Arkansas

A big thanks to the Jacksonville shooting complex for hosting this year’s state shoot. I would like to congratulate our 2020 Arkansas state singles champion, Tanner Cooper; doubles champion, Rhett Baxley; and handicap champion, William Mahan. The board of directors and I would like to thank everyone who attended. It was good to get out and about and see old friends. I hope everyone keeps us in mind for next year. Our handicap jackpot keeps growing, and it is now over $10,000! I would like to give a huge thank you to all the ASTF members who have allowed me to serve as their ATA Delegate once again. I can tell you that the ASTF board members are already working on making next year’s state shoot even better.

Our youth shooters have been on the go the last couple of months and bringing several trophies home. It is always good to see Arkansas names on the leaderboards. Congratulations to Kayla Workman, Julie Newsom, Katie Pryor, William Mahan, Gilbert Palmer, Henry Mahan, Logan Applegate, Oscar Aguilar, Bubba Hollis Jr., Logan Henry, Brayden Tarantino, Chet Orick, Luke Yagos, Wren Washburn, Landon Chandler, Aidan Master, Rhett Baxley, Maegan Bond, Jax Goad, Jasa Reed, Mason Burris and Dalton Lamons, just to name a few. Way to represent Arkansas! Keep up the good shooting. (Sorry, I know I missed some names. You can always send me an e-mail to let me know what you’re up to.)

Don’t forget it is the shooter’s responsibility to know the ATA rules. The Rulebook is on the ATA website, or you can always call an ASTF board member to answer any questions you may have. Good luck, and I hope to see you at the next shoot.

Nahum 1:7 KJV—The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knowth them that trust in him.

I can be reached at [email protected].

Robby Pennock

ATA Delegate

Colorado

The Lamp

The lamp was an HOA trophy from back in 1991. It has sat on my desk to the left of my computer ever since, where it is sometimes used as a backlight.

The overall length of the lamp, including the shade, is about 18 inches. The lamp is a small hand-crafted wooden flat-bottomed rowboat. It is standing on its stern with the bow pointing straight up. The boat has oars on its left and right.

Whenever I look at the lamp, it does exactly what a trophy is supposed to do; it instantly transports me back to a place and time. In this case, it is Memorial Day weekend in the early 1990s. The shade on the lamp is round and depicts a scene of a man wearing chest high waders, standing in a river with water just past his knees. The fishing pole in his hands appears to be a fly rod. There is a small rowboat tied to some cattails at the river’s edge. The man is in the process of landing a large fish, which has jumped completely out of the water in an attempt to escape.

Over the years I have heard many complaints about trophies. The complaints range from the high cost and low value to who comes up with this kind of stuff for trophies? At most small clubs, the trophy committee consists of one, sometimes two, volunteers who are given a small budget and told to purchase quality trophies but not to go over budget. As anyone who has ever tried to do this knows, it is a near-impossible task.

It is my opinion that these complainers, along with many others, have completely forgotten the true reason why a trophy is given at all. The reason we give out trophies is not so the winner will have something of monetary value. The true reason for trophies is twofold; first, the trophy represents to all that in this tournament on this day you were the best shooter, and as you know, this is a fleeting feeling at best. The second and most important reason for trophies is so as time passes, the shooter will have a tangible connection to the past. If you allow it, a trophy will become a connection to your past. This way, many years from now when the shooter looks at a particular trophy, he or she will be transported back in time. Even though he or she is older and no longer shooting at the top of their game, they can say to themselves that at that tournament, on that day, they were the best. A trophy in many ways is much like a picture—a picture freezes time, and a trophy also freezes time.

If you missed the point, I am talking about a new way to look at old things. While we must look forward to the future, we must also remember our past. If we forget the past, we will also forget past lessons learned, and we will be doomed to repeating them in the future. Because of physical limitations, we are unable to repeat our past triumphs, but we can repeat our past mistakes over and over. Many of us repeat our past mistakes while expecting a different result. We must live in the present, but not forget our past.

So, you see, the trophy can be anything because it is not what the trophy is that matters, it’s what the trophy represents that matters. I had a college psychology professor who put it something like this. In the end with our bodies ravaged and crippled by time and your memories starting to dim, you will find that you will need these tangible connections to your past. He then added the past is all we have, for the future is promised to no one. Put another way, if we lose the memories of our past, we have nothing.

If you find yourself, as many have, with too many trophies, you can keep the ones that are usable, like my old lamp, and the ones that mean something to you. You can then give the rest to a club that can have them repurposed.

Southwestern Zone Shoot: For a spur-of-the-moment Colorado shoot, this turned out to be a good one, with 83 Colorado shooters and 949 total shooters across the eight-state zone. Some of the Colorado winners: Event 1, Mitchell Dudley, Stacy Rehor, Irv Effinger, Raymond Knox, Mel Hensley, Darrell VanCleave, Gregory Ferguson. Event 2, Gregory Allen, Hensley, Gregg Kay, Mike Spah, Brett Renck, Kaden Westfall, Brandy Henrickson, Robert Wagner, Steve DiGesualdo. Event 3, Ferguson, Rehor, Steve DiGesualdo, Hensley, Henrickson, Effinger, Allen, Bob Semsack. Event 4, Ferguson, Rehor, Hensley, Renck, Steve DiGesualdo, Effinger, Jordan Westfall. Event 5, Hensley, Steve DiGesualdo, Nick DiGesualdo, Ferguson, Mike Herman, Marshall McKinney, Effinger, Terry Findley, Dudley Mitchell. Event 6, Cassidy Sorensen, Renck, Robert Wagner, Hensley, Sophia Bultema, Adrian Schmauch, VanCleave, Kaden Westfall, Kevin Tapply, Steven DiGesualdo.

Golden club manager Paul Pedei, with help from Nikki Herman and Mike Herman, did a great job getting everyone signed up and classified. The overall shoot went well, with little trap or voice pull problems. Paul Dible, Bob Semsack and Jared Pedei did a good job of setting targets. I believe I saw Diane Dible with a camera in her hand as well.

A Band of Brothers and Sisters

Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary shooting team from St. Mary’s High School, in its third year of shooting as a Colorado State High School sanctioned team. St. Mary’s fielded 14 of their 19 athletes at this year’s Southwestern Zone Shoot.

The first day of the shoot, I was sitting on a bench waiting my turn when I noticed a group of young kids wearing matching shooting vests with their names on the back, obviously some kind of shooting team. Just before their turn to shoot, four of the boys and girls formed up in a semi-circle in front of the fifth girl. It was a well thought out pep talk, and I was witnessing a leader in the making. Even though she had more shooting experience, she did not talk down to them; she talked to them as sister to sister, or sister to brother. As I watched them over the next few days, even though they weren’t related, they were clearly a Band of Brothers and Sisters. I later learned this young lady’s name is Sophia Bultema. I’m sure with the fine guidance and good coaching these young adults are receiving, they will produce many exceptional leaders. In no particular order, Cassidy Sorensen (class of 2020) won handicap after shootoff; Jack Rydland (2020), junior doubles. Mark Rysavy (2020) and Brian Sorensen (2020) after shootoff D class, Mark took first and Brian second; Kaden Westfall (2020) and Bultema (2022) after shootoff in junior, Kaden first and Sophia second; Rachel Wilcox (2020) showed us all how to shoot singles, looks like she ran away with the junior 200-bird race; Rysavy, first HAA junior; Nick Priddy (2021), second HAA junior; Rydland, third HAA. A lot of these shooters graduating this year and will be embarking upon a wondrous and sometimes challenging path leading to adulthood. I am sure each one has the necessary life skills to be successful at anything they choose to do.

Do not worry for the future of the St Mary’s shooting team. For Sophia and Nick Priddy, with help from adults like J. P. Rydland, Kim Westfall and others, will begin next season with a new Band of Brothers and Sisters: Peter Soderlund (2023), Cassidy Vetrovec (2022), Marco Hofilena (2023), Liam Watson (2023) and Cooper Biggs (2023).

I leave the class of 2020 with something I wrote in a friend’s yearbook over 50 years ago: Roses are red. Violets are blue. I wish you the very best and to thine own self be true. (Shakespeare).

Irvin Effinger

ATA Delegate

New Mexico

It’s the end of June, and I’m getting ready to head to the Grand. Our state shoot has not been held yet; we’re planning on Aug. 27-30. I hope it works, and everyone can make it.

I would like to say thanks to Albuquerque and Silver City for getting ready to hold the ATA Southwestern Zone on such short notice and doing a great job. I was in Albuquerque, and they put on a well-run shoot. They had 40 shooters. Records were set for heat. Penny and all did a great job of getting everything done with all the restrictions and not being able to have anyone in the clubhouse. Jamie Anderson worked hard in the heat.

Silver City had 20 shooters. They had a good shoot and got their scores in on time. Congratulations for everyone doing it.

I would like to say congratulations to Joel Scram getting close to the 100,000 combined target mark. I know I’m forgetting something or someone. Doug Doonan ran his first 100 straight on Friday. I hope to see y’all down the road. Stay safe, and I hope this virus goes away.

Bob Leibel

ATA Delegate

Oklahoma

Several Oklahoma shooters attended the Arkansas State Shoot. I think I counted nine, with Samuel Arrington breaking 100 straight in singles and most of them winning trophies. The Nebraska State Shoot was on the same date, and six Oklahoma shooters attended their shoot. Christopher Diller broke 99 in the main handicap and 25 extras to win non-resident champion. Kya Funkhouser broke 97 in the doubles to win. Ron and Brayden Bliss had 196s in the singles. Both states had great shoots with good attendance.

Ada’s June 30 shoot was won by Austin Palmer with 47, and Zoe Traylor was next with 46.

Shawnee’s July 5 shoot was well attended. Mitchel Wyatt and Kenneth Green were high in the singles with 46s. Chuck McCall won the handicap with 44, and Kenneth won the doubles with 42.

The pandemic is on the rise in almost every state, including Oklahoma. It is affecting everything we do. Texas had to scramble at the last moment and hold their state shoot in three locations because of restrictions in San Antonio. It was held in San Antonio, Waco and Amarillo. This is a great testament of how everyone came together to get it done and have another great Texas State Shoot. Most Oklahoma shooters went to the Amarillo site, only 250 miles away and a great place to shoot.

The Texas State Shoot ended on July 5, and our Oklahoma State Shoot started July 6. Monday was not part of the HOA to allow for travel time. Billy Hopson brought a truckload of Texas trophies for Oklahoma winners. We were all very appreciative for him to take the time to do so. It’s funny how these things work out. When our state shoot is the first of June, I usually take two boxes of trophies for Texas shooters to the Kansas State Shoot, and Dalton Jennings helps me distribute them. Monday still had good attendance with 91 shooters. Weather was perfect, and scores were very high, with six 100s and many 99s. Pat Stacey was one of the 100s and then had severe pain sending him to the hospital. After receiving treatment for gallstones, he was back the next day breaking 98 in the handicap. Billy Pierce broke 99 to win the handicap on Monday from the 25-yard line. Brayden Bliss won the doubles on Monday with 98. On Tuesday the fog gave way to another perfect day. Corbin Grybowski and Caleb Fischer ran 100 in-state, and there were three 100s out-of-state in the singles. Pat’s 98 won the handicap, and then he broke 99 to win the class doubles. In the Singles Championship, Pat added one more win to his credit with 200. Brian Stoa won runnerup with 199. Jeff and Paula Trayer, both All-Americans last year and the only husband-and-wife Oklahoma All-Americans to date, won the husband-wife award in the singles. Pat and Josh won the parent-child award. Klayton McGee won AIM champion after a shootoff with Shelby Skaggs. In the Golden Boy Rifle shootoff, four and six were drawn. Fifteen shooters answered the call, and Mike Grove was the only one to hit 10 straight to win the gun.

The Oklahoma state meeting was held on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. outside under the Ketchum Pavilion to allow for social distancing. Shooters and families have been very cooperative, keeping numbers in the clubhouse to less than 15 about 80% of the time. President Ron Bliss thanked everyone for their cooperation and asked for 10 seconds of silence to honor all who have been affected by the pandemic. At the meeting we honored the state teams, Rookies of the Year, and 12 All-Americans, the most Oklahoma has ever had in a single year. Paul and Mikie Hooper were honored and inducted into the Oklahoma Trapshooters Hall of Fame. There were two new members who volunteered to serve on the BOD; Chance Fleming and Shelby Skaggs are now on the board. Tim Deister spoke about the Grand American being moved to Linn Creek, MO, for this year. It is 250 miles closer to us and a great place to shoot and vacation. Everyone was encouraged to attend. He also announced that in mid November there would be a Delegate change from Tim Deister to Ron Bliss. Ron held the meeting in record time, and we were ready to kick off the doubles event when two flooded traps gave the target-setters trouble. It could have been because of the 70-mph winds, torrential rain and storms that blew through. When I rolled in at 7 a.m., it looked like a great big pond. Garland Sears brought us extra traps, and they worked to get everything going again. Garland has been our lifesaver at more than one state shoot.

The doubles started off with a south wind then turned to a north wind, affecting scores. It did not affect Corbin Grybowski much; he was champion with 99. He was wearing his ring from winning the Grand American Doubles. The handicap was won by Kevin Cockriel with 97, and he won the Trapshooting Hall of Fame award also. Ron Bliss and Samuel Heinerikson had 96s. Colton Meuer was third with 95, and all received punches. Corbin won both HAA with 390 and HOA with 677. Pat had 676.

On Friday evening there was a memorial for Roger Finkle. Carol Brown put together a picture array, displaying many pictures of Roger throughout his life. She served a special dinner for everyone. Several people spoke of Roger’s friendship and accomplishments. In the Roger Finkle/Jimmy Brown Memorial Handicap, Jeff Trayer won the special belt buckle.

The Southwestern Zone Shoot at our El Reno site started on Friday and went through Sunday. According to records, 43 trophies were won at our site with 131 shooters. Linn Creek was next with 35 trophies and 500 shooters. Complete results are in this magazine with the write-ups.

Ada’s Tuesday July shoot was won by Don Bowers and Randy Farmer with 46s. The July 13 shoot was won by Johnny Wilson with 48.

Randy and Vickie Farmer earned trophies at the Texas State Shoot. Randy won a very nice belt buckle as non-resident champion in the main handicap. Vickie won out-state short-yardage champion, D class doubles on Friday, and non-resident HAA, D class.

On July 20 OTSA hosted the National High School Rodeo Association trapshooting event. There were 130 who competed, some from as far away as Alaska (two) and Hawaii (one). It was a well-run event, enjoyed by both boys and girls, shooting the first round of trap. All those breaking 22 and above moved on to shoot another round. One shooter ran four straight rounds for 100 to win champion. The shoot moves around the country each year and was scheduled to be held in Lincoln, NE, but restrictions prevented it. After meeting with officials and looking at the OTSA El Reno facilities, they decided to move it here. Next year it is slated to be held at Des Moines, IA. Trap and rifle shooting are part of their program.

Ada’s July 21 shoot was won by Grant Corning with 47.

Let’s keep all those affected by the pandemic in our prayers.

Tim Deister

ATA Delegate

Texas

Today is July 21, and the COVID-19 crisis is more prevalent than ever. Now I know you won’t be reading this until the September issue of Trap & Field is out, but I hope when you read this (both of you), that the pandemic is much improved. This pandemic has changed lives and the way we live our lives. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones. Also pray for the business owners and employees who have been devastated by this ugly virus.

The Texas State Shoot did happen—maybe not as originally planned, but it did happen. I think given the circumstances, it ran very smoothly. I would like to congratulate this year’s Texas State Trapshooters Hall of Fame inductees. Inducted this year were Joneel and Richard Harris and Pat Thomason. What a great honor for some wonderful people. Welcome to the TTA Hall of Fame.

I have a lot of “attaboys” and “attagirls” to pass out today and not in any particular order. J. Pat Richmond shot his 25,000th singles target. Troy Collier shot his 75,000th singles target. Billy McFarlen shot his 50,000th handicap target. Scott Hanes shot his 50,000th doubles target. Dalton Jennings shot his 75,000th singles target. That’s all the attaboys, now for the attagirls. Joneel Harris shot her 75,000th doubles target. Yaani Mai Gaddy ran her first 100 straight in singles. Those of you who have shot for some time understand what a milestone each of these represent. Congratulations to each of you.

When you read this, the Grand will have come and gone. I understand that it will be different this year, and we need to accept that. I would like to thank all the people with the Missouri Trapshooters Association for their hard work and making their facility available to the ATA for the Grand. I know there must have been many long days and sleepless nights for the people at MTA. Thank you so much for making the Grand happen this year.

I can’t give enough praise to Lynn Gipson and his staff for all the work they have done in getting this year’s Grand relocated. This is an unbelievable task to undertake. Making it worse is the short window in which they had to get it done. I would also like to thank the Executive Committee for all their hard work. This has not been an easy task. Most shooters have no idea what all was involved. Thank you seems so inadequate, but maybe if I put in all caps it will seem like more. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I’ll end this subject with this: Mike Herman, you picked a hell of a year to be President of the Amateur Trapshooting Association. Thank you for your service to our shooters.

Now on to the things that we usually talk about, and nobody does. Yep, you guessed it, the Rulebook. It may surprise you to find out how much confusion could be eliminated on the line if people knew the rules. The rules are there to help you, not punish you. Many decisions made on the line must be made before another shot is fired or before you leave the field. If you don’t know the rules and wait until you are through shooting to find the answer, it may result in lost targets or worse than that, being disqualified. Please read the Rulebook. I think Billy Hopson is the only person I know that studies it as much as I do. If he doesn’t have the answer, he gets his Rulebook out and finds the answer. So for you, Mr. Billy Hopson, here is one of those special fat-man attaboys. Thank you for your diligence in learning the rules.

Thanks to the shooters of Texas for allowing me to serve you for another year. I will always represent the wishes of the shooters of Texas.

You have all heard the saying “no news is good news.” Well, that ain’t the case when you are trying to write an article for Trap & Field. If you have news, please let Princess or me know about it. As always, you can reach me at 806-679-6889 or [email protected]. I’ll shut up now.

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

P.S. Thanks to Elissa Cronk and Sandy Tidwell at Trap & Field Magazine. They make this column look much better than it really is.

Jerry O’Connor

ATA Delegate

Arizona

Smoke and chips: In the last few months, we have had to scramble to come up with a column, but not this month. In fact, our cup runneth over. Let’s start with the Utah State Shoot in Spanish Fork, always a popular destination for Arizona shooters. It’s a wonderful background with super-nice people, and weather was great. Arizona hit the ground running. The first event was the Welcoming Doubles, and we had four winners: Don Williamson, B; Karen Bergman, Lady II; Tim Robb, veteran; and Jay Alderman, senior vet. In Event 2, the James Patten Handicap, a new name popped up—Rick Klawitter, a recent transplant from Wisconsin, tied in the 22-24 group. Karen and I had the pleasure of shooting with Rick and his wife Amy for much of the tournament, and they are a welcome addition to Arizona trapshooting. Amy shot her first registered 50 straight later in the shoot. The 25-26 contingent saw two more of our guys, Wayne Thompson and Alderman, tying for the lead. Fred Frazier’s 95 took senior veteran.

Singles closed out the day, and we had two more winners, Williamson in AA and Steve Bell in D. In Thursday’s doubles Jim Copsey’s 99 tied for high score, and he stood alone at the top of all veterans. Meanwhile Robb and Alderman lost out in the dreaded carryovers in AAA and AA, respectively. The handicap saw Thompson on top at 25-26 yards, and Copsey, who had a pretty good day, took the tough veteran category.

Karen won her second doubles of the shoot, besting all other Lady IIs in Event 7, and Gerry Williams showed why he is to be feared in handicap by topping all other senior veterans in Event 8. Next up was the Preliminary Singles and the Pride of Prescott, Joe Henderson, was not to be trifled with. His 100 straight plus 50 in the carryover swept the senior vets.

Saturday’s Singles Championship was a stellar day for our side. Darvin Thomas prevailed in out-of-state A class, Karen Bergman did the same in Lady II, Greg Holden ran the 200 and then won the shootoff with a 74 to take veteran, and the senior vet crown came down to a shootoff between Alderman and Henderson, with Jay coming out on top. In the out-of-state Doubles Championship, Robb’s 98 topped all veterans, Karen continued her run taking Lady II, Alderman tied in senior veteran but lost in a shootoff, and Holden won Class A. Sunday’s final event was the Handicap Championship, and two familiar names rose to the challenge. Copsey was the high veteran, while Williams added the senior vet title and the HOA championship to his list. Karen B. won the Lady II HAA, and Robb was the veteran HOA champ. The ASTA hired a U-Haul to bring all of the Arizona trophies home.

Then came the ATA Western Zone July 17-19. It was held at 10 locations in nine states and provinces, including Tucson, and attendance was up sharply with 711 competitors. Tucson stepped in at the last minute (thank you, Doug Sims and the Tucson Board of Directors!), and we were up by 19 shooters over last year. Karen and I would have added to the list, but we ran into AC problems in our RV and had to sit it out. All told, five of the 108 trophies were won at Tucson, that includes two out-of-state shooters, William Crawford (CA) and John Kelly (WY); however, our own Jay Alderman and Greg Holden won at Spanish Fork, and Darvin Thomas did likewise at Medford, OR. I am going to have to talk with those guys.

As promised, it was hot at Tucson, but not overwhelming. One of my regular practice partners, sub-junior Wyatt Pizinger, started us off right, winning Class D with an outstanding 98, nudging out Brett Hardesty on the carryover. Great job, Wyatt! Event 2 was the Class Day Handicap, and Holden’s 97 topped all of the veterans while Prescott’s own Isaac Smith was the junior gold champ. Saturday’s singles saw Thomas winning the B class crown, but alas, in Oregon of all places, would be Arizonians, William Crawford won C and John Kelly was the top vet. On Sunday Ken Mlynarz lost the Doubles Championship by one, but his 99 plus 20 in shootoff gave him the runnerup trophy. Alderman took the senior veteran high-over-all, no mean achievement, as there were 122 senior vets competing, by far the largest category. It was a very successful Zone shoot, and plans are already under way for 2021.

Around the state: Due to COVID-19, things have slowed down here at home, but Casa Grande and Tucson continue to shoot, and Pleasant Valley has joined in. CG had a two-day event July 11-12 with a nice turnout. The opening singles featured two 100 straights, one by Ron Schroer and the other by Alderman. Ron ended up winning by one in the carryover. Dennis Kyle and Dan Forbes tied for Class AA at 99. Ken Mlynarz won A, Randy Winch B, Rosie Kingery C and Ron Oakley D. Brett Hardesty took junior. There were 23 competitors in the ’caps, and Greg Spicza won the 19-21-yard group, Charles Chapman took the 22-24 crown, and Alderman topped the 25-27 contingent. Pedro Torres was the high junior, and Wayne Thompson’s 95 made him high gun and senior veteran winner. The doubles finished out Saturday, and Wayne was high again. Kyle and Forbes tied again in A, while Darrell Goen took C.

Sunday started off with doubles, and Mlynarz was at the top with 95. Goen repeated his victory in C, Art Hammer returned to Arizona from points unknown and won D, while Schroer beat back all of the other senior vets. In the singles there were no upsets. Alderman took AA, Spicza B, Hardesty junior, and Schroer did it again with another 100. Greg S. was high gun in the closing ’caps, with Kyle winning 25-27, Torres junior and Frazier senior vet.

I normally like to list the upcoming events, but things are just too uncertain. Casa Grande should be continuing their Monday Big 50s, Tucson their once-a-month registered shoots, and most likely Pleasant Valley will have a shoot or two. I would urge a call ahead to these clubs, and to any others.

See you on the line.

John Bergman

ATA Delegate

California

I would like to begin by thanking the great group of folks at the Kingsburg GC for recently hosting three of our major shoots here in California. Kingsburg hosted the AIM/SCTP State Shoot, CGSTA State Shoot and the ATA Western Zone Shoot, all within a five-week period of time.

The AIM/SCTP tournament had approximately 150 shooters compete in the singles June 13. Conditions were a little difficult (wind), but scores were very good. Several of the kids shot their first 25, 50, 75 or 100, as evidenced by the number of hats that were used for target practice at the end of the day. The individual AIM winners: pre-sub, Zack Knorr, 187; sub-junior, Josh Wilcox, 197; junior, Hunter Seymore, 198; senior, Joe Brennan, 195; and ladies’, Breanna Rodrigues, 197.

The CGSTA State Shoot was held June 16-21. Overall attendance was down slightly, but with the COVID-19 restrictions in California, that’s not too surprising. The all-around totals were 889 for 2019 and 847 for 2020. Weather cooperated for most of the week, with temperatures in the 90s. The first championship event was doubles on Friday morning, which was won by Logan Engelman with the lone 98. Saturday’s Singles Championship went to Chayton Vega with the sole 200 straight. The Handicap Championship was held on Sunday, and Jacob Ridge (19) prevailed over Jeff Cook (27), John McNally Jr. (26) and Troy Guenthart (20) after 95s in the event. Doug Goodloe reached the 27-yard line for the first time with his 93 from 26.5. Good shooting, Doug! Wade Stanfill’s 1,041 secured the HOA award by six over Dakota Zaugg, and Seymore (386) beat Devin Huguenot by one for all-around honors.

As a past member of the CGSTA Board of Directors, I know there is a lot of work involved in conducting the California State Shoot. Thanks to the entire CGSTA board for their diligent efforts to provide us with a successful shoot.

The Western Zone was held July 17-19, and shooters at Kingsburg GC collected 19 Zone trophies. There were several multiple trophy winners. Sub-junior Cory Walker was category champion in the class singles, class day handicap and championship singles with 200. Seymore was junior champion in the class singles, class doubles (with his first 100 straight), championship singles and both the all-around and HOA. Landon Azevedo took runnerup honors in both handicap events after 97 in the class and 99 in the championship. Tristen Mathews was champion of the class day handicap with 99, while Douglas King was sub-vet champion with 96 and Emilio Carvalho took home the junior award with 97. The class doubles yielded several winners, with Tyler Cassara taking AA, 96; Karl Alger, B, 96; Tian Zihao, D, 92; Rich Davis, veteran, 96; and Zaugg, sub-junior, 95. The final trophy went to Elias Merhy for his 199 in the championship singles, securing the AA award.

I would like to congratulate the 2020 California Trapshooting Hall of Fame inductees, Paulette Graham and Danny White. Paulette and Danny were introduced by previous HofF inductees David Bonillas and Robert Terry, and their individual lists of shooting accomplishments were very impressive. If you can make it to next year’s California State Shoot, be sure to stop by and check out the new Trapshooting Hall of Fame building.

Hopefully COVID-19 will be a thing of the past in the near future, and we will all be able to enjoy the 2020-2021 target year without worry or restrictions. Shoot well!

Steve Cloyd

ATA Delegate

 

Utah

The state shoot has come and gone. We had good attendance and good scores. Spanish Fork GC, along with the state association, ran a very nice shoot. Weather was excellent, at least until Sunday. It seems to be the norm lately.

Event entries were on par with previous state shoots at Spanish Fork, which I find very encouraging with the COVID-19 situation. Seventeen states were represented with shooters from as far away as New York, North Carolina and Florida.

The target-setting committee (Joe Sudbury, Sean Hawley, Sharred Oaks, Steve Johnson and John Yorky) set excellent targets, reminiscent of days gone by.

Some of the highlights of the shoot, besides the champions:

Jerri Harwell earned her very first yardage punch by breaking a 97 from the 19-yard line. Then to prove it wasn’t a fluke, the next day she backed it up with a 98 and earned a second yard.

Eighteen-year-old Madison (aka, Maddie) Hutchings broke back-to-back 96s in the preliminary and championship handicaps, earning Lady I titles in both events. In the championship event, she ran the back half for her first-ever 50 straight. Proud father Ken was beaming as much as she was. Maddie shared with me that she will be departing this fall to attend William Penn University in Iowa. She said that she received a shooting scholarship. Best of luck, Maddie!

In the championship events, Scott Syme broke the lone in-state 200 to win the state singles title. Chris Kinder broke the lone in-state 99 to win the state doubles title. Randall Thomson posted the lone in-state 98 for the handicap championship. Not only did Randall win the handicap, but the score gave him the last 36 inches he needed to reach the back fence for the first time ever! Quint Sudbury was the victor in the all-around after a shootoff with Scott Syme, and Sharred Oaks won the high-over-all.

There was a fundraiser for the family of Dalton Van, a junior shooter who tragically lost his life in an auto accident. Targets were provided for free by Joe and Deb Sudbury.

Annie Oakley prizes for the evening were provided by the Friends of Vernal Rod & Gun Club. All proceeds went to the Van family.

Ardith Stitt, longtime AIM coordinator, finally retired from the position (for the second time) after 20 years at the helm. The state association took donations and provided Ardith a Browning BT-99 for her services. Thanks, Ardith, for your past support.

Those attaining milestones during the state shoot: John Vosnos shot at and broke his 100,000th handicap target. Bruce Bachman shot at and broke his 100,000th singles target and attained his 100,000 handicap target during July. He will probably achieve his 100,000 milestone on doubles sometime late this year or early next year. These two shooters have been around a long time and have shown their dedication to this great sport of ours.

Ed Wehking

ATA Western Zone Vice President

Washington

I hope this finds you all having a good summer and finding ways to stay occupied, even with a less active shooting season than we are used to here in Washington. As for myself, I’ve about run out of shot, my guns are really clean, and I’m almost bored enough to box up all the shells I’ve loaded so I can find other uses for the five-gallon buckets. I might even start cleaning up the reloading room.

A few of us have had the good fortune to shoot some ATA targets in Idaho. In Washington the Coulee City SC held a good shoot on July 5, and the Colton GC was again able to be a site for the Western Zone in July. We were happy to have two Zone title winners who were competing at Colton. Orofino, ID, sub-junior Bruce Bradley earned the handicap title in his category with a sound 98 on Sunday, while Jessica Pelissier of Endicott, WA, took home the Lady I handicap crown with 96. Jessica has had some great success in singles competition since her start as an ATA competitor. Her score at Colton earned her a first-ever yardage punch.

I’d also like to congratulate 2019 WSTA Hall of Fame inductee Jim Dahmen in shooting his 50,000th doubles target during the Zone at Colton. Jim admitted to me that he put two brand-new shells in the gun for that last pair. I don’t know if it was out of superstition, or if he was worried the powder tube on his Pacific had run dry during that batch, but at any rate, he smoked ’em!

By the time you read this, you will already know that the rescheduled Washington State Shoot happened on Labor Day weekend, or that it wasn’t able to happen due to COVID-19 restrictions and that we are hoping for a weekend in October to shoot the all-around events and at least have some form of something we can call the 2020 WSTA Championships. Please watch the WSTA website to see what is and what is not happening as well as the Washington State Trapshooters Facebook page.

I’d like to talk about one shooter from the Evergreen State who has been traveling and having great success. Garrett Schlimmer has brought home trophies from the Western Grand and Utah, Wyoming, Oregon and Idaho state shoots. Garrett is always a threat in any event, and while shooting activities have been limited for some of us, it has been great to follow his adventures, all the while wishing we were there.

For those of you whose clubs had shoots on the schedule in Washington that were canceled, please send your WSTA handicap buckle back to our treasurer Brian James. Brian will have the maker of these trophies change the year on the buckle, and some lucky shooter can win them at your shoot in 2021.

Since I brought up the traditional WSTA buckle, it might be good to talk about this tradition. The WSTA gives one buckle per year to each club hosting ATA shoots. These are nice silver buckles with a silver dollar centerpiece. Each club can also purchase extra buckles. During my 22-year ATA career, I have often heard shooters say, “I can only shoot one day this weekend, so I think I’ll go on Sunday because that’s the day the buckle is the trophy.” It does seem that there are one or two more handicap squads on a day when the WSTA belt buckle is the championship trophy. This is a tradition the WSTA is proud of. Some of you who hail from other states may want to come win one! Bruce Bradley is starting to make it a habit.

Hopefully I get to see you at some shoots this fall as well. We will keep hoping that you are safe, this COVID situation has been corralled, and Washington and our country can get up to full steam. I think I’ll get some more shot and keep filling up those empties, which I’ve been accused of hoarding.

Shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Sean Lewis

ATA Alternate Delegate

Wyoming

The Utah State Shoot was held at Spanish Fork GC during the last week of June. There were 239 shooters who attended, with seven from Wyoming. Temperatures were hot all week, but the targets were nice and scores were high. Hunter Howe, Mark Fruechte, Steve Gudahl and Kevin Quitberg all brought trophies home. Members of the Utah youth shooting team and Vernal R&GC held fun shoot fundraisers for the late Dalton Van and his family, raising over $3,000.

The following week was the Wyoming State Shoot held by the Rocky Mountain GC in Casper. The week started off windy and didn’t get much better in the following days. Overall, it was a good turnout, bringing 244 total shooters with 121 being Wyoming residents. Championship winners were Hardy Musselman, singles, HOA and HAA; Thomas Rezanina, doubles; and Jeff Horton, handicap. Friday night we held two Annie Oakleys: one for sub-juniors and one for juniors. The sub-junior winners were Gauge Howe, Abbie Blackwell and Brett Gara, and the junior winners were Hunter Howe, Ty Blackwell and Chad Frericks Jr. Next year’s state shoot will be held in Torrington. Overthrust GC had its annual pig roast buckle shoot. The scores were good, and there were several firsts. Nick Lawlar shot his best-ever singles score of 96 during the first hundred targets and backed it up by shooting his first 50 and then 75 straight, finishing with a 99, giving him a total of 195. It was just a few short months ago he was working hard to get his first 25. Jared Peay also shot his first 75 straight, finishing the day with a 198 after two 99s. A standout on Sunday was Joe Sudbury shooting a 99 in doubles, 98 in the first hundred handicap targets, and a 97 in the second hundred. I always like shooting with Joe, and over the last few years we have become good friends. If there is one person who I like to beat the most, it’s definitely him. It doesn’t happen often and didn’t happen on Sunday. Maybe some day I can shoot like Joe.

Farson and Wheatland had shoots in July as well.

Cheyenne hosted the Western Zone for Wyoming. There were 58 Wyoming shooters, with most of them competing at the Cheyenne location. Don Berry, John Kelly, Gary Wilson, Ty Berry and James Butler all won Zone trophies. Spanish Fork GC led all locations with 31 trophies awarded and 131 shooters. During the Handicap Championship, I had the pleasure of shooting with Grayson Stuart, who shot the lone 100 to win the Zone championship and complete his ATA Grand Slam. Grayson is one of the youngest shooters to accomplish this feat.

There will be a report on the Idaho State Shoot in next month’s issue.

Gillette, Evanston, Torrington, Cheyenne, Casper, Buffalo, Rawlins, Lusk, Douglas and Laramie all had shoots in August. I hope you were able to attend some of them.

Until next time, keep shooting and remember to have fun.

Nico Elardi

WSTA Director

Illinois

As you read this, you already know we were forced to cancel the Illinois State Shoot. I want to personally apologize for that decision to our shooters both in Illinois and across the Midwest. It was agonizing for the board to do this, but we felt we had no other choice. Let’s hope for a vaccine so we can come back bigger and better next year.

On a happier note, Illinois shooters have been shooting very well at state shoots across the Midwest. There are so many shoots I can’t talk about them all, so please refer to shoot reports in Trap & Field Magazine. I do want to mention a few shooters who have been doing extremely well: Chase Horton, Ian Lawrence, Frank Haynes, Mike Dennis and Frank Payne have been shooting lights-out wherever they have shown up. I am looking forward to watching you and all other Illinois shooters at the Grand.

While I am on the subject of the Grand, I really want to thank the Missouri Trapshooting Association for hosting it this year. It is a monumental thing to host a shoot like this, and the fact they took this on speaks volumes for their commitment to trapshooting.

I want to recognize some Illinois shooters who are reaching milestones. Consuelo Aguilera will soon reach 100,000 combined targets. Richard Anderson will soon have 50,000 singles targets. Harvey Schultz and Garrett Helms are reaching 25,000 singles targets. David Coles and Ian Lawrence are homing in on 25,000 doubles. You can’t win if you don’t show up and shoot. Good job, all of you, for your commitment to our sport.

On a sad note, Carl Haven, husband of Betty Haven of Embroidery By Betty, recently passed away. Carl was a fixture in Betty’s tent at any shoot they were at across the Midwest. Carl was a great guy and will be missed by the trapshooting community. My condolences go out to Betty and her family.

One of the duties of a Delegate is to certify a new club that wants to start to shoot ATA targets. I recently went to The Diamond Indoor Trap Range at Diamond, IL, to do this. I have been shooting trap for more than 50 years and have never seen an indoor range. Not knowing what to expect, I pulled up to the facility and was completely impressed. Leon and Christy Baine have built a well-thought-out, first-class experience for shooters. Everything about it screamed to me their commitment to registered shooting, and I am looking forward to going back to shooting there.

Bill Duncan

ATA Delegate

Indiana

Greetings, Indiana shooters! What a crazy year this has turned out to be. If anyone had predicted back when it first hit in March that we would still be dealing with this COVID stuff in September, then you definitely deserve to say, “I told you so” to many people, myself included. But I am very pleased to say that we somehow pulled off a successful 2020 Indiana State Trapshooting Championships against all odds.

It was certainly not the “easy” year that I thought it would be as ITA president, but to overcome the challenges we were forced to deal with for this year’s shoot, I must say in hindsight it makes it even more rewarding. I want to extend a sincere thanks to every person I have had the pleasure to serve with on the ITA Board of Directors these past eight years, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to make the Indiana State Shoot the best it can possibly be.

Congratulations to all of our 2020 Indiana State Shoot trophy winners! Devon Harris was our singles champion this year, posting the only 200 straight resident score. Chrissy Byrd took home the doubles championship with the sole 98, and congrats to our handicap champion Garl Gresley with the lone 99. Garl also took home the HOA and HAA championships. I want to personally thank every shooter who came to the Indiana State Shoot this year, particularly for your patience and understanding as we navigated through this current pandemic.

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

Michigan

As I write this, the COVID-19 epidemic continues to impact trapshooting and just about everything else in Michigan. The rescheduled Spring Team Shoot at the Mason homegrounds was canceled as a result of the 100-person assembly limit. With a 100-person limit, about 17 squads would be possible because the cashiers, scorekeepers, trap loaders and spectators all count toward the limit. If you have 17 squads, or 85 shooters, and 167 belt buckles, it just doesn’t make sense to have a team shoot. I trust that everyone will understand when we hand out the 2020 belt buckles in 2021. At present, there is no word when the 100-person limit might change. Ingham County, where the MTA Homegrounds is located, is a current hotspot, and when the students return to Michigan State University, it’s not likely to get better quickly. Lansing, the biggest city in Ingham County, has very recently announced that all schools will be remote-only this fall, with no “in classroom” instruction.

The board has been asked what we are doing about the target requirements for the state team. The requirements we expected to use are found on Page 25 of the 2020 MTA shoot program. With few or maybe no shoots at Mason, the board recognized that these requirements were too high. The board decided to cut the target requirements in half, and if the result was not evenly divisible by 100, round down to the nearest 100. As an example: the men’s handicap requirement was 1,500 targets, divide it in half for 750. As 750 is not evenly divisible by 100, round down to 700, which is the new men’s handicap target requirement.

The good news in all this is that the smaller clubs in Michigan are holding shoots, and checking your Schedule of Invitational Events will show many opportunities to shoot registered targets in Michigan. Stay safe, stay well, use common sense, and soon we all will be going back to the trapshooting events we enjoy.

1. B. Lewis

ATA Delegate

Minnesota

Greetings from the North Star State. It is hard to believe that by the time you read this, we will have returned from the Grand in Linn Creek, MO, and the Heartland Grand at the Stockdale GC will also be in the history books. The announcement that the Iowa State Shoot was canceled sent many of us who were in Missouri for the state shoot scurrying for our computers and phones to pre-squad and get camping spots for the North Dakota State Shoot in Bismarck. The Capitol City GC did a great job of hosting what was the largest North Dakota State Shoot in many years. Weather was a bit breezy on Thursday, but it was hot with light winds for the remainder of the shoot. Those Minnesotans who made the trip were well represented in the winner’s circle, led by Morgan Nodsle, who won the top award for non-residents on Sunday after a 96 and one round in the shootoff. Congratulations to Morgan! Many of you know that Morgan is one of the ringleaders (along with Vicky Townsend) in the office at our state shoot. Former resident Zach Warweg tied for the singles championship with 200 but was not as successful in the shootoff. Dean Neumann was the non-resident winner in the Friday handicap with 98. Other trophy winners from Minnesota were Troy Haverly, Cindy Townsend, Frank Redfield, Todd Zych, George Pappas, Peter Walker, Chris Munson, Randy Cook, Anthony Klassen, Bernie Merchlewitz Jr., Shawn King, Jack Knaus, Jason Vlasak, Dave Matheson and Eric Munson.

As I am writing this, the Central Zone is going on, and one of the sites is St. Cloud. The shoot is being contested at eight gun clubs throughout the Zone. There were 53 shooters in St. Cloud for the class singles on Friday.

Next month I hope to report on a very successful effort by the Missouri Trapshooting Association as they work to host the Grand. Hopefully you had a chance to attend the Grand in Linn Creek, or if that doesn’t work out, you were able to get to Ackley, IA, and participate in the 13th Heartland Grand at the Stockdale GC.

Until next month, stay safe and shoot well. As usual I can be reached at 507-456-2000 or [email protected].

Paul T. Cyr

for ATA Delegate Randy Jones

Ohio

“It is with a very heavy heart that I report that southeastern zone director Ed Detty passed away July 21. Please keep Ed’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Ed had a passion for trapshooting and outdoors. With Ed serving on the OSTA board for only a short time, I feel obligated to recognize his enormous contributions to the board as well as the shooters in Ohio. Ed’s energy and positive attitude would be welcomed by any organization, and I feel fortunate to have had him contribute to the legacy of the OSTA. He will be missed and spoken of often.

“Tim Hunsaker, 2020 OSTA president.”

With shooting starting to resume, I encourage everyone to get out and support your local gun clubs. Like every other small business during this pandemic, they need all the support we can give them.

Mike Blair

ATA Delegate

Wisconsin

Let’s start at the Kentucky State Shoot that I shot at. I checked out of my hotel, and the attendant had on a name tag. I said to him, “Kermit, your name is Kermit?” For a moment, I did not say anything, my mind was saying to be careful of what you say. So I said, “That is a cool, unique name.” Kermit said, “That is very kind of you to say because most people say, ‘like the frog?’ ” Remember that words can cut deeply.

This was my first time attending the Kentucky State Shoot—what a fun place! State association president John Kerr ran a great trapshoot, even with lacking helpers, as it was the Fourth of July . I did score and clean up shells, and so did other shooters and wives of shooters. We are all family. I did end up with a singles 100 pin and winning one more singles, two handicap, one doubles runnerup (tied for first and flipped). Greg Arneson shot a good score of 96 to win in 25-26. There were four shooters from Wisconsin who ventured to Kentucky.

The Wisconsin State Shoot, the one we wait for all year long, was fantastic to me. I have been to many states’ shooting grounds, and I have not seen one this nice. The grounds were groomed, the field in front was mowed, the signs were posted for what to do for COVID, targets were loaded in the houses, staff was ready to rumble. Shooters from many states come to shoot orange targets in the sky.

Fritz Thistle, our president, ran a wonderfully organized shoot. Having many volunteers and staff do their part helps make his job easier. We are very fortunate to have the Nekoosa students score and load traps. Thank you, Brian, for organizing them. Our clean-up man Jim kept the grounds looking neat with two small passengers, Bri and Mac Stevens. Food vendors kept the shooters fed, and Recob’s kept the traphouses full of targets in the mornings.

Without the sponsors that we have, our shoot would not have such nice trophies. A special thank you to Dennis Minks for creating the spreadsheets and handing out trophies with me and David Stanonik. Thank you to these fine companies that sponsor your trophies: WTA for Moser Singles, Red Wing Kennel Handicap, new event sponsor Bruce Davis Doubles, Eau Claire Rod & Gun Doubles, Elite Shotguns Handicap, YZ’s Body Shop Singles, White Flyer Singles, White Flyer Handicap, new event sponsor Fiocchi Doubles, Ho-Chunk Gaming Doubles, CZ-USA Handicap, Kolar Arms Singles, Recob’s Target Shop Handicap, MEC Outdoors HAA and Manitowac Gun Club HOA. So far I do believe these companies will be on board for 2021, but if you would like to inquire about sponsoring, please contact me. The trophies arrived on time from Tilden Trophies, Sterling Cut Glass, Prize Possessions, Wendell August, Shamrock Leathers, Alyssa Jack Designs, Fiocchi, Monarch and Scheels All Sports. Thank you for your support and working with me all winter to have a great variety of trophies. Coordinating the trophies takes about six months of organizing and days after the shoot doing reports. I enjoy this job. We were not able to have our fish fry or raffles, but John Coniff made up for this with a live auction. T-shirts and a few drawings were held at the YZ and Chops table. Donation from Lehmann’s was much appreciated for the silent auction, along with all of the items that were donated.

Now for the doubles, singles and handicap champions. Doubles Championship champion was George Hass with the only 100. Very nice shooting. Runnerup went to Jonathan Denman with a fantastic 99. Singles champ David Galston shot the only 200 that day. He said it was his first 100, and, of course, his first 200. Runnerup was Brad Schultz with 199. Brad and Samantha also won the husband-wife event. Handicap champion Russell Slaby shot in the wind and had a sweet 97. Runnerup Josh Stauber was not far behind with 96, also in the wind. Hass, with 391, did it again to win the top HAA spot, and runnerup Denman was three targets behind. By now you can figure out the HOA champion was Hass with 1,070 and runnerup was Denman with 1,056. Congratulations to these fine, fantastic, good, great, awesome shooters. For all the results, you can check the Wisconsin page, and the article in this issue. It takes a lot of work for Trap & Field to organize the article.

Our first singles, Event 1, has a special trophy that many shooters want. A mad scramble to be on the first squad, Post 1, happens every year to win the first 100 singles resident buckle. This is an honor for WTA, and this year it went to a fine gentleman, Ed Borske. Congrats to you, Ed.

With the first national anthem for the shoot being sung, I noticed the new flagpole. Fritz is working on a new PA system that is much needed for the opening of each day. In the flagpole photo, notice the top ornament. Fritz had this to say: “I coordinated and paid for all things flagpole-related. Those who helped were Dan Gallagher (found them in Janesville and hauled), Joe Terry (welded together), Glen Grabski (formed), Chuck Hilgendorf (dug holes and installed), Chops (installed), Y. Z. (installed), Bill Davis (paint), and Esther Thistle (touch-up paint). Tops created by BDT Custom Shop in Rapids. Aren’t the target and shooter on top unique? Very proud it came together and got done before state.”

Try to attend the 82nd annual Fall Trapshooting Championship at Gateway GC Sept. 17-20. Added money and fun at a very unique club. Check it out at www.gateway-lodge.com.

Please thank your board members, Delegate, president, staff, volunteers, vendors and sponsors. Most of us are volunteers either sharing our time or donating money, or both. Please step up and help when you can. I did notice Tyler Buchanan helping out with target-setting and lots of other duties when needed. Nice to see a young person helping; we need more of you. Be like Tyler and learn from the best for the future of shooting.

As shooting starts to come to a slow-down, remember to volunteer at your club, getting it ready for winter. Preparing for 2021 takes all of you pitching in. E-mail me at [email protected] with any news you would like me to share. Remember to smile; I am.

Sandra Jo Jack

for ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring

Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces. Tickets for this year’s annual Petitcodiac SC and Atlantic Provinces Trapshooting Association’s gun lottery sold out in less than a week. Only 100 of the $100 tickets were printed for a chance to win a Caesar Guerini Summit Trap. Good luck, and thanks to all supporting this fundraising effort.

The St. John’s R&GC has started Phase 2 of its trapfield improvement project. Phase 1 was completed in 2019 and included a traphouse replacement and much-needed landscaping improvements. Phase 2 includes replacing another traphouse and the shooting pad/walkways on this trapfield. Phases 3 and 4 will include replacing the three remaining trapfield shooting pads/walkways in 2021 and 2022—just in time for the 2022 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot.

The 2020 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot will be going ahead in a satellite format this year. Local provincial COVID-19 restrictions, rules and regulations were making a traditional one-location shoot difficult to organize, so it was decided that a satellite shoot for this year made the most sense. The Petitcodiac SC (NB), Highland GC (NS), St. John’s R&GC (NL) and Stephenville SC (NL) will be host clubs. The 2021 shoot will return to the Highland GC in Nova Scotia in a traditional one-location format.

Some sad news to report this month. On July 12 Paul Bailey, known to most as Old Man Bailey or just OMB, passed away at the age of 87. Paul, son-in-law Jeff and a family friend were spending a few days on the Eagle River in Labrador on a salmon fly-fishing trip. Shortly after arriving on the river for a morning fish, Paul left this world the way he would have wanted—fly fishing and enjoying one of his favourite pastimes. Part of me believes OMB knew his time was coming to an end and wanted that one last trip to the Eagle River. I don’t think he could have scripted it any better.

I first met Paul in 2003 after he retired and moved to NL to be closer to his daughters and immediate family. Even though Paul was 40 years older than me, we became good friends and shared a lot of common interests. We enjoyed fly fishing for salmon, shot together, and traveled to trap competitions across Canada and south of the border. Paul even took me to Florida for the 2013 Southern Grand for my 40th birthday and was a regular on the annual Florida and Southern Grand trip with Peter and John Tucker and Monty Petipas. We’re going to miss the old fella and the stories, the friendship, the trips and the good times we all shared.

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

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

 

New Jersey

It is July 24, and I’m up in Cicero, NY, at the finish of the rescheduled Empire Grand and the start of the 2020 ATA Eastern Zone Shoot. Weather throughout the tri-state area has seen triple digit temperatures with high humidity.

The 2020 New Jersey State Shoot is finally in the books, having been pushed back six weeks due to “gathering” limitations imposed by the governor here in the Garden State. Looking at the makeup of the shooters attending our state shoot, the number of residents attending was down 11% from last year, whereas out-of-state shooters were down only one person from the previous year. The percentage of total shooters were 52.6% resident and 47.4% non-resident. We thank all our non-resident shooters for coming.

The number of big events in the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania area could easily break someone’s bank account. The Pennsylvania Grand started it off the Fourth of July weekend. Forty-three Garden State shooters attended all or part of the three-day tournament. David E. Brown Sr. led the trophy winners with three, followed by Thomas Green Sr. and James Shire with two; and Gene Moir Jr., Ray Padovani, Rick Batesko, Dan Brandreth, David E. Brown Jr. and Lorren Livingston Jr. with one.

The following weekend, besides the New York State Shoot, was the rescheduled Delaware State Shoot in New Jersey at Pine Belt SC, and a huge contingent of local shooters participated. Weather was nice for the first day of the shoot, but on Friday Mother Nature, in the form of a coastal depression, caused so much rain in the area that Events 4, 5 and 6 were canceled. The remainder of the weekend was fine.

Leading the New Jersey shooters with trophies was David E. Brown Jr. with six; followed by Susan Emma with five; Bob Malmstedt, Angelina Moir and Dan Brandreth with four; Elizabeth Corson, Gene Moir Jr., Ralph Jensen, Scott Kalnas, George Wright and David E. Brown Sr. with two; and Tom Wolf, Steve Siegert, Zak Cucunato, Ray Padovani, Michael Stevenson, Robert Jarvis, Ray Grab, Marc Invidiato, Tom Clarke, John Martin, John Messeroll, Rick Batesko and Gil Pleczynski with one. During the second hundred of the singles event, John Horgan shot at and broke his 25,000th registered singles target. Congrats, John!

July 16 was the first day of the New Jersey State Shoot. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s, which brought the shooters out by the score; that’s multiples of 20, i.e., “four score and 7 years.” The singles was up 67 shooters, and handicap was up 27 from the previous year. I guess the temperature did get to some of the shooters because Event 3 was down 14 shooters in the doubles (not bad for the first day). Friday was overcast in the morning with a very brief shower, which caused some folks to stay home; we were down 27 shooters total for the day. Saturday was the exact number we had the previous year, and Sunday’s two events were both up 10 shooters each—not too bad for our state shoot during a pandemic! Thanks to Jeff Slimm, all the day’s scores were posted on Trapshooters.com for those shooters not able to attend.

The New Jersey ATA singles champion is Keith Guinn; his score of 199 was the sole entry for the 212 state resident and non-resident entries. The New Jersey ATA doubles champion is Ray Padovani. He defeated Justin Malone in a shootoff after 96s. The New Jersey ATA handicap champion is Bryan Garrison. He led the 169 entries with a 97 from the 20-yard line. Padovani was resident runnerup, with a 96 from 22.5. The all-around and high-over-all titles were also won by Ray, with 388 and 947, respectively. Full coverage of our state shoot is in this issue. During Event 6, Carlos Gomes posted a 96 in the Gun for Hire Handicap, reaching the 27-yard line. Congratulations.

It was good to see Joseph Lombardi back on the trapline at this year’s state shoot. We expect to see a lot more of Joseph breaking clays in the future. Welcome back!

The New Jersey Hall of Fame induction was held on Saturday afternoon under the pavilion. Steve Burick was the main speaker for Earl Pagliughi, who was being honored posthumously. Bob Malmstedt was the speaker for George Wright. George’s wife Nyda was in attendance. I had ordered a sheet cake on Thursday for the ceremony. I asked Paul Dimeglio to go down to the supermarket to pick it up at 2 p.m. on Saturday. I am out shooting my second hundred, and I get a call from Paul, “They don’t have a cake for the Hall of Fame!” Quick-thinking Paul had two cakes decorated, one for Earl and one for George. There were no complaints, and there was no cake left, either.

The following morning at 8:30 a.m., the annual membership meeting was held in the pavilion. Elections of all officers and state ATA Delegate and Alternate were up for grabs. There were no nominations from the floor. The new president of NJSTA for a two-year term is Paul Dimeglio, first vice president is Sam Osterhoudt, state treasurer is John Zultanky, ATA Delegate is Joe Sissano, and Alternate Delegate is Robert Malmstedt. State directors are Steve Burick, Thomas Green Sr., Stephen Lokos, Zultanky and Robert Battista.

The north-south zone trophy was won by the team from the south with a score of 980 to north’s 978. We normally take the scores of those shooters who attended their respective zones. This year, because the 2020 southern zone had to be rescheduled to the 2021 target year in September because of the pandemic, we just used the five high scores from each zone. The members of the southern zone team were Keith Guinn, 198; Gene Moir Jr., 198; Patrick Shujack Jr., 195; Robert Jarvis, 194; and Thomas Green Sr., 194. Congratulations to all the winners!

I would like to thank the outgoing president of our association, Tom Wolf, for all he has done behind the scenes to keep our organization moving forward. He took on the reins of treasurer after the passing of Rudy Torlini. Also I would like to thank Steve Burick, Robert Battista and Tom for distributing the trophies during the state shoot, especially on Sunday afternoon, when it really gets chaotic.

Next up was the rescheduled Empire Grand in Cicero, NY. Five shooters from New Jersey made the trip up to the Finger Lakes region. David E. Brown Jr. led the trophy winners with five, Angelina Moir won two, and Gene Moir Jr. won one.

We have club championship shoots at Pine Valley Sept. 5-6, with the Toots Tindall Shoot on the 7th. Pine Belt has their club championship Sept. 12-13. The 2021 New Jersey northern zone and the rescheduled 2020 New Jersey southern zone will be held on the same three-day weekend, Sept. 25-27. There will be resident zone trophies and non-zone trophies at both locations, so all you out-of-staters, come on over and win a trophy.

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

Joe Sissano

ATA Delegate

 

New York

I am wishing everyone health and wellness. During this time as I write this, we are still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and I hope everyone is staying healthy and in good spirits during this trying time. The Grand American had to move to Linn Creek, MO, this year, and many of our Canadian shooters cannot participate because the border has been closed.

The New York State Shoot for 2020 is now history, and the shoot went off very well. It was down about 12% from last year, which was to be expected because of COVID-19 issues and all the closings.

Jerry Quintal was the singles champion with 199 and a shootoff against Bob Edwards, who took veteran champion. Urban Womer took the doubles championship with 99, and Curt Robbins was the handicap champion with 95. Michael Fox Jr. won both the all-around and high-over-all with 385×400 and a 967×1,000. Congratulations to all trophy winners for their fine shooting. All winners can be viewed on our webpage www.nysata.com and in Trap & Field Magazine. There were a total of 743 shooters in the championship events, which makes the shoot a Competition Factor 4 for All-American points.

During the awards ceremony that took place after the Singles Championship and prior to shootoffs on Saturday, eastern zone vice president Dennis Hart thanked all those who participated in the Ronald McDonald Lewis class or gave prizes. High-average shooters and the New York state teams were introduced plus the New York members of the All-American teams. Western zone vice president Larry Daigler thanked all those who worked so hard to get the homegrounds in shape.

The four new persons who are being inducted into the New York State ATA Hall of Fame were introduced: James Flint, Richard Kenyon, Jeff Philiphar and Thomas Trembath. Congratulations.

The election of Delegate and Alternate Delegates took place. There were no other nominations except for those of the incumbents. Alternate Delegates remain Travis Dann and Todd Hosbach. I remain as the New York State Delegate.

A very big thank you from the officers and directors of the New York State ATA for all of those who participated and those who worked so hard to make the shoot a success.

Congratulations to New York shooter Tom Lamonica for having his first 100 straight in singles. The score took place at Bradford GC on June 28.

Some shooting milestones: Barney Knoeferl shot his 100,000th singles target at the PA Grand in Elysburg July 4. Roger Wing shot his 100,000th singles target at the New York State Shoot July 10. New York eastern zone vice president Dennis Hart shot his 100,000th doubles target at the New York State Shoot July 9. Congratulations on these fine shooting milestones and achievements.

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

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario, Canada. I write this article in late July. Our Eastern Zone competition is being shot at Cicero, NY, but I’m here in Canada unable to cross the border due to the COVID-19 lockdown. For us Canadians, it’s like we’re in jail and unable to get even a day pass to shoot a tournament south of the border.

We are still hopeful we can host our Ontario Provincial Championships at St. Thomas on the Labour Day weekend. Our OPTA board and the St. Thomas club have been working hard to get clarification of how we can host this competition within the provincial COVID-19 safety protocol. With outdoor sporting event participation maxing at 100 individuals, it takes a lot of creativity and planning to rotate shooters in and out of the shooting participation area and be able to comply with the regulations. This will be the only point shoot that any Ontarian has had since the Southern Grand in early March.

As the pandemic continues to rage, it is becoming more uncertain what the “new normal” will be. Embraces and handshakes are already a distant memory. Sneeze barriers and social distancing may be with us indefinitely. Plastic credit cards and debit will probably continue to replace reliance on cash. Big office settings are already giving way to people working remotely.

Many people tell me they won’t be returning anytime soon to crowded restaurants, theaters and sport arenas. Might that lead to what was all the rage decades ago with drive-in theatres, A&W drive-ins, take-out and pick-ups? Even after a vaccine, the new social habits may linger.

Enjoy trapshooting to the extent possible. We’re all in it together.

Paul Shaw

ATA Eastern Zone Vice President

Pennsylvania

Just after finishing the Pennsylvania State Shoot, we had 118 shooters make the trip west to the Ohio state tournament. Thirty-three Keystone shotgunners ended up earning 67 awards throughout the week, with Chris Vendel bringing home the biggest prize with the non-resident HAA championship and his category HOA to go along with his six other wins. Ian Darroch was right behind him with the non-resident HAA runnerup as one of his three awards. Deborah Ohye-Neilson (10) added category HAA and HOA titles, Wesley Beaver (five) won category HAA, Ken Darroch (two) earned category HAA, and Jerome Stefkovich (two) rounded out the cumulative titles with his category HAA win. Other PA winners included Hailley Ruhl (five), Frank Pascoe, Barb Parker, Neil McFadden, Curtis Paul (three), Kim Shefter, Donald Schaffer Jr. (two), Richard Daily Sr., Joel Etchen (two), Richard Stefanacci, Alan Deal, Robert Rumbaugh, Patrick Young, Brandon Deal (two), Paul Oyler, Robert Reese, Cody Davis, Tyler Brown (two), Edward Haregsin, William Ross, Donna Natcher, Luke Cowart, John Manetta II, Thomas Anderson, Don Neilson Jr., Brian James and Jeff Adams. Congratulations to all PA winners!

Next up was the PA Grand, which saw attendance increase over last year by 19.5%, with entries increasing overall by 447 (2,740) and 110 in the championship events (1,109), which earned the shoot an All-American point factor of five. Vendel continued his onslaught by winning the singles, handicap and HAA championships, while Jarod Ossman earned the doubles title and Ian Darroch captured the HOA title. Fantastic shooting by our event winners! Be sure to look for the full write-up in Trap & Field this month.

Next up we had 27 shooters earn 93 trophies at the New York State Shoot in Cicero. Vendel still didn’t let up the pressure as he earned 10 more awards, including the non-resident handicap championship, HOA championship and category HAA. Deborah Ohye-Neilson claimed stake to 12 wins, including category HAA and HOA, while Luke Cowart added eight to his resume with class HOA and category HAA titles, and Zeke Raub bringing home five trophies that included class HAA and HOA. Pennsylvania’s other cumulative titlists were Jonathan Hannahoe (two) with class HOA, Bert Schoonover (four) with category HAA, Timothy Burnett (four) with class HAA, Clare Schaffer (four) with category HOA, Cody Davis (four) with class HAA, Brendan Doorly (four) with class HAA, Jayden Stone (four) with category HAA, Nicholas Wertz (three) with category HAA, and Don Neilson Jr. (three) with his category HOA. Our other trophy winners include Crist Palmer (three), Ricky Blachek, John Manetta II, Genevieve Davis (two), Phyllis Rought (three), Frank Pascoe (three), William Ross (four), Criona Doorly (two), John Manetta (two), Donald Schaffer Jr., Stephen MacNeal (two), Joe Mizikowski (two), Brian Zick and David Snyder. Congratulations, everyone!

I’m also happy to report on a major milestone being achieved by one of our shooters. On July 17 Matthew Rebuck broke his first 200 straight in singles while shooting at the Valley G&CC Open Championships. Matt broke his first 100 straight at the same shoot just one year earlier. Congratulations, Matt, on beating the 94º heat and earning your first double-century!

Steve Ross

ATA Alternate Delegate