Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces.

The St. John’s Rod and Gun Club held their Season Opener ATA registered shoot May 25. It was a cold, damp and windy day, but the weather didn’t dampen any spirits as a few shooters recorded some noteworthy milestones.

Congratulations to Troy Coldwell on registering his 25,000th ATA singles target during the shoot. Troy joined the ATA in 2004 and has an impressive list of Atlantic Provinces and Canadian wins. His trophy cabinet also displays numerous Eastern Zone and Grand American awards.

Troy’s 14-year-old son Duncan joined the ATA at the Season Opener and registered his first targets. Duncan has been helping out during club shoots and has been shooting sporting clays recreationally for the last two years. Duncan plans on shooting more ATA targets this year and is looking forward to competing in the 2025 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot.

In other firsts, Billy Guest recorded his first 25 straight in singles during the ATA shoot, one week after registering his first 25 straight ever in a non-ATA shoot. Billy actually joined the ATA in 2024 but did not have an opportunity to attend any ATA shoots due to work and family commitments.

Congratulations also goes out to Christian Winter for shooting his first 50 straight in doubles earlier this month at the St. John’s Rod and Gun Club with his recently purchased K-80 Trap Special. Christian has been registering ATA targets since 2022.

Pre-squadding is now available on sosclays.com for the Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot being held at the Highland Gun Club in Yarmouth Aug. 27-31. The Sponsor’s Challenge kicks off the shoot on Day 1 and will be followed by the four-day, 800-target competition. If you’re attending and would like ammunition delivered to the club, check the ordering information available on our website and in the shoot program. Visit www.shootatlantic.com for a program and shoot details.

For more information on the Atlantic Provinces Trapshooting Association, feel free to contact me at aabassan@gmail.com or visit shootatlantic.com.

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

Connecticut

On Memorial Day weekend, we honored those who served and sacrificed for our freedoms and security. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday weekend. The CTA calendar of registered events is underway. Despite the weather this spring, it was great that so many of you participated. Many thanks to all the volunteers who put so much work into holding these events.

The Connecticut State Shoot will be in the books at the time of this issue. CTA President Noelle Feucht and the Board of Directors have been diligently working toward a successful weekend of competition and fun. I’m looking forward to the three-day weekend and wish you all good shooting.

There is a possible category revision coming up to be discussed and voted on at the Grand American this August by the Board of Directors (Delegates). The Executive Committee is considering revising the age for the veteran category to 65-74 and the senior veteran category to 75 and older. Feel free to contact me with any concerns or thoughts on this revision.

The New Haven Raccoon Club held the 2025 St. Jude Trap Fundraiser on May 20. This annual event was a great success, with all proceeds benefitting St. Jude. Fun for all was had, and many first-time shooters were given opportunities to learn gun safety and procedures as well as trying their hand at breaking some targets—a wonderful way for introducing new folks to shooting and raising money for a great cause.

As always, if you have any news or highlight you would like to see included in the letter, please shoot me a mail at cap145@yahoo.com. I would love to hear from you.

All the best, and see you on the line.

Cheryll Pittera

ATA Delegate

New Jersey

Hello, New Jersey shooters. Winter has passed, and the state shoot is next. I would like to give praise to the members of Pine Belt for working hard to ready the grounds for the state tournament, while the rainy weather has made things difficult.

State and Pine Belt President Bob Jarvis managed to get to the Silver Dollar for the Southern Grand. He was able to represent New Jersey, winning two events.

NJSTA held the southern zone shoot at Pine Valley, Ground Swipers and North Jersey Clay Target. Rick Batesko won the Singles Championship, while Scott Kalnas nearly swept the rest.

Congratulations to John (Jack) Martin for moving to the 27-yard line. ATA Eastern Zone Vice President Joe Sissano awarded Jack his 27-yard pin.

Congratulations to J.P. Horigan for breaking his 25,000th doubles target at the Delaware State Shoot.

On a sad note, New Jersey lost a dedicated trapshooter and state handicap champion Edward Zimmerman. Ed was married to his wife Jill for 57 years. He was a member of the North Jersey Clay Target Club and wintered at the Silver Dollar. He joined the ATA in 1970 and registered 158,700 singles, 104,810 handicap and 25,700 doubles targets. Ed also loved muscle cars and raced a Dodge Challenger. I remember the first time he drove it to the state shoot at Pine Belt, and he let my son Joe drive it through the grounds. I told Ed he just made my 15-year-old son very happy, and he responded, “Wait! He doesn’t have a driver’s license?” We all had a very good laugh. Please keep Jill in your prayers.

Let’s all get out to the local clubs and break them all. Square Circle will soon be throwing registered targets. Let’s get them off to a great start and enjoy their beautiful club.

Tom Clarke

ATA Delegate

New York

Greetings from New York. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather and participating in plenty of ATA registered shoots. I know that I am.

The 21st annual Empire Grand American is now history. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate during the tournament. There was plenty of rain, wind and cooler than normal temperatures.

Dave Shaeffer Jr. of Maryland was the singles champion with a lone 196, and Dan Fadden of New York was runnerup with the lone 194. Nickolas Gibbs of New Hampshire was the doubles champion with 98, and Bradley Heath of New York took runnerup with 93. In the Handicap Championship, Randy Bergey of New York was champion with 90, and Shaeffer was runnerup with 89.

In the high-all-around, Shaeffer was champion with 378×400, and Herbert Lewis of Kentucky was AAA winner with 368. Finally, in the high-over-all, Lewis was champion with 926×1,000, and Chad Landon of New York was AAA winner with 879. All trophy winners can be viewed on the New York State ATA website and in Trap & Field Magazine. Congratulations, and excellent shooting.

The officers and directors of the New York State ATA would like to thank everyone who helped during the tournament. Special thanks must be given to Greg Pink of SOS Clays for donating the SOS Clays silver bars for the option on three events. Thanks to Mary Zuller for running the kitchen, Michelle McEwen for handing out trophies, cashiering personnel, line personnel and all others. Thanks also to Ray Greb and Don Neilson Jr. of the Central Handicap Committee for performing most of the classification for shooters.

One target attainment to mention: Dave Myers has registered 25,000 handicap targets. Great going, Dave.

The next shoot for the New York State ATA will be the state shoot. The tournament will be July 9-13. We all hope you plan to attend.

If anyone would like to have something placed in one of these articles, please contact me at Trapshooterdavec@yahoo.com or 585-519-9543. Thanks, and may God bless.

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario, Canada.

I just returned from the Empire Satellite Grand. Most days were rainy, cold, windy and miserable. Scores reflected the weather. NYSATA officials and volunteers, as always, did a bang up job. They have no control over the weather, and, as we all know, shooting is an outdoor sport.

Good luck to all as the summer unfolds.

Paul Shaw

ATA Delegate

Alabama

The ATA Southern Zone Shoot will be July 17-20. I hope everybody has plans to attend one of the locations and enjoy this shoot.

Please read the rulebook.

Joke of the month: Census taker: “How many children do you have?”

Woman: “Four.”

Census taker: “May I have their names, please?”

Woman: “Eenie, Meenie, Minie and George.”

Census taker: “Okay, that’s fine. But may I ask why you named your fourth child George?”

Woman: “Because we didn’t want any Moe!”

Word of the month: Moanin’: Between daybreak and noon. “Good moanin’ suh.”

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 wasartwell@charter.net.

Wayne Sartwell

ATA Delegate

Florida

Hello all from the most Southern, Northern State!

Recently I have been asked, “How can I make it into the Trap & Field Magazine?” Good question. A few ways come to mind, with the first being 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, AAA or 27-yard line status. If you achieve any of these feats, please let me know. I can’t give you proper props if I don’t know.

May means spring, and spring means Florida’s Spring Shoot (among other things), and it was a fantastic shoot. Last year we held the Spring Shoot in Jacksonville, so it was nice to have it back at Silver Dollar. By now, all of the vendors have moved on, and all but a very few snowbirds have flown back north, leaving just us Floridians to shoot it out among ourselves. Since we lost all of the paparazzi that we had giving play by play for the Southern Grand and the Florida State Shoot It is safe for me to give the winners here.

Event 1 Preliminary Singles: junior, Jake Hooper; sub-junior, Emily Gribbin; AA, Carl Chadwell; A, Bill Bezubiak; B, Mike Reynolds; C, Dennis Delorenzo; D, Ron Burdick; out-of-state winner, Paul Karnes. Event 2 Preliminary Handicap: winner, Luke Garvey; runnerup, Donald Keith; third, Chadwell; fourth, Mark Bowman; fifth, C.P. Burke; junior, Hooper; sub-junior, Gribbin. Event 3 Singles Championship: winner, Chadwell; runnerup, Dax DeMena; Lady II, Alberta Brooks; Lady II, Karen Harrington; senior vet, Kay Ohye; veteran, Lewis Laroche; sub-vet, Donald Munn; junior, Hooper; sub-junior, Gribbin; AA, Federico Ramirez; A, Matt DeBord; B, Alejandro Castillo; C, Steve Herbert; D, Richard Mottola; out-of-state winner, Karnes. Event 4 Doubles Championship: winner, Chadwell; runnerup, Thomas Harrington; Lady II, Nancy Patterson; Lady I, Karen Harrington; senior vet, Kay Ohye; veteran, Jimmie Ballard; sub-vet, Scot Lauderback; junior, Hooper; sub-junior, Gribbin; AA, Ramirez; A, John Farina; B, James Cummings; C, Chris Molina; D, Victor Fluxa; out-of-state winner, Karnes. Event 5 Handicap Championship: winner, Brent Miller; runnerup, Keith; third, Thomas Harrington; fourth, Jack Schumpert; fifth, Brevin Harvey; Lady II, Marsha Cieslik; Lady I, Karen Harrington; senior vet, Ed Medley; veteran, Reynolds; sub-vet, Chadwell; junior, Hooper; sub-junior, Gribbin; out-of-state winner, J.T. Spangler. HAA: AA, Chadwell; A, DeBord; B, Thomas Harrington; C, Bowman; D, Gribbin. HOA: AA, Chadwell; A, Karen Harrington; B, Keith; C, Bowman; D, Gribbin.

So what’s next? The ATA Southern Zone, July 18-20.

ATA Rule of the Month:

SECTION XIII

Standards for Traphouses, Targets, Target Setting, Guns and Ammunition

1. Rules for the Use of Radar Guns and Chronographs to Set Target Speed

There are two types of radar guns, high-power and low-power. The practical difference between them is that high-power guns work reliably from the 16-yard line, and low-power guns do not.

High-power guns (Decatur, Stalker, most “police radar guns” and similar) may be used at the 16-yard line. The trap oscillation is stopped, and the target measured is a straightaway. The gun is pointed horizontally. The correct speed for a singles or handicap target is a minimum of 42 mph, maximum 44 mph.

The correct speed for the right target of a doubles pair must be a minimum of 39 mph, maximum of 41 mph.

Low-power guns (SportRadar, Bushnell and similar) are to be used at the back of the traphouse and at the level of the top of the traphouse. (Holding the gun higher than that will lead to a target which is too fast.) The trap oscillation is stopped, and the target measured is a straightaway. The gun is pointed horizontally. The correct speed for a singles or handicap target must be a minimum of 42 mph, maximum of 44 mph. The correct speed for the right target of a doubles pair must be a minimum of 39 mph, maximum of 41 mph. When a radar gun is used from inside the house, the correct speed for a singles or handicap target must be a minimum of 44 mph, maximum of 46 mph. The correct speed for the right target of a doubles pair must be a minimum of 41 mph, maximum of 42 mph.

A chronograph is to be used as close to the trap as practical and tipped up at approximately the same angle as the height of the target. The correct speed for a singles or handicap target is 67 ft/sec minimum, maximum of 70 ft/sec.

To set doubles with a chronograph, set a singles target to 76 ft/sec minimum, maximum 79 ft/sec then switch the trap to throw doubles without changing the spring tension.

Note: target speed may be set by distance as above or by speed as determined by a radar gun or chronograph. Target must be set by measured speed or distance.

Mike Reynolds

ATA Delegate

Kentucky

Kentucky shooters have been busy winning trophies over the last month. At the Georgia State Shoot, Maverick McClure collected many class and category awards along with overall non-resident titles in the championship singles, HOA and HAA.

In South Carolina, Mike Castle claimed non-resident sub-vet honors in Event 1. Trey Wilburn won non-resident sub-vet in Events 3 and 7, along with the championship doubles, HOA and HAA. Clark Hamons earned non-resident sub-vet honors in Events 8 and 9 along with a fifth-place finish in the Handicap Championship.

At the Empire Grand, Herbert Lewis cleaned house, earning AAA honors in Events 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 on top of a fifth-place finish in Event 8 and AAA runnerup in Event 11. Lewis also topped the field in the HOA for the week.

In Mississippi Mike Castle won event runnerup in the opening singles and followed it up with non-resident sub-vet in the championship singles. In the championship doubles, Allen Everett claimed non-resident junior gold.

At the Great Lakes Grand, Maverick McClure won sub-junior honors in Events 1, 2, 5 and 6, paired with AA in Event 4 and the overall prize in Event 8. Jason Keller claimed class victories in Events 4 and 5, with a class runnerup finish in Event 12. Wyatt Keller earned class trophies in Events 4 and 12, while also earning sub-junior and sub-junior runnerup in Events 14 and 13, respectively. Lewis won class prizes in Events 5, 6, 13 and 15, while also finishing third in the Handicap Championship and earning AAA honors in the HOA and HAA.

All of these great results have made for a lengthy article, and I hope these trends continue. As we move into the bulk of the season, I look forward to seeing many familiar names atop the leaderboards. Good luck and safe travels in the weeks to come.

Jack Holland

For ATA Southern Zone Vice President Dan Ryan

Mississippi

This has continued to be a an unusually busy spring for me and many of my trapshooting friends. Hopefully for some of us, things will lighten up a little as we have just completed the 112th edition of the Mississippi State Trapshooting Championships (aka the state shoot). I am on a short timeline to get this in to Trap & Field, thusly I will not go into a full blown shoot report. That will be covered in these pages a little later.

I wish to take a moment to thank each shooter from Mississippi, the surrounding border states and states beyond, for your participation and cooperation. We had shooters representing 12 states, and we sincerely appreciate your participation and hope you will return to Mississippi for future shoots. The group at Capitol Gun Club did a fantastic job throwing and scoring great targets. Tami Daniel-Means did her usual superb job administering the shoot, and God was very kind to us in absolutely every way. It started raining a few hours after the shoot, and it has rained for several days now, but the shoot days were pleasant. It takes a lot of people working together to make a trapshoot go. Anyone who has never done so can have no idea what all is involved and the stress levels that can exist (for those who actually care). Those who don’t do it, please walk in others’ shoes before you criticize. Again, thank you to all who came to shoot, all those who came to support the shooters and to all those who actually made the shoot happen.

I will not go into a lot of detail, but we had the MTA annual business meeting during the shoot. As some readers know, I have been doing double duty as secretary-treasurer and Delegate for several years now. Officers in several other states pull double duties as well. Not only because those guys do a good job, but also it is hard to get people to step up and serve. Fortunately we were able to convince Bill Burke to step in as our Delegate for the next year, and I am stepping back to First Alternate. Bill will do an excellent job, and you will enjoy working with him. I am not taking full emeritus status just yet.

Trapshooting in our part of the country really needs for the younger shooters to get involved. I know the younger shooters are consumed with family time, professional obligations and other obligations—we all faced that. Seriously if you are a younger or middle age shooter, step up and ask your local gun club and your local trapshooting association what you can do to help, and follow through. Our sport needs you.

Upcoming Mississippi shoots: go to www.shootata.com/Shoots-Clubs-States-Zones/stateID/MS to look at upcoming Mississippi shoots. Capitol Gun Club, Coast Rifle and Pistol Club, Starkville Gun Club, and Whitetail Ridge Outdoors will have monthly shoots set, as usual. Let’s all try to get out and support these clubs.

2025 Southern Zone Shoot: Coast Rifle and Pistol Club will again be a host site for the 2025 Southern Zone Shoot. The Zone is set for July 18-20. Make plans to attend.

2025 Fall Classic, Oct. 16-19: Coast Rifle and Pistol Club will again be hosting the Fall Classic Shoot. It’s a beautiful time to enjoy the Mississippi Gulf Coast and its offerings. Make plans to attend.

2025 ATA rulebooks: The 2025 ATA rulebook is available for download at the ATA website www.shootata.com. Download a copy or order a copy and read it. Your club may have ordered copies and have them available. It is always a good idea to keep a copy of the current rules with your shooting gear. Remember, it is not against the rules to read the rules.

“It’s just a trapshoot;” don’t overanalyze it, just enjoy our sport.

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

Will McCarty

ATA First Alternate Delegate

South Carolina

Hello from the Palmetto State.

I’m excited to start off this report featuring a shooting achievement for a South Carolina shooter, Mike Szotkiewicz. Mike has reached the 25,000 target level in singles. Mike began shooting in 1992 with a few breaks along the way and currently shoots out of the Greenville Gun Club. Congratulations, Mike, on this achievement.

South Carolina had 12 shooters attend the 102nd Georgia State Shoot April 24-27. Thanks to Russ Wright, Dave Hollingsworth and the GATA board members for a great tournament. Trophy winners from South Carolina were Neil Alexander, Terri Campbell, Richard Gadbois, Kenny Inman, Randy Knight, Teresa Knight and Garry Welch. Congratulations to you all.

South Carolina State Shoot, April 30-May 4, was held at the North Carolina Homegrounds. We had wonderful weather and were pleased to have shooters from 21 states participate.

The 2024 State Team was announced as follows:

First team—captain Phil Bagwell, Thomas Campbell, Richard Gadbois, Gary Olson, Doug Stenback. Catergory team—Terri Campbell, Lady II; Steve Conley, sub-vet; Gary Ferguson, veteran; Jim Faber, senior vet. Second team—Kenny Inman, George Powell, Garry Welch, John Pendergast, Michael Pobiega.

Another recognition goes to George Powell for most targets shot, 12,463. Congratulations to all of these shooters. Other highlights included two 200 straights in the Singles Championship, Jeff Fanello from Ohio and Hallie Jacobs from Tennessee. Congratulations to both Jeff, who won the shootoff, and Hallie for their excellent shooting. We would like to say a special thanks to Jim Hughes, Jim Wilson, Marty Hill, Jeri Wilson and the NCTAHOF committee for their hard work in hosting our state shoot at the North Carolina Homegrounds. For additional information concerning our state shoot, please see the Trap & Field South Carolina State Shoot report in the June issue.

I hope you all are enjoying the 2025 shooting season and thank you for your support of our sport.

Hope to see you shooting soon.

Teresa Knight

ATA Delegate

Tennessee

The last of the 2025 Southern Zone state shoots will be in July as well as the Southern Zone Shoot: Kentucky, July 2-6, Central Kentucky Gun Club, Berea; Virginia, July 2-6, VA Homegrounds-Winchester Gun Club, Stephenson; and West Virginia, July 9-13, Winchester Gun Club, Stephenson VA.

The ATA Southern Zone Shoot will be July 18-20 at Central Kentucky GC, Berea; Coast R&PC Biloxi, MS; Silver Dollar SC Odessa, FL.

The AIM National Championships will be July 24-28 followed by the 126th Grand American World Championships July 30-Aug. 9, both to be held at WSRC Sparta, IL.

Nine Tennessee shooters went to the Georgia State Shoot, with Gabe Johnson, Channing Garrett, Clint Parson, Mikayla Dickson, Seth Wolfe, Matt Smelser and Brooke Barnett winning trophies.

Twenty-five Tennessee shooters recently attended the South Carolina State Shoot, with Cade Harvey, Tim Fields, Mike Burnette, Henry Thomas, Richie Bolin, Seth Wolfe, Kaylee Dubois, Hallie Jacobs, Lee Perry, Rick Sweeney, Brooke Barnett and Maynard Brooks winning trophies.

Read the rulebook, please.

It’s been a privilege to serve as Tennessee’s Delegate for the past 15 years, in addition to serving on the Central Handicap Committee in 2018-2019 and then elected to the Executive Committee in 2019, serving as President in 2024. Hopefully someone else was elected to serve as Delegate at the state shoot in June.

Thank you, Tennessee.

William Cook

ATA Ex-Officio

Louisiana

Red Chute Shotgun Sports Club held a shoot April 26. It was a nice day to shoot with little wind, but it alternated between sunny and partly cloudy. Aubrey Wornick took top singles honors with 98 followed by Sean Taylor with 94. Handicap was won by Jim Jenkins with 89 followed by Wornick with 88. Doubles was won by Jenkins with 85 followed by Mitchell Lemley with 82. Wornick and Lemley were joined by Michael Lemley and Gilson Elam, who all drove down from Texarkana to shoot.

The 2025 Louisiana State Shoot, May 1-4, has wrapped. Participants from Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana honored us with their attendance. Louisiana always has a large contingent from other states for which we are deeply grateful. This year a surprising statistic was that we had about 30% of the shooters being first-time Louisiana State Shoot attendees; thanks to you for attending. Louisiana was honored by David Rhoads, ATA President; Will McCarty, Mississippi Delegate; Samantha Rainsdon, New Mexico Delegate; and Nikki Herman, Colorado Delegate, who were able to attend. Many thanks to the LTA board members, cashiers, AIM parents who scored for us, traphouse loaders and the many, many people who help make this a success, despite the rain.

It’s spring in Louisiana, and we must talk about weather-related impacts to our shoot. Thursday was a nice day to shoot. On Friday Mother Nature showed up once again to dampen our spirits. The Prelim Doubles that morning went fine, but the rain rolled in to disrupt the handicap with heavy rain and several lightning delays. Because several squads had already completed their 100 targets, it was necessary to forge ahead with completion of the handicap event as a full 100-target event. Luckily, all squads were able to complete handicap on Friday without having to carry it over until Sunday. But the Prelim Singles had to be canceled by the LTA board due to lack of available daylight. What is taken away one day is given back another time, and Saturday and Sunday were days that we only dream about. Plenty of sunshine and cool temps were the order of the day and enjoyed by all. I wish we could get four days like these every year. But it is smart to make sure one has rain gear with them when coming to Louisiana.

We had a couple of unusual equipment issues that popped up. Thursday we had a trap machine failure with what turned out to be a faulty position adjustment card, but it was overcome quickly by swapping it out with our spare machine without much impact to the shooters or schedule. Thanks to Billy Pierce, Donny Sanders, Caleb Coody and Danny Batten who jumped in and made it happen. Then the spare machine had a small adjustment needed. The other thing that happened was on Sunday during championship doubles, a machine started breaking targets, a whole lot of targets. The issue was the targets were stuck together and once found, it was quickly corrected. TBMGC does a good job of maintaining their equipment and has all the machines preventatively serviced before the shoot, so these sorts of things are very uncommon.

Thomas Smith IV was returning resident champion with 194; Thomas is a 2025 All-American. Non-resident winner in singles for the second consecutive time was Tex Hollis of Mississippi with 197. Thomas Smith IV was also resident champion in the doubles with 93. Non-resident winner was Zeke Yeager of Mississippi with a perfect 100. Zeke is a very talented and well-known doubles shooter, so no surprise with this one. The resident champion in handicap was Avery Dumas with 93. She turned in a fine performance to take top honors. Non-resident winner was Brett Blackburn of Arkansas with 95, repeating for the second time. Smith took resident HAA honors with 377×400 for his second consecutive time, no surprise here. Yeager won non-resident with 378 and shootoff over Brett Blackburn. HOA resident winner, repeating for the second time, was Smith with 841×900, and non-resident winner was Caleb Coody of Arkansas with 835, repeating for the second time. For all the shooter scores and the proud winners in every event, go to latrap.org, shootscoreboard.com or shootata.com or see the story in the June issue of Trap & Field.

For notable firsts, Maddox Schulte shot his first 100 straight in singles. Congratulations, Maddox.

Special honors also occurred during our membership meeting on Sunday. Doyle Brooks, previous ATA and state Delegate and current All-American, was inducted into the Louisiana Trapshooting Hall of Fame. He is the 29th inductee and the first since 2021. Read more about Doyle’s life in the Trap & Field article in the June issue.

The next special honors came in the form of awards presented to our 2025 Louisiana All-Americans: Brooks, seven-time All-American, and Smith, first-time All-American. Congratulations to both.

The LTA board is already starting the planning for the 2026 state shoot. I hope you will be able to join us next year.

The following Saturday, May 10, was the 2025 Louisiana AIM State Shoot held at TBMGC. Eighteen of our youth shooters were in attendance. It was a little windy, and by a little, I really mean a lot.

In singles Smith continued his good shooting and was junior gold winner with 100. Luke Maestrini was junior victor with 97. Jaxon Tucker, who just started shooting trap recently, won sub-junior with 74, and Barnett Brooks topped pre-sub with 87. In handicap Cole Maestrini was junior gold champ with 88 and received a half-yard punch; Dumas won junior with 87; Caleb Self, who just recently started shooting trap, was sub-junior winner with 75; and Brooks Barnett took pre-sub with 88 and received a half-yard punch. In doubles Smith continued his winning ways and was junior gold champ with 98, Dumas paced juniors with 89; Hudson Coody was sub-junior winner with 53; and Brooks Barnett earned pre-sub with 69. HOA winner was Smith with 280, junior gold was won by John Morgan Byrnside with 254, junior victor was Dumas with 272, sub-junior was Caleb Self with 197, and pre-sub was Barnett Brooks with 244. Congratulations to all the participants and winners. Also thank you to the Dumas family for cooking a delicious jambalaya lunch, Terry Barnett for the bread pudding, to all the AIM parents who helped load and score, and to Amie and Steven Skipper for leading the AIM program.

As the shoot year progresses, several of our Louisiana shooters will be attending state shoots around us. As this is being written, several of us are packing to head to Mississippi for their shoot next week, followed by Alabama the week after. I hope to report some excellent scores from our shooters in the following months.

Check out our website www.latrap.org. There’s information on registered shoots of interest to our shooters, the scores/winners of our shoots, and information on all the gun clubs in Louisiana that host registered tournaments.

Jim Jenkins

ATA Delegate

Missouri

So we have another Missouri State Shoot in the history book. While the weather certainly could have been better, it also could have been much worse, with storms passing through to the south of Linn Creek. Total entries were down just over 400 entries or about 1% from last year. On behalf of the MTA Board of Directors and staff, I want to thank everyone who attended our shoot and hope you have made plans to attend the 2026 Missouri State Shoot May 18-24 as well as the 2025 Summer Handicap July 17-20 and the Missouri Fall Handicap Sept. 29-Oct. 5.

Once again the younger shooters dominated the resident trophies in the championship events. Derick Gerding went to the line with five other shooters with near perfect scores of 199. After three rounds of shootoff, Derick claimed the top spot. Congratulations, Derick. In the main doubles event Sunday morning, Derick once again dominated the field with the only 100 to claim the championship trophy. Congratulations again, Derick. On Sunday afternoon the skies cleared out somewhat, and when everything was over, Benjamin Meyer claimed the coveted Handicap Championship with the lone 99. Congratulations, Ben. Andrew Herbig took the championship trophies in both the HAA and HOA. Congratulations, Andrew.

I am honored to once again be elected to represent Missouri as your ATA Delegate. I greatly appreciate your confidence in me to be your voice to the ATA. I still have some goals to accomplish in Missouri and will continue to do my best to promote the great sport of trapshooting. If anyone has anything to report or has any concerns, please contact me at srickett@sbcglobal.net or 816-863-9003.

Shoot often, shoot well and be safe!

Stephen Ricketts

ATA Delegate

New Mexico

Winter months in New Mexico are mild when it comes to shooting. However, February was one to remember. Collon Duff, Jamie Anderson, Penny Weber and I had the great honor of introducing trapshooting to a group of young ladies. A Girl Scout troop wants us to teach them how to shoot trap. Mind you, many of these young ladies had never touched a gun in their lives. Who needs cookies when you can shoot a shotgun? We taught them all about gun safety as well as personal protection. We then moved on to how to mount a shotgun. All the young ladies got lots of practice before we all headed to the line. They were all excited and participated without reservation. Once we were on the line, the real magic happened. We got to show the young ladies how to hit a target with a few practice rounds. Some were scared, and some were confident. Anyway, their first pull of the trigger will never be forgotten. Every single Girl Scout mounted, called for a target, and pulled the trigger. The looks on their faces were priceless and wonderful. It brought us all back to the beginning of our trapshooting careers.

In April New Mexico participated in their first Multi-State event. It’s still a work in progress, as the 2026 event will come in October. New Mexico had several winners: David Piancino, Greyson Bollinger, Jerry Osborn, Jimmy Kennedy, Taite Hoopes, Alyssa Vigil, Jameson Fitzgibbon and Becky Harris.

On a sad note, I would like to pay tribute to those New Mexico shooters who have ended careers. Unfortunately we had too many, Robert Leibel, Dennis Martinez, Wally Viga, Bill Garver, Chris Ewer, Monte Reagan and Larry Bandoni.

Here is a little tidbit of New Mexico history. Smokey Bear is from New Mexico. A bear cub was rescued from a fire in Taos during World War II. Smokey then went on to become the iconic fire education character.

Samantha Rainsdon

ATA Delegate

Idaho

Well, I just got home from the Idaho State Shoot only a few hours ago. I haven’t even unloaded the RV completely, but I thought I better get some of the exciting highlights captured on paper. All I can think of is . . . wow! This was one of the best state shoots we’ve had in quite awhile. First of all, the weather was fantastic. Basically a no-wind tournament with just gentle breezes that came up when I called for a bird. (This could explain some of my scores!) The temperatures ran in the 70s and 80s, and at the end of the shoot there were a lot of sunburned shooters. Even if the weather had been lousy, the biggest component of shoots like this is always there. And that’s camaraderie and visiting with old acquaintances and meeting new people from different parts of the country. I had the opportunity to shoot with people from Iowa, Washington, Arizona and a sub-junior (Mason Baker) from Montana. I’ll have to keep an eye on Mason because he’s one fine shooter and has the makings of one of those rising stars.

As usual Pocatello Gun Club did a great job of hosting. There are always improvements, and every time I go there, the club just gets nicer and nicer. They have a lot of new trap machines, and the grounds are groomed meticulously. Darin Ames and all the volunteers and directors of Pocatello put on a great face for the Idaho State Trapshooting Association.

We had a total of 193 shooters and representatives from 15 states. The largest number of shooters in a single event was 175 for the Singles Championship.

There is a detailed report in the magazine, so I’m just going to give a few highlights and comments.

First, it’s always fun for me being a Delegate and having the opportunity to recognize a shooter for an accomplishment. Corbin Dayley, a junior from Orofino, shot his first 100 straight in singles. Corbin has only been shooting two-and-a-half years. He also tied Grant Williams in a preliminary handicap with 97. We can expect big things from Corbin.

For the five main state championship trophies (singles, doubles, handicap, HAA and HOA), four were won by junior shooters. Remember Kelsey Wickham from last year? She was (and still is) a junior and won the Singles Championship with a lone 200. Well, this year she won the Handicap Championship with 97 from the 27-yard line. Blake McCutcheon (junior) won the Double Championship with the lone 99. And Bruce Bradley, also a junior won the Singles Championship with 199, and he took the HAA with 392×400.

Finally a saltier shooter, Grant Williams, took the HOA with 961×1,000.

On a final note, during the membership meeting, we had our annual elections. One new face joined the ranks on the ISTA board, and that is Dyrk Rogers from Pocatello. We look forward to working with him. Some of the positions that were up for replacement were replaced by . . . the same people! So, in the North, we have Kathy Connerley (secretary-treasurer), Spud Storey (vice president) and Marvin Heimgartner as director. From the South-West, we have Kent Graham (president), plus Mike Strong and Lahoma Turner as directors. From the South-East we have Darin Ames, Kyle Perry and Dyrk Rogers.

That’s all for now.

Leonard Wehking

ATA Delegate

Nevada

Lots of targets were flying this spring in Nevada. In addition to the in-state events, several Nevada shooters headed to the Arizona State Shoot in Tucson the last week of March and brought home many out-of-state trophies.

At the Arizona State Shoot, in Event 6, Ken James won Class C doubles with 93. Ken prevailed again in Event 11, winning veteran singles with a perfect century. Don Houston won 22-24 honors at Tucson in the Event 12 handicap with 93. Don also won out-of-state Class D HOA. Jack Wang tied for Class A honors in the Arizona state championship singles with 196. In addition, Jack won Class A out-of-state HAA. Congratulations to these Nevada shooters and way to represent Nevada trapshooting.

Meanwhile, back in Nevada, the First Sunday Social shoot, the NSTA Race for the Buckle Big 50, and the Spring Doubles Marathon all took place within an eight-day period, April 5-12 at Clark County Shooting Complex. Eight hundred registered targets challenged ATA shooters during that week.

The Spring Doubles Marathon was contested in 20 mph winds for most of the five events. Shooters still posted some great scores.

The winners were: Event 1, James Schooler, 89; Event 2, Schooler, 95; Event 3, Michael J. Petrisko and Schooler, 94; Event 4, Wang, 84; Event 5, Jon Slinker, 96.

During the Doubles Marathon, Slinker was honored as having reached 100,000 combined registered targets.

The following day, Jasmine Hicks prevailed in the First Sunday Social handicap with 44, receiving a punch to the 21-yard line. Slinker left no questions while winning the First Sunday singles race with a perfect 50. Wang won the doubles event with a solid 46.

The Nevada State Trapshooting Association Race for the Buckle Big 50 was the final Nevada ATA shoot in April. Jack Wang and Clayton Philipp captured the singles with 48. Brayden Okubo nailed down the handicap with 47. Wang prevailed in the doubles with 47.

A big shout-out to Linda Hand and son David Burns who manage many of the NSTA shoots. Always helpful and encouraging to shooters, these folks do a great job.

Trapshooting has had a rich and colorful past in Nevada. To honor that tradition, intermittently over the next few months I will take a brief look at a few of the famous gun clubs that were major Nevada trapshooting destinations over the years, but sadly, are no longer in existence. These clubs created the foundation and traditions on which Nevada trapshooting now flourishes. There have been many great Nevada gun clubs over the years.

Let’s start this month with Harolds Trapshooting Club, which was located just a few miles north of Reno, NV.

Harolds Club (not to be confused with the gun club, which came a few years later) was a casino built by Harold Smith in 1935 as a Reno gambling establishment. It thrived as a gambling business for 60 years, closing in 1995. However, Smith was a major gun collector and enthusiastic trapshooter, along with being a successful casino operator. This led Smith to acquire the Jabberwock Gun Club outside of Reno in 1950. His idea was that the gun club could help promote the casino. Smith renamed the Jabberwock Harolds Trapshooting Club. The club catered to locals and the rich and famous who frequented nearby Lake Tahoe. In addition to shooting, the gun club featured legalized poker, blackjack and a fully stocked bar. Reportedly many high stakes poker games took place after the day’s shooting concluded.

Harolds hosted many great ATA shoots over the years, and many offered added money that would equate to $50,000 or more in today’s dollars. Trophies were first class. For example, Harolds Gun Club hosted the original Golden West Grand in 1952. The early Golden West Grand handicap trophy was a hand engraved silver buckle with a $20 gold piece mounted on it. Nice. Big name shooters were associated with the club such as Dan Orlich and Joe Devers. Even the late Al Ljutic, who developed the famous Ljutic line of shotguns, worked at Harolds in the early years. Interestingly, in addition to clay target shooting, live flyers were a big part of the action at Harolds and other Nevada locations in the early days.

Harolds Trapshooting Club closed in 1979 when Howard Hughes Corp. acquired the casino operations from the Smith family. Many great shoots were held at Harolds, the birthplace of the Golden West Grand. Harolds helped bring national attention to trapshooting in Nevada that continues to this day with our Nevada State Shoot.

We’ll look at other legendary Nevada gun clubs in the coming months.

Before we go, here’s an update on the new construction at Lincoln County Trap Club in Pioche. Larry Gearheart and others are busy adding a fourth trap field and additional parking. More to come on Lincoln County Trap Club in future issues.

In the meantime, let’s remember that trapshooting is a game. Have fun!

Danny Talbot

ATA Delegate

New Zealand

Our annual 200 Singles Cup was held May 17 at Putaruru Gun Club.

We got lucky with a windless day but got delayed starting with the club completely socked in with fog, causing us a late start in slightly fuzzy conditions. The afternoon cleared to a beautifully clear autumn day.

We ran three classes: A, B and C with cash prizes for first, second and third in each class, shot 100 in the morning with a break for lunch and the second hundred in the afternoon.

Junior Dean Stirling started strong in the less than ideal light conditions with a 94, the top first round score and followed it up with 91 after lunch to win the HOA. It was impressive to see how professional Dean was at the presentation when accepting the Cup and his well mannered compliments to his family for their support. A pleasure to have him attend the shoot, and I look forward to him defending the Cup next year.

A big thanks to all those who helped on the day loading traps, refereeing and scoring, and helping clean up at the end of the day. Ron ran the SOS program to streamline entering and correlating scores. Pete Nola and Shane Ward came in early to help set up as well as all the work Pete does around the club to give us a nice venue.

The NZ ATA is excited to announce the opening of the Canterbury ATA Club in Christchurch on the South Island at the Canterbury Clay Target Club on McCleans Island. It is the venue in the South Island that hosts the New Zealand DTL Championships alternating years with the North Island. In March 2026 the club is hosting the 16th ICTSF World Down the Line Championships. The Canterbury club was formed in 1994 with the amalgamation of Belfast and Christchurch gun clubs.

They have four fields set up to ATA specs, and all ATA rules will be followed. The venue has very nice club rooms with kitchen and bar facilties. It is conveniently near the city of Christchurch, which offers good accommodation and a variety of excellent dinning opportunities.

Any ATA shooters visiting New Zealand would enjoy the opportunity to shoot at such a nice facility with a great background, with a range of points of interest in the Christchurch area. Check out the shoot schedule at the club’s page on the ATA website.

Thank you to our sponsors: Putaruru Gun Club, Geoff Wells Laporte Targets, Simon Brown Falcon Ammunition, ITP suppliers of Inox and Lanox fine cleaners and lubricants, Reloaders Supplies, New Zealand Hunting Adventures, Bidois Family Westlorne Products, Ron Thomassen Logging, the ATA, Chris Hurring and Jaytod Pilla Glasses.

Paul Basten

ATA Delegate

Utah

The season is finally in full swing, and the weather is also in full swing, swinging back and forth from good to bad.

Since my last report, we have had two shoots here in Utah, Helper Gun Club (good weather) and Ogden Gun Club (bad weather).

Helper had one of the best turnouts I have seen at this club in several years. Gene Wilson and his band of volunteers do a nice job putting on a good shoot. Considering the club’s location, it was a little breezy, but that is no surprise.

In the doubles event, Steve Johnson was high with 97. Next came handicap, Jim Wilson, retired veterinarian and brother of club manager Gene, had a field-high 97. When I congratulated him, he flashed a huge grin. The singles event had three 99s: Bob Green, Bobby Street and Tyler McKee.

The following week, Ogden had a very wet one-day shoot. Kudos to those brave enough to shoot in the cold and rain. Shalako Gunter was high in doubles and singles with 93 and 99, respectively. Chris Kinder posted the high handicap score. Because of the weather, only 15 shooters braved the elements. I, however, was not one of them.

On a sad note, Curtis Deleeuw of Magna passed away. Curtis and his parents, Byron and Pauline, were all longtime fixtures at the Magna Gun Club.

Also passing was Sharon Brown, wife of Glen (Burro) Brown. Burro and Sharon were involved in an auto accident. Sharon succumbed to her injuries.

My thoughts are with both of these individuals’ friends and family.

 Ed Wehking

 ATA Delegate

Washington

Another month has gone by. When you read this, we will be packing up to converge on Walla Walla for the Washington State Shoot. This will be the 84th edition of our tournament for the WSTA as it is today. Being a trivia and history type of guy, I am going to offer two boxes of shells to the first person who can tell me where the WSTA held the first state shoot. I will offer up another two if you can tell me who the president was that year. Just to make it fair, I think active members of the club where it was held should be excluded because the program is framed on the wall.

We had good shoots at Spangle, Coulee City and Marlin recently, and I’m writing just before shoots at Bremerton, Colton and Othello. Things will slow down a little until the ATA Western Zone in July at Colton and another shoot in September at the same site. The Spangle Gun Club will offer targets again in late September as well.

It takes work and dedication to make these events happen and the dedicated shooters to support them. We are grateful for shoot management and shooters. You are keeping our sport going! As far as the state shoot, well, that takes a year of planning for trophy committees, program decisions, securing sponsorships and the host club hiring labor, tuning up traps and the maintenance that is required for year-round operations. It isn’t much different at any club that throws ATA targets. The fruits of their labor are many memories, accomplishments and friendships. If you aren’t having a good time at a shoot, you aren’t trying. Whether our scores are what we hoped for or not, there are a few laughs, a lot of stories and plain old-fashioned camaraderie. Over my 27 years in trapshooting there have been countless times to witness one competitor giving shells to another because they ran out during a shootoff, a scattergun loaned due to a breakdown, and let’s not forget, a lot of great meals. My point is, there’s a lot more to the endeavor than the gun going “bang.”

Whether you have a hard copy or the online version, I urge you to read through the program for the state shoot. The President’s Message, by Jim Pelissier Jr. is one of the best I’ve read. I think Jim summed up some great reasons for loving our sport. My hat is off to Jim. Another reason is to recognize who our sponsors are. The ones who are so generous with their pocketbooks to offer things we need. It could be ammunition, gasoline, groceries, RV repair, eyewear, etc. Please support them. You are bound to pass by during your travels to a trapshoot.

I mentioned getting fed previously, which brings me to our annual steak dinner on Saturday night at the WSTA Championships. Dinner will coincide with the Hall of Fame ceremony, and it is always a great time. We hope you and your families will attend after a long day of competition. You are just giving me a good excuse to go back for seconds if you don’t.

Shoot straight and keep you powder dry.

Sean Lewis

WSTA Director

Wyoming

Sorry I missed last month. I guess I got too busy with life and family. Anyway hope everyone has been shooting as well as you were last fall, or in my case better than last fall. Practice with a purpose and take the advice of your fellow shooters. You know the ones who have all the answers but still shoot poorly.

We have almost gotten everything ready for the Wyoming State Shoot July 2-6. Hope to see everyone there. We have some special prizes donated by SOS Clays. Pre-squad through SOS Clays is filling up and seems to be working really well. Greg and his crew are such great people to work with; I just can’t say enough positive things about them.

If you run into Bob Tomlin or James Burd, congratulate them on reaching 25,000 doubles targets. That’s a milestone.

Ron Miller

 ATA Delegate