Arkansas

The 2019 Arkansas State Shoot has come and gone. It started on Tuesday, June 18 with the AIM state Singles Championship, which included $3,620 in added money. The Arkansas youth were in it to win it: pre-sub William Mahan, 96; Seth Smith, 89; Flint Dickerson, 89; sub-junior Luke Clayton, 100; Wren Washburn, 99; Mason Burris, 99; Gus Smith, 98; Brayden Tarantino, 98; junior Parker Hutchins, 100; Lane Ward, 100; Austin Bell, 100; Garrett Hensley, 100; Chance Welch, 100; junior gold Hunter C. Martin, 100; Drew Crutchfield, 100; Haley Miller, 100. Top ladies’ honors went to Kaitlyn Horton (SJ), 97; Magen Bond (JR), 98; and Haley Miller (JG), 100.

Arkansas’ young adults are second to no one and kept everyone on their toes the rest of the week. I would like to thank all their parents, grandparents and family members who sacrifice so much in order for them to shoot competitively.

A big thanks to Renae Chambless and Becky Brown. These two women work hard for those kids. Awesome job! If you see them out and about, please thank them for all they do for the Arkansas AIM program. Also a big thank you to Dennis Tune, the board of directors, and the Jacksonville Shooting Complex for all the hard work they do to run the state shoot.

On behalf of Arkansas, thank you to all the out-of-state shooters for choosing to spend your time with us. We know you have a choice in where you go, and our state shoot wouldn’t be the same without you.

1 Peter 1:24, For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever.

By the time you read this, we all should be at the Grand American, so good luck shooting. If I can be of any help, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. God bless.

Robby Pennock

ATA Delegate

Colorado

The year is 2525, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. The old heavy wooden door opened slowly as the iron hinges moaned loudly in rusty protest at being disturbed. John Trapper and Susan Reddot, peered anxiously through the partially open door, as large spiders scurried across dusty webs trying to escape the sudden light. Pushing aside the webs, Trapper stepped inside, followed closely by Reddot, who immediately wrinkled her nose at the musty smell of the interior of the long boarded-up trap club building. Armed only with bio lights, the young reporters started slowly across the dimly lit room. They headed toward what looked like administrative offices just behind some dust-covered counters. The reporters had come on assignment to this long-abandoned building seeking answers. They were there to find out why competitive trapshooting and shooting in general had ceased to exist long before all guns had been confiscated. Past research had already proven that one of the major reasons total gun control had been achieved was the decline in organized competition shooting. It seems competition shooting was one of the major glues that had held all shooters together as voters.

Trapper turned the doorknob on a door with a dirty sign that read “authorized personnel only.” The door was stuck, so Trapper slammed his shoulder against it. Along the far wall, Reddot’s bio light shone on a row of antiquated 22nd century computers. Just to one side was a double row of even older rusty metal file cabinets. Turning to Trapper, Reddot said, “Looks like we hit the jackpot.” Trapper asked if she had brought everything she needed. She took a small hand-held power generator from her satchel. She placed the generator on the table beside one of the old computers. It immediately gave out a hissing sound, then lit up, flooding the room with a ghostly green light. The new light caused the spiders to creep even deeper into the shadows . . . to be continued.

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the 98th Colorado State Shoot, what a shoot it was! I won’t say it was the best ever, but it was right up there. Weather was good; no rain, and just enough wind to keep the bugs away. The light was a little poor on the few cloudy days we had. No one got dehydrated on the hot days, as the Grand Junction TC provided free bottled water to everyone for the entire shoot.

Diane Dible and Mark Dewolfe took copious pictures, some casual and some trophy winners. Thanks, Diane and Mark. I’m sure we all look forward to seeing them.

The trophy list for a five-day shoot, as you can imagine, is much too involved for this short letter, so I will name only the champion, class and category winners. Singles Championship: champion, Scott Obenchain; AA, Peter Grimson; A, Kyle Teal; B, Wesley Wiegert; C, Peter Strouse; D, Mark Rysavy; Lady I, Stacy Rehor; Lady II, Ann Willoughby; sub-junior, Cody Wasserburger; junior, Kaden Westfall; junior gold, Gregory Ferguson; sub-vet, Michael Wasserburger; veteran, Raymond Knox; senior vet, Kenneth Seidel; husband-wife, Paul and Diane Dible; and two-in-family, Ashley and Kyle Teal.

Doubles Championship: champion, Paul Dible; AA, Steve DiGesualdo; A, Joe Ramos; B, Wesley Wiegert; C, Stephen Yellstrom; D, Brandy Henrickson; Lady I, Stacy Rehor; Lady II, Lori Linderman; sub-junior, Gage Ramos; junior, Brexton Slaugh; junior gold, Greg Ferguson; sub-vet, Mike Herman; veteran, Mel Hensley; senior vet, Charles James.

Handicap Championship: champion, Scott Obenchain; 19-20, Scott Murphy; 21-22, Wesley Wiegert; 23-24, Charlie Costello; 25-26, Shane Gillespie; 27, Stan Welton; Lady I, Ashley Teal; Lady II, Diane Dible; sub-junior, Theron Roll; junior, Rafe Ramos; junior gold, Peter Strouse; sub-vet, Brett Renck; veteran, Mel Hensley; senior vet, Claude Hemsi. Scott Obenchain was all-around and HOA winner. Congratulations to all these Colorado shooters and many more.

At this time I would like to congratulate Jeff West for becoming our new CSTA president. Thank you, Jeff.

I would also like to thank Jimmy Rutherford for his hard work and dedication as our outgoing CSTA president. Jimmy is stepping down because of family health problems but says he will still be around to help if needed.

It was decided at our state meeting to defer for two years all CSTA fees for junior shooters up to the age of 18. It was also decided that the rotation for the state shoot will be Pikes Peak, 2020; Delta, 2021; and Grand Junction, 2022.

Congratulations to Leon Rose, 2019 CSTA Hall of Fame inductee; Kaden Westfall, 2018 CSTA Rookie of the Year; and Paul Dible, 2020 Hall of Fame inductee.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”—Benjamin Franklin

I’m your ATA Delegate for one more year. I would like to thank all who voted for me.

Irv Effinger

ATA Delegate

Louisiana

I have just returned home from the Arkansas State Trapshooting Championships and would like to compliment the wonderful staff at the Arkansas G&FF SSC, Jacksonville, and members of the Arkansas State Trapshooting Federation for hosting such a wonderful event. This is a premier shooting venue and some of the friendliest folks you will ever encounter. If you have never made this shoot, you should plan to attend next year; you will not regret it.

Louisiana had eight shooters who made the trip north. Some posted very good scores, and some of us did not fare as well, but all had a wonderful time visiting with all the friends made on previous visits.

Mitch Killingsworth blasted a perfect score to win champion in the Tanner Cooper Preliminary Singles; he also won a flip for veteran runnerup with a 91 in the Preliminary Handicap, shot a 97 for veteran category in the Preliminary Doubles, scored a 94 for veteran in the Red River Dodge Handicap, had another perfect score for veteran honors in the singles after carryover, a score of 97 in the Bella Vista Doubles captured an additional veteran trophy, and won a flip for another veteran trophy in the Doubles Championship after 93.

Jim Jenkins won long-yardage in the Red River Dodge Handicap with 95, AA with a 99 in a singles, and blasted the only 200 straight to win top non-resident in the Singles Championship.

Congratulations to both for very fine shooting and representing our state so well.

I would also like to congratulate LTA president Keith Crissman on having reached a career milestone of 100,000 total trapshooting targets. That’s quite an achievement; keep shooting.

For Louisiana shoot schedules and contact information for any of the our gun clubs, please visit the LTA website www.louisianatrapshootingassociation.org/index.htm.

Just a reminder that tickets are still available for the 2019 Gun Club Raffle for a chance to win a Perazzi High Tech Trap RS Combo. Tickets are $20 each, and a limited number are available. To purchase tickets, please contact your ATA State Delegate, ATA state secretary or the ATA office: [email protected] or 618-449-2224, Ext. 104.

Raffle ends Aug. 9 at noon, and the drawing will be held that night at the closing ceremonies of the 2019 Grand American.

Shoot well and shoot often.

Doyle Brooks

ATA Delegate

Missouri

Time flies when you are having fun—and when you are exceptionally busy! I seem to have dropped the ball keeping up on the monthly reporting again, and I will see if I can get caught up. If you were not at the MO State Shoot this year, you missed another great one. Thanks to all who attended. A special thanks to our sponsors and contributors for their support as well as the MTA management, staff and directors for all their hard work making this shoot happen. Congratulations to Marg Graf on her induction into the MTA Hall of Fame.

For the last few years, there have been several youth shooters collecting the championship trophies, and this year was no different. Congratulations to junior shooter Cody Crabtree for winning the singles championship with 200 plus overtime. In the Doubles Championship, junior gold shooter Ethan Boyer outlasted junior James Boswell in the shootoff after their 98s in the event. Congrats, Ethan! Congratulations to this year’s handicap champion, sub-junior Andrew Stone, with a lone 97. There are a number of these younger shooters who really know how to point a shotgun. We older shooters are going to have to step it up and rely on experience to keep up.

If you were not able to attend the U.S. Open^® this year, you missed a very good shoot. For the most part, weather cooperated. There were 113 Missouri shooters attending, collecting 37 trophies overall. Thanks to the staff at the ATA and the WSRC for a well-run shoot. As we speak, there are a number of improvements being made at the WSRC to be completed in time for the Grand American. I hope to see you there!

Thanks again, MO shooters, for your confidence in me as your ATA Delegate for another year. I am YOUR voice to the ATA, and while I may not be at every shoot at every gun club around the state, I will do my best to make myself available for questions and concerns. I can always be reached at [email protected] or 816-863-9003.

Shoot well and shoot often!

Stephen Ricketts

ATA Delegate

New Mexico

Here it is already the end of June; the year is half over. The NM State Shoot is over. Weather was a little breezy, from what I heard. I wasn’t there because I had a graduation that weekend. Hopefully next year, the weather will be better.

Raton’s annual shoot is Aug. 17-18, Belen’s Annual is Sept. 6-8, and Farmington’s is Sept. 21-22. Don’t forget about the NRA Southwest Trapshooting Championship at the NRA Whittington Center Oct. 3-6. This is the first year. Hoping to make it an annual event.

Y’all shoot often and well. Don’t forget the Grand is July 31-Aug. 10. I hope to see you there.

Bob Leibel

ATA Delegate

Oklahoma

Several Oklahoma shooters attended the Iowa Park May 26 shoot. It was nice to see the sunshine for once. Pat Stacey won the 200 doubles with 193. Nathan Lemke, Kelly Thacker and J. R. Holloway all ran 100 in the singles. Kelly had 95 in the handicap. Troy Collier told me he would not be able to use his camping spot at OTA. He is still taking proton treatments, even taking one in OKC. He said the treatments are working well. We all wish Troy a speedy recovery.

El Reno experienced another EF3 tornado May 30 at 10:30 p.m. It went across Highway 81 and Highway 66, only slightly south of Gene Sears’ business. Garland said it blew in one overhead door and took some metal off their roof. There were two people killed, and 29 injured. There was extensive damage to two car dealerships and a motel. Mayor Matt White has 20,000 El Reno citizens, and the outpouring of support was outstanding. It was approximately four miles northwest of the OTA grounds. Just the previous week, eight inches of rain flooded the area, shutting down I-40 and Highway 81 and causing more than 40 boat rescues. We were wondering what could possibly happen next.

As I classified for our state shoot, it was very encouraging to see the large number of youth shooters. Fifty-three AIM shooters shot singles on Saturday. This has been building for several years now, proving that the efforts of the OSU, 4-H program, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation program, FFA shooting program and the college programs are producing AIM/ATA shooters. Shooters like Corbin, Shelby, Abagail, Kya, Emma, Shay, Klayton, Josh, Brayden, Colt, Christopher and Jacob are leading the way and encouraging others. This is a big increase in girls’ shooting. There are too many to list them all. These young shooters are making lifelong friends, just as we did. They compete hard, but when the shooting is over, they come together in the clubhouse to visit, play cards and catch up. The proud parents are to be commended for their guidance, support and coaching. When you have an aging shooter population, it is vital to get young people involved to keep it going.

All three championship events of the state shoot were won by these young shooters. Klayton McGee captured the singles. The doubles was won by Colt Quisenberry, and the handicap was won by Zachary Piancino. Ron and Brayden Bliss won the Oklahoma All-American Shootoff. Pat and Josh Stacey won the parent-child event. Jeff and Paula Trayer won the husband-wife event. New young shooter Wyatt Krittenbrink won the shootoff for the Henry Golden Boy rifle. The entire Oklahoma State Shoot results are in this issue.

Kya Funkhouser is profiled in the June issue of Trap & Field on Page 64. She broke her first 100 straight at the Oklahoma State Shoot in the White Flyer class singles. Stan Crawford now has his name added to the Quarter Million Club. Ron Bliss has attained 100,000 singles, Jeff Trayer 25,000 singles, Pat Stacey 75,000 doubles and Billy Pierce 25,000 doubles.

I couldn’t help but notice in Joe Sissano’s (New Jersey ATA Delegate) June article, he stated there was an increase in young female shooters in the singles and a surprisingly high increase in number of girls shooting handicap and doubles. His statement only confirms what I noticed at the Oklahoma State Shoot.

I would like to commend our board members for their hard work at this year’s state shoot. This is one of the best bunch of people I have ever worked with. Everyone had a job, or jobs, to do, and they did them. This is what they call “teamwork”! Also thanks to all the shooters who participated, especially our out-of-state friends, for making the shoot a big success in spite of the weather. We threw 152,200 targets compared to 141,000 last year.

Since the first of the year, we have experienced week after week of bad weather, causing several shoots to be canceled. Clubs may want to consider scheduling additional fall shoots to make up lost revenue. Weather in September and October is still very good for shooting in Oklahoma. It would also be a great way for shooters to start off the 2020 target year.

Ashton Huffstutlar won the Ada Tuesday shoot with 46. Jerald Ford won the next one with the same score, and Mike Grove won the June 11 one with 46 also.

For the second time, the Spring 4-H Shoot had to be canceled due to weather. They have not yet set another date.

Arkansas had another fantastic state shoot. Each year it gets larger, and this year it got a lot larger. Every event was up, and scores were very high, a sign of good, breakable targets. The first day there were 221 AIM shooters with nine 100s in the singles. There were 20 of us from Oklahoma, and most won one or more trophies. There were seven 100s in Event 7. On Saturday they almost reached 300 shooters (had 298). They were well on their way to having 700 shooters in the championship events when the weather put a stop to everything Sunday. The lightning, wind and rain halted the handicap event. Plans are to try and finish at the ATA Southwestern Zone Shoot. All out-of-state shooters should thank Arkansas for the designated out-of-state money.

One Oklahoma shooter broke his first 100 straight and broke 96 from 26.5 to make the 27-yard line. Justin Cavett was awarded a 100-straight pin.

AARP reported we have more than 68,000 veterans in the state of Oklahoma. Thanks to all these veterans for our freedom.

 Tim Deister

 ATA Delegate

Texas

I hope you are at the Grand American when you read this. The state shoots will be over, and so will the ATA Zone Shoots. If you have never been to the Grand in Sparta, IL, you need to start making your plans for next year. I can’t wait to get there and see many of my “once a year” friends. Also, there are my great “once a year” eating places like Southside Ribs, Pioneer Cabin, Pistol City, and Hook Line & Sinker. Southside Ribs has a huge smoked pork chop that is really good. Pioneer Cabin is an all-you-can-eat place that serves fried chicken and fish. The best thing is the never-empty bowl of chicken and dumplings. Pistol City has a fantastic breakfast with a huge slab of ham. Hook Line & Sinker has good fried fish. Also, the restaurant at the Complex is very good. Now you know why I get so excited about the Grand. Never doubt a fat man when he tells you about food. Oh, I almost forgot, these places have gift cards. I mentioned this just in case you wanted to get one for your Delegate. Just a thought.

I would like to congratulate Steve Bradbury on his first 100 straight. I got this information from Facebook, not call, text or e-mail from any of our shooters. Please contact me with news, so I can get it in my column. Otherwise you will just have to read about my preaching on the Rulebook.

Speaking of the Rulebook, I have received a few calls about rules. I welcome these calls. I even encourage them. Sometimes I will not have a Rulebook with me (I know you find that hard to believe), but I will still do my best to answer your questions. As much as I talk about the rules, I will be the first to admit that I don’t know everything in the Rulebook. Sometimes in the searching to answer someone’s question is when I learn the most.

At a time when many of our local gun clubs are struggling, it may be a good time to talk about volunteering. Many of our smaller clubs are run by volunteers. I would personally like to thank all of them. They get no pay and very little thanks. They also hear a lot about how they should be doing things from people who do absolutely nothing. Without them, lots of our smaller clubs would not be throwing targets. Be a volunteer. Every club could use your help. It will cost you nothing to volunteer, and who knows, it may make you feel better.

I welcome any news that you have. Just let Princess or me know about it, and I will get it in my column. Send e-mails to [email protected] or call or text 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

When Willie Nelson sings, “On the road again,” I know just how he feels. First it was Vernal for the Western Grand, then off to Colorado and the state shoot at Grand Junction, then back to Vernal and the Utah State Shoot and finally Flagstaff for the ATA Western Zone.

Our ASTA vice president, who some of you may know as my wife Karen, started things off with a 98 in the Western Grand Preliminary Singles to capture Lady II then followed up with a win in the Preliminary Doubles, and Vince Bianco won the veteran crown. Wednesday opened with doubles, and Karen was top gun in Lady II. Gerry Williams bested all other senior veterans in the day’s handicap, and Tim Robb tied in vet. Tim did it again in Thursday’s class singles, and Karen B was on the money in Lady II. Gerry and Karen then went at it again in the Preliminary Handicap. Gerry took the senior veteran title in the championship singles, and he also won the SV Doubles Championship. In the HOA, Karen finished 18 birds ahead of the nearest Lady II.

The scene then shifted to the Grand Junction TC, a very nice facility with a great background and good food, for the Colorado State Shoot. Larry Bright began things right for the Arizona interlopers, leading all senior vets in the Warm Up Singles, as did Karen in Lady II. Jim Copsey then tied for vet in the handicap and ended up winning the day’s White Flyer shootoff of randomly drawn shooters. Karen won Lady II in Friday’s Singles Class Championship.

A mad dash was then made back to Vernal for the Utah State Shoot. On opening day, Sandy Luchetta topped all of the Lady IIs in the ’caps. Karen double-dipped with a 97 in singles and a fine 98 in doubles to take high gun for Arizona and the Lady II mantles. Sandy won Lady II in both Friday’s handicap and doubles and ran off with the Lady II HOA title. Good job!

The Western Zone—Flagstaff hosted their first Zone Shoot June 28-30, with 58 shooters participating. While the temperature was a balmy 85 to 90°, it was quite windy, especially on the first day, and the light was in and out. That kept scores down.

Singles started things off, and Scott Skaggs finished with a 99. Greg Holden followed at 97 and was high veteran. Joe Henderson and Milt Kennedy shot 96s and were tops in senior vet, and Charlie Wachtel also had a 96 and led the junior gold contingent. Next was the ’caps, and Wayne Ward’s 94 led the field. Barry Firth was the high veteran, and Nathanial Pizinger topped the sub-juniors. By the time the doubles came around, the wind was really whipping, but that did not stop Len Sullivan. His quick shooting style was perfect for the conditions, and his 95 bested the field by two. Scott Skaggs came in second at 93. To give those who were not there an idea of what it was like, only three other shooters—Joe Henderson, Charlie Wachtel and Doug Sims—finished in the 90s.

Saturday was the Zone Singles Championship. Skaggs led all Flagstaff shooters at 197, running the last 100. Henderson did it the other way by starting with a hundred straight and took the Flagstaff senior vet crown. Next was Holden, who won veteran. Tim Landwerlen was right there with 195 and the best C class score in the entire Zone. Rick Durkee and Wayne Ward finished with 194s.

Sunday was warm, and the lighting varied. Len Sullivan and Skaggs led all doubles shooters at 97, with Len triumphing in the shootoff by one. Henderson was the top senior vet, and Holden nosed out Doug Sims for the veteran crown. The senior shooter in the field, Jake Gatschet, was our handicap champion, and I cannot think of a more popular one. Two Gregs, Spiczka and Holden, finished one behind, with Greg H. winning veteran. George Miller, who just came up for the day, was the senior vet champ. Rex Ausbun was high in sub-veteran, and Wyatt Pizinger took sub-junior.

Skaggs was our all-around and high-over-all champion, and Scott finished second Zone-wide in the A class HOA.

The Zone was shot at 11 clubs in 10 states. Some Arizona shooters went out of town and turned in winning scores. Gerry Williams made his presence felt in Anaconda, MT, winning four Zone events, including the senior veteran handicap, all-around and HOA. Jim Sharp, shooting at Spanish Fork, UT, took both the senior vet Zone handicap and doubles awards on opening day. Gary Johnson, competing at Las Vegas, won the Zone veteran title in the opening handicap.

Finally I would like to say a special thanks to Jim Grider, Doug Sims, Celeste and Tim Robb, and especially Steve and Mary Long for their many hours of hard work to make this Flagstaff shoot first a reality and then a success.

Around the state: All has not been quiet on the homefront, either. Pleasant Valley’s Summer Series is in full swing starting with a two-day shoot May 25-26. Jay Alderman set the pace with a 99 in Saturday’s singles, while Kyle Dennis finished at 97 and David Polkabla Jr., Jim Dremler and Mike Stewart all shot 96s. David is one of the “Shooting Polkablas” and another in a long line of fine Arizona juniors. Jay then turned around and led the ’caps. A couple of Tucson regulars named Jensen and Sims were high in the doubles. Sunday featured David and Jay in the singles. Vic Ausbun was tops in the handicap, and Sims won the doubles.

The second of PV’s Summer Series took place June 22-23, and the trap gods were smiling. Jensen and David Polkabla (not Jr.) were high with 99s in Saturday’s singles followed by a 98 by David Jr. and Sims. There was one additional Polkabla on the scene, in the person of James, tops in D class. The ’caps followed, and it ended in a four-way tie between Skaggs (long-yardage), Kyle Dennis (mid-yardage), David Polkabla (short-yardage) and Mike Stewart (veteran). The day finished with doubles, and no tie here. Jensen’s 98 topped the field. Sunday began with singles, and it was Sims’ turn. His 98 nosed out Rick Klawitter by one, and Amy Klawitter was the high lady. Skaggs led all handicap competitors with a 96, and Sims showed once again why he is the doubles wizard in the closing event.

Tucson held their monthly shoot May 22, and Danny Treanor led the way with 98 in singles followed closely by Steve Smoot, John Bowden and Ron Schroer. Ken Mlynarz was tops in the handicap at 97, and Jim Copsey and Schroer tied for high gun in the doubles. Please remember that Tucson has a registered shoot every month.

Flagstaff had a dress rehearsal for the Western Zone with their June Dead Snag Shoot. Holden was Saturday’s singles leader at 97, Gerald Schiffmacher was high in the ’caps, and Gregg edged out William Simons in the doubles. Sunday saw the Pizinger brothers, Nathanial and Wyatt, beating all of their elders in the singles and ’caps. Twelve-year-old Wyatt also won the doubles.

How about a shout-out to Scott Pike? He has revitalized our website aztraps.com. You can find the latest scores, your averages and the latest buzz, as well as a list of upcoming shoots. Well done, Scott!

See you on the line.

John Bergman

ATA Delegate

Idaho

Our Idaho ATA State Shoot was held in Pocatello, and it was a smashing success in spite of unseasonably cold and windy weather. Randy Adams, president of the Pocatello club, and his crew did a tremendous job of hosting. I think Randy will need a new pair of tennis shoes, as he was constantly on the run from the crack of dawn until dark keeping the club running smoothly. Great job, Pocatello Board of Directors.

Of course the ISTA was exemplary in their performance also, holding shootoffs and running a smooth state meeting in record time along with all the 1,000 other things they did to make this shoot a whopping success. Thanks to our great president and board of directors. It is a huge job to put on a state shoot and takes a lot of planning and work.

The state team was announced at the Idaho State Shoot. Check out this issue for all the details, along with scores and pictures. A big shout out to Kent Sakamoto, who has moved from California to northern Idaho as a representative for Hodgdon Powder Company. Kent has also authored a book on shotgun reloading. Welcome to Idaho, Kent!

As I attend shoots, I ask shooters if they subscribe to Trap & Field Magazine, and the answer is predominantly no. That, in my opinion, is a real shame, as the magazine has a wealth of information about shooting, not just shoot dates. One article that comes to mind is Bob Palmer’s Own the Zone. He is simply amazing. I read the last issue and found there was a wealth of great coaching ideas. Check out his article. It might just improve your shooting! I might add he has published a book, called “Mind vs. Target.” You can purchase it on Amazon. It’s a great read; my copy just came in the mail yesterday.

I recently shot the Western Grand at Vernal, and as usual Sean and Stacy Hawley did a geat job of hosting. Weather was not always the best, but there were some great scores posted. Boy, did we have fun with the after-events shooting fun and games—they were a hoot! Much to my surprise, an old friend, Joey Ramos of Nevada and currently living in Colorado, was there shooting with his two sons, Rafe and Gage. They are all great shooters. This is the beauty of going to shoots and meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances.

Mark your calendars for next year’s Idaho State Shoot. It will be held at the Boise GC on Memorial Day weekend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Signing off for now; get “In the Zone.”

 Bob Clement

 ATA Delegate

Utah

It is with a sad heart that I mention the passing of Bill Curtice from Helper, UT. Bill passed away May 20 at his home in Price. Bill had been an active ATA member and gun club manager for more than 30 years. He managed the Helper GC for almost all of his shooting career.

He amassed 64,850 singles, 90,500 handicap and 50,300 doubles targets. Due to a life of hard work that took its toll on his back, Bill hadn’t registered any targets since 2012. He did, however, continue to manage the gun club for a few more years. The shooting world lost a great advocate, and the community lost a great man. I send my condolences to his family.

It’s that time of year when a shoot can be found almost every weekend in the Beehive State. Nephi, Vernal, Helper, and Spanish Fork have all held shoots. Turnout at most shoots was good; however, weather kept some shooters away. This has been the second-wettest spring on record in Utah. Most scores can be found on the usual websites. Check them out to see how your friends fared, and how you fared against them.

I attended the Idaho State Shoot over Memorial Day weekend. This year the shoot was held in Pocatello. As in Utah, Idaho’s weather was far from ideal—wet, cold and windy. Randy Adams and his staff once again put on a very well-run shoot. Utah had approximately 22 shooters attending, and non-residents overall accounted for one-third of the shooters. Results are in this issue, and scores can also be found on www.shootscoreboard.com.

I always enjoy writing about someone who has a great shoot and comes away with some bling. Utah junior shooter Caytlin Pendleton had a wonderful shoot in Pocatello. Not only did she achieve a personal best in singles (97), but she had 191 out of 200! This score netted her the high lady junior. Caytlin came away with a beautiful bracelet that is a memorial award given in honor of Mindy McCulley and Maddie Stanger-Hollifield. Both of these young ladies died tragically at a young age. Mindy was the daughter of Wayne and Kathleen McCulley and Maddie the daughter of Joe Hollifield. The parents have a very nice plaque adorned with their daughters’ pictures and name tags of each year’s winner since 2008.

The next time you see Caytlin, congratulate her on her win and her personal best score. Also, the next time you see Wayne, Kathleen and Joe, acknowledge them for their annual contribution and preserving the memories of Mindy and Maddie.

Ed Wehking

ATA Western Zone Vice President

Washington

Hello from the WSTA. I hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying a busy trapshooting season.

The 79th annual Washington State Championships just wrapped up yesterday at Spokane GC. It was a good, well attended shoot with mild to warm weather, a little bit of wind, and only a few sprinkles. One thing about shooting in the Northwest is we’ve learned to take everything from shorts and vests to warm coats and raingear to every shoot, but June and July usually provide some good weather and great backgrounds. We had contestants from as far away as Tennessee, Illinois and New York this year. I think it’s awesome to share our trapshooting traditions with folk from all over the U.S., and we get a lot of participation from our Canadian neighbors as well.

Our board of directors has only one change from the previous year. Jack Miller served a three-year term and has served several terms previously. We’d like to thank Jack for his efforts and wisdom provided from over 50 years of trapshooting experience and management. Todd Deckard is back into service after a one-year hiatus, and we are excited to have his positive attitude and willingness to work our board for three more years. A lot of little things take place from year to year to make a shoot, annual meeting and awards ceremony happen, but one thing is for sure, and that is after the state shoot, everyone is tired yet sad to see it end. I don’t want to give away results before you see the photos and read the story about the 2019 shoot, but I will say there was some great competition, repeat performances and some first-time winners that while maybe not expected, certainly were no surprise because we knew these shotgunners have the potential to take titles any time they walk up to the line. Some are young, and some are seasoned vets.

The Western Zone will be history by the time you see this, and the Malden-Pine City GC will have hosted their one-day registered shoot as well. Look for Zone results in the near future, as the Colton GC played host for the second year. Malden-Pine has been offering ATA targets again for several years as well as great hospitality and a good shooting experience. Please visit our clubs when you get a chance. Support of these clubs helps keeps them going and keeps the WSTA strong. Remember, you can get a few buddies together and register Big 50 targets at your club any time you want, and in the third week of the month you can register targets in the Western Zone Big 50 program, which offers a Lewis purse Zone-wide. You can add targets to your average card, have some fun, and get some others involved. WSTA event fees are half of the 100-target tournament usual, so you’ll be getting some targets and supporting your state association as well.

Last month I mentioned an event I was to attend over Memorial Day weekend at the Pomeroy GC, and I’m telling you it exceeded my expectations. Each year, on Sunday, the club hosts a baseball team competing in the NAIA College World Series in Lewiston, ID. One of the event sponsors, Dr. Richard Eggleston, and son Dr. Mark Eggleston bring the young men and their families out to try their hand-eye coordination at trapshooting and/or some rifle and pistol marksmanship as well. Lunch and ammunition are provided by sponsors. I dusted off a couple field guns and took a spare trap gun with me as well. Some had shot a little, and some had never fired a gun. I and several members of the Pomeroy club spent a few hours on the trapline with players and their parents. With a little instruction, they seemed to catch on fast. This year the team and their folks were from Georgia Gwinnett College. A few of these kids weren’t about to quit once they saw those clays turn to dustballs. Maybe we have some new trapshooters coming up! Some dads and moms took a crack at it, and you know the dads don’t want to be shown up by their sons, so the game was on. Thank you, Robert Koller, Lee Blachly, Dave Wilson, Terry John and the rest of the Pomeroy GC for providing the facilities and enthusiasm. They did everything but clean my 1100, which a first baseman put a case of shells through. I had to do that when I got home.

Shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Sean Lewis

ATA Alternate Delegate

Wyoming

After a long winter and an unseasonably cold and wet spring, clubs are hosting shoots all over the state. Evanston, Gillette, Rawlins, Torrington, Casper, Laramie, Cheyenne and Sheridan have been busy.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to the Idaho State Shoot in Pocatello. Weather was less than ideal with cold, windy, rainy conditions. A pat on the back to the Pocatello TC for running such an organized shoot. Wyoming only had four shooters attend but represented our state well with good scores throughout the week. Darrell Jones won the non-resident singles championship.

Next came the Western Grand at the Vernal R&GC. Weather was mild, with some slight breeziness at times. Wyoming was represented with 23 shooters. A few standouts were Callahan Healy winning the singles junior championship and Hunter Howe winning HOA and HAA junior championships.

After a week’s rest, I headed back to Vernal for the Utah State Shoot. Weather was pleasant throughout the week, with the exception of Saturday that saw cold and windy conditions. Fifteen shooters from Wyoming were in attendance. Once again, Hunter and Callahan shot well and ended up bringing trophies back to Wyoming. Callahan won the non-resident handicap championship, shooting a 97 and earning a spot at the 27-yard line.

I encourage you to check out all of your buddies’ scores at the shootscoreboard.com website for all of these shoots. The fun didn’t end when the scores were tallied. Each night at both shoots in Vernal, Annie Oakleys were shot with a fun twist of using a mobile 3-axis clay-throwing robot, provided by Shaun Musselman. Everyone had a good time.

Nico Elardi

 WSTA Director

Illinois

June was a month full of state shooting! We started with the High School League state shoot the first Saturday. Attendance went from 380 last year to 537 this year. We’re expecting the same kind of growth (if not more) for next year.

Josh and Beth Baker did an awesome job for their first year as AIM directors. We ended up having 321 shooters this year, putting us up about 40 shooters for the event. Singles champion was Landon Dent, who broke his first 200 straight. The ATA state shoot was down a bit in attendance but still ended up running smoothly despite the weather for the week. Dennis Baker did a great job as president for the state, and now Mike Dennis will be our ISTA president. As usual, we had several firsts. Kyle Fabisiak broke his first 100 straight at age 11. What a feat! Alex Miller, Boedy Baker and Justin Cavett broke their first 100 straights in singles. Jim McCammon broke his 100,000th registered doubles target.

Moving on to the big winners for the weekend: my squadmate Mike Jordan won singles champion after 200 and a shootoff against Mike Hathaway. The doubles champion, after a shootoff with Hayden Hemrich and Jeremiah Schultz, was Bill Grill with 98. Handicap champion, after a shootoff with Mark Fielder, was Hayden Hemrich with 98. The all-around winner, after a shootoff with Hayden, was Chase Horton with 392. Chase also won the high-over-all champion outright with 1,153. Congratulations to all the winners!

Those who won champion or category champion in the singles are eligible to shoot in the Champion of Champions event at the Grand American. If you cannot attend, please let me know as soon as possible, so I can contact the runnerup and let them know they are eligible to do so. I also will need to know who will shoot all 300 targets on Friday of preliminary week. You can represent Illinois for the National Team Race to bring in an extra trophy.

We are still looking for donations to start the new building for the Hall of Fame. Every little bit helps, so please contact Dennis Baker or Bill Duncan if you are interested in helping get the process started. If you didn’t see the blueprints at the state shoot, you can see them any time at the current Hall of Fame at Brittany SP.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments/suggestions for what you would like to see next year. Thanks for all your support this past year, and I am looking forward to a good 2020 target year as well.

Good luck to all our shooters participating at the Grand this year. I can’t wait to see you at the shootoffs!

Lauren Mueller

ATA Delegate

Indiana

Greetings, Indiana shooters! Hopefully when you read this, you are at the Grand American enjoying some nice weather, good friends and great trap targets. By now the 2019 Indiana State Shoot has concluded, and hopefully everyone had a great time. I will be writing more next month about this year’s shoot. I do want to thank everyone who was able to attend. If you see them around the Grand, congratulate Gene Baxter and Scott Norris for being inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame this year.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Indiana shooters reaching lifetime target attainment achievements recently and want to congratulate each of you. Adam Hart recently eclipsed the 100K total combined mark, Gary Smith reached 25K in handicap, and I hit the 25K mark in doubles. Bill Tempest is very close to hitting 100K total birds shot in both singles and handicap. George Harvey and Ginny Matthews are right at the 100K total for handicap, and Gene Schneck has over 100K in singles now. These lifetime target milestones are a great accomplishment and show a true commitment and dedication to our sport over many years.

Make sure you check out the Indiana trap website www.indianatrap.com for a full listing of all of the registered ATA shoots being held at clubs all over Indiana.

Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything or would like to have anything included in this article for Indiana. My e-mail is [email protected].

Jason Barnett

ATA Delegate

Minnesota

Greetings from the North Star State! The Minnesota zone shoots are history and just to note a couple of good performances, Scott Gens came off the tractor to the southern zone shoot and broke 100 in the doubles, and Morgan Pysk was the handicap winner at the northern zone. All zone results can be found on the Minnesota Trapshooters website.

Congratulations to the MSHSL Clay Target Tournament winners. Team champions were from New Prague. Alexandria was second, and Lakeville South finished third in competition at the Minneapolis GC June 21. The team portion of the event was held in the morning, while the individual tournament was contested in the afternoon. Individually, New Prague senior Woody Glazier broke the lone 100 to win his third state title. Congratulations to Woody! Other placers were Blake Schibonski from Brainerd, Rubin Lyngas of Wheaton, Jacob Bocock of Fairmont, Sam Miller of Northfield, Owen Novacek of BGMR, Hunter Wilts from KMS, and Owen Moster of Roseau. A complete list of team and individual results can be found on the Minnesota Clay Target League website.

As I write this, I am about to leave for the Nebraska State Shoot. The weather forecast looks warm and dry, but as I said last month, my confidence in weather predictions isn’t the greatest. The Cabela’s Shoot in Owatonna was another success, while the Bemidji Spring Shoot and the Independence Classic in St. Cloud enjoyed at least one day of nice weather over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd. The Minneapolis GC Handicap Championship was the last weekend in June and allowed shooters another chance to get their targets in before the state shoot. Please see the Gun Club Scores section of Trap & Field for results or go to the MTA website.

Hopefully you will have posted some big scores at our state shoot and for those of you who attended, in Iowa as well. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Grand and watch you in the shootoffs under the lights in Sparta. Good luck to all!

Paul T. Cyr

for ATA Delegate Dean Walker

Ohio

The 2019 Ohio State Shoot has just wrapped up. We had some tough weather, but the weekend turned out to be nice. Monday was SCTP day, and we had 459 shooters compete. Monday was also the 50-bird and the miss-and-out, which raised $822 for Heartland Hospice. Thanks to Botton Dollar for the donation of $500 for the miss-and-out prize. I would like to congratulate all the winners for the week. There were over 700 trophies handed out. Thanks to everyone who participated this year; it is the people who travel from all over Ohio and other states who make the Ohio State Shoot what it is. Thanks to the Cardinal Center for a beautiful facility and all the hard work this week, from the scorers to the ladies squadding, cashiering and to Luke and his staff. We would like to thank Jack Fishburn for everything he does. The bingo Thursday was a big hit again this year; thanks to Lisa Caplinger for taking charge of it and Cathy McNamer and Brenda Blair for helping. Another hit this year was the Friday cornhole tournament with 28 players. First-place winners were Kevin Dawson and Alex Cutter. Both won a flat of shells. Second place, Nice and Aaron each won half a flat of shells. Winners of the losers’ bracket, Keith and Ranette, took home four boxes each. Everyone who participated received one box of shells. They played for over two-and-a-half hours. Thanks to Dean Lansing and Kevin Dawson for spearheading it. The cornhole tournament keeps getting bigger and better each year.

The incoming OSTA president is Tim Hunsaker, vice president Steve Corwin, and the new director at large is Michelle Charniga. I look forward to working with the board of directors to make next year even better. I would like to say thanks to the board for all their hard work throughout the year. Thanks to all who supported me for reelection as Delegate. I will continue to represent Ohio in the best way I can.

If you have a gun club or an upcoming event, call or e-mail me, and I will get it out there. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at 937-416-3979 or [email protected]. Shoot well and bust ’em.

Mike Blair

ATA Delegate

Wisconsin

Note to myself: I should learn to relax before I shoot. Yeah, I know that won’t happen; I don’t sit still very long. Everyone has their own way of getting into the Zone. One particular shooter I have known for many years will most likely be seen relaxing in his own way. We all have heard of the breakfast of champions, but how about “nap of champions”? Gary Reynolds enjoys his nap before shooting the northwest zone shoot at Eau Claire R&GC, and I could not resist this glamour shot. Please see the accompanying photo. Gary won handicap zone champion and zone HAA.

The singles zone championship was won by Cody Barwick in shootoff, with Sandra Jo Jack taking runnerup; doubles champion, Brent Heikkinen and runnerup, Geoff Gorres; handicap runnerup was with Kyler Boguslawske.

The southwest zone was held at the Janesville CC. Kevin Doerring won the singles, and Jon Denman took the runnerup spot. Leading the Doubles Championship was Dan Haag, and handicap champion was Al Wendorf.

Northeast zone was at the Berlin CC. Singles champions were shot off, with Josh Rodencal and George Hass deciding to share the title after another 200. Doubles champion and HAA went to Hass. Alexander Konen took doubles runnerup, Handicap Championship trophy was won by Dave Marhol, and runnerup was Joshua Rodencal.

Southeast zone shoot was at the Beaver Dam club. Singles champion was David Stanonik, and runnerup was Shawn Lepple. Doubles champion was Dan Ewert, and runnerup went to Mike Thomas. Zone handicap champion and second were Jim Kotecki and Dan Vukovich. HAA champion was Lepple.

Thank you to all of the club volunteers who made the zone shoots successful. It takes a lot of time and organization to put a shoot together and run it smoothly.

Now for our Ohio State Shoot winner: way to represent Wisconsin, Steve Ebsen.

At Illinois State, George Hass was the stand-out with six trophy claims, including singles, doubles, handicap and HOA. These fine shooters also took home trophies: Jay Nigbor, Greg Arneson, Brent Heikkinen and Paul Becker.

Those of you who will be heading to the Grand American at Sparta, have a safe trip. There will be another Meet and Eat held Aug. 7 around 5:30 at the Cowboy town area, same as last year. Butcher Block will be catering. Please spread the word to other shooters. I will be hanging out at the Kolar building if you have any questions.

Thank you for all your support in helping to keep the WTA going. Without all the volunteers and donations, it would be hard to succeed. Please remember to lend a helping hand at your club or a shoot you attend. And most of all, keep smiling; I am!

Have information for me to share? E-mail me at [email protected].

Sandra Jo Jack

for ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring

Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces. Congratulations to Nova Scotia’s Barry Turner for a great showing at this year’s Great Lakes Grand. Barry shot well and took home several trophies: high veteran in two handicap events plus the MTA Singles and veteran runnerup in the championship handicap. Barry provided a complete shoot write-up, which is posted in the APTA Abroad section of shootatlantic.com.

Members of the St. John’s R&GC in Newfoundland and Labrador have been busy preparing for this year’s ATA provincial shoot, which is being held over the Labor Day weekend. One unexpected item was the complete rebuild of our oldest traphouse. That has gone smoothly, with most of the labor coming from club members. If you’re interested in seeing the building of a traphouse from start to finish, check out our progress on shootatlantic.com.

Pre-squadding is now open for this year’s Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot. Shooters requiring ammunition for the tournament should check the notice in the shoot program for ordering details. All ammunition must be ordered by Aug. 1 to guarantee shoot delivery.

New for this year’s provincial shoot is the Atlantic Provinces High-Over-All Lewis—a $1,000 added money Lewis on the high-over-all with no entry fee and a guaranteed payout. This purse is being brought to you by the APTA, the St. John’s R&GC and our shoot sponsors.

Would you like to have your entry fees covered for the 2020 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot? All you need to do is attend local ATA registered shoots and participate in our ATA provincial shoot. If you meet the requirements, you’ll be eligible for the Atlantic 1000 Purse. Nova Scotia’s Ken d’Eon did just that last year and will have his championship-event entries paid for by the shooters at the St. John’s R&GC.

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

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

Delaware

Well, as they say, another Delaware State Shoot is in the books. This year marks the 10th consecutive year that Kie Kababik has won the singles championship. This 10-year run is a record that will stand for a long time. Kie is currently working for the NRA and will be changing his residence to Virginia. He has represented Delaware well on the sub-junior, junior and junior gold All-American teams. We all wish him the best of luck in his new career. His father Sean won his second handicap championship in a row. Sean and Kie went one-two in the preliminary and the main handicap this year. Sean has decided to retire as president of the Delaware trapshooting association. He has led us through a rough time, and his help put our organization back in the black. He will remain on the board in an advisory position as ex officio. Thank you for your service.

Fritz Carlsten captured the doubles title for the second year in a row. He was also elected to the position of second vice president at our annual meeting this year and has taken on the responsibility of webmaster of dtatrap.org. Please check it out. He has done an excellent job.

Ed Meeks was elected DTA president this year. He joined the board of directors last year as a director at large. We welcome his insight to our organization. Others who have stepped up to fill positions on the board are Foster Brown, who has been a director at large for many years and is now the New Castle Co. director. The new addition to our group is Bill Winkler, who was elected to director at large. There are two director at large positions still open on the board. We need all the help we can get. If anyone is interested in getting involved, please contact Ed Meeks.

Congratulations are also in order for the winners of the DTA $1,000 shootoff. Mary Ann Cacciola broke the only 10 in the first round to win $500. Tom Green was second, winning $300, and Lisa Long finished third with $200. Great shooting to all!

Tom Williams of Oxford, PA, was the winner of the Sig Sauer raffle. The DTA would like to thank all participants in the raffle as well as those from surrounding states who shot with us on Memorial Day weekend.

As usual, the crew at Pine Belt did a great job, as well as the cashiering, classification, target-setting and shootoff committees. Well done!

The next DTA shoot will be on National Trapshooting Day, Oct. 6, at WTA. Please join us. Check out our website for area clubs’ shooting schedules.

As always, I can be reached at shtgunjohnny@ aol.com. Shoot well and shoot often.

John Patchell

ATA Delegate

Massachusetts

The Massachusetts State Shoot held on June 6-9 was a great success. This was a four-day shoot with 1,100 targets available. The club threw 153,100 targets with shooters from nine states plus Canada, and we had about 76 juniors and sub-juniors.

We had four beautiful days in a row; that was a real treat. I spoke with a number of shooters over the four days, and I can report that everyone liked the new venue, along with all new Pat-Traps. Target settings were very good, and the shoot was run very well.

I would like to thank Minuteman SC for their hard work and fine job putting on this shoot, along with all the scorers, loaders and everyone who helped out.

Congratulations to the following for winning the main events: singles, Robert Nihtila Jr.; doubles, Matthew Cartisser; handicap, Wayne Laferriere; all-around, Cartisser; and high-over-all, Nihtila. A full listing of winners can be seen on the MATA website.

At our meeting held during the state shoot, Dave Russell was reelected Delegate (I thank you for your support). Also reelected was Carl Kazen, First Alternate, and Roy Smith, Second Alternate.

Richard Hewett was this year’s state shoot honoree. Dick’s passion and dedication for trapshooting started in 1967. He has been on the trap committee for many clubs in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, along with being trap chairman for several. Dick was Massachusetts trapshooting vice president in 1994.

Please keep in mind our annual meeting and banquet, which will be held Oct. 5 at Singletary R&GC. This is a great night out for everyone.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns that I can help with, you can reach me at 413-586-0428, cell 413-687-7703 or [email protected].

Remember to have fun.

Dave Russell

ATA Delegate

New Jersey

The weather here in New Jersey on June 25 looks like summer has arrived with a vengeance. The weatherman is predicting our first heat wave this week.

On June 2 we finished up the 122nd New Jersey State Shoot. The grounds at Pine Belt SC, our state homegrounds, were in magnificent shape. As you pulled into the club from Route 541 (Stokes Road), you were greeted by a road covered in new blue stone, which made the usual dust cloud to nonexistent this year. Weather for the five days was sunny and dry, with rain holding off until the completion of shooting each night.

The grass in front of the traps, behind the traps, and as far as you could see across the field, was all freshly cut. Each night Jeff Whalen, Pine Belt club president, would run his tractor over the target fall area and grind all whole and broken targets into a black grit, making it ready for the next day’s events.

This year’s major winners were Robert Malmstedt, singles and HOA; Marc Invidiato, doubles; Madison Wehnau, handicap; and Bryan Romanow, HAA. Dan Brandreth and Angelina Moir, the co-trophy chairpersons, did a fine job of purchasing and distributing them each night.

In Saturday’s Singles Championship, Morgan Stevenson, just completing his sophomore year of college, secured the junior gold award. He couldn’t shoot on Sunday because he had joined the Marine Reserves and had to report to Parris Island to start basic training. Good luck, Morgan.

New shooter Audrey Trinkle broke her first 25×25. Congrats, Audrey, and keep up the good work. Gun for Hire, a handgun indoor shooting venue in Woodland Park, NJ, has for the past four years donated a certificate for a brand-new shotgun. This year’s winner was Kyle Kanuha from New Providence, PA. I’d like to thank Paul Dimeglio, Sam Osterhoudt, John Zultanky and Doug Bracher for helping me classify. Bob and Gwen Battista were on hand to take pictures of some of the winners Sunday afternoon.

May 16 was the last of the spring shoots at Howell TC in Farmingdale. Doug Bracher got his money’s worth, breaking all 100 targets in the singles event. Rich Leone was high in the handicap and John Dibling in the doubles.

The two weekends following our state shoot were the Colonial Classic and the Pennsylvania State Shoot in Elysburg, ending on Father’s Day. One hundred and one shooters from the Garden State were in attendance for all or part of the back-to-back shoots. Patricia Slimm led our trophy winners with three; followed by Tom Wolf, Gene Moir Jr., Bob Battista and Rick Batesko with two; and Ray Padovani, Dan Brandreth, Bruce Kelly, Ray Dirisio, David Brown Jr., George Wright, Ernie Onesti, Joe Sissano, Steve Ottrando, Bob Bishop, Franco DePaolo, Phil Kosci, Diniz Cordeiro, Bob Malmstedt, Justin Malone and Ralph Jensen with one each. Ottrando earned 1.5 yards with his second-high score of the day in the Krieghoff Handicap and moved back to the 27-yard line for the first time. Nice shooting, Steve.

On Father’s Day weekend at Pine Valley, sub-junior Zachary Cucunato broke his first 25 straight in singles. What a nice accomplishment for his coach and dad Robert Cucunato!

Mallard TC held their Hot Dog Shoot June 22. The shoot name is misleading since pulled pork, hamburgers, deer meat sausage and salads were on the menu, in addition to hot dogs. I was there to compete and present Ottrando his 27-yard pin. Forty-five shooters came out to compete; weather was beautiful, clear, dry and slightly windy. It was a great change from all the rain we had leading up to the shoot. Club champion was Tom Hahn, and open champion was Tony Fischer. Other winners were Class A winner and runnerup, Carlos Gomes and Sam Osterhoudt; B winner and runnerup, Dan Fishman and Neil Downing; C winner and runnerup, Ken Radziwanowski and Jeff Shanaberger; and D winner and runnerup, Tom Smith and Charles Grazioso.

Three shooters from New Jersey ventured out to Marengo, OH, to compete at the Ohio State Shoot this year. Gene Moir Jr. and daughter Angelina each won a trophy. All scores can be found at rjstuart.com.

Upcoming shoots in August are the Poor Man’s Grand, Aug. 3-4 at Groundswiper’s, 1910 Lacy Road, Forked River; Grand American, July 31-Aug. 10, Sparta, IL; 35th Jersey Devil, Pine Belt, Aug. 24-25; and Heartland Grand, Aug. 27-29, Ackley, IA. Pine Valley has their Club Shoot Aug. 31-Sept. 1, followed by the Lady Bird Shoot on Labor Day, Sept. 2.

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

Joe Sissano

ATA Delegate

New York

Hello to everyone from New York State. I hope everyone is doing well and having an enjoyable summer.

I am sorry to say that New York has lost another ATA shooter. Edward Robbins of Pine City passed May 31. Ed was 76 years old. He started registering targets in 1987, and in his career fired at 39,400 singles, 31,825 handicap and 17,500 doubles targets. Ed loved to hunt, shoot trap, and spend time with his family. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to his wife of 57 years, Carol, and the entire family.

The New York state western zone shoot was held at Mt. Morris SC June 8-9. Nearly 28,000 targets were thrown. Singles champion was Jeff Mullin with 197, and runnerup was Casey Luttrell, also with 197. Doubles champion was Dave Cichelli with 95, and runnerup was Dan Tartick with 93. In the handicap the winner was Daniel Offhaus with 94, and Michael Kazmark Jr. was runnerup with 93. The all-around winner was Tartick with 381×400, and runnerup was Cichelli with 376. All trophy winners can be viewed on the New York state webpage www.nysata.com.

The Colonial Classic and Pennsylvania State Shoot were held June 8-16. A total of 212 New Yorkers attended. Trophy winners from New York were Justin Slater, Kevin Unrum, Kenneth Fagnani, Jenna Coyne, Michael Fox Jr. James Flint, Urban Womer, Gerry Ostrander, Vincent Barranco, Heidi Womer, James Dries, Alexcis Conigsby, Michael Waschitz, William Kutch, James S. Wright, Terrence Roth, Jeff Bell, Cichelli, Bradley Heath, Michael Latocha, Tony Acquilano, Keith Welch, Keith Miranda, David Bills, Curtis Robbins, Robert Rapplyea, William Compton, Uday Madasu, Sawyer Dann, Forrest Davies, Robert Sullivan, Lee Hatfield, David Clary, Salvatore Schiavo, Robert Edwards, Mark Patton, Louis Kobielski, Eddie Cotton, Marcos Ribeiro, Peter Hamann, Patti Lloyd, Chase Wojtanik, Patricia Logan, Dominick Pagnotta, Travis Dann, Richard Mastin, Trevor Parker, Cliff Haaf and Tammy Wildenstein. All trophy winners can be viewed on Bob Stuart’s webpage www.rjstuart.com and in Trap & Field Magazine.

The Ohio State Shoot ended June 23. Taking trophies back to New York were Dennis Hart, Caleb Lindstrom, Jenna Euscher, Brian Euscher, Leslie Slater, Justin Slater, William Wallis and Urban Womer. All trophy winners can be viewed on Bob Stuart’s webpage www.rjstuart.com and in Trap & Field. A total of 46 New York shooters attended.

Anyone traveling to Sparta, IL, to attend the Grand American, please travel safely. As always, it will be an excellent tournament.

See you all soon, and good shooting. May God bless.

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario. Since this article will be included in the Grand American edition of Trap & Field, I thought readers may enjoy a brief history of the national flags of three countries—U.S., Canada and Brazil. U.S. and Canada have long constituted the core of our ATA members and ATA structure. Our five ATA Zones include states and provinces. In our Eastern Zone, for instance, there are 11 states and three provinces. The reason why I have included Brazil in this article is that there are increasingly larger numbers of Brazilian shooters participating at the Grand, so much so that their flag has flown and their anthem has been played during the tournament. We welcome shooters worldwide and often get participants from Australia, Czech Republic, Chile, New Zealand, United Kingdom and elsewhere.

United States

The first official American flag was by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It had 13 stripes, alternated red and white, and 13 white stars in a blue field representing a new Constellation.

Americans celebrate “Flag Day” each June 14. I am proud to say that in our ATA Eastern Zone, we have eight of the original 13 states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York and Rhode Island). The remaining four states are in the ATA Southern Zone: Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina. “Old Glory” is an icon of America and has been modified at least 26 times for various reasons. The current version of “Old Glory” has been in existence since July 4, 1960, and recognized the state of Hawaii which became a state on Aug. 21, 1959.

This flag will proudly be flown during our Grand American.

Source: www.usflagstore.com/American_flag_history_1776_to_present_s/2205.htm

 

Canada

For over 400 years, various flags were used for various purposes. When Canada formally became an independent nation on July 1, 1867, the flag at that time was the Royal Union Flag. This was actually used from 1801 to 1965. Following the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, the diagonal Cross of St. Patrick was incorporated with England’s Cross of St. George and Scotland’s Cross of St. Andrew. This gave the Royal Union Flag its present configuration. It was used across British North America and in Canada even after Confederation from 1867 to 1965.

In 1919 Major General (later the Honorable) Sir Eugene Fiset had recommended the single red leaf on a white field as Canada’s emblem. This design had been worn by all Canadian Olympic athletes since 1904. The same design was again proposed for the national flag in 1964 by Dr. George Stanley. Red and white have been the official national colors since proclaimed as such by King George V in 1921. Obviously it took many decades and much debate and negotiations leading up to the current national flag of Canada proclaimed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on January 28, 1965, and raised for the first time in an inauguration ceremony on Parliament Hill on Feb. 15, 1965.

The Canadian “Maple Leaf” flag will be proudly flown at the Grand American.

Source: www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-history.html

 

Brazil

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Portuguese royal family resided in Brazil, which was elevated in status from a Portuguese colony to a Kingdom co-equal with Portugal. On September 7, 1822, Brazil was proclaimed as an independent nation. At that time the Brazilian national flag consisted of a green background with a yellow diamond and the imperial coat of arms in the center incorporating a star for each of the Brazilian states. The imperial colors were black and yellow, whereas the royal house of Bragança was symbolized by green. Green and yellow were selected as the Brazilian colors and were also associated with the verdure of the land and with its great mineral wealth, especially gold. In 1889 a republic was proclaimed.

Brazil’s modifications to the national flag were modest. The green and yellow were retained but the imperial coat of arms was replaced by a blue disc bearing a white band and white stars for each of the states. The blue and white colors were a reflection of the Portuguese origins of the nation. The Positivist motto on the band, “Ordem e progresso,” translates to “Order and progress.” The original flag of the republic (November 24, 1889) has had several modifications until settling in its current form on May 12, 1992.

The 27 stars of the flag symbolize Brazil’s 26 states and its federal district. The stars are of different sizes and are arranged to correspond to constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

I anticipate that the Brazilian flag will be proudly flown on Grand American Monday, as it was last year. As you may know, Brazil is now part of our ATA Southern Zone. At the Grand, the Australian and New Zealand  flags will be flown for one day as well.

Source: www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Brazil

Language commentary—in Canada, one is bilingual if he or she speaks French and English. In the United States bilingualism is generally one who speaks English and a second language. Brazil’s official language is Portuguese.

Enjoy the Grand, and when you see the national flags of the U.S., Canada and Brazil, you will know a little history of each. Good shooting.

Paul Shaw

ATA Eastern Zone Vice President

Pennsylvania

We just finished with our Pennsylvania State shoot at the PSSA Homegrounds in Elysburg. Big congratulations go out to Ian Darroch for capturing the singles, handicap and HOA titles, to Ian Recla for winning the Doubles Championship, and to Chris Vendel for his HAA title. Fantastic shooting by all three gentlemen! Look for the full report in Trap & Field.

This year’s shoot had a total entries of 10,223 shooters with 2,343 in the championship events, leading to an All-American Competition Factor of 7. It appeared that the week was going to be booming until some nasty weather floated in on Monday, Thursday and potentially Sunday. The week was also a busy one, as the PSSA hosted the SCTP and AIM Championships on Saturday and Sunday, which had over 350 youth shooters participate each day. The PSSA Hall of Fame sponsored the second annual Nostalgia Shoot on Wednesday, which brought out many shooters in their throwback outfits with vintage firearms. The Krieghoff Challenge on Friday was won by Brent Spear from Smithsburg, MD, who battled over 200 participants during high winds while claiming his new K-80 combo.

The PSSA Hall of Fame had their annual meeting on Saturday evening and presented the 2019 PA state teams their hats and pins. Also recognized was the Trapshooter of the Year, Brandon Deal, for his outstanding accomplishments in 2018. High average leaders for 2018 and Attorney General Cup winners were also recognized. The PSSA annual meeting was held Sunday morning with all officers and Delegates being reelected for the coming year. A change to the target requirements was discussed, and a motion was made and passed to have them go back to the way they were prior to this year. In short, next year the minimums of 500/500/300 will be back in place.

Jay Griesemer won this year’s Pennsylvania Claybuster 300 championship on June 1, while seeing Ashley Dean break her first 100 straight during the event as well. Justin Kern earned his final half-yard punch to make the 27-yard line for the first time during the state shoot, and John Manetta shot at his 100,000th doubles target to mark the start of the Colonial Classic. Congratulations on hitting these milestones!

We had 98 shooters from PA travel across the border to Ohio to compete in their state shoot, with 14 shooters earning 29 awards. Chris Vendel cleaned house with 11 wins, including category HAA and HOA. Kim Bateman and Wesley Beaver added three trophies each, with Kim earning category HAA. Other winners were Frank Kenesky, Bill Natcher (two), Barb Parker, Rich Stefanacci, George Cheponis, James Mosier, Richard Jackson, Cody Davis, Ron Gustafson, Donna Natcher and Marcy Plunkett. Nicely done, Pennsylvania!

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Westy Hogans for the final hurrah in Elysburg.

Steve Ross

ATA Alternate Delegate