Around The ATA – March 2024

Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces.

The trapshooting scene is relatively quiet in most parts of the Atlantic Provinces during the winter months. However, the Petitcodiac SC in Petitcodiac, NB, is one shining exception. Their annual winter league is a go again this year and runs from Jan. 6 to April 27. The emphasis is on getting out to shoot, so they have changed their rules for calculating league ending averages. Shooters can shoot on as many league days as they like, but only their top eight singles and top four doubles scores will be used to determine class averages. On the final day of the league, all shooters will shoot 50 singles and 25 pair of doubles. League organizer Larry Kinden says using this format allows them to shoot on windy days or poor weather days and lets them try out new guns or loads and not be penalized for it.

For this year’s winter league, the Petitcodiac SC are offering something new. Club member Dan Pollock will be preparing a cooked meal on shoot days. The menu can include chili, baked beans, breakfast or whatever Dan feels like cooking. Cost is a donation, and the brunch is available to all club members and guests, whether shooting or not. Sounds like a great winter league to me!

If you’re in New Brunswick and are looking for a shoot to attend, check out the Petitcodiac SC at sportsmanclub.ca.

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

Connecticut

Greetings from Connecticut. We are in the middle of winter at the time of this writing. No doubt you all are wishing for an early spring, as those of you who have braved the winter league temps are ready for a thaw.

The CTA welcomes the New Haven Raccoon Club to the association this year and looks forward to their addition of our member clubs. Congratulations to Bristol F&G on celebrating their 100th Anniversary.

Preparations are underway for the summer shooting season. Congratulations to Noelle Feucht as the Connecticut Trapshooting Association newly-elected president. Returning officers are vice president, Malcolm Ross; treasurer, Robert Witter; and secretary, Anne Freestone. The Connecticut State Shoot will be held June 21-23 at the Hartford GC in East Granby. Please visit our website www.cttrap.com for information and schedules of club shoots.

I would also like to congratulate this year’s State Team and high-average winners. State Team members are: Dave Bicknell, .9318; Robert Witter, .9176; Derek Harvey, .8983; Russell Gann, .8914; John Russo, .8899; Jim LaFrance, .8868; William Stuchell, .8843; Hani Hafez, .8762; Noelle Feucht, .8760; George Ware, .8652.

High all-around averages were: Bicknell, .9318, men’s; and Feucht, .8760, women’s.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or highlights from your local gun club. Stay warm and shoot well.

Cheryll Pittera

ATA Delegate

New Jersey

Well, as you’ve all experienced Mother Nature these first few weeks of January, as I sit here writing this month’s article, rain, sub-freezing temperatures, wet snow and dry snow has fallen across the state a few times already this new year. We should be thankful that the weather people were wrong in their predictions for precipitation here in the Garden State.

Our state association secretary Tony Pietrofitta, with the help of his Excel software experienced wife, has assembled the State Teams for the 2023 target year. As in the past, I will only be listing the shooters’ names; their averages will appear in the 2024 state program, which as I am typing, Robert Jarvis has again agreed to assemble the advertisers and shooter information for it.

Men’s First—Scott Kalnas, Thomas Clarke, Robert Jarvis, Richard Batesko, Rangel Queiroz. Men’s Second—Thomas Green Sr., Patrick Shulack Jr., Michael Chiarella, Charles Lehmann Jr., Jeffrey Whalen. Ladies’—Emily Malone, Caitlyn Barton, Kolleen Adams, Linda Septak. Junior—Zachary Cucunato, Santo Farro, David Brown Jr., Sofia Granata, Elizabeth Hitchcock. Veteran—Marc Invidiato, Robert Battista, John Tierno, Fred McDonald. Senior veteran—Thomas Wolf, John Godwin, John Horgan. The most registered targets were again led by John Godwin with 27,950. Congratulations to John and all the team members.

Rick Batesko reported that the Winter Festival Shoot was held Jan. 21 at the Ground Swipers club in Forked River; cold temperatures were the norm for the day. Charles Lehmann Jr. led A class; Christopher Palmer, B; Gene Ferrence, C; and Justin Freed, D. The handicap was won by Jayden Lovenguth. Yardage group winners were: John Kaltenbach, 19-21; Mike Chiarella, 22-24; and Robert Jarvis, 25-27. Jarvis led B class in the doubles, Ferrence won C, and Fred McDonald topped D.

Upcoming shoots are the Early Bird Shoot at Pine Valley March 9-10. The Shamrock Shoot is March 23-24 at Ground Swipers. Pine Belt is having their Spring Marathon in April, with singles on the 6th, handicap on the 7th, and the doubles marathon on the 14th.

Bob Hofman informed me that Pine Valley will be holding their 10th Anniversary Youth Shoot April 20. Ricky Marshall will be on hand on the 20th to answer questions and present awards again this year. Krieghoff International will again be on hand with their shotgun line and will have demo guns for the youngsters and parents to shoot if interested in trying them out. Rick will be holding a shooting clinic on the 18th and 19th at Pine Valley. Please call Pine Valley at 856-767-2661 for further information on the shoot and/or the clinic.

On a sad note, Phil Barber passed away peacefully in his sleep Jan. 3 after a lengthy battle with cardiovascular disease. He was 85 years old. Phil was born in Millville and lived there with his wife Carol until 2004 when they became “snowbirds” wintering in Florida, and then in 2014 they moved from Millville to the Riveria Golf Estates in Naples, FL, becoming Floridians. Phil joined the ATA in 1967. During his 60 years of registered shooting, he registered 78,700 singles, averaging 97.4%. He registered 68,200 handicap targets, averaging 88.9%, and 5,000 doubles targets, averaging 85%. Quite impressive statistics. Phil was inducted into the New Jersey Trapshooting Hall of Fame back in 2017. He is survived by his wife Carole; daughter JoAnn and her husband, Brian Day, of Marmora; son Philip Barber Jr. and his husband, Anthony Milcarsky, of Naples FL; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A service for Phil will take place in Millville NJ, at a future date.

I may be reached at 732-546-7910 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Joe Sissano

ATA Eastern Zone Vice President

New York

Hello from New York State. I hope everyone will have an enjoyable Easter holiday at the end of the month.

I am sorry to say that I have lost two more of my trapshooting friends that have passed away.

Mike J. Costa passed away Dec. 23 after a long battle with cancer. He was 71 years of age At the time of Mike’s passing, he had registered 12,500 singles, 2,300 handicap and 2,600 doubles targets. Mike was standing on the 19-yard line and started registering targets in 2002. He was on the board of directors of Mt. Morris SC and was also the trap mechanic. Our deepest sympathies to Mike s wife Cindy and the rest of his family on his passing.

Norman L. Loss passed away Dec. 26 after a short illness. He was 65 years of age. During his career, Norm registered 30,800 singles, 10,700 handicap, and 1,400 doubles targets. He started registering targets in 1999 and was standing on the 20-yard line. Outside of trapshooting, Norm enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and spending time with his grandchildren. He was a life member of Barre SC and a charter member of Albion R&GC. Our deepest sympathies to Norm’s wife Debbie and his entire family on his passing.

God forbid, if any trapshooter does pass away, the ATA has posted on their webpage a form that can be filled out for Completed Careers and can be shown on the back pages of Trap & Field Magazine.

If anyone is interested in camping at the 2024 Grand American, camping reservations are now open. There is a link on the ATA webpage where you can book your reservation online.

Tickets are now available for the Gun Club Raffle for the Kolar Regal Trap Combo. Tickets are $20 per ticket or six for $100 and can be purchased online. Also, ATA Delegates and state secretaries have tickets for sale. The drawing will take place Aug. 9 at the 2024 Grand American.

Please remember that the first shoot at the homegrounds in Cicero will be the 20th annual Empire Grand American. The tournament starts May 8 and ends May12. We all hope you plan to attend.

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.

With the assistance of our ATA clubs and our OPTA secretary-treasurer Beau Douglas, Ontario recognizes our competitors who win events at shoots in Ontario. Often small shoots have no trophies or recognition, and this is a way to generate interest and a competitive mindset for the majority of our shooters who don’t travel outside Ontario and even for those who do. There are rules, of course, but they are designed for our shooters to visit other Ontario clubs instead of shooting only at their home club. Because most of our participants are category shooters, we have a 10-person Category Delegate Team and five members of our Open Delegate Team. The 2024 teams are based upon their event wins during the target year ending Aug 31, 2023. Here are the teams:

Open Delegate Team—captain Adam Preece, 10 points; Jamie Purton, nine; George Chen, six; Jeff Cartier, six; Stephen Domacina, six. Category Delegate Team—captain Randy Douez, nine points; Bob Morphy, six; John Costa, six; Adrian Baran, five; Dan Gris, five; Keith Saunders, five; Ana Tsementzis, four; Brad Mann, four; Chris Tsementzis, four; Ed Wilmott, four.

Paul Shaw

ATA Delegate

Florida

Hello all from the most Southern, Northern State! Florida trapshooting is about to begin our shooting season, and by the time you read this, it will be in full swing. Please refer to Gun Club Scores in this issue or shootscoreboard.com for club shoot scores. Thank goodness it is finally cooler.

Recently I have been asked, “How can I make it into the Trap & Field Magazine?” Good question. A few ways come to mind, and the first is you or your gun club representative contact me about your outstanding achievement. Another is by ATA recognition. For example, shooting your first straight or making AA or AAA and 27-yard line status.

It’s official. Florida trapshooting is in full swing. Our winter friends have made it and “Now it’s a party”! I know I really look forward to this time of year. I get to see all of my shooting buds that I only get to see now. I also look forward to the help we get at the smaller ranges from our winter guests (A special thanks to Chris Hoffman. Chris helps out at several clubs.).

From Volusia T&S: Due to the increasing price of targets, the club has increased the price of targets. On Feb. 3 this came into effect. Twenty-five targets for club members will now be $7, and a punch card of 11 will be $70. Twenty-five targets for non-members will be $12. Membership cost at Volusia is very reasonable.

Palatka S&T: I hear that Palatka S&TC almost has their second trapfield operational. By the time you read this, I would not be surprised that it is not being used. (Good job, Wayne and Mark).

Imperial Polk GC: Imperial GC is another one of the most consistent trapshooting clubs in Florida. If you have not shot there, you owe it to yourselves to do so. A fair warning though, they have some pretty good shooters.

Flagler GC: Flagler GC recently had their yearly elections for directors (including trap director), and Ron Criscioni is the new trap director. Congratulations, Ron. I know you will continue doing a great job for the club. Most members know by now that Dusty Rhodes felt it was time to move on from the director job, and we mill miss him and his countless hours of club service. Thanks, Dusty. Now maybe you will have more time to shoot!

Shout-out for recognition! Now that Florida trapshooting is in full swing, I really don’t have the space to give the results for each shoot. But what I can do is mention a few of our Florida shooters who shined. Congratulations to Justin Tipton for hitting his first 100 straight (then followed it with a 98)! Another note is Justin has accomplished this in only 3,200 targets. Lorrie Bumsted Valois has been winning most of the Lady II events. The last several competitions she was high Floridian every shoot! This next shooter, Jimmie Ballard, had been struggling with His shoulder and a back injury for quite awhile and is finally back. Jimmie won veteran (HAA and HOA) at the Silver Dollar Sunshine Handicap. Next on my list is Stetson Lee. Stetson was hot for a while in our junior gold division, but I’m thinking he outgrew his gun and his scores suffered. But he is on track again. He broke 195 in singles and 92 in ’caps recently. Good shootin’, Stetson!

ATA Rule of the Month: Trapshooting terminology (from shootata.com).

All-Around: championship at the Grand, Zone, state and other major shoots, based on the combined scores of the 400 championship targets, 200 singles, 100 doubles and 100 handicap.

Average: the percentage of targets the shooter has hit out of the total shot at.

Average Book: yearly book compiled by Trap & Field listing all ATA singles, handicap and doubles averages of each member who shot during the previous year.

Back-yardage: positions in handicap, shooting from 24 to 27 yards.

Broken Target: a) one which comes out of the traphouse in pieces. It is declared “no target” whether the shooter shoots at it or not, and another bird is thrown. It does not count, even if the shooter hits it b) a whole target which the shooter hits and is scored as “dead.”

Call: signal given by the shooter for the release of the target. Usually the word “pull,” but any sound may be used.

Classification: a system of dividing shooters into groups based on previous records, ability, etc. in singles and doubles. Classification is done by a committee of shooters. AA is the highest class; D or E are the lowest.

Dead: the term used for a target broken by the shooter.

Doubles: one of the three events in trapshooting. The shooter stands 16 yards from the trap and fires twice, once at each target that are fired simultaneously.

Entries: the number of shooters in a specific event.

Field: the trap field, refers to the entire layout of the trap and shooting positions.

Handicap: one of the three events in trapshooting. Single targets are shot at by shooters standing a minimum of 19 yards and a maximum of 27 yards from the trap.

High-over-all: championship based on the combined score of all targets in a program. At the Grand it includes 1,000 targets over the final six days.

Junior: any shooter under the age of 18.

Junior gold: any shooter at least 18 years of age and under 23 years of age.

Lost: the term for a target missed completely or only “dusted.”

No-bird: the call given by the referee when the shooter does not have to fire at a target. Ex., A target that is thrown from the trap broken.

Pair: the two targets fired simultaneously in doubles shooting.

Pigeon: clay pigeon, the target.

Puller: the person who releases the target from the trap, either by an electric switch or by hand.

Senior veteran: any shooter at least 70 years of age and older.

Shootoff: method of deciding ties in which the shooters fire another event.

Singles: one of the three events in trapshooting. Targets are shot at by shooters standing 16 yards from the trap. One shot fired at each target.

Squad: a group shooters (five or less) who shoot together at one trap and who shoot in rotation.

Straight: the breaking of all targets in an event.

Sub-junior: any shooter under the age of 15.

Sub-veteran: any shooter at least 55 years of age and under 65 years of age.

Trap: the device used to propel the target.

Traphouse: a structure 2 1/2 feet below the ground 16 yards in front of the station that houses the trap, trapboy and a supply of targets.

Veteran: any shooter between the ages of 65 and 69.

Zone: a) one of the five districts in which the ATA divides the United States and Canada. b) one of the districts into which various states divide their territories.

Zone shoots: tournament sponsored by the ATA in each of its five Zones and for which the ATA furnishes the major trophies.

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

Mississippi

What! It’s March already? Where did the winter go? Man! This has been a cold winter here, and even colder in other parts of the U.S.—record-setting in many places. It is good to have a break from it. I may have said this about weather in an article before, but we tend to “live at extremes and talk about averages.” Unless it has broken between the writing of this article and the time you are seeing it, the mid-south is undergoing and feeling the effects of a severe drought. Crawfish production has been seriously negatively affected. I have lived in Mississippi all my life (ah, over 70 years) and I have never seen trees die as they have this year. In central Mississippi we have been more than 24 inches behind normal over the last 14 months. If you only look at averages, things tend to “average out” and thus at some point in time we will get lots of rain—above normal rain. Rainfall distribution has always been a problem for us, but the problem is setting up to be much larger than in recent times. For the sake of the farmers, I hope not, as floods are never a good thing for crop production, especially at planting time. And not good for trapshoots either.

Hopefully as spring weather returns, shooters will return to our clubs to register targets. Winter weather was definitely a factor in recent shoot cancellations at Starkville GC, Coast R&PC and Capitol GC. Hopefully that is behind us, and shoots can run smoothly this spring. So get on out there and support your local clubs and build your target counts in the process.

Shooting should be fun, and you should shoot for fun. While doing so, it doesn’t hurt to build target counts to avoid having to shoot penalty class or yardage at larger shoots, like our state shoot.

Here are the target requirements for the 2024 Mississippi State Shoot: Shooters who do not have a total of 1,000 16-yard targets registered with the ATA in the current and previous year shall be placed in Class B or higher at the discretion of the handicap committee. Shooters who do not have a total of 500 doubles targets registered with the ATA in the current and previous year shall be placed in Class B or higher at the discretion of the Handicap Committee. Shooters who do not have a total of 1,000 handicap targets registered with the ATA in the current and previous year will be assigned three-yard penalty up to 25 yards max or their regular handicap yardage, whichever is greater. Handicap target requirements will be waived for shooters age 70 and over, making them eligible for trophies and monies. Any participant who fails to meet the minimum handicap target requirements as described will be allowed the choice of shooting “targets only” from their assigned yardage, provided they waive and forfeit all rights to options, purses, added money and trophies, including HOA and HAA trophies.

Upcoming Mississippi shoots: Follow this link https://shootata.com/Shoots-Clubs-States-Zones/stateID/MS to look at upcoming Mississippi shoots. Capitol GC, Coast R&PC and Starkville GC have monthly shoots set as usual. Let’s all try to get out and support these clubs.

The Catfish Trapshoot: At present Capitol GC has set April 6-7 for the Catfish Trapshoot. The program is being reviewed but should be similar to past shoots. The Catfish Shoot should feature a total of 600 ATA registered targets thrown over the same fields and background where the 2024 Mississippi State Shoot will be contested. An excellent opportunity to get a feel for the location of the state shoot.

The 2024 Mississippi State Trapshoot will be May 23-26 at the Capitol GC, located northwest of Jackson.

Coast R&PC will again host one of the locations of the 2024 Zone Shoot. The Zone is set for July 19-21. Make plans to attend.

Remember, trapshooting is not rocket science—it’s just a trapshoot—don’t over-analyze and over-think it; just enjoy our sport.

Everyone, be safe, and I look forward to seeing you on the trapline.

Will McCarty

ATA Delegate

South Carolina

The weather has proved it’s winter. There have been quite a few cancellations due to cold rain, and when it’s not raining, the cold winds are blowing. By the time you read this, the spring rains will be on us. I hope we can get some good weather for our Hall of Fame and state shoots. Remember, Hal of Fame is April 6-7 at Greenville GC, and the state shoot is April 17-21 at the North Carolina Homegrounds, Bostic.

Shell prices have dropped slightly, and I mean slightly. If you find any throw-away shells in the $8 range, you better stock up, $12 for premium shells.

Next big shoot is the Southern Grand in Florida during March. I hope you can be there.

           Jim Faber

           ATA Delegate

Tennessee

Sometimes you’ve got to have a pretty good imagination when you write these monthly Delegate reports. It is the middle of January, 9º outside and about five inches of snow on the ground. Yet I’m going to write about trapshooting in Florida in the middle of March, and hopefully it will be about 80º down there.

The 44th annual Southern Satellite Grand American will be March 10-17 at the Silver Dollar SC in Odessa, FL.

Remember that they only shoot 200 targets a day due to a 7:45 curfew. Shootoffs not concluded by 7:45 will be carried over to the next day’s shootoffs.

The following week will be the Florida State Shoot, March 19-24 at the Silver Dollar.

On a sad note: Elcue Wilkins, 83, of Memphis passed away Dec. 27. He was active from 1995 to 2017, Cue registered 28,350 singles and 40,425 handicap targets.

My condolences to his family and many friends.

Read the rulebook, please.

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

Billy Cook

ATA President

Louisiana

Red Chute’s Jan. 7 shoot was a quick day. The regulars, Ed Gunter and Sean Taylor, attended. Dan Booth, one of our Monroe regulars, shot at Red Chute for the first time. It was just a nice day of relaxed shooting.

Toby Bancroft Memorial Gun Club, TBMGC, had a nice day and a nice crowd of 16 for their Jan. 13 shoot. The weather was cool but turned out to be a beautiful day. Case Hardison, who drove down and joined us from the Memphis area, won the singles with 93. Dennis Whitlock, who is a regular visitor from Missouri, had the second high score of 91. One of our newer shooters, Eli Saucer, had his first 25 straight in singles. Case Hardison also won handicap with 91. Our small group of five enjoyed the doubles event.

As we leave winter behind us and move into spring, it’s time to increase our shooting and to get ready for the big events on the horizon. Preparation is fully underway for our Louisiana State Shoot May 2-5, which will be held at TBMGC. I’m sure our neighboring states have started their preparations also. I know, for me, I start to get excited as I look forward to the events spread throughout the summer and to see all our shooting friends.

Check out our website www.latrap.org. There’s information on registered shoots of interest to our shooters, the scores/winners of our Louisiana shoots, and information on all the gun clubs in Louisiana that host registered shoots. Feel free to drop me a note to [email protected] if you have any news or comments that you would like highlighted.

Jim Jenkins

ATA Delegate

Texas

Howdy from Texas!

Well, we are another day closer to shooting season here in Texas. I have been looking forward to some warm weather since January.

I want to start off by congratulating Texas’ newest Hall of Fame inductees, Patrick Hopson and Marvin Allbright. They will be inducted at the 2024 Texas State Shoot in San Antonio on Friday night. I have shot with both of these Waco CTC members over the years, and they are well deserved.

I would also like to congratulate four Texas shooters who reached “Mega Target Member” status in 2023: Ronald Todd with 30,050 targets; Patricia Todd, 29,850; Yaani-Mai Gaddy, 22,600; and Larry Tagtmeyer, 20,200.

The 2024 Texas/Illinois Challenge Cup has had some major changes. More locations have been added, and All-American points will be possible if the required attendance numbers are met. I hope everyone can make plans to attend one of the locations.

I guess that’s about all for now. As always, I would like to encourage you to volunteer at your local club and support youth shooters. Should you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me or one of the current TTA officers. We will be glad to help!

Thanks again for your support, and I will see you at the next one.

Billy Hopson

ATA Delegate

Arizona

Welcome, Arizona shooters, to the new calendar year!

With the cold settling in for our neighbors to the north, Arizona shooting is in full swing and the migration of those seeking warmer weather. Welcome to all those who have made the trek to attend shoots in our state.

Warmer weather means visitors from the colder climates, but it also means the Winter Chain Shoot and the Arizona Hall of Fame Classic are going on here.

The Winter Chain Shoot was held at Casa Grande T&SC over the week between Christmas and New Year’s holidays and was very well attended. During the course of the shoot, Dan Treat (CO) broke his 250,000th lifetime target, and Jeremiah Steines broke his 25,000th singles target. Thanks for traveling to shoot green targets and sharing this milestone with us.

For clarity, the Winter Chain Shoot is a shoot held at several clubs over the course of December and January. The second installment of the Winter Chain will be hosted by Tucson T&SC Jan. 24-28.

The Arizona State Trapshooting Association’s Hall of Fame Classic was held Jan. 10-14 at Ben Avery CTC. The program consisted of 1,300 targets over five days. Championship events finished with a high score of 198 shared by Dave Jeffrey (BC), Mike Grady (NM) and Gerry Williams (AZ). Doubles were won by Brad Johnson (AB) with 96, with Dave Jeffrey (BC) with 94 and Dave Landwerlen (AZ) with 93 following up the second and third spots. Championship handicap honors were taken by Michael Jarvis with 95. One notable score for the championship singles was the achievement by Fred Frazier of breaking his 200,000th singles target as the last target of the event. Way to go, Fred!

Shooting was good, but the main event for this shoot was the induction of Tom Strunk to the Arizona Trapshooting Hall of Fame. Presentation of the honor was made by ASTA President Greg Holden at the Saturday induction banquet. Over the course of his career, Tom has shot in excess of 235,000 targets and has said he’ll be back to shoot the Arizona State Shoot in March to add to that number.

Thanks to all who attended, and we look forward to seeing everyone at Ben Avery for the Arizona State Shoot.

           Don Williamson

           ATA Deletgate

Idaho

I need to start out with another milestone recognition. Scott Abo shot more than 20,000 targets last year. That’s a lot of shells, Scott—over a half ton in weight. I hope your shell bag had wheels on it!

Well, we made it past the shortest day of the year, and the days are now getting longer. Even though it’s still winter, shooting is starting to pick up. I think it has something to do with more daylight. It gives you energy, and makes you want to get outside more. I know at the Boise GC; we’re seeing an amazing amount of people show up in inclement weather and shoot right up to closing time. Of course half of these people are league shooters.

The Camas Prairie League is underway in preparation for the Camas Prairie Handicap tournament. By the time this article reaches your mailbox, the tournament may be underway or even finished. It will be at its usual venue, the Walla Walla GC, and is always a lot of fun. It should host at least 300 shooters. As I write this, we just completed the second week of the league. The first week, more than 650 shooters from 22 clubs posted scores.

Orofino is hosting the first ATA shoot in the calendar year for Idaho. It’s March 9 and should bring in quite of few shooters in preparation for the Camas.

Speaking of shoots coming up, the Idaho State Shoot will be held in Boise this year. If you are planning to stay at the gun club in an RV, they are accepting reservations at this time. And . . . on a good note, they’ve upgraded their RV line, making the spaces wider and providing more power. There are also some 50-amp spots. A lot of work has been done to provide better service to the shooters.

On a final note, Idaho State Trapshooting Association (aka, ISTA) has a new Facebook page where we hope to periodically post updated info. Check it out. It’s still brand new, so I hope the content grows quickly and that it proves to be very useful.

Leonard Wehking

ATA Delegate

New Zealand

Roadkill 500 Doubles

This was the second year we ran our 500-target doubles shoot shot in five rounds of 50 pair with added prize money available over the 500 targets, courtesy of the NZ ATA as well as prizes of venison and ducks to give it the roadkill flavor, courtesy of Greg Nicholl, Dave Cundy and Mike Hirtzel. This shoot is a great opportunity with a few more targets to work on your doubles timing and technique as well as to try a different gun set-up, with the option to shoot less targets if you prefer. Unfortunately the chance to work on your doubles isn’t always available, so this shoot gives you that opportunity with a great background and the best targets.

We got lucky with the weather with a few patches of overcast and a light breeze with just a very light drizzle after we had finished at the end of the day compared to the day of stormy rain forecast earlier in the week with a storm moving across the country. The weather this time of year at Thames can be affected by tropical storms. Early January has been a dice roll with the weather in previous years, so we appreciated getting reasonable conditions. This is why we don’t run our provincials this time of year when the event rotates to Thames. It’s about trying to give the participants the best conditions we can, not about what suits those of us running the event.

We can’t thank the Thames club crew enough for keeping the grounds in their usual manicured condition. We are fortunate to be able to run our events at the Thames facilities with their great background and White Flyer targets. A big thanks to Grant Russell for helping with target-setting, It’s a little more time consuming fine-tuning the adjustments to get the Canterbury traps to throw the best pair they can. Thanks to Mike Hirtzel, Ian Hartley and John Robinson for helping set up the fields. Thanks to everyone who helped with refereeing and trap-loading as well as a great job cleaning up at the end of the day, much appreciated. Last but not least, thanks to Wayne Merrie for running the office.

Winners included:

A, Wayne Merrie, 413; A runnerup, Paul Basten, 336; B, Grant Russell, 240; C, Mike Hirtzel, 368; C runnerup, Shane Ward, 349; C third, John Robinson, 330; C fourth, Dave Cundy, 326.

A big thanks to your sponsors: the ATA; the NZ ATA; Thames CTC; Target Products Falcon Ammunition; Ron Thomassen Logging; Independent Transport Parts, suppliers of the Inox & Lanox fine cleaners and lubricants; Reloaders Supplies; www.newzealandhuntingadventures.com; and White Flyer Targets.

Good shooting.

Paul Basten

ATA Delegate

Utah

As I write this, it’s mid-January when most people with spare time sit around the house and try to stay warm, me included. We have about four inches of snow in the valley, more in the mountains, with more predicted daily for a week. With that being said, there aren’t any ATA shoots going on this month. I looked at our state association’s shoot calendar and noted that we have tournaments during nine months of the year. Absent are November, January and February.

Meat shoots are pretty well over. However, I believe Tooele GC will host a Super Bowl shoot.

The Spring Grand and the Southern Grand are things to start looking forward to. Both are in warmer climates, something to consider if you have the time. Both places offer family activities in and around the towns.

If you were bored this winter, here is a fun thing you could have done with Quint and Tiffany Sudbury. First, let me digress a little bit. In mid-September, Quint and Tiffany got married. I asked them what they were going to do next. In unison, they replied, “We’re going to Disneyland!” They sounded like a commercial. They did go to Disneyland!

On Jan. 14, the newlyweds ran in the Disneyland half marathon. I am happy to say they both completed the race and enjoyed running through the parks. Congratulations to both on their accomplishments, marriage and the race!

Here is my useless trivia of the month and a continuation of the Disneyland theme. For years, I always wore a Mickey Mouse baseball cap. Why, you may ask? Around 1994, I walked by a Disney Store in the mall and saw a Mickey hat on display. I erroneously thought, “I think my wife (Joy) would like that.” After a short education on what type of presents a woman likes, I decided to wear the hat myself. As fate would have it, I seemed to have good luck shooting in the Mickey hat. I only competed in a Mickey hat for approximately the next 22 years, until I became an Executive Committee (EC) member. Now that my term on the EC is over, I think Mickey will probably come out of self-imposed retirement this season.

           Ed Wehking

           ATA Past President

Washington

Shiver! At the time of writing, eastern Washington has been besieged by 10 days of sub-zero nightly low temps, and highs reaching 10º to 15º, followed by a fresh blanket of snow. Mountain passes are treacherous, and roads are not fun to travel on. I don’t think I’m alone in dreaming of shooting in a Polo shirt and using a towel to wipe my brow between posts. Club members are shoveling snow to take part in the Camas Prairie and Spokesman Review telephonic leagues, a long-running tradition in the region, and some of us have enjoyed shooting games at various clubs.

Colton GC has thrown their February registered shoot, and as this reaches your mail, we will be getting packed up for the Camas Prairie Handicap. The WSTA has put together the state shoot program. Please watch online for shoot dates, camper parking info and ads from our generous sponsors. Without their support, the services you expect at the major shoots wouldn’t be possible. Please support those who advertise with us and make it possible to throw the best tournaments possible.

Also online, you can find the schedule of shoots all over Washinton. Coulee City, Marlin, Spangle and Colton, just to name a few, will be hosting. Share news about activities at your club and send photos to me at [email protected], and we will try to share your fun times on the Washington State Trapshooting Facebook page and get your winners and milestone achievers some exposure in Trap & Field. First 25, 50, 75 and 100 straights, as well as yardage punches are a lot of fun to show off, and I enjoy getting you some press.

Idaho Delegate Leonard Wehking brought up some interesting points in a recent Around the ATA article that I think are very valid. We all know that target, ammo and component costs have been on the rise. There is very little we can control when it comes to the cost of materials and fuel to get to the next shoot. The one thing we can have some control over is the number of wasted targets. Off a well-tuned trap, it should take just a few targets to reach legal parameters in target-setting. Voice calls can be turned off between posts as shooters move, and shooters can help keep errant birds from flying by keeping discussion to a minimum while walking from one spot to the next. Of course, we all know the last suggestion is the hardest to do! However, some simple little things can help to make each shoot as profitable as possible, helping ensure that more can partake in our great (the greatest) sport.

We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of two longtime shooters. Wayne Brannon of Colfax was an avid competitor for many years. He was an Inland Empire Handicap champion and enjoyed shooting at almost every shoot in Washington and Idaho that he could get to. In his career he carded more than 225,000 ATA targets, sold reloading supplies to keep us all shooting and helped a lot of new shooters along the way. Fred Amistoso, a Spokane resident, registered 172,900 targets from 1963 to 2008 and was a threat at any Inland Empire or state shoot he entered. Fred was probably the most well-known appliance dealer in these parts. Just about everyone in eastern Washington and north Idaho would recognize a “Fred’s Appliance” logo. Both fellows were great guys, and they will be missed.

Take someone to the local club and introduce them to our game. Last fall, during a shoot at Colton, I set up my girlfriend’s son, her son-in-law and his brother-in-law on the practice trap. I told them to shoot away, and I’d pay for targets. Little did I know they would burn 500 shells! It was worth it to get them hooked. I’d better start practicing, so they aren’t shooting better scores than me soon. This is the first step in growing the sport as well as a lot of fun.

Shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Sean Lewis

WSTA Director