’t have had one done this year; thank you, Steve. John Zultanky, our treasurer for several years, also resigned from his position. John worked closely with our accountant to set up QuickBooks for our NJSTA account. I’d like to thank him for all the time he put in getting that up and running. I’d also like to thank Stephen Lokos and George Lucas for serving as state directors.

The New Jersey state directors are Joe Restuccia, Jack Martin, Jarvis, Keith Barton, Robert Cucunato and Dave Brown Sr. The Alternate ATA Delegate is Clarke.

I would like to thank all the New Jersey shooters who voted for my reelection as your ATA State Delegate. The attendance on Thursday and Friday were close to last year’s totals, up two shooters, and on Saturday and Sunday, where the weather was great, our attendance took a hit, with overall attendance down about 4.7%. That number isn’t all that bad compared to other state shoots throughout the country, where they’re down in double digits.

It was then on to Pennsylvania; 81 New Jerseyans were in attendance. Jarvis broke his first 200 during the Colonial Classic, the first weekend of the Pennsylvania State Shoot. Bob Cucunato and Dave Brown Sr. brought up their youth team, consisting of Elizabeth Hitchcock, Caitlyn Barton, Zac Cucunato, Sheamus Killeen and David Brown Jr. Saturday of the Colonial Classic was an SCTP shoot, and our New Jersey team came in first in the open category. Sunday of the Colonial Classic was an AIM shoot, and again our team came in first in the open category—what a great start and continued success.

Leading the trophy winners during the 10-day shoot with nine awards was David Brown Jr.; followed by Bob Jarvis with three; Caitlyn Barton and James Shire with two; and Justin and Emily Malone, Michael Stevenson, Skeuse, Gomes, Barry Ferriolo and Audrey Trinkle with one.

I’ll report on the results of the Maryland and Ohio state shoots in the September column. And, T&F will have complete reports.

On a sad note, John Longo Jr. passed away May 31; he was 81 years old. John was born in Weehawken and moved to Jamesburg 58 years ago. He was a science teacher at Jamesburg High School and retired as an administrator of the buildings and grounds of the South Brunswick Public Schools in 2002. He was a member of Mallard GC in Monroe Township and the ATA. He joined the ATA in 1976. During his career, he registered 72,000 singles, 48,100 handicap and 31,000 doubles targets. He is survived by his wife Marcia, son John Longo III, a daughter Coleen and husband Paul, a sister Marie Palizza, five grandchildren, a niece and nephew.

Larry Grenevicki reported to me the passing of Bob Froriep on June 12; he was 71. Bob was born in Point Pleasant. He served as an aircraft mechanic in the U.S, Air Force and went on to own the Robert W. Froriep Construction Company. Later in life he became a gunsmith. He loved the outdoors and was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a founder and lifetime member of Station 20 of Pinewald Pioneer Fire Department in Berkley Township and was a longtime member of Ground Swipers R&GC on Lacey Road in Forked River. Bob joined the ATA in 1993 and registered 24,450 singles, 13,900 handicap and 14,000 doubles targets. He is survived by his partner Mary Patricia Price in their home in Georgia, a daughter April and son-in-law Jonathan of North Carolina, daughter Tara and husband Chris of Whiting. There will be a celebration of life Aug. 6 at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park Stage at Bayville, followed by a repast at the Bayville Fire Department.

If you have a question or an idea for an article, I may be reached at 732-546-7910 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Joe Sissano

ATA Eastern Zone Vice President

New York

Greetings from New York State. I hope everyone is shooting well during the nice weather. Hopefully the good weather will continue.

I am sorry to say that we have lost another New York ATA shooter. Shelia Flint of Barker and mother of ATA sub-veteran All-American Jim Flint and mother-in-law of New York state ATA secretary Cathy Flint, passed away May 14. Shelia was 87 years of age. She began registering targets in 1989, and her last registered targets were shot in 2013. During her career, she registered 36,000 singles, 14,700 handicap and 1,800 doubles targets and was standing at 19.5 yards. Shelia was a wonderful woman, and I talked with her many times at different shoots. She always had a kind word for everyone. All of us in the New York state ATA want to express our deepest sympathies to Jim and Cathy and the rest of Shelia’s family on her passing. She will be missed.

Some achievements for New York shooters for target attainment must be recognized. Both Heidi Womer and Andy Baker have reached a combined total each of 100,000 registered targets. Lanny Kinner, Dave Myers and Alfred Santos have reached a total of 25,000 singles targets. Mike Kazmark, Josh Buchiere and Tom Walter Jr. each have reached a total of 25,000 handicap targets. Joe Regan has reached a total of 50,000 singles targets. Finally, Michael Meacham has reached a total of 75,000 singles targets. Congratulations to all on reaching these totals.

The New York state ATA western zone shoot was held June 11-12 at Mt. Morris SC. The singles winner was Tom Lamonica with 195, and runnerup was Bob Wyatt with 194. Tom Lamonica was the doubles victor with 94, and Gary McKeown was runnerup with 90. Norman Loss won the handicap with 99, and Bob Wyatt was runnerup with 94. Finally high-over-all winner was Tom Lamonica with 380×400, and Gary McKeown was runnerup with 373. All trophy winners can be viewed on the New York state ATA webpage www.nysata.com and in Trap & Field Magazine. Congratulations must be given to all trophy winners.

The Pennsylvania State Shoot is now history for 2022. A total of 174 New York shooters took the trip to Elysburg and attended the tournament. Trophy winners from New York were: Chad Landon, John Maragliano, Urban Womer, Thomas Horenburg, Donald (Scotty) Grossman, Heidi Womer, John Preto, Bill Wallis, Alexcis Coningsby, Michael Waschitz, Robert Oswald, Charlie Wildenstein, Tammy Wildenstein, Jon Reitz, Makenzy Glover, Joe Morsch, Becki Logan, Nicola Gabriele, Bill Ammann, Joseph Tagliavia, Stephen Landers, Ronald Sank II, Joshua Buchiere, Stephen Morsch, Dennis Bobbette, Bob Edwards, James Flint, Michael Goltry, David Woythal, Jack, Mansoura, Louis Kobielski Jr., Edward Frisillo, Cono Natale, Salvato Papsidero, Donald Alderson, Terrence Roth, James Smiley Sr., T. J. Calvaruso, Deborah Bell, Robert Rutter, Michael Bumpus Jr., Fred Maliszewski, and Jenna Coyne. If I missed anyone, I apologize. All trophy winners can be viewed on Bob Stuart’s webpage www.rjstuart.com and in Trap & Field Magazine. Congratulations!

Congratulations must be given to 2021 ATA Rookie of the Year and New York shooter Becki Logan for shooting a lone 200 straight in the Singles Championship at the Pennyslvania State Shoot. Becki performed this outstanding feat during a very windy day and took the non-resident winner trophy. Congratulations, Becki. That was tremendous shooting.

For all those who are traveling to Sparta, IL, to attend the Grand American, I hope everyone shoots well and has a great time. I know that I will. Please travel safely.

If anyone would like to have something written in one of these articles, please contact me at [email protected] or phone me at 585-519-9543. Please stay healthy, safe and in good spirits. May God bless you all.

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario, Canada.

Good news to report on in province events. Bill Malcolm, one of our longtime trapshooters and a tireless volunteer, has helped many clubs getting set up for and run registered events. He has taken the Toronto International T&SC under his wing and has helped that club prepare for and run several successful matches this spring. Volunteers at the club have learned a lot and will have more confidence in hosting events on their own. We need more people like Bill!

As I write this article in late June, preparations are being made for our OPTA Championships scheduled for Hamilton July 29-31.

For Ontario shooters intending on competing south of the border, the events come quickly with little rest in between. Our ATA Eastern Zone event takes place at Cicero, NY, July 21-24, followed by our Ontario Provinial Shoot the next week. That leaves one day to get from Ontario to Sparta, IL, for the start of the Grand American preliminaries.

It seems there is little or no shooting for ages and then boom—all heck breaks loose over a short but intense period.

Good shooting to all.

Paul Shaw

ATA Delegate

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania State Shoot is in the books, and we’re heading full steam toward the Grand American. Congratulations to Nicholas Wertz of Wiconisco for winning the singles and doubles titles at this year’s event. Nicholas prevailed in a three-way shootoff of 199s with Larry Shade and Mike Endy to capture the singles title, and he won the doubles crown with the lone in-state 98. Ryan Trugan from Renfrew bested four other shooters on a windy Sunday to earn the handicap championship, while Ian Darroch of Aliquippa had the PA high score in the HAA of 379. Chris Vendel of Glen Rock captured the HOA with 1,039 to lead Keystone shotgunners. Congratulations to all in winning your Pennsylvania state championships!

Going into the state shoot, it was unknown what the attendance would look like, as other major shoots were showing some drastic downturns in recent months. However, total attendance was 9,360, down 9.4% from last year’s 10,331, and championship attendance was also off by 9.4% with 1,940 entries compared to 2,142 in 2021. The only day that was way off was Thursday due to the threat of potential thunderstorms, which fortunately did not occur. This year’s shoot qualified shooters to earn an All-American point factor of 6.

Always a busy week, the events started off by hosting the SCTP and AIM championships on Saturday and Sunday, which saw a youth attendance of more than 400 shooters for both events. The PSSA Hall of Fame hosted the fifth annual Nostalgia Shoot on Wednesday night after the regular events were completed, which appears to be a shooters’ delight, as many contestants dressed in bygone era outfits while shooting vintage firearms. The Krieghoff Challenge capped off the week, with Chad Whitman from Valley View, PA, going five rounds to outlast the field of more than 200 shooters to win a new K-80 combo sponsored by Krieghoff International, Allem’s Guncraft and Joel Etchen Guns.

The PSSA annual meeting of the board of directors was held Friday morning prior to the day’s events. This year saw two offices being contested as well as an election for Pennsylvania ATA Delegate. The slate of officers and Delegates for 2022-2023 are: Ken Darroch, president; Don Neilson Jr.; vice president; Bert Schoonover, treasurer; Zachary Eshbach, secretary; Brian James, ATA Delegate; Don Neilson Jr., First Alternate Delegate; and Steve Ross Jr., Second Alternate Delegate.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s Singles Championship, the PSSA Hall of Fame held their annual meeting. Congratulations to John Manetta from Berwick for his induction into the Hall of Fame and to Chris Vendel from Glen Rock for being the recipient of Trapshooter of the Year. These honors represent the lifetime and annual achievements of these two deserving gentlemen. The Hall of Fame Committee also recognized the members of the 2022 Pennsylvania State Teams and winners of this year’s Attorney General awards from Wednesday’s events.

Some personal achievements I would like to recognize include Richard Keers and Dick Shuman attending their 55th Pennsylvania State Shoot and Franklin Bair and Spear Proukou reaching their 50th! Becki Logan broke her first and the only 200 of the day during the Singles Championship, while Jake Edinger had his first 100 during the Colonial Classic. Cody Rahn and David Naylor made their first trips to the 27-yard line during the week’s events. Talk about target attainments: Josh Buchiere, 25,000 handicap; Earl Grube, 75,000 singles; Abe Glick, 100,000 singles; Louie Morgan, 100,000 doubles; Wayne Shadel, 250,000 ATA registered targets; and John DiFabio, 500,000 ATA registered targets. Congratulations to all on reaching these exciting milestones!

Post state shoot events are taking place as well as a full lineup of shoots throughout the month of July. Good luck to all shooters, safe travels, and I’ll see everyone in Elysburg at the Westy Hogans!

Steve Ross

ATA Alternate Delegate

Alabama

As I sit down to write this month’s article, we are experiencing a cool wave in Alabama. It is currently 98° outside, and all week it has been anywhere from 100° to 103°. Then I read that Tim had 24 to 30 inches of snow in North Dakota. So now . . . I’m not complaining about the heat!

The Alabama State Trapshooting Championship was shot June 2-5 at the Dixie T&S in Mathews. The weather, food and targets were all good. A special thanks to Boone Butler for his hard work to make sure all of the machines were working properly. Larry Sexton won the singles, Sheldon Crosswhite topped the handicap, and John White won the doubles and HAA.

See this issue of Trap & Field for more results. Speaking of John, during the Handicap Championship, John shot at and broke his 75,000th handicap target. Congratulations!

During the state meeting Saturday evening, the following individuals were chosen for the Alabama State Trapshooting Team: captain John White IV, Bill Parson Jr., Jesse Burgher, Dan Jones, Allison Parson, Larry Sexton, Joshua Murray and Scott Williams. Good shooting, everyone!

Todd Richardson was reelected as the AIM director and is doing a great job with the kids.

Finally, at every shoot there is always a situation or individual, young or old, which stands out, and this shoot was no exception.

The “Last Squad” consists of five shooters with combined ages of more than 400 years and combined shooting years of more than 200 years. It was a pleasure watching them shoot.

Joke of the month: When a carpenter files for divorce: “It was plane to me from the start,“ he rasped in court. “When she framed me, I suspected our marriage didn’t auger well. And when she began to spend most of her time in joints, well, it awl adze up.”

Word of the month: Bum: An explosive device dropped from airplanes called bummers. “Ah, think we ought to drop the atomic bum on ’em.”

Please keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers. Without the men and women of our armed forces protecting this country, we would not be able to enjoy this great sport. When you see a soldier, thank him or her for their service.

If you need my help or have any news to report, contact me at [email protected].

Wayne Sartwell

ATA Delegate

Florida

Hello all from the most Southern, Northern state!

It was another exciting month. (June)—not! Not much happening. Local clubs are shooting, so please attend.

Palatka GC had their first Towel Shoot. Winners included Wayne Kidder, Ralph Jensen, Don Kerce, Bill Murphy and Jim Hassebrock. Good job!

Jimmy P. update: Jimmy went to a neurologist to see if he could do anything about the nerve pain that he gets on the right side of his face when he shoots. We’ll see. He is really having a time trying to shoot left-handed. God bless him for trying! Jimmy is trying, but he is still not comfortable shooting for score. He is still stuck on 98,850 single targets. Maybe next month. (See May 2022 issue for back story.)

I guess everyone has heard George Jones sing, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.” The song is about all of the old-timers and pioneers of country music dying off, and who is going to “fill their shoes.” If you think about country music at the time George sang that song and country music today, what a change! But country music is still here.

To me, our sport of trapshooting is following a similar direction. In my mind, not good or bad, just different. We all hear the old stories of back in the 1960s and 1970s where all of the “great” shooters had their heyday shooting Model 12s, Remington 1100s and 870s, setting standards. People like Kay Ohye, Ray Stafford, Leo Harrison III, Frank Little and a lot of others . . .

Just like country music, trapshooting is still here. Today’s equivalent shooters to the old shooters are the Patrick Lamonts, Harlan Campbell Jrs., Ricky Marshall Jrs. and plenty of others, and they are setting new standards.

There is even a newer, younger crop of shooters who appear to be even better than the previous! So bottom line is, just like country music, trapshooting is moving on, and their shoes are being filled!

I would like to recognize all the folks who make our sport happen. All of the unselfish sacrifices of gun club representatives and volunteers, the ones who load traphouses, keep scores, keep the fields mowed—all of that stuff. I don’t think we give you folks enough thanks . . .  so thanks!

If you want to know how giving and unselfish trapshooters are, attend a trap Hall of Fame banquet. It’s downright touching. Thanks, Skipper Wright, for making our Hall of Fame banquets also entertaining!

Thoughts (need repeating): The Florida Trapshooters Association is an organization that all Florida shooters are a part of. The organization, in one form or another, has been around for more a hundred years. Members, please learn about the workings of the organization. Please read the bylaws (found at floridatrap.com/fta-by-laws). Ask ex-officers for a rundown on how the business works. You may be called upon to serve or have ideas to better the FTA. Don’t be shy.

I will try to keep all of you informed and entertained with what’s going on in Florida. I want to especially recognize shooters and clubs.

My e-mail is [email protected].

Thanks for the opportunity to serve.

Mike Reynolds

ATA Delegate

Kentucky

Trapshooting is in full swing. It started with the North Carolina State Shoot, and there were two very hot Kentucky trapshooters who were one-two in the HOA. Kevin (Tank) Polson was No. 1 with 958 followed by Robert Dyer with 936. Gerald Shockley followed closely behind.

The next sate shoot that drew significant numbers of Kentucky trapshooters was the Tennessee State Shoot at the Nashville GC. Marty Crafton led the Kentucky contingent in the HOA with 943 followed closely by John Kerr, Polson and James Malin. Dyer and Jack Holland were not far behind. Carl Swift won the non-resident “windy” ’caps with 98. Bobby Fowler and Doug Cox were close behind with 95s from the 27. Kenny Wyatt won several trophies in the sub-vet category and had a 94 in the “windy” ’caps. Steve Childers won the vet category in the championship singles.

The Illinois State Shoot was going on at the same time and saw Keith Ditto smoke a 200 in the championship singles and take the runnerup spot in the HOA. Clayborn Hunter broke 198 and Trey Wilburn a 197 in the championship singles. Drake Reynolds was runnerup in the sub-junior category.

Last but not least, was the U.S. Open at Sparta, where attendance was up substantially. There was a large contingent of Kentucky shooters there, with Ditto and Wilburn placing one-two in the HOA with 982 and 974, respectively. Wilburn prevailed in a lengthy shootoff in the championship singles to win over Reid Winn and Bobby Fowler. Drake Reynolds won the sub-junior category, with Holland coming in third in junior.

On June 11 the Kentucky High School Clay Target League held its state competition at Central Kentucky GC with a record number and several new teams competing. There were several new schools competing there. Three student-athletes broke 99s with a multitude of athletes breaking a personal best.

I will be reporting the results of the Kentucky State Shoot next month. Until then, if you have news you want to share with your trapshooting colleagues, please let me know at [email protected].

Vernon R Anderson

KTL Board Member

Mississippi

We made it; that is, so far. You guessed it. This has been a summer to remember with record heat waves and little or no relief. What’s a little heat to a trapper, though? Especially one in Mississippi, where it just gets hot every summer, and heat and high humidity are the norm. Yes, it has impacted our shooting somewhat, and some of our most devout, dyed-in-the-wool trappers have said, “Not today, fellows, just too hot.” Well, hot or not, it is on to the Grand American, the granddaddy of them all. I don’t think heat will stand in our way, and I think Mississippi will send a sizable contingent of shooters to the big event, the finale of the season.

The summer shoots are behind us now, and we’ll come home from the Grand, hopefully with some trophies, to fall and cooler temps. The first trapshoot that comes to mind is our Fall Classic in October hosted by Coast R&PC down in Biloxi. If you have never attended this shoot, you owe it to yourself to come on down and enjoy some good ole Gulf Coast trapshooting, seaside cuisine and Mississippi hospitality—it just doesn’t get any better.

I would like to digress for just a moment at this point and speak from the heart. We all like competition or we wouldn’t be in this game, but there is another side that is a large part of our sport. Simply put, it’s the shooters we meet, the friends we make, and the memories along the way. I’m reminded of my New York buddies, John and Debbie Cook, and my cherished Florida friends, Lisa and Dennis Pyeatt. Then there are Mark and Patti Miles up in Illinois and an old shooter friend, colleague and counselor, Gene Schneck from Indiana. Gosh, I could go on and on, and I haven’t even mentioned my local shooter buddies and their families who are my heart and soul and wealth of friendships and memories. Then there are the ATA folks in Sparta who stand ready, willing and able to provide all our shooters with the best trapshooting sport we can have. I want you to do something, not for me, but for yourselves. Just take a quiet minute and think about all the friends, all the fun, the good scores and bad scores, the triumphs and heartaches and all the memories that you’ve shared over your trapshooting years. I think you will find a special blessing there. God bless you all, and God bless our sport. Happy trappin’!

Jerry Tharp

ATA Delegate

South Carolina

As you read this, we’ll be in the countdown for the Grand; I hope there is ammo available.

The North Carolina shoot had good weather with several warm to hot days, but the one that stands out was the super windy day. I don’t think many averages were improved that day. Their attendance was down about the same as our shoot, approximately 15 to 20%. Inflation is killing us. Everything is more costly—shells, fees, food, et al. On the positive side, the scorers were great, and the new cashiering program worked out.

In the achievement department, by the time you read this, George Powell will have reached 25,000 singles, and Gary Olson will have reached 100,000 doubles. Congrats, guys.

In the not good news department, Dave Reynolds, past trap director and present vice president of Greenville GC, has received some bad medical news. Please put Dave on your prayer list.

I have been finding some shells at Academy and Walmart, but walmart has the same prices as Academy now. Sportsman’s Warehouse has very few shells and the highest prices. Let’s hope there will be some shells at a better price at the Grand.

I hope to see you at one of the upcoming shoots.

Jim Faber

           ATA Delegate

Tennessee

Well, it’s that time of the year again, Grand time. July 29-Aug. 2 will be the AIM Championships. Then on Wednesday, Aug. 3 starts the 123rd Grand American Trapshoot through Saturday, Aug. 13. Eleven days of shooting, 2,600 targets. That’s a whole lot of ammo.

Well, the 2022 Tennessee State Trapshoot is in the books. Hot weather and wind seemed to be on the agenda every day, with only about a two-hour rain delay on Friday afternoon.

Congratulations to singles champion Caleb Clayton, doubles and all-around champion Garrett Sweeney, handicap champion Braxton Cox, and HOA winner Lucas Davis.

Congratulations to Bill Irick, formerly of Knoxville, Dillon Tosh of Manchester and Garrett Sweeney of Murfreesboro on their induction into the Tennessee State Trapshooting Hall of Fame. Well deserved.

During the Tennessee shoot, Tyler Honnold registered his 25,000th singles target, and Brooke Barnett registered her 25,000th doubles target. While at the U.S. Open, Lucas Davis registered his 25,000th singles bird, and at the North Carolina State Shoot, Mike Burnette registered his 75,000th doubles target. By the way, all four shooters broke their Milestone target.

Tennessee shooters have been on the road this year. Eight went to the Alabama State Shoot, with Michael Sisk, Tricia Yocum, Zach Emmons, Greg Yocum and Issac Sharp winning trophies.

At the U.S. Open, Tennessee winners were Drew Hoekstra, Brooke Barnett, Riley Bellomy, Clayton, Matt Smelser, Emma Grace Mathews, Heath Whitney, Seth Ladd, Rodger Hawkins and Davis.

Barnett and Luke Johnson went to the Great Lakes Grand, and both won an armload of trophies. Luke made it to the 27-yard line.

Read the rulebook, please.

For more info, visit our website at shootatatn.com. You can reach me at [email protected].

Billy Cook

ATA Southern Zone Vice President

Missouri

Summertime is upon us with a vengeance. It seems like only a few weeks ago we were wishing it was warmer. Well, it is now. This is trapshooting weather; how can you shoot really well without sweating? The U.S. Open at the WSRC started off with some pretty hot weather, and as the week progressed, it cooled down to the perfect temperature for shooting. There were 72 shooters from Missouri who made the long trip across the mighty Mississippi River to compete. Of those 72 shooters, 15 collected 29 trophies, with Zach Nannini at seven and David Deitch at five. Cindy Riggs, Kelan Kinion, Hannah Martin and Hunter Spruill had two each. Marvin Beumer, Anna Rawe, Gary Gooch, Louise McGee, Corey Spruill, Bailey Leuders, Nathan Buchheit and Rick McGaughey each took one trophy home. Congratulations to all the Missouri shooters who won or were in contention for trophies at the U.S. Open. I had the pleasure of working with the very professional staff that works the Grand American during this shoot. The ATA is blessed to have a group that returns year after year to run the U.S. Open and Grand American; without them, the shoots could not run as well as they do, thanks to all of them.

With the current economy, rising fuel prices and ammo shortages/prices, it seems that the larger shoots are faring well or holding their own, at least for now. As I have traveled in my business and spoken to a number of gun club managers/operators, overall the smaller shoots have fallen off in attendance. Leagues are holding their own in areas, and other areas the leagues have fallen off as well. It seems that shooters are getting selective about which shoots they attend. What has your favorite local gun club done to bolster or keep attendance up? Hopefully they have not given up and quit holding registered shoots, as some have done in the last couple of years. If you are a gun club manager/operator, reach out to your state association or your ATA Delegate; maybe they have some ideas they could pass along that might help. Speaking of large shoots, I hope to see everyone at the WSRC during the AIM Grand Nationals July 29-Aug. 2 and the Grand American Aug. 3-13.

If anyone has anything they would like to have reported or any concerns, please contact me at [email protected] or 816-863-9003.

Shoot often, shoot well and be safe!

Stephen Ricketts

           ATA Delegate

Oklahoma

The 2022 Oklahoma State Shoot is in the record books! Similar to any other week in central Oklahoma, Mother Nature gave us a wide range of weather conditions. Sun, wind, clouds and at times heavy thunderstorms. The week also gave us an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. After 2020 and 2021, there was a lot of excitement to resume a normal state shoot program and activities.

Reviewing the attendance numbers quickly. Attendance for the entire week was up almost 5%, and attendance for championship weekend was up about 6.5% compared to 2021. There were a total of 525 entries across the championship events for an All-American Competition Factor 3.

A complete list of results are on the web and in this issue of Trap & Field. Congratulations to Josh Stacey, state singles champion, breaking 199; Jacob Diller, doubles champion with 98; and Klayton McGee, handicap champion with 97. Congratulations to all trophy winners.

Hopefully I have captured all of the 25, 50 and 75 straight patch recipients. Tad Nicholson, Angie Cavett, Nate Hickey and Austin Smith, 75 straight; John Nicholson, 25 straight from the 20-yard line then the following day 50 straight in singles; and Aiden Wood and Quade Richardson, 50 straight. Congratulations to all patch recipients!

Event 8, Oklahoma Classic Handicap, included a lucky number drawing for a chance at a Henry rifle. After many rounds on Friday night and finishing on Saturday morning, Rodney Savely won the rifle.

At this year’s shoot, 73 AIM shooters participated, setting a new record. On Sunday, between the championship doubles and handicap events, Oklahoma AIM hosted a Tim Deister Memorial Wolf Chase, with 47 participants taking the field. In the end, Clay Laughlin won a Henry Golden Boy rifle with a special Tim Deister memorial etched into the stock. Brody Prior was runnerup, winning two cases of shotgun shells, and Noah Trousdale from Missouri was the out-of-state winner, getting one case of shells.

Any successful event does not happen without a large team of volunteers. I want to thank everyone who contributed to a successful 2022 state shoot.

A shout-out to all of the event sponsors and program advertisers. Your support really helped to make this a great event.

Shout-out to Dennis Patrick for attaining 25,000 registered handicap targets. Congratulations, Dennis.

Shout-out to Rodney Savely for attaining 25,000 registered singles targets. Congratulations Rodney.

Last month Billy Pierce was called out for achieving 50,000 registered targets. What I failed to acknowledge correctly was that Billy attained 50,000 registered singles targets and 50,000 registered handicap targets. Congratulations Billy! I apologize I didn’t get this correct last month.

One last call-out, Mason Tucker ran the first 75 to finish with a 99 to win the out-of-state Kansas state Handicap Championship.

Jeff Trayer was elected ATA Delegate during the state meeting. Congratulations, Jeff! On a personal note, its been a pleasure to represent Oklahoma during my short tenure as Delegate. A huge thank you to everyone for your support. Going forward Jeff will be sharing the great news from around Oklahoma and the country, as he will be taking over the monthly Trap & Field articles.

Kevin Nanke

ATA Delegate

Texas

It sure seems like I write at least one article a week. I just barely finish one, and it’s time to do another. This one will be a day late. I hope Elissa will feel sorry for me and go ahead and put it in Trap & Field. She is a super nice lady, so maybe she will. (Can y’all tell I’m begging?)

I never go to a shoot that there are not questions on the rules. Sometimes they are simple questions, and sometimes they are more complex. I study the rulebook often, but I still have to refer to it for many of the questions. If you don’t study the rulebook, then shame on you. Many of the questions need to be correctly answered before another shot is fired. If you just guessed at the rule, and after you finished found out you guessed wrong, you need to go to shoot officials and report it. It may be necessary to take one or more targets away from a shooter. Believe it or not, there are cheaters among us. Not many, but there a few people who will take a target they didn’t break, or one where a rule was broken and no one said anything. Don’t be that cheater, and just as importantly, “don’t let that cheater cheat.”

I know you have only read this far hoping there would more of those world famous “fatman attaboys and attagirls.” I only have one today, and it’s an attaboy. This one goes to Gary Womack for shooting at his 25,000th handicap target. Did he break it you may ask, your guess is as good as mine because no one let me know. Congratulations, Gary!

There are a couple more things I want to talk about. These are not complicated to do. I just wish shooters would do them. First, if you pre-squad for a shoot and for some reason are unable to attend, please call and release you pre-squad positions. Do this even if it is just the first event on the first day. The second thing is yardage reductions. If you receive a yardage reduction and do not want to take the reduction, please call or e-mail the ATA office and inform them. If you don’t, when you show up somewhere to shoot, they will handicap you with the new yardage that shows up on the ATA website. If you go shoot on your old yardage, you could get disqualified.

I’m through typing now. I hope to see y’all at the Grand. If you come to the Grand and don’t have an up-to-date average card, I will______. You will find out at the Grand.

God bless our military families and all our first responders and their families. Say a special prayer for the firefighters who have worked so hard and so long on all the forest fires they continue to battle in our western states.

If you have news, please let Princess or me know about it. If I don’t know about it, I can’t print about it. Also, remember I don’t do Messenger. E-mail me at [email protected] or call me at 806-679-6889.

Till next time, y’all shoot well, y’all shoot often and y’all have a great time.

Jerry O’Connor

ATA Delegate

Arizona

Smoke and chips: This is the time of the year when a lot of Arizona shooters spread their wings, with Colorado and Utah being prime destinations, so most of the news has trickled down from our neighbors to the north. Not that they are much cooler, sometimes they are, and sometimes they are not, but wanderlust has set in. Besides it’s always nice to visit strange and exotic places.

A small but hardy group made its way to Grand Junction, CO, and their state shoot. There were some good performances from our guys, and one outstanding one. Nathanial Pizinger was the junior runnerup in the opening singles, and Allisen Reese tied for Lady I runnerup. Now just to prove that she can also shoot pretty good ’caps, she was the Lady I runnerup in the following handicap. Friday started with doubles, and here it comes folks, sub-junior Wyatt Pizinger tied for high gun with a marvelous 99. Needless to say, he ran away with the sub-junior crown. I venture to say that many, many longtime shooters have never had a 99 in doubles. Wyatt will be giving private lessons at Prescott upon his return. Jim Copsey also shot well and took the veteran trophy.

Event 4 was the handicap, and we had some repeats. Nathanial P. was the junior runnerup, and Wyatt showed that he was not a one trick pony; he finished as runnerup in sub-junior. Allisen also was right there as Lady I runnerup. Then came the Singles Championship, and it was Wyatt once again. His 193 was second among sub-juniors.

Sunday featured the Doubles and Handicap Championships, and Nathanial led the Arizona gang. First, he finished as junior runnerup in the doubles then he tied for age-group high gun in the ’caps. My guess is that Wyatt, Nathanial and Allisen will be back in Colorado next year.

The Arizona tour then stopped at Vernal, UT, for the Western Grand. First it was the Preliminary Singles, and Sophie Nostrom and Gerry Williams led the way. Both shot 98s, giving Sophie the runnerup spot in Lady I, and Gerry, who pioneered trapshooting in the West, tied for the high senior veteran spot. Sophie then topped all Lady I shooters in the handicap and without letting her gun cool, took the Lady I crown in the doubles. Her streak continued the next day in the Craig and Sharon Hart Doubles, and Tim Robb won senior vet. If you shoot at Vernal, you had better like doubles, and apparently Sophie does. Her 97 was high again in Lady I in Event 5, the Dalton Van Memorial.

Now I don’t want to bore you, but guess who won the Lady I crown in Event 6. If you said Tim Robb, you lose; it was Sophie, but Tim did take the always tough senior vet category with a fine 98. Speaking of Tim, he and Gerry Williams tied at 99 for the Singles Class Championship, both finishing at the top of senior vet. Don Williamson and Sophie shot 96 in the Doubles Class Championship, with Don taking Class A and Sophie Lady I. The king of the day, however, was none other than Copsey, and he did it the old fashioned way, by not dropping a bird—no mean feat in doubles. His 100 won the veteran title by two.

In the Singles Championship, Williamson came oh so close with a 199, taking AA. Williams was the senior vet champ at 196. A familiar name to Western shooters popped up in Sunday’s Doubles Championship. Jimmy Heller has apparently joined the mass exodus from California to Arizona and brought his winning ways with him. His 99 tied for high score and gave him the veteran crown. Welcome, Jimmy!

The Winchester Ammo Handicap Championship, (try and say that non-stop without a mistake), finished the shoot, and the cream rose to the top. Williams is the new Western Grand American handicap champion. His 98 topped the field. Heller, with a 96, bested all other veterans. The same two gentlemen won their category all-around titles, with Jimmy taking veteran and Gerry senior vet.

Around the state: 2 Lazy 2 held their Blazing Saddles Shoot at Flagstaff June 11-12. I believe this was the first shoot at Flagstaff since COVID, and it acted as a shakedown cruise. David Landwerlen led the pack with a 98 in the opening singles, closely followed by Fred Frazier. Both of these guys have been on a run as of late. Our ASTA president and cover boy on the Grand American program, Greg Holden, was high gun in Event 2, the New Sherriff in Town Handicap, one bird ahead of Frazier. Greg and David L. then tied for high gun in the day’s doubles.

The Lily Vanshtup Singles started things off on Sunday with a familiar name at the top, Landwerlen. Next was Charles Storm, Frazier and Holden. Greg then won the handicap, second was Darryl Garber, another person to keep your eye on, and then Steve Bell. De Camptown Lady Doubles was the last event, and once again David prevailed, Cherel McCracken and Gene Warner followed.

A few quick notes on Flagstaff: There is no doubt that Flag will be a valued option for summer shooting in Arizona. It has been hit by a double whammy, first COVID then the protracted illness of Steve Long. Steve now seems to be on the road to recovery—praise the Lord. Careful notes were taken during the shoot about problems encountered and then turned over to Game and Fish. A little TLC is needed more than anything else, and I fully expect resolution before the summer is over. Arizona needs alternatives during our summer weather, and Flagstaff is ideal. Cherel McCracken has taken the lead with Game and Fish, proving once again just how invaluable she is.

Tucson holds their monthly shoot Aug. 21; cool, cool Pleasant Valley goes for three days Aug. 26-28; Lake Havasu has Big 50s Sept. 3; Casa Grande has a three-day shoot Sept. 2-4, and Flagstaff has a shoot scheduled Sept. 10-11. Don’t forget Big 50s every Monday at Casa Grande and Rio Salado’s singles marathon on the first Thursday every month as well as their doubles marathon every third Thursday.

See you on the line.

John Bergman

ATA Delegate

 

Idaho

As I write this, we just completed Idaho’s 2022 state shoot held at the Boise GC. As fate would have it, our weather went from fantastic, with fantastic scores, to really nasty, with not too fantastic scores. On the third day we had rain with winds 25 to 30 miles an hour. At one point while shooting, I looked down the squad line, and Dan Thompson from northern Idaho had his head tipped into the wind, and I could see his breath streaming through the water running off his cowboy hat. Boy, we were having some fun then. But I think he still shot a respectable doubles score! Nonetheless, we threw more than 117,000 targets. While many states throw more targets, this was the most thrown at Boise GC since 2012. We had shooters from 11 visiting states, and I had the privilege of shooting with Mike Cieslik from the Silver Dollar SC in Florida, the furthest traveled. We also had a 10-year-old gentleman named Chase Dobrinski from New Mexico, who broke his second 100 straight in singles in about 10 days. He’d just broken a very recent ATA record of the youngest to shoot a perfect score by one month in age. He was 10 years and nine months old! I watched him shoot, and he had better form than most of us. I asked him if he had any advice, and he told me, “See the bird, shoot the bird.” Yeah yeah, thanks for the advice, Chase. Expect to see big things from him.

Our shoot started out very interestingly with two major problems one hour before starting the first day. Everyone knows how much cardboard, trash and empty shells you can accumulate during a four-day state shoot. Our pre-ordered 40-yard dumpster had failed to arrive, and we were informed that with a $500 deposit they could get us one in about five days! What to do with four days’ worth of garbage? Two local shooters (Tony Shuyler and Keith McReynolds) own their own construction companies and came to the rescue with a 13-yard dump truck and 30-yard drop dumpster before the day was out. Yeah! Then with 30 minutes to start time, our trap help failed to materialize and through a misunderstanding were going to be about an hour late. Once again, shooters came to the rescue, and those on late squads stepped to the plate to score the first couple of flights. Two disasters averted at once by shooters helping other shooters. Man, I love this sport!

During the first singles event, one squad had four perfect scores. Stuart Welton, Grant Williams, Scott Abo and Jim Bauer emptied 16 boxes of shells without losing a target. Those are always fun scoresheets to look at.

For the main events, Mike Clark only missed two of 200 in the Singles Championship with a lone 198. Garrett Schlimmer, from our neighboring state of Washington, won our out-of-state with 195. The Doubles Championship was captured by Grant Williams with 96, and Schlimmer was the out-of-state winner with 97. (These two shooters keep popping up in my article). The big handicap was (once again) Williams with 93, and this time the non-resident victor was Damean Stewart, a junior gold from Colorado. He popped an 89 for his trophy. HAA was captured by . . . you guessed it, Williams with 386 and Schlimmer for out-of-state with 380 out of 400. And last, the HOA was (my computer is now on auto-populate), Grant with 962 and Garrett with 940.

Despite the rough start and really lousy weather at the end, we all had a wonderful time, and the shoot was a total success. As we finished up and were closing the club, the wind stopped, and the sun came out, leaving a beautiful rainbow That’s no lie!

On a final note, rumor has it that the Couer d’Alene S&T has recently registered to throw ATA targets. I’ll find out more on this and wish them the best of luck.

Leonard Wehking

ATA Delegate

Utah

The Western Grand has come and gone once again. As usual, Sean and Stacy Hawley ran a very nice shoot. Attendance was down about 5% from last year, but with the lack of ammunition and the price of it (if you can find it) and the cost of fuel, I’d say things weren’t too bad.

With the Canadian border finally open, we welcomed back a few of our friends from the north once again! I must say, the Canadians put on a pretty good show. Art Peyton broke back-to-back 99s in handicap from the fence. Brad Johnson (27 yards) and Katie Jones (24 1/2 yards) also had 99s in a handicap event. Art won a carryover with Brad, then Katie won a shootoff against Art. All three put up some very tall singles and doubles scores as well.

Lady I shooter Sophie Nostrom and junior shooter Ethan Prescott both earned their 27-yard pins. Ethan also broke all 200 championship singles. Congrats!

The Peay family (father Jared, daughter Haylie and son Bradley) was back in action once again doing some great shooting. If memory serves me correctly, last year Haylie cleaned up on the trophies. This year it was Bradley’s turn. He took home a minimum of five trophies. In the championship singles, Bradley and Haylie both broke their first-ever 100 straight, Haylie in the front half, and Bradley in the back half. Jared and Haylie tied for Class A honors in the championship singles with 196. After Haylie beat her father in the shootoff, I asked him if that means he has to buy her a new gun. His response was, “No, she has to start paying for her shells!”

Serving as a couple of cheerleaders, mom Alicia and young daughter Mazzy were never far away.

Be sure to check out all the scores on shootscoreboard.com and in this issue.

Tooele GC held its annual shoot the following weekend. Attendance was marginal, with pretty good scores.

Next month I will be reporting on the results of the Utah State Shoot at Spanish Fork.

Until then, I want to leave you with some thoughts for future shoots. All of the clubs in Utah need your help to survive. Not only does your attendance help the club, but it helps the state association with the state daily fees that are paid as well as the ATA rebate that comes back to the state every year. An example of things going bad for a state, San Antonio, TX, has always hosted the Southwestern Satellite Grand. For numerous reasons, the attendance kept falling, leaving San Antonio having to give up the shoot. At one time, the daily fees from the Southwestern Grand probably accounted for half of all the state fees as well as the ATA rebate. Let’s not have this happen in Utah!

On a sad note, Steve Nicholes, who frequented Spanish Fork GC, passed away May 25. RIP, Steve.

           Ed Wehking

           ATA Western Zone Vice President