Atlantic Provinces

Hello from the Atlantic Provinces.

The St. John’s R&GC, located near the town of Holyrood in Newfoundland and Labrador, hosted the 2022 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot over the Labour Day weekend. For many shooters, this was the first time shooting at the club since the St. John’s R&GC completed their multi-year trap improvement project this past summer. New walkways on all four trapfields, two rebuilt traphouses and nicely landscaped grounds were the largest and most noticeable improvements undertaken by the club.

Ontario’s Bob Morphy won the Preliminary Singles after a carryover with five other shooters. Nova Scotia’s Alex Nickerson and Quebec’s Danny Boulet tied with 99s in the Preliminary Handicap and needed two extra rounds to decide the champion and runnerup spots. Nickerson bested Boulet 23-25 to 23-24 to claim the top award. Newfoundland’s Troy Coldwell won the Preliminary Doubles with 98.

In the ATA championship events, Nova Scotia’s Reynold d’Entremont won his second Atlantic Provinces singles title, while Newfoundland grandfather/grandson team of Tom McGarry and Maddox Benoit claimed the senior veteran and junior categories.

In the Doubles Championship, Troy Coldwell claimed an impressive 13th consecutive championship and fellow Newfoundland shooter Joe Rosa won runnerup. Herbie and Janaya Nickerson, father and daughter shooters from Nova Scotia, claimed the sub-veteran and Lady I category awards.

Nova Scotian Davis Atwood won his first Atlantic Provinces Handicap Championship and a one-yard punch to the 22-yard line. Gary Nickerson, also from Nova Scotia, claimed runnerup, and Morphy won his second open high-gun award of the tournament. Shootoffs were required to decide third through sixth places and open third and fourth.

The APTA held a raffle during the shoot to help the St. John’s R&GC upgrade their grass mowing equipment. Thanks to the generosity of those in attendance, a total of $3,500 was raised and will help the club retire their old push mower and purchase a zero turn ride-on mower, which will be better suited to the area club members currently maintain.

The 2023 Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot will return to the Highland GC in Yarmouth, NS, Aug. 31-Sept. 3.

The complete shoot report with event results, scores, pictures and shoot highlights can be found on www.shootatlantic.com.

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

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

New Jersey

Well, fall season arrived here in New Jersey on Sept. 22 with much cooler temperatures and high winds. The winds on the 23rd and the first day of the 2023 New Jersey northern zone up at the Fairfield club played havoc with the targets, and the scores bore that out.

There was a lot of competing here in New Jersey the end of August and the month of September; each weekend there was a two- or three-day shoot or more. August finished with the Jersey Devil on the 27th and 28th. The singles leaders were Robert Jarvis and David Shaeffer Jr. with 198s, Carlos Gomes won Saturday’s doubles in a carryover with Marc Invidiato. Sunday’s championship doubles leaders were Carlos Gomes and Marc Invidiato again, the handicap leaders on Sunday were Keith Barton and Donald Ignozza.

Pine Valley held their Club Shoot the following weekend, Sept. 3-4, Rangel Queiroz was the singles club champion, with Scott Kalnas taking the open title, senior veteran was Jim Caldwell, veteran was Steve Burick, lady was Lori McClure, and junior was Elie Farro. A class winner was Carlos Gomes, B was Joe Sissano, C was Santo Farro, and D was John Grieb.

The following day, Labor Day, was the annual Toots Tindall Lady Bird Shoot, where we recognize the women in our sport. The 100-bird singles event was led by Elie Farro, second was Joanna Couch, third was Lori McClure, fourth was Audrey Trinkle, and fifth Holly Fellows. The hundred-bird handicap was led by Elie, followed by Lori, Joanna, Holly and fifth place Audrey. The doubles were led by Santo Farro, Steve Burick second, Eduardo Bulaong third, Elie fourth, and John Horgan fifth.

The following week was the Northeastern Grand up in Cicero, NY. There were only three Garden Staters in attendance. Robert Jarvis and Sissano each won an award.

The Mallard TC in Monroe Township held their Club Championships Sept. 10. Greg Menshoff defeated Dan Fishman, 49 to 48 in a two-round shootoff after tying with 98s. Fishman settled for the open award. The A class winner was Carlos Gomes; B, Chris Palmer with Rich Leone runnerup; C, Mark Sciaraffo with Fortunato Orlando runnerup; D, Dave Allen with Dema Levylskyy runnerup.

The following weekend was Pine Belt’s Club Shoot Sept. 17-18 in Shamong. Dan Biggs led the singles with a lone 199, Rick Batesko and Rangel Queiroz topped the handicap, and Marc Invidiato paced the doubles. Rick Batesko was the HOA leader.

The last weekend in September was the northern zone for New Jersey on the 23rd through the 25th. As I mentioned earlier, much lower temperatures and high winds and erratic targets were the order of the day on Friday. The remainder of the weekend was sunny, calmer winds and warmer temperatures. I will just be listing the high scores for each event; a full shoot report will be appearing in a later edition of Trap & Field. Friday’s singles leader was Robert Jarvis. Uday Madasu was high in the handicap and doubles. Saturday’s singles were led by Mohy Kotb in Fairfield and Carlos Gomes at the satellite location at Pine Valley. Sunday’s handicap leaders in Fairfield were Justin Malone and Rangel Queiroz in Pine Valley; the doubles leaders were Marc Invidiato and Justin Malone in Fairfield and Scott Kalnas in Pine Valley. Justin also led the HAA and HOA standings.

Michael Chiarella broke his first 100 at the Poor Man’s Grand in August at the Pine Belt club. Continued success in our sport, Michael.

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

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

Joe Sissano

ATA Delegate

New York

Hello from New York State. I hope everyone is doing well and starting to enjoy the cooler autumn weather. If you are hunting, please remember hunting safety and be respectful of land owners’ property.

Some achievements for New York shooters for target attainment must be recognized. Charles Wildenstein registered his 25,000th doubles target. Shooters registering their 25,000th singles targets were John Cook, Randy Lineman, David Kestler and William Compton, Finally James Strickland registered his 75,000th singles target. Excellent work and keep it up.

The 37th Northeastern Grand American was held at our homegrounds in Cicero, ending Sept. 11. William Wallis was the singles champion with 200 and besting Brian Luther and Antonio Lobo, also with 200s, in shootoff. Carl Chadwell won the Doubles Championship with 99, and Ben Snyder was the handicap winner with 96. Finally Chadwell took the all-around and high-over-all trophies with 389×400 and 1,148×1,200. All trophy winners can be viewed on our webpage www.nysata.com and in Trap & Field Magazine.

This year’s Northeastern Grand American had a total of 655 shooters in the championship events, making the shoot a Competition Factor of 4 for All-American points. Thank you, all, for attending.

The annual meeting of the New York state ATA was held Thursday evening, Sept. 8 in the clubhouse at the homegrounds in Cicero during the 2022 Northeastern Grand. Elections were held for officers and directors of the New York State ATA. Jim Wright remains as president, Cathy Flint is secretary, Cam Zuller is the treasurer, and Jonathan Karp remains as legal counsel. Robert Oswald is the eastern zone vice president, along with eastern zone directors Susan Gullotta, Sal Schiavo and Vincent Barranco. The new vice president of the central zone is Chris Pollichemi, and central zone directors are George Hart, Jeff Bell and new central zone director Brian Luther. The western zone vice president is Larry Daigler, and western zone directors are Dan Tartick, Gary McKeown and Joe Regan. ATA Alternate Delegates that were elected during the state shoot in July are Travis Dann and Todd Hosbach. I remain as ATA Delegate.

A very large thank you and best wishes must be given to retiring central zone vice president Joe Macewicz and central zone director Jack McIlroy for all of their hard work and dedication to the New York state ATA. These two gentlemen did a wonderful job. You surely will be missed. Thanks for everything. The entire New York state officers and directors appreciate everything you did.

If you look on the ATA webpage, www.shootata.com, and click on the link for rule changes, you will find the rule changes that will be incorporated into the ATA rulebook effective Sept. 1, 2022. I highly recommend that you order an ATA rulebook online if you do not have one. It is very important that registered shooters know the ATA rules and follow them when shooting registered targets. Please remember, the ATA rulebook is a book of rules; it is not a book of suggestions.

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

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario, Canada.

Congratulations to Lloyd Beecraft, who was just announced as the captain of the veteran All-American Team.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, that any Ontario shooter has been the captain of any open or category team. Lloyd attended a lot of shoots, worked hard and shot well to achieve this result.

Congratulations as well to Verne Higgs, who made the sub-vet All-American Team. I made the senior vet All-American Team.

Ontario shooters have been able to (finally) get south of the border to some of the larger shoots and have done well. Hopefully these opportunities will continue in the 2022/23 target year.

And for those who live outside Ontario, please keep in mind that our province welcomes you at our tournaments.

Paul Shaw

ATA Delegate

Alabama

Knowing college football (especially the SEC) is starting, leaves are changing colors, it’s getting cooler (sort of), the days are getting shorter means only one thing. Fall is here!

The 2023 ATA All-American Teams have been announced. Congratulations to John White IV, open second team, and Larry Sexton, senior vet second team. Good shooting, guys!

Get out and support some of the local clubs in your area. I know times are bad and shell prices are up, but just think what the clubs are going through to keep their doors open just so you have a place to shoot.

The ATA Southern Zone Shoot for 2023 will be July 14-16 at the Silver Dollar in Odessa, FL; Central Kentucky GC in Berea, KY; and Coast R&PC in Biloxi, MS. Mark your calendar, and I hope you can make one of these locations for a fine shoot.

Thanksgiving is here, and I hope everyone will have the opportunity to share good thoughts and good food with family and friends.

Please read the rulebook!

Joke of the month: Funny business signs from across the country.

In front of a motel: “Now pet friendly! Except for bears. We’re not making that mistake again.”

“People write congrats because they can’t spell congrajlashins.”

“Swimsuit season is over, Krispy Kreme is here.”

Word of the month: Et: To have eaten. “You done et?”

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

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

Wayne Sartwell

ATA Delegate

Florida

Hello all from the most Southern, Northern State!

September starts Do Over Month!

Am I the only one who looks forward to September as “Do Over Month?” September is the beginning of the new target year, and I always get visions of grandeur of becoming a AAA-27-AAA shooter by the year’s end. Don’t we all? Of course we know that ain’t happening (for me anyway), but stranger things have happened. The point being is we all are starting with a clean slate. What choices are we going to make to reach our goals? What are we going to do to be better than we were the last year?

October in Florida

Florida shooters (at least speaking for myself) look forward to October for shooting. In case you haven’t heard, Florida gets hot! Between the heat and the humidity, the summer months are a bear to shoot through! A lot of our clubs suspend some of their shoots through the summer. But when October comes, all of our clubs start to increase registered shoots to accommodate all of the trapshooting starved shooters!

Valuable Information

As a Delegate, I receive a fair amount of calls asking questions about ATA rules or an opinion about a shooter being a cheat’n somebody (my favorite call by the way). But by far the No. 1 question is in regards to where to shoot and when are they shooting? There are several ways to find out:

One way is to visit floridatrap.com and click on “FTA Shoots” at the top header on the site. This is a good way to find more of the larger shoots. It is also a good idea if you are not familiar with the gun clubs in Florida to click on “Clubs” in that same top header. This will bring up the state of Florida map with the proximity of active gun clubs. This will also have the contacts for those clubs and additional information.

Another way is to visit shootata.com (the site we use to check our ATA shooting info). At the top of the page you will see “Clubs & Shoots.” Click on that, and it will bring up a map of the U.S. and all shooting Zones. This is labeled “Shoots-Clubs-States-Zones,” click on the state or Zone you have interest in. You will see that area highlighted, and over on the left and below the highlighted area you will see a list of the areas in that Zone. Click the one of interest. For example, I click Florida. All of the active gun clubs for Florida come up. Continuing the example, I click Imperial Polk Gun Club. The informational page for Imperial Polk GC comes up. At the top is gun club and contact information. Under that will be the club’s shoots. Down the left will have the dates of the shoots, and to the right of the dates will have the shoots. Side note: this can be a tad confusing because most of the time the shoots themselves have no names and a person can get the idea that there is not a shoot. No . . . it just means they did not name the shoot. Below the shoots you will see additional logistical information about the club and usually a Google map.

If this sounds confusing, you may just want to try going through what I tried to explain. You’ll see it’s pretty easy.

Shoots date are also availible in every issue of Trap & Field in Shoot Directory.

ATA Rule for the Month

Section VII. D. Failure To Fire (regarding doubles)

2. DOUBLES FAILURE TO FIRE—A contestant shall be allowed two failures to fire for any reason (other than stated in Paragraph C. 2.) during each doubles sub-event per the following:

FIRST AND SECOND DOUBLES FAILURE TO FIRE

If the failure is on the FIRST SHOT and the shooter DOES NOT SHOOT at the second target, nothing is established for either target, SHOOT THE PAIR OVER.

If the failure is on the FIRST SHOT and the shooter FIRES AT the second target, second target is established as shot. SHOOT THE PAIR OVER TO ESTABLISH THE FIRST TARGET ONLY.

If the failure is on the SECOND TARGET, first target is established as shot—SHOOT THE PAIR OVER TO ESTABLISH THE SECOND TARGET ONLY (See exception in VII., E.,11., f)

ALL ADDITIONAL (3 OR MORE) DOUBLES FAILURES TO FIRE

If the failure to fire is on the FIRST SHOT and the SECOND TARGET IS SHOT- first target is LOST, second target is scored as shot.

If the failure is on the FIRST SHOT and the SECOND TARGET IS NOT SHOT, first target is LOST, pair is shot over to establish second target only.

If the failure is on the SECOND SHOT and the FIRST TARGET IS SHOT, first target is scored as shot, second target is LOST.

3. Machine gunning or doubling only occurs in doubles events . . . The referee/scorer shall rule this occurrence a “failure to fire,” the results of which shall NOT be scored. The contestant shall be required to shoot the pair again and results scored accordingly.

Next month the responsibility of being a squad leader.

Congratulations to the following for making the All-American Team: Lady II first, Nancy Patterson; Lady II second, Lorrie Bumsted Valois; veteran second, Lewis Knack Jr.

Congratulations to Jim Cummings for breaking his first 100 straight! Alternate Delegate Dax Demena will gladly trade out the “99” straight patch you earned at the Grand for the 100 patch (inside joke).

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

My e-mail is [email protected].

Thanks for the opportunity to serve!

Mike Reynolds

ATA Delegate

Mississippi

It is usually a fun time to sit down at the computer and peck out a short news article on Mississippi trapshooting activities. But then there are times when it is not so much fun, especially when you must report on the loss of some of our trapshooting buddies who have been such an integral part of our Mississippi trapshooting community. Such is the case as I write this article.

Earlier this month we lost Jim Porter, one of our stellar trappers, a special friend and a true Southern gentleman. Yes, he took home his share of titles over a long career; but he was not just a taker of what our sport has to offer; he was also a giver. All the trappers knew Jim and held him in the highest esteem. Jim was the kind of shooter who took young shooters under his wing, taught them how to shoot and taught them the etiquette that goes along with it. Naturally he endeared himself to our youth and their parents as well. His sphere of influence was widespread, not just in Mississippi but across the ATA. You might be in Missouri or Tennessee or some other state talking to a vendor at a shoot, and all you had to do was say that you were from Mississippi. Your listener would say, “Do you know Jim Porter?” Yes, Jim was well known far and wide. Whether it was offering his help to relieve scorers and referees to reloading trap machines, Jim was your man. He came to trapshoots to shoot, but he also came to help. Jim made benches, gun racks, tables and who knows what else for our clubs, and the fruits of his work stand to this day as a testament to his skill and generosity. Was your shoot scheduled on Sunday? Jim would set up cowboy church for the faithful—that was Jim. I just wish I could hear Jim say, “Let ’er rip, tater chip” just one more time. Jim Porter will be missed for a long time to come.

Then there is another trapper we lost. In fact, I did not know of his loss for awhile afterward. Tony Kirk II was one of our promising young shooters who, in his short life, had already made his mark as a trapshooter. I can’t say I knew Tony that well, but I know his mom and dad, and that’s enough to know that young Tony came from some fine stock. He too will be missed for a long time to come.

Well, the shadows on our sunny days are reaching farther and farther across our trapfields as the sun dips deeper and deeper into the Southern sky. Fall is on the wane here in the sunny South, but our trapshooting is still strong. We’ve got monthly shoots at Capitol GC in Jackson and at Coast R&PC in Biloxi. Capitol also offers Big 50s every Thursday throughout the year, and Coast R&PC has leagues for their shooters looking for a steady diet of trapshooting. Check out either of these two fine venues for Southern trapshooting at its best.

On a final note, November is the month of Thanksgiving, and we have a lot for which to be thankful. Here’s an interesting thought for you to consider. Trapshooting differs from a lot of our favorite sports; i.e., our youngsters can go to the trapline as soon as they can safely handle a shotgun and old-time codgers can return to the line as long as they can get there, even if on a wheelchair. Trapshooters come in all shapes and sizes, no matter if male or female or race or creed, even from around the world. However, the interesting part is that they are all competitive, and any one of these diverse trapshooters can beat the other. Trapshooting is unique, all-inclusive and steeped in history and tradition. I say thank you for our sport and all the friends and fun and memories that we share. Happy Thanksgiving, and, as always, happy trappin’!

Jerry Tharp

ATA Delegate

South Carolina

Let’s start with good news. Dave Reynolds, our trap director at Greenville GC, received a promising health report at his last check-up. Keep him on your prayer list, as he still has a way to go. The rest of the good news is that Dave was awarded the “Quilt of Valor” award for his service in the Navy during the Vietnam War era. Congrats, Dave, and prayers.

I am writing this on Sept. 25. The Dixie Grand starts on the 27th. The weather forecasters show the hurricane that is due to hit Florida will come straight up through Georgia and South Carolina to Bostic, NC, on Friday, the 30th. I am hoping the forecasters are wrong, as they frequently are.

Our planning meeting for our 2023 state shoot is scheduled for the first part of November, so if you have constructive suggestions or would like to volunteer to help, contact your area director, so they can be discussed and scheduled.

Congratulations to Teresa Knight and Milan Campbell for their All-American honors for the 2022 target year. Great shooting!

Please keep Jerry Tuten in your prayers; I hope we can report good news on him next month.

Shoot well and shoot often.

Jim Faber

ATA Delegate

Tennessee

By now most trapguns have been cleaned and stored for the next few months. However, it’s a good time to decide which shoots you want to attend in 2023.

The Southern Grand is March 12-19 at the Silver Dollar. Florida State Shoot is March 21-26 at the Silver Dollar. Georgia State Shoot is April 27-30 at South River GC in Covington, GA. South Carolina is May 17-21 at Spartanburg GC. Mississippi is May 25-28 at Capitol GC in Jackson. Alabama is June 1-4 (AIM May 31) at Dixie TC in Mathews. North Carolina is June 7-11 at Bostic. Tennessee is June 15-18 (AIM June 13-14) in Nashville. West Virginia is June 28-July 2 at Stephenson, VA. Kentucky is July 5-9 (AIM July 4) at Berea. Virginia is July 5-9 at Stephenson, VA. The ATA Southern Zone is a three-day shoot July 21-23 at Berea, KY; Silver Dollar; and Biloxi, MS.

On a sad note, Tony Kirk II, age 24, of Corinth, MS, passed away Sept. 12 after a short illness. He started shooting in 2008 with target totals of 16,800 singles, 10,800 handicap and 5,600 doubles. Jim Porter of Como, MS, passed away Sept. 16 after a short illness. The life member started shooting in 2003, registering 54,650 singles, 45,225 handicap and 42,850 doubles. Both members shot at several Tennessee clubs throughout their career. My condolences to their families and many friends.

The history of the Memphis Gun Club:

As early as 1894, the Memphis GC shot at Billings Park, later known as North Memphis Driving Park, a harness racing track at 1450 N. Thomas St. It continued there until moving to the Tri-State Fairgrounds in 1915. State shoots in 1918, 1919 and 1920 were at the Fairgrounds.

In 1922 the club held its first shoot at Bellevue Park, located at South Bellevue and East Parkway. The 1928 state shoot was at this location.

In 1950 MGC moved to Winchester Road on the south edge of Memphis Municipal Airport. The state shoots of 1954, 1957 and 1960 were at this location. Airport expansion required moving Winchester Road, so the club had to move again.

This time the location was east of Memphis on Appling Road off Dexter Road. The first shoot was in November 1962, an event that produced a cover story in Trap & Field.

Coincidentally Steve Williams, who did much of the research for this article, attended the shoot and won a couple of junior trophies. Nash Buckingham, the famed outdoorsman, also was in attendance. State shoots were held here in 1963, 1966, 1969 and 1972. The last registered shoot was in March 1984, the year the club’s property was acquired by Bellevue Baptist Church.

Memphis Sport Shooting Association is MGC’s successor. It’s currently located on 185 acres east of Memphis on Old Brownsville Road. The first registered trapshoot was in March 1987. The club offers skeet, trap, sporting clays, cowboy action, seven 100-yard pistol and rifle ranges and a 200 to 600 long rifle range.

Read the rulebook, please.

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

Billy Cook

ATA Southern Zone Vice President

Arkansas

I am very proud of our Arkansas shooters. We have been blessed to have support from all four corners of our state for shooting. As the new trap year starts, we need to be thankful that we live in a country where we have the freedoms we have and not take them for granted. Arkansas has many gun clubs around the state, and I challenge you to go and visit a club you haven’t been to and to take someone shooting. The ASTF BOD is already planning for next year’s state shoot, and they have me excited. Please check out our website to stay up to date for upcoming events.

John 15:4 KJV—Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

God bless.

Robby Pennock

ATA Delegate

Missouri

Well, another Missouri Fall Handicap is in the books. While the weather, for the most part, cooperated, at least temperature-wise, it just could have used a little less or at least consistent direction of the wind, which made for some somewhat challenging targets, especially on the handicap events. Back in the glory days of the MFH, a really good handicap shooter once told me that he didn’t come to the shoot to raise his averages, he came to win. Usually lower scores and higher attendance doesn’t go together, but the overall attendance was up 7% over last year’s shoot. On behalf of the MTA management, staff and BOD, thanks to everyone who came and shot with us this year. FYI, we came within 25 entries of obtaining a Competition Factor 5 for All-American points. Mark it on your calendars now, Sept. 18-24 for next year’s shoot. We are beginning to discuss some changes to the schedule of events for next year; stay tuned for more information later regarding the shoot.

Saturday the Missouri AIM Fall Classic was shot in conjunction with the Tom Endres Singles Championship, with a total of 482 entries taking the line. Seven shooters topped the list with 200s, with Jacob Diller winning the title in two shootoff rounds. Congratulations, Jacob! Sunday morning was the Doubles Championship, with 265 shooters competing. Jason Krause took home the top trophy after a three-way tie settled in one shootoff round, Congratulations, Jason! The final event of the week on Sunday was the Wenig Custom Gun Stocks Handicap Championship with 336 entries. Congratulation to Amos Smith, who bested the field and claimed the Missouri Fall Handicap Championship trophy.

Most everywhere I go there are “Help Wanted” signs posted. MTA is no different than anywhere else when it comes to acquiring help to put on shoots. It is challenging getting enough scorekeepers and target loaders to run a shoot of any size these days. Whether you are at MTA or anywhere else, please have patience with the scorekeepers. We all want to make sure we get credit for the targets that we break. Being courteous and gracious can often times boost the scorekeeper’s confidence and settle their nerves leading to less mistakes. I really believe every shooter should spend some time in the chair scoring; it may change their attitude about scorekeepers. They are human and can make mistakes, just like the rest of us.

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

Proverbs 15:3 NKJV—The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Shoot often, shoot well and be safe!

Stephen Ricketts

           ATA Delegate

Oklahoma

Fall weather for shooting has been quite a relief from the sweltering summer shooting temperatures we endured. There have been several shoots in the area to enjoy, along with the milder temperatures. Several Oklahomans recently returned from the Missouri Fall Handicap. Oklahoma shooters showed up on Tuesday, putting David Bacon II on the board for doubles B class winner. David also received a punch in the Event 15 handicap with 96. On Wednesday Jack Murphy rose above in the handicap, breaking one of three top scores of 96. This was an awesome score for the winds of the day! Saturday was a shinning day for Oklahoma shooters. There were seven perfect scores in the Singles Championship, and Oklahoma’s own Jacob Diller prevailed in shootoff, turning all of his targets into smokeballs under the lights. Klayton McGee crushed 199. David posted 197. Gary Nichols broke 91 in Sunday morning’s Doubles Championship. Carl Brown carded a 92, claiming vet runnerup. John Nicholson was D class runnerup with 91. In the main handicap John prevailed in his shootoff for runnerup in his yardage group. Billy Pierce was vet runnerup with 89. John was also D class HAA.

By now everyone knows the Southwestern Grand has been moved to the KTA. This is good news for Oklahoma and for all shooters in the area. And the first shoot appears to have been a huge success! Oklahoma was well represented by 48 shooters. Being one of the 48, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot. As always, the management was impeccable, the grounds pristine and target presentation excellent! Oklahomans were at the top of the leader board daily. In the first handicap of the week, Robert Rimer Jr dominated the field with 98, claiming high gun. The very next score on the board was our Kya Funkhouser with 96. In the next event, Kya smashed 98 in doubles and again first thing the next morning in Tuesday’s doubles. In Tuesday’s singles, Jeff Trayer had a perfect score, Kya and Robert were next with 99, David Bacon II shot very well also with his 97. In Event 6 handicap, David and Kya both broke 95. In Event 8 handicap, Kya broke another 95, likewise Ron Bliss. Ron was near the top again in Thursday’s singles, along with Rickey McCauley breaking 197. Pat Stacey was runnerup in Friday’s handicap, breaking 98. Robert was right behind with 97. Kya and Josh Stacey posted 93. Rickey and Chris Sands shot very well also, posting 92. Later that day in the doubles event, Kya, Pat and Robert all broke 98. Tad Nicholson posted an impressive 95 in the same event. In the Singles Championship Jeff was one of the top three shooters, breaking 199. Kya had another big score in the Doubles Championship, posting a 97. Breegan Barnett was our shining star in Sunday’s handicap, breaking 96 and claiming junior champion. As you can see, Oklahoma shot very well at this shoot. There were many good scores and trophies won not mentioned here. You can view all results on app.sosclays.com.

The OTSA held their Red Earth Shoot Sept. 10-11. Saturday was a 500-target doubles marathon. Winds were pretty light from the north, making the targets a little challenging. But the weather was nice, and the targets were good. Shelby Skaggs dominated the day as champion, breaking 477. Other winners were: Woody Barnes, 471, AA; Trayer, 469, A; Johnny Wilson, 450, B; Kevin Nanke, 441, C; Paul Hooper, 445, senior vet; and Carl Brown, 444, veteran.

Sunday’s program was 200 singles and 100 handicap targets. Thirty shooters showed up; the day came with stronger winds to make the game a little more challenging. Bill Dean was singles victor with 195. Other winners were: Nathan Lemke, AA, 194; Spencer Scotten, A, 194; Jeff Barker, B, 189; Jonathan Shulte, C, 173; Tim Mount, D, 163; Richard Coit, veteran, 191; Bennie Livingston, senior vet, 192; Caleb Stone, junior, 178; Kizer Schnegerger, sub-junior, 173; Aubrey Steward, women’s, 163. A shout-out to a couple of “firsts” at this shoot: Caleb Stone and Kizer Schneberger both achieved first 25 straights. Good shooting!

           Jeff Trayer

           ATA Delegate

Texas

I just got home from the Southwestern Grand, hosted by the Kansas Trapshooters Association at their homegrounds in Sedgwick, KS. They have 20 trapfields about as level as you could hope for and a great background. That was my first trip to the KTA, and I was impressed with the way they ran the shoot. They did a great job.

I would like to congratulate our six Texas shooters who made the ATA All-American Team: Lady I first, Jennifer Rutger; Lady II first, Yaani Mai Gaddy; Lady II second, Patricia Todd; veteran first, Douglas Briggs; veteran second, Jeff Webb; senior vet second, Marvin Allbright; senior vet second, Larry Tagtmeyer. Congratulations to all of you.

All right, girls and boys, ladies and men, cats and dogs, peanut butter and jelly, get ready for some of those world famous and maybe even to the moon special “fatman attaboys.” First on today’s list is Randy Foster. Randy has now fired at 50,000 doubles targets (I don’t know if he hit it). Second on today’s list is Michael Turner. Mike shot at his 75,000th handicap target (don’t know this one either). Third on the famous list is Matt Nicol. Matt has shot at 50,000 handicap targets (and, yes, it is a clean sweep because I don’t know). When you see these people, please congratulate them for a job well done. Congratulations, y’all.

I cannot remember going to a shoot that a rules question does not come up at some point. Whether it’s a question pertaining to that current shoot or a question about something that happed at a previous shoot, I do my best to answer them. In 47 years of doing this, I have yet to be asked a rules question that the answer wasn’t in the rulebook. People, please read the rulebook. The rules of our sport are like laws, and if you don’t follow the laws, you will be punished. Please don’t put me or shoot management in the position of having to take targets away from you, or worse yet, have to disqualify you. Please read the rulebook and know the rules of our sport.

If you have pre-squadded for a shoot and are going to be unable to attend one or all events, please call and release your pre-squadded positions that you are not going to use. If you want a yardage increase, just call me, and I can make it happen. Just remember after a requested yardage increase, you will not be eligible for a 1,000-target review reduction for two years. If you receive a computer-generated reduction from the ATA, and you have no plans of accepting it, please call them or do it online and refuse that reduction.

I want to thank Elissa at Trap & Field Magazine for making the ramblings appear much better than they really are. She works very hard at fixin’ my screw-ups. I bet she thinks I never got past Fourth Grade. Little does she know that Fifth Grade was the three most miserable years of my life. Thanks, Elissa.

If you have news, please let Princess or me know about it. I’m sure you know how to get in touch with me, but just in case you forgot, here is the information. Call or text me at 806-679-6889, e-mail me at [email protected], or snail mail to 907 S. Main St. in Hereford, TX 79045 in the good old USA.

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

Jerry O’Connor

ATA Delegate

Arizona

On your mark, get set, go—The air is getting crisp, and the birds and RVs are heading south. That could only mean one thing, Arizona trapshooting is shifting into high gear. There will be 94 days of shooting between the Autumn Grand and the beginning of April at eight clubs. No wonder Arizona is considered the mother lode of winter shooting. You can be the guy or gal in the picture, dressed in shorts under a palm tree or saguaro cactus with a smile on your face, or the one in a wool hat with heavy boots, holding a snow shovel, and looking like you are freezing. Come on down! It’s Arizona time, and don’t forget the lotion.

The All-American Teams were just announced, and five Arizona shooters are now world famous. Sophie Nostrom is on the Lady I first team, and I won’t say I told you so. Prescott T&SC’s Wyatt Pizinger made the sub-junior second team. In case you have been sleeping the last year or two, more and more sub-juniors have been winning everything. It’s a tough category with some terrific young competitors. Now getting to the more seasoned citizens, Jim Copsey is on the veteran second team, and we have two senior vets on the first team, Gerry Williams and Tim Robb. They are both pretty well known in the trapshooting world. Congratulations, guys and gals, you made us proud!

Around the state—Besides having three large clubs with a substantial following, Tucson, Ben Avery and Casa Grande, we are blessed with a number of smaller ones that hold registered shoots, and they are sprinkled throughout the state. Each has a strong and loyal customer base. Let’s start off in the southeast in McNeal with Double Adobe. Talk about a loyal following, you had better be quick to get an RV spot. They will hold six two-day shoots this year. Moving west and hard upon the Colorado River, we have the Lake Havasu SC in, you guessed it, Lake Havasu, and the Tri-State SP in Fort Mohave. Many times, Lake Havasu will shoot on a Saturday and Tri-State on Sunday. Both are quite popular with western Arizona folks, and rumor has it that some Californians in disguise also show up. Almost due north is the Mohave SC in Golden Valley (aka, Kingman). Yes, they are back in business and are planning a number of shoots during the 2023 season. Swinging east, there is Prescott, also going through a revival, and they hope to hold two registered shoots each season. Now heading south right through central Phoenix, we come to Rio Salado in Mesa. Every month they offer a singles and doubles marathon.

It is known to get rather toasty in Arizona during the spring and summer, but we have the cure. Pleasant Valley and Flagstaff come to the rescue during the warmer months with a full schedule of shooting. In short, no matter where or when, we’ve got you covered. You will not need a rehab for shooting withdrawals in Arizona.

Here are the shoots listed from the end of the Autumn Grand to Dec. 18: Ben Avery, Nov. 18-20; Tri-State Big 50s, Nov. 20; Casa Grande, Nov. 25-27; Lake Havasu Big 50s, Dec. 3; Tri-State Big 50s, Dec. 4; Double Adobe, Dec. 3-4; Ben Avery, Dec. 10-11; and Tucson, Dec. 17-18. Casa Grande holds Big 50s every Monday, and Rio Salado has a singles marathon on the first Thursday each month and a doubles marathon on the third Thursday.

See you on the line.

John Bergman

ATA Delegate

Idaho

The target year is over, and we are heading into fall. A few shoots remain, with Troy Deary holding a two-day shoot the first week in October. I mentioned last month that the Wallace Kellog club was now registered with the ATA and had their first registered shoot. They had a small turnout, and hopefully they’ll attract more in the future. They throw quite a few targets starting in January in preparation for the Camas Prairie shoot in the spring, and now they can register them through the Big 50s.

Currently in Idaho we have fall leagues and fun shoots coming up.

This month I’d like to start introducing an important component to our sport that deserves recognition, and that’s our cashiers. I’m sure I’ll miss some people, but I’ll try to catch most of them in the following articles. Many of us just sign up, get squadded, go out and shoot. Then we check our scores, collect our trophies, wait for our checks if money is involved, and assume ATA gets your shoot information and it’s accurate. I’ve cashiered Big 50s, and there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes. The Big 50s are about as simple as it gets. I can’t imagine cashiering for a shoot with a lot of competitors and options. If you are interested in just the ATA requirements, go to the ATA website and read the “Registered Shoot Handbook.” Everything in the handbook describes what is needed, and in the old days it was all done by hand. Now there’s software programs that significantly assist the cashiers. The most popular program has been the 3S program, but now things are changing with additional programs and options. Stay tuned for more information in this area.

This month I’ll introduce Kay Klundt. Kay has been cashiering in southern Idaho for more than 19 years. She comes from the Twin Falls area and always brings a helper, her husband Waylon. They work together as a team, taking care of business while the other shoots. Both are avid shooters, and since Kay is the official cashier, they travel to every shoot in southern Idaho and several adjoining states. They get the opportunity to burn a huge amount of powder, shooting nearly every weekend. Kay is very conscientious and knows the ATA rules nearly as well as my brother, the current ATA President.

Kay is also the national secretary for the Pacific International Trapshooting Association (PITA), and Waylon is the state PITA president.

For those not too familiar with PITA, it’s another trapshooting organization very similar to ATA with some differences. It exists mostly in the Western states. Over the next couple of articles, I’ll describe similarities and differences. Many shooters in the West shoot both organizations, but a lot of them don’t notice or even know all of the nuances. To start with, both throw targets that are identical, 4 5/16 inches in diameter and no more than 1 1/8 inches in height. For single and handicap, the speed in ATA is 42 to 44 mph when using a radar gun, and in PITA the speed is 42 to 43mph. In ATA the speed can be measured at the back of the house with a low power radar gun. ATA rules also state that the high power guns may be used at the 16-yard line. PITA states only the high power guns to be used at the 16-yard line. If using a high power gun, is there a difference between the back of the house and the 16-yard line? There seems to be a debate if there’s that much difference in the readings. It’s a tough debate because no two targets seem to be exactly the same, but at least they should all be in the same parameters: 42 to 44 or 42 to 43 mph. Most of us can’t tell the difference of one mph. In upcoming articles, I’ll talk about other differences. Why are there differences? I don’t know, but next month I’ll tell you some other things I don’t know!

Leonard Wehking

ATA Delegate

Utah

The trapshooting season is winding down. Spanish Fork GC held its inaugural Rocky Mountain Open on Labor Day weekend. This was a three-day shoot, and the turnout was good with approximately 13 squads for each event.

Next came Golden Spike GC with a one-day shoot—nice fall weather, modest turnout. All in all, a good shoot.

Check out utahtrap.com for all the scores.

I attended the Southwestern Satellite Grand, which was held the week of Sept. 12 at the Kansas Trapshooting Association homegrounds in Wichita, KS. If you remember, this shoot used to be in San Antonio, TX, and was held in April. Texas decided they no longer wanted it, so the shoot was moved to Kansas. This was the first time I have ever shot trap (or anything) in Kansas. For the most part, the weather was warm, sunny and windy. Considering the strong south wind, the target presentations were good, and scores reflected as much. The shoot was very well run with excellent accommodations as well as trap help. I will do my best to return next year.

The 2023 All-American Teams were announced this week. Wow, Utah has a great showing. We had 10 team members this year. I believe that is a record for our state! They are as follows: Sean Hawley, open first; Pam Wright, Lady II first; Brett Despain; sub-veteran second; Joe Sudbury, veteran second; Ava Ladue, Lady I second; Grayson Stuart, junior second; Daxton Cook, sub-junior second; Bradley Peay, sub-junior second; Austin Kinder, junior gold second; and Jerry Batley, chairshooter.

Way to make Utah trapshooters proud!

           Ed Wehking

           ATA President