Atlantic Provinces

The first day of spring was March 20, and after two weeks of plenty of mild weather and rain, the snow had just about all melted in many parts of the Atlantic Provinces. But on March 24 Mother Nature stepped up to remind us of who’s boss. Newfoundland was hit with a blizzard that closed schools, businesses and government offices for the day. In Newfoundland folklore, a snowstorm occurring shortly after St. Patrick’s Day is known as Sheila’s Brush and hopefully marks the last storm of the season. Time will tell if the lore is correct. Fortunately, the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) were spared the impact of Sheila’s Brush and continued to enjoy early spring weather.

Nova Scotia’s Janaya and Herbie Nickerson attended the Spring Grand in Tucson and had a great shoot. The daughter and father shooters often travel to shoots together and enjoy Tucson in February, as it coincides with a break from their lobster fishing.

In the Preliminary Handicap, Janaya shot a 94 to win the Lady I award and earned a one-yard punch putting her at 24.5 yards. During the Spring Grand week, Janaya shot a 95 in the opening handicap event and earned another half-yard, which now puts her on the 25-yard line. During Grand week, Janaya shot a 98 in the Premier Singles and a 1,010×1,100 in the HOA, both personal bests for her.

Herbie was also shooting well and won D class in the Premier Singles with a 98 that required a one-round shootoff to settle. In the Spring Grand Doubles Championship, Herbie tied with three others with 95 for C runnerup but lost in the shootoff.

Nova Scotia’s Barry Turner shot the Florida State Shoot in March. Stay tuned for Barry’s report next month.

Pre-squadding opens June 1 on SOS Clays for the Atlantic Provinces ATA Provincial Shoot. This year’s shoot is in Newfoundland and is being hosted by the St. John’s Rod and Gun Club Sept. 2-6. You’ll find a shoot program, event details, hotel information and ammo ordering information on www.shootatlantic.com. If you’re attending the shoot and need ammo, I would strongly recommend that you take advantage of the ammo preorder option from our shoot sponsor. The deadline for ordering is July 1.

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

Andrea Bassan

ATA Delegate

Connecticut

Greetings to all.

The snow has melted; it’s nice to finally see the ground. Fairfield County and Pahquioque just wrapped up their winter leagues, with George Wachsmuth the winner and Randy Fairchild taking runnerup for Fairfield. With a one-target spread, Chris Dahm landed the high gun, J.J. Ziolkowski claimed runnerup and Tyler Paustian got third for Pahquioque. Congratulations to all!

Registered shooting will have begun at the time of this issue reaching you. Check out the CTA website www.cttrap.com to stay up to date on local shoots and results. On May 3 the Hartford Gun Club will host a registered shoot in memory of past CTA President Ben Giaquinto. The Fin, Fur and Feather will be May 9, Andover Sportsman on May 17, Bristol Fish and Game May 24 and Wolcott Land Owners May 31.

The program book for the Connecticut State Shoot will have arrived with all the information on the state shoot held June 26-28 at the Hartford Gun Club. Many thanks to Bob Hruskocy for his work in putting the book together along with Malcolm Ross obtaining the many ads that help support the book. The CTA is very appreciative of all who contributed ads for the program book and be sure to check them out for your service needs.

As always, if you have any highlights you would like to see shared in this letter, please contact me at cap145@yahoo.com. I would love to hear from you!

Cheryll Pittera

ATA Delegate

Massachusetts

We hope everyone has been out enjoying the spring weather and visiting some of our local clubs for some early spring registered targets. May is a full month. Shooters can travel to Minuteman (May 3), North Leominster Rod and Gun (May 17), Holbrook Rod and Gun (May 20-21), Uxbridge (May 2) and Royalston (Wednesday nights) to see some registered targets. Remember, everyone wants to be in top form and ready for the Massachusetts State Shoot at Minuteman Sportsman Club June 11-14. We hope to see everyone there!

William Rychlik

For ATA Delegate Robert Nihtila Jr.

New York

Hello from the Empire State of New York. I hope everyone is doing well and out shooting some registered targets now that the warmer weather has arrived.

Many of these articles I write are obituaries of friends and New York shooters who have passed away. In this article at least, I can write about some happy news. On March 2 a very happy event happened with the birth of Liliana Flint. Liliana is the daughter of Harrison and Paulette Flint. Liliana is the first grandchild of New York State ATA Secretary Cathy Flint and New York State ATA Hall of Fame inductee Jim Flint. Mother and child are doing well. Congratulations to the entire Flint family on the birth of Liliana.

The 2026 Southern Grand was held at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club March 8-15. New York trophy winners were: Sunday’s Preliminary Singles: Remington Rupert, junior; Gary Hoysradt, sub-veteran runnerup; Jim Flint, AA runnerup; and Travis Dann, C. Monday’s Preliminary Handicap: Rupert, junior; Urban Womer, veteran. Monday’s Preliminary Doubles: Heidi Womer, Lady I; David McMasters, sub-veteran; Josh Buchiere, A runnerup; and John Fassbough, C runnerup. Tuesday’s Preliminary Doubles: Fassbough, C runnerup. Zachari Nannini Singles: Rupert, junior runnerup; Heidi Womer, Lady I runnerup; and Josh Buchiere, B runnerup. Wednesday’s Preliminary Handicap: Joe Macewicz, fourth place; Heidi Womer, Lady I runnerup; Urban Womer, veteran runnerup; and McMasters, sub-veteran runnerup. Thursday’s J. Knaus Doubles, Steve Morsch, D. Friday’s Class Doubles Championship: Heidi Womer, A; Buchiere A runnerup. Doubles Championship: Buchiere, A, and William Wallis, C runnerup. All trophy winners can be viewed on the ShootPro Cloud website and in Trap & Field Magazine. Congratulations to all trophy winners. If I have missed any trophy winners, I apologize.

If anyone is interested in attending other state shoots, the list of state shoots has been posted on the ATA webpage, www.shootata.com and in the Official Shoot Directory in T&F every month. Remember that the 2026 New York State Shoot will be held at the homegrounds in Bridgeport July 7-12.

For all shooters who attend the Grand American, the dates for the 2026 through 2036 tournaments have been posted on the ATA webpage. The 2026 Grand American will be July 29-Aug. 8 at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, IL.

If anyone wishes to have something placed in one of these articles, you can contact me at Trapshooterdavec@yahoo.com or phone at 585-519-9543. Please stay safe and healthy. May God bless.

Dave Cichelli

ATA Delegate

Ontario

Greetings from Ontario, Canada.

As I write this article in late March, some of our early 2026 Satellite Grands and early state shoots are in the history books. We have had impressive results from Ontario shooters in Florida, for instance. From here on, the competitions will be plentiful leading up to the Grand.

For those wishing to enter Canada from the States to compete, call me if you can’t figure it out yourself. All are welcome, and I remind you if you are an American, you can shoot clays at a premium price because currently with the exchange rate 73 cents U.S. buys $1 Canadian.

We need to invite non-gun owners to the range. Our experience is that some people love shooting and join our clubs. Brett Nattrass of the Toronto International Trap & Skeet Club is currently at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show. Lots of interest. We have to promote our sport.

Paul Shaw

ATA Delegate

Alabama

The 2026 Alabama State Trapshooting Championships will be held at the South River Gun Club in Covington, GA, June 6-7. The Dixie Gun Club, where various shoots have been held for many, many years, is now closing the doors. We want to thank the South River management for working with us to ensure we could have a state shoot this year.

I encourage each and everyone to support your club and participate in a local shoot.

Joke of the day: Donald is walking out of the White House and heading toward his limousine when a possible assassin stepped forward and aims a gun. A Secret Service agent, new on the job, shouts, “Mickey Mouse!” This startles the would-be assassin, and he is captured. Later on in the day, the Secret Service agent’s supervisor takes him aside and asks, “What in the blue blazes made you shout, ‘Mickey Mouse?’ ” With a slight grin on his face, the agent replies, “I got nervous. I meant to shout, ‘Donald Duck!’ ” Word of the day: Haint: A ghost, spirit or apparition. “If you walk past the graveyard at midnight, you might see a haint.”

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

If you need my help or have any news to report, contact me at wasartwell@charter.net.

Wayne Sartwell

ATA Delegate

Kentucky

This last month has been busy for Kentucky shooters, with many attending both the Southern Grand and Florida State Shoot. At the Southern Grand, Maverick McClure broke a perfect 200 in the Singles Championship and after a lengthy shootoff ended up sub-junior champion. Colton Hines claimed Class B runnerup in the same event with 197. In the Doubles Championship, Wyatt Keller earned sub-junior honors with 98, and Dan Ryan ended AA runnerup after a shootoff. In the handicap, Chuck Minyard claimed veteran runnerup, and Maverick McClure was sub-junior in the HAA. At the Florida State Shoot, many shooters shot well, and Kenny Day ended up claiming eighth in the championship handicap. Congratulations to all who competed!

With each month, the Kentucky State Shoot is drawing closer. Be sure to keep an eye out for pre-squadding and make lodging accommodations in advance to ensure a discounted rate. Also, be sure to keep checking on the ATA’s website for upcoming registered shoots in your area, both to support our local clubs and meet the year’s target requirements. For any other questions about the Kentucky State Shoot, be sure to consult kytrap.com. Good luck and safe travels in the weeks to come!

Jack Holland

For ATA Southern Zone Vice President Dan Ryan

Mississippi

Hello from Mississippi—Birthplace of Corn and Tomato Clubs, the beginning of 4-H

Take a break: Sometimes a “time-out” can help.

A few months ago, while looking over my average card, I noticed something interesting. There were three years when my yearly averages were well below those of previous years. Further study showed those were the same three years I had taken on a volunteer job that turned out to be far more demanding than expected. For a retired person, it felt like going back to work, and it brought a fair amount of stress. My Grand American Handicap score that year was the worst I had ever shot since starting trapshooting, and I knew something had to change. Fortunately, change came shortly afterwards with my volunteer job ending. I soon began devising a plan to completely restart my trapshooting.

The plan started with a break from shooting, a self-imposed “time-out,” with only visits to the club to see friends and sometimes scoring. It served its purpose and after two months and Christmas vacation, an urge to return to the game became compelling.

The return also included checking my POI, experimenting with chokes until I was satisfied with the results, then going through the first baby steps new shooters take when starting. After going through these re-entry processes, and with renewed self-confidence, I was now re-energized and anxious to get back to the trap field.

It worked. Good scores returned immediately—some even better than before. My averages the next year were the highest ever.

In retrospect, I realized that even before the long time-out, short breaks in the past, a week’s vacation or a canceled shoot, often led to better scores the next time.

If you have lost some of your enthusiasm or your scores are not to your satisfaction, maybe it is time to take a break, short or as long as needed.

Spring weather can be “iffy” down in the South, but usually more good than bad. Come shoot with us.

Come shoot at the Coast Rifle and Pistol Club in Biloxi and enjoy the Gulf Coast’s fine restaurants, beaches, casinos, water parks, fishing and many other attractions. Coast Rifle and Pistol Club has regular monthly shoots on the third Saturday of each month.

Capitol Gun Club in Jackson holds regular weekly shoots on Thursdays and monthly shoots on the first Saturday of each month.

March monthly scores:

Capitol Gun Club: The threat of thunderstorms kept many away; however, the storms came late in the day, and all was good, but was a little breezy making for “sporty” targets.

Singles (5): Bill Burke, 94; runnerup, Monty McGee, 93; third, Jay Milner, 91; fourth, Bill Brabec, 79; fifth, Steve Kane, 67. Handicap (5): Milner, 92; runnerup, Burke, 85; third, McGee 82, fourth, Brabec, 76; fifth, Kane, 71.

Coast Rifle and Pistol Club:

Singles (19): Bill Penn, 97; runnerup, William Hardison, 96; third, Charlie Boggs, 93; fourth, Dwight Gunter, 91; fifth, James Comer, Joey Smith and Travis Yates, 90. Handicap (11): Gunter, 90; runnerup, Joey Smith, 88; third, Jeff Gable, 86; fourth, Bill Penn, 85; fifth, Kent Lacina, 84; sixth, Doug Burkart and Dennis Keith, 81. Doubles (3): Kent Lacina, 84; Joey Smith, 82; Dwight Gunter, 73.

Come for a visit, stay awhile, y’all hear!

Bill Burke

ATA Delegate

South Carolina

Hello from the Palmetto State!

Shooting has started in the Palmetto State, and everyone is excited to be shooting with friends. We are looking forward to an active year in 2026 and hope our shooters will be out and shooting often.

I’m excited to share a milestone earned by a South Carolina shooter, William Patterson III. Bill has reached 25,000 targets shot in handicap. He began shooting in 2016 and currently shoots mainly out of Partridge Creek in Charleston and Horry Chapter Wildlife Action in Galivants Ferry. Congratulations, Bill!

Our Hall of Fame Shoot was April 11-12 at the Greenville Gun Club. Our 2026 Hall of Fame inductee was Wayne (Bo) Adair. Bo began shooting trap in 1965 and is a member of the Spartanburg Gun Club.

The South Carolina State Shoot will be held at the North Carolina Homegrounds April 29-May 3. We will throw 1,300 targets over the five-day event. We hope you will consider adding our state shoot to your calendar for the 2026 shooting year, and we promise you an excellent tournament.

South Carolina clubs are continuing to host Big 50s and 300-bird events and would love for you to participate. Thank you all for your support of our sport.

Hope to see you shooting soon.

Teresa Knight

ATA Delegate

Tennessee

Trapshooters, start your engines!

It’s time. Shooting season has officially kicked off, and we have many great shoots in front of us in the southeast. Florida kicked it off in March with the Southern Grand, followed immediately by the Florida State Shoot. Lots of shooters from around the country were in attendance, and it looks like we had some good scores . . . and some just so-so scores. Florida can be that way. If the weather cooperates it is a great place to shoot, until Mother Nature throws a curve and the temps drop and the wind kicks up. Then it can be somewhat of a challenge.

We had some Tennessee shooters show up and show out at both the Southern Grand and the Florida State Shoot. Several Tennessee residents made the trip, and some got to bring home some hardware. Congrats to all those who won a trophy.

Here are our Tennessee folks who placed at the Southern Grand:

Sunday Preliminary Singles: Channing Garrett, sub-junior, 100. Sunday Preliminary Handicap: Garrett, sub-junior runnerup, 96. Monday Preliminary Handicap: Garrett, sub-junior, 95. Monday Preliminary Doubles: Garrett, sub-junior runnerup, 96; Alan Loveless, senior vet runnerup, 96. Tuesday Preliminary Doubles: Garrett, sub-junior, 97. Doubles Class Championship: Garrett, sub-junior, 96. Caesar Guerini Preliminary Handicap: Mitchel Loveless, eighth place, 96. Winchester Handicap Championship: Richie Bolin, sub-vet runnerup, 97. HAA: Mitchel Loveless, AA runnerup, 389; HOA: Mitchel Loveless AA, 965.

Awesome job, guys. You make Tennessee proud! Hey, let’s also give accolades to Dan Ryan from Kentucky. He had 98 in the championship doubles. Great shooting!

And here are our Tennessee winners from the Florida State Shoot:

Tuesday Preliminary Singles: Garrett, sub-junior, 99. Wednesday Walk-Up Doubles: Tanner Burks, B, 92. Thursday Preliminary Handicap: Burks, sub-junior, 94. Friday Preliminary Doubles: Garrett, sub-junior, 95. Singles Championship: Garrett, sub-junior, 198; Cade Harvey, junior, 199. Doubles Championship: Alan Loveless, C, 91. Handicap Championship: Burks, sub-junior runnerup, 94; Bolin, sub-vet runnerup, 94.

That’s some pretty great shooting. Congratulations, guys. Proud of your success!

Well, we’re off and running now. More state shoots ahead of us and then the Zone and off to Sparta. It will be a blur from now until the Grand. Get out there and get you some. Hope to see you at a shoot sometime. Travel safe and shoot straight. And thanks for all you do for our sport!

Remember . . . the rulebook is your friend. Read it please!

Mark Cantrell

ATA Delegate

Louisiana

Toby Bancroft Memorial Gun Club held a second scheduled shoot Feb. 28, with a group of 20 participating. The day had the most incredible blue sky and made one think that spring had fully arrived. Jim Jenkins led the charge in singles with a perfect 100 and couldn’t be caught by Caleb Coody with 97 and Dennis Whitlock with 95. Whitlock took his revenge with a 92 in ’caps, followed by Jenkins with 89 and the rest far behind. Brooks Barnett and Jenkins tied in doubles with 89s, with Barnett winning the flip. Steven Skipper and Dalton Brooks followed with 84s. All in all it was a great day for a trapshoot.

TBMGC held its regularly scheduled March shoot on the 14th, with 17 getting ready for the state shoot. Chuck Traylor took top singles honors with 96, followed by Donny Sanders with 94 and Danny Batten with 90. Sanders led the field in handicap with 89 followed by Trey Heusel and Mike Lawler with 87s. Sanders blew the field away in doubles with 93, leaving the remainder far behind.

With my new retired status in life, I was able to venture down to the Southern Grand and Florida State Shoot in March held back to back at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club in Odessa. It was a great time. The Silver Dollar has such great facilities, and they really know how to manage shoots. Did I mention the weather was outstanding too? You might want to put these two shoots on your list of ones to attend. It is always so enjoyable to shoot with people from different places. I enjoyed meeting new shooters from Brazil, Montana, New York, Wyoming, Colorado and of course Florida. There are plenty of old friends to greet too. There are always interesting conversations that pop up on such a large variety of topics with all the different backgrounds present. It’s amazing how well so many of our fellow trapshooters can shoot.

The next big shoot for Louisiana shooters is the Mississippi State Shoot being held at the Coast Rifle & Pistol Club in Biloxi on the Gulf Coast. It begins May 21, so if you’re looking for a good tournament, you may be able to sneak this one in at the last minute. They have great facilities, and the area has lots to do and of course good food. It’s one of my favorite shoots.

The next state shoot with significant Louisiana participation is the Arkansas State Shoot held in Jacksonville, just north of Little Rock, at the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex. It begins June 24. All of us from Louisiana enjoy shooting there.

Our Louisiana State Shoot has completed. Thanks to all who joined us. We hope you had a great time. I’ll have more details for you in the July issue. T&F may get our results included in the June issue.

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

Jim Jenkins

ATA Delegate

Missouri

Greetings from the Show Me (one) State. While there are leagues, fun shoots and derbies year-round throughout the state, March is the unofficial season for registered target shooting here in Missouri. MTA gun club in Linn Creek kicks off the season with the annual (non-registered) team shoot on Saturday followed by a registered shoot on Sunday. This year there were 24 teams that participated, with Pound Town taking top honors and winning the Division I title and Alfermann USA as the runnerup. Division II winners were The Standings with the Mule Skinners awarded the runnerup spot. In the Division III race, the RC Construction team took champ with the Double Trouble team in second place. Rounding out the Division IV race were the Parker Lewis team followed by the Pink & Blue team as runnerup. This is always a good time with many competitive shooters coming out of winter hibernation. Thanks to Randy Buhr for your work putting things together again; you are invited to do it again for next year.

Please plan to attend the Missouri State Shoot May 18-24. We have made a couple of changes to the format this year, so please take note in the program. One is due to the rule change for All-American points where instead of 1,300 consecutive targets being counted for points, it is now 13 events. That will now make the second event on Tuesday the first All-Amecan points event with doubles the first event of the day. The MTA staff have been working hard, as usual, through the offseason getting ready for another busy year. Hope to see you there.

I guess everything is good in Missouri, as I don’t hear much, especially this time of the year regarding concerns or suggestions. Once again if anyone has anything they would like to have reported on or has any concerns, please contact me at srickett@sbcglobal.net or 816-863-9003. NKJV Proverbs 16:9—A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Shoot often, shoot well and be safe!

Stephen Ricketts

ATA Southwestern Zone Vice President

Oklahoma

Spring shooting is in full swing in Oklahoma. This time of year you can attend a club ATA shoot most any weekend. Also, weekly Big 50s at Oil Capital, OKC, Shawnee, Duncan and the OTSA. The 127th Oklahoma State Shoot is just around the corner. Make sure you’ve got it on the calendar, June 2-7. Hope to see you there! There were 13 Oklahoma shooters attending the Spring Grand this year at Tucson. Oklahoma shot well and brought home trophies, as usual. Angie Cavett broke 94 in the Caesar Guerini Prelim Handicap, winning Lady II runnerup. Shelby Skaggs posted a perfect score in the Singles Championship, winning Lady I. Other high Oklahoma scores in the Singles Championship were: Pat Stacey, 198; Randy Hill and Ron Bliss, 197; Nicholas Hughes, 196; and Michael Goold and Rod Savely, 195. Stacey also was sub-vet HAA.

Oklahoma shooters performed very well at the Arizona State Shoot, nine from our state attended and many trophies and titles were captured. Event winners were not posted anywhere that I could find, but here is what I know: In the Event 12 handicap, Cash Moore and Randy Hill both broke 98s. Hill won non-resident sub-vet and Moore out-of-state sub-junior. The Pryor family did very well, breaking high scores and bringing home the hardware. Brad, Kooper and Marshall all broke their first 100 straight singles at the shoot. In the fifth box of the state Singles Championship, the family squad crushed 125! Combined, the Pryor family brought home more than 20 trophies. Kooper was non-resident B class HOA winner, and Brody finished out-of-state HOA and HAA junior. Brad, Clancy and Marshall brought home their share of class and yardage trophies as well. I’m sure we’ll see these names on the leaderboard frequently this summer. I hope everyone is breaking good scores and hope to see you over the summer!

Jeff Trayer

ATA Delegate

Texas

Howdy from Texas! The weather has finally gotten nice, and everyone is finally able to shoot without getting wet or wind-blown. There have been several shoots since I last wrote.

First, Texas was well represented at the Spring Grand at Tucson Trap & Skeet Club in Tucson with 32 shooters. Some of the winners are as follows:

Preliminary Spring Grand Week: Jason B. Johnson, Event 2 handicap, 19-20, 88; Event 3 doubles, C, 85; Event 13 singles, B, 97. Jerri L. Webb, Event 4 doubles, Lady II, 92; Event 9 doubles, Lady II, 87; Doubles Championship, Lady II, 90. David M. Fuqua, Handicap Championship, 22-24, 94. Yaani-Mai Gaddy, Handicap Championship, Lady II, 91.

Spring Grand Week: Fuqua, Event 14 handicap, 22-24, 96. Jay E. Buckler, Event 18 handicap, 19-21, 95. Don Maddox, Event 20 doubles, D runnerup, 94. Webb, Doubles Championship, Lady II, 94. Larry L. Tagtmeyer, Doubles Championship, senior vet, 96; Singles Championship, senior vet, 199; HAA, senior vet, 387. Johnson, Singles Championship, B runnerup, 195.

The Southern Grand, held at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club in Odessa, FL, also saw some Texas shooters with seven. The winners are as follows: Patricia A. Todd, Event 2 handicap, Lady II, 90; Event 3 handicap, Lady II runnerup, 93. Hagen D. Weber, Event 7 singles, sub-junior runnerup, 98; Event 9 handicap, sub-junior runnerup, 91; Event 11 doubles, sub-junior runnerup, 96; Event 12 doubles, sub-junior, 95; Singles Championship, sub-junior runnerup, 199; Handicap Championship, sub-junior runnerup, 95; HOA, sub-junior, 949.

Congratulations to everyone!

Thanks to Yaani-Mai Gaddy for the winner’s information. It is also available on our website and our Facebook page.

A special shout-out to Hunter Fryman. He shot a 96 and 98 for a 194 in the singles event at the Florida State Shoot. In doing so, he ran his first 50 straight and beat his dad by two targets, if I am not mistaken. Good shooting, Hunter!

Thanks to Ft. Worth Trap and Skeet for holding their Hell’s Half Acre Shoot. I just got back home from shooting there, and I do not know the winners, but I hope to have a list next month.

Again, the Texas Zone 1 shoot will be held in Amarillo June 19-21. The Texas State Shoot will be in San Antonio this year June 30-July 5. Royce and his crew at the NSC always work hard to keep everything running smoothly, so make plans to come and shoot with us.

I guess that’s it for now. If you have anything you’d like included in a future article, please email me the details, and I’ll do my best to feature it in the next update. Be sure to visit the TTA website (shoottta.org) for additional news and a list of upcoming events across Texas.

As always, I encourage everyone to volunteer at your local club and support our youth shooters. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me or any of the current TTA officers—we’re always happy to help! My email is texasatadelegate@gmail.com.

Again, thanks for your support, and I will see you at the next one.

Billy Hopson

ATA Delegate

Arizona

Greetings, Arizona shooters! I’d like to take a few minutes to recap the last month’s activities from the Grand Canyon State. A bunch has happened this month, so be prepared for a long read.

2026 Spring Grand American Recap

This year’s Spring Satellite Grand American saw what is known as “Chamber of Commerce” weather. Highs were unseasonably warm, and wind was at a minimum, which made for some great shooting. The host club, Tucson Trap & Skeet, put in great effort to ensure that the targets were good, machines were in top condition and the hospitality was well given. Shooter numbers were up from last year by around 10% for the HAA events.

Arizona shooters of note for the HAA events were Alexis Fernan for the Lady I win in the championship doubles with 99 (and a shootoff win as well). She also decided to follow that up with a 200 in the championship singles to end up with Lady I honors there as well. Jesse Zamora won the D class runnerup trophy with 195. Welcome back to Arizona, Jesse.

The championship handicap gave new Arizona shooter Kelly Dwyer the opportunity to shine with 99, which ended up with him taking home the third-place trophy after two rounds of shooting off.

The high-all-around ended with Dwyer winning C class and Alexis Fernan winning Lady I. Alexis rounded out her trophy package with the Lady I high-over-all trophy.

We appreciate all of the shooters who participated in the Spring Grand and look forward to seeing you all back at the Autumn Grand in November. With shooter numbers increasing, make sure to make your RV or hotel reservations early.

97th annual Arizona State Shoot

This year’s Arizona State Shoot was hosted by 2Lazy2 Consulting at the Ben Avery Clay Target Center located in Phoenix, AZ. The shoot was moved up on the calendar a couple of weeks, and the weather was better than previous years with high temperatures in the mid 80s to low 90s. A bit of wind showed up for the morning events but was just enough to keep the temperatures manageable out on the line. Shooter numbers were right in line with the previous state shoot of 2024, which was held at this venue.

This year’s HAA events were a continuation of the shooting phenom, Alexis Fernan.

The championship singles held on Saturday saw her go 199 in the event and end up in a shootoff with yours truly. Youth and perseverance won out, and she ended up beating me for the champion trophy.

Other in-state winners were Walter Allen claiming senior vet with 198, Steve Lueck winning vet with 197, Michael Stacey taking sub-vet with 197, Denise Shute with the Lady II win with 194 and Kaitlin Quan earning the Lady I trophy, also with 194. Junior gold was Jacob Juhas with 190, Ryan Swayzee won junior with 197, and Tavia Crum took sub-junior with a personal best 192.

Class winners were: Tim Robb, AA, 197; Scott Skaggs, A, 197; Gunner Manterola, B, 196; Steve Bell, C, 195; and Owen Gruntmeir, D, 189. Great shooting, all.

Doubles on Sunday saw Alexis enter the lone 100 for Arizona shooters and win the championship trophy. Tim Robb won runnerup with 96; Walter Allen, AA, 96; Scott Skaggs, A, 95; Vince Bianco, B, 90; Kelly Dwyer, C, 92; and Thomas Braden, D, 91.

The junior trophy went to Jackson Link with 94. Junior gold was won by Wyatt Pizinger by shootoff. Sub-junior was Owen Gruntmeir with 82. Lady I winner was Kaitlin Quan with 94, and Denise Shute took the Lady II trophy with 86. Sub-vet winner was Mike Petrisko with 96. Vet winner was Max Peevyhouse with 95, winning the honors in a shootoff. Lastly, Jimmy Heller won the senior vet trophy with 97.

The final HAA event was the Jackson Link Handicap. Alexis actually had to work on this one to win the Handicap Championship (98) by a shootoff with Steve Lueck, who ended up taking the vet trophy. Michael Viga ended the night with the runnerup trophy. Gunner Materola won junior by shootoff, Jacob Juhas with junior gold, Kaitlin Quan with Lady I and Sandra Smith with Lady II. Tavia Crum broke 91 for sub-junior, and Gerry Williams landed senior vet with a shootoff over Jim Copsey with 97s.

High-all-around and high-over-all were won of course by Alexis Fernan, giving her the honor of winning all five champion trophies in one shoot, which is an amazing accomplishment. I’m glad I was there to witness it. Keep up the great work, lady!

Other items of note from the Arizona annual meeting, I’d like to welcome the new Arizona directors who were voted in this year. Please welcome Max Peevyhouse and Dave Landwerlen to the board and special thanks to the outgoing directors, Cherel McCracken and Doug Sims.

I’d also like to welcome Greg Spiczka as the new ATA Alternate Delegate. I look forward to working with you in the upcoming year.

Final bit of information here. The Western Zone Shoot will be held July 16-19 at the Northern Arizona Shooting Range in Flagstaff. The format has changed from three days and 700 targets to four days and 1,000 targets. In addition, the Zero Dollar Entry for the HOA Lewis has been increased to $10,000 and is being calculated over all 1,000 targets. We look forward to seeing you all out at one of the clubs for this upcoming shoot.

Don Williamson

ATA Delegate

California

Hello, everyone; with the 2026 shooting season underway, I wanted to update the shooters on upcoming events.

May will be a busy trapshooting month. On May 2-3, the Kingsburg Gun Club will be hosting their two-day ATA/SCTP Spring Fling Shoot with prizes being state shoot targets. If you win the two-day combined singles event, you get a certificate for all singles targets to be paid for at the state shoot in June. The same is true for the handicap and doubles targets. The HOA winner for the combined 600 targets will be awarded all their 1,100 targets for the state shoot. And the California SCTP group will be providing awesome buckles for the youth shooters. The Oak Tree Gun Club will be hosting a one-day shoot May 2 as well.

The Golden West Grand will be held May 6-10. The Livermore-Pleasanton Rod and Gun Club members do a fantastic job with this five-day shoot. Brian Weeks and his crew have grown the tournament, which now allows for All-American points to be awarded.

On Saturday, May 16 North Hollywood is hosting a one-day shoot. The Tulare County Trap Club is also hosting a one-day ATA/SCTP event. On Sunday, May 17, one-day ATA events will be held at Golden State Shooting Center, Kern County Shooting Complex, and the Santa Maria Gun Club is throwing a Big 50 event.

On May 23 Redlands Shooting Park is hosting a one-day ATA tournament.

May 30-31 is zone weekend. The northern zone will be competing at the Newman Swamp Rats range in Newman. The southern zone will be competing at the Oak Tree Gun Club in Newhall. The central zone will be competing June 6-7 at the Santa Maria Gun Club.

I just learned that the ATA Western Zone Shoot in July has picked up another preliminary day. The shoot will be July 16-19. There will be a single site in California this year, at the Kingsburg Gun Club.

I completed an interview with Alice Wiebe, sub-junior All-American. Alice is 15 years old and lives on the central coast in California. She shoots for the Santa Lucia Sportsman’s youth trap team in Atascadero. She has been shooting competitively for six years. This is Alice’s second year making the sub-junior team. Alice shoots a Fossari CRX9 with a Grip Plus Stock. She prefers Winchester AA ammunition during tournaments. She wears Pilla glasses, Keith Baker Custom Earplugs and a Castellani vest. Alice receives support from Italian Firearms Group and Grip Plus Stocks.

To make the 2026 All-American Team, Alice and her family attended the Nevada State Shoot, Autumn Grand, Golden West Grand, Western Grand, Utah State Shoot, California State Shoot and the Grand American. Her most coveted wins were the Ceasar Guerini sub-junior handicap at the Grand American or her California sub-junior singles title.

Alice’s favorite club is Tucson Trap & Skeet, but her favorite shoot is the Golden West Grand hosted by the Livermore-Pleasanton Rod and Gun Club.

Alice’s other interests include mock trial, golf and swimming. Check her out on her social media account @alice_wiebe_clays.

That’s all for now. Get out and volunteer at a shoot and enjoy the sport.

Gary Beer

ATA Alternate Delegate

Idaho

Well, I’m writing some of this column from my RV while camped at the famous Camas Prairie Handicap shoot in Walla Walla, WA. The weather has been really nice with temperatures above average and quite a bit of blue sky.

It’s great to be back into the trapshooting season and seeing a lot of old friends from Idaho and Washington. It’s been another great turnout for shooters. By the end of the weekend, there were 293 total shooters. Idaho had the most at 149, and Washington had 121. Others were from Montana and Oregon. There were about 52 squads of shooters on the big events, such as the 200 singles and championship handicap. I’ve mentioned it before in several articles that this is the biggest shoot in the Pacific Northwest. This is the 72nd year of what began as a seven-trap club association in 1953. It now has 26 clubs with more than 900 shooters participating in the pre-tournament league.

I won’t go into all of the scores of every event, but I do want to highlight a few. One story that I think was exciting to see is about a father-son team. They were shooting the preliminary singles together and both broke all 100. Matt Pestarino (the dad) shot his first-ever perfect score, and Joe (the son) shot his second-ever 100 straight. Pretty cool. I mentioned this family in T&F in the November 2024 issue. In the article I was talking about the Grangeville shoot that we were all at. Here is the excerpt from that article.

“A special notice here. Remember Joe Pestarino? He was our state doubles champion at the Idaho State Shoot. He’s only been shooting ATA about three years. Well, the parents, Matt and Stephanie, joined ATA this year and were at this shoot. Stepahnie won the new shooter category in both single events (shooting a pair of 91s), and Matt won B class on the second day with 98. So it looks like shooting good scores is a genetic thing in that family!”

It looks like the family is still knocking out good scores. Both Matt and Stephanie were also volunteers at the Camas shoot, with Matt loading targets between events then shooting. The family hails from Hayden.

Here’s some other notable scores. Guy “bent barrel” Johnson finally got his 100,000th target at this shoot. Congratulations, Guy! In the main doubles, Travis Iksic of Washington won the Camas championship with 98, while Stuart Welton of Idaho won the out-of-Camas (like out-of-state) championship with 99. In the 200 singles event, John Mullins from Washington took first with a lone 199. Bruce Bradley from Idaho had a 197, capturing the junior title. The handicap was tied with a 96 from Francis M. Tully and junior Kinley Nicole Pfaff, both from Washington. Kinley won the shootoff, leaving Bridger Hill from Idaho with the junior trophy with 95. Way to go, Bridger. Travis won both the HAA and HOA. I was sure hoping an Idahoan would get one of these last two trophies. Oh well, Travis is a nice guy, and Washington is his home state.

On an ending, but serious note: Every gun club should have an emergency activation plan in the event of a medical emergency. We have a lot of older shooters that could fall, have a heart attack, stroke, etc. If someone is in need of emergency assistance, does your club have any formal procedure besides, “just call 911!”? Do you have a team to take over the situation?

Just some things to think about.

Leonard Wehking

ATA Delegate

Montana

Missoula Trap Club was host to the Shamrock Shoot, complete with corned beef and cabbage and good cheer. The action was in shootoffs, with Ryan Fleming winning Doubles Champion A class over Chris Cainan and junior singles winner over Tripp Bick. Ryan earned the win for handicap long-yardage and finished it up with the claim of HOA.

Butte Trap Club has been a common host to Big 50s with J.D. Kent and Jake Taverna in a tie (49), James Benkovich claimed handicap high gun (49) and doubles all tied up between Daryl Shehan, Kent and Wade Klingaman (49). Josh Bridgeman took HOA (140). Shooters who made the trip to Butte for their next Big 50 were met with sunny skies and 50 mph wind gusts, though Dave Vicevich and Shehan tied for singles (45). Daryl claimed top honors in the handicap (47), doubles (44) and HOA.

Montana made a good presence at the Spring Grand in Tucson, trading snow and single digits for sunshine and flip-flops. Attendees reported a good time catching up with familiar faces, great targets and a welcome change of elements.

Flathead Valley Clay Target Club kicked off their 50th Anniversary with the first shoot of the season, drawing 17 singles squads and Pro-Am participants. Patches were the hot topic, with new sub-junior, Kwintyn Hicks, running his first 25 straight and junior shooter Joey Barone earning his first 50 and 75 straight and a yard punch to go with the title of handicap champion (97). Deegan Cavanaugh was presented with the junior singles champion buckle (93), Rod Barkley claimed singles Class A and mid-yardage, Fred Brechbill took short-yardage, Brad Frame handicap winner (second event), Randy Downing singles Class D, and Jen Louden was awarded the 200-bird handicap champion in a shootoff, ladies’ singles victor and HOA. Ryan Fleming showed up claiming two long-yardage awards in a shootoff for both events. Other winners were Dale Kinyon, mid-yardage; Michael Ashley, short-yardage; Mike Doty, singles veteran; and Aiden DeLong earned the junior gold singles buckle with high singles score of 98.

April is just around the corner, and traveling trophies for high singles and handicap teams are up for grabs during the Montana State Team Singles east of the divide in Logan. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the line.

Andrew Kelly

ATA Delegate

Nevada

Frequent Nevada shooter and good friend Mike Dame broke 48 while winning the initial handicap of the February First Sunday Social Shoot at Clark County Shooting Complex (CCSC). This marks the second month in a row that Mike has received a handicap punch. Congratulations to Mike on his excellent shooting. Joe Atkin and Jack Wang both smashed all 50 targets in the First Sunday Event 2 singles. To close out the day, veteran category shooter Ken James let just one slip away in the Event 3 doubles to win it with 49.

A large group of 45 shooters competed in the February First Sunday shoot. As is often the case, the weather was perfect. Light winds and 60° temperatures prevailed. The First Sunday Social Shoot is a great way for new and beginning shooters to engage in some low-key competition, along with more experienced and highly skilled shooters. This is a laid-back event and has become very popular. It has grown from 10 to 12 shooters four or five years ago to now with 45 or 50 shooters competing.

The following Saturday, the Big Silver Shootout was held Feb. 7 at CCSC. The shoot drew a record high 65 clay target enthusiasts. Good conditions again greeted shooters for this tournament. More than $2,000 in silver awards were won by skilled shooters. Top handicap shooter, James Schooler, won Event 1 with 96 from the back fence. Next, four excellent shooters broke all 100 clays in the Event 2 singles. Leticia Slinker, Joe Atkin, Austin Venegas and James Schooler were all perfect from the 16-yard line. Husband-and-wife team James and Deanna Schooler took first and second place in the final Big Silver Shootout Handicap, Event 3, with 97 and 94, respectively. James won HOA with 293.

Category and yardage Big Silver Shootout HOA winners were: 19-22, Corky Peters; 23-24, Howard Hughes; 25-26, Eric Coe; 27, Jack Wang; ladies’, Deanna Schooler; junior, Cole Rosario; sub-junior, Juan Rodriguez; veteran, Harry Terzian; senior vet, Joe Atkin.

The NSTA Big 50 Race For The Buckle shoot held Feb. 14 at Clark County Shooting Complex attracted 44 shooters. Cole Rosario, up-and-coming junior shooter, posted the lone 50 to win the singles event. Consistently tough handicap shooter, Jon Slinker, ran 48 to win the handicap event, and he topped the HOA with 140. Joe Atkin, Ken James and Jon Slinker all broke 43 doubles for first place in Event 3.

Looking ahead, there are a plethora of great shooting opportunities for Nevada shooters coming this spring and summer. Each month will see the First Sunday Social shoot and the NSTA Race for the Buckle Big 50.

The Spring Doubles Marathon will be held April 11 at CCSC. NSTA has 500 doubles and $2,100 in cash awards on the program.

In addition, the very popular Spring Handicap will occur May 9-10 in Las Vegas. Five hundred handicap targets and more than $4,000 in added money and awards will be available thanks to NSTA. Go get that yardage punch!

Shortly after that, a great opportunity to break your 25, 50, 75, 100 or 200 straight singles happens June 6 at CCSC during the Summer Singles Spectacular. Again, $2,100 in added money is provided by NSTA.

As summer arrives, remember that on June 20 and Aug. 22 the Race for the Buckle Big 50 moves to Lincoln County Trap Club in Pioche. (No Big 50 in July)

The premier shoot of the summer in Nevada occurs July 16-19 at Mason Valley Gun Club in Yerington and Lincoln County Trap Club in Pioche. Cooler temperatures, a great background and fun gun clubs make for a good summer getaway to Lincoln County Trap Club in Pioche and Mason Valley Gun Club in Yerington. Both clubs will again host the ATA Western Zone Championships. The Western Zone is a fun shoot that offers in-state trophies, Zone-wide ATA trophies, All-American points and night activities. The Western Zone is a telephonic shoot that connects several gun clubs throughout the West and allows shooters to compete with each other across the Western Zone, as well as competing with those in state. Scoring technology advancements created by SOS Clays have made competing with other Zone shooters across 12 Western states and two Canadian provinces easier, more timely and more fun. This shoot is a good opportunity to extend your summer shooting. I encourage everyone to try and make the Western Zone July 16-19, at either Mason Valley Gun Club in Yerington or Lincoln County Trap Club in Pioche.

Back in Las Vegas, the NSTA Spring and Summer Wednesday Night Leagues will offer some great team battles. Although you do not have to be an ATA member to participate in the leagues, some league shooters are ATA members. League singles targets can be registered with the ATA by ATA members. Spring dates are April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; May 6, 13, 20, 27; and June 3, 10, 17. Summer dates include July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; Aug. 5, 12, 19, 26; and Sept. 2. Directing the NSTA Leagues are Jeff White, Linda Hand and Corky Peters. Please see nvtrap.com for complete shoot and league details and contact information.

Until next time, let’s remember it’s a game. Have some fun out there!

Danny Talbot

ATA Delegate

Washington

Greetings from Walla Walla, WA.

I’m writing on Saturday night from my motel in Walla, and there is one more day to go in the Camas Prairie Handicap. Attendance is good, and other than a little rain to start off this morning’s championship doubles, the weather has been better than we can usually hope for during March in the Northwest.

There have been many highlights so far. During Friday’s singles we saw the father and son combination of Matt and Joe Pestarino break 100 straight on the same squad. Later in the day Greg Minor broke his first ATA 100 straight in doubles. On Saturday a young fellow from Selah named Austin Bellotti broke his first 25, 50, 75 and, you guessed it, 100 straight during the first half of the 200 singles. Everyone is looking forward to seeing what he does in the second half Sunday morning. This is going to be one shooter to watch as his career goes on.

We were saddened by the recent passing of Spokane resident and trapshooter John Bowden. John was a Hauser Lake, ID, club member as well as a longtime participant with the Malden-Pine City, WA, Gun Club. He was a familiar face at all the shoots at the Spokane Gun Club over the years and was an avid follower of the meat shoot circuit. He was recognized at clubs from Plains, MT, to places all over eastern Washington and north Idaho. Mr. Bowden will probably be best remembered for his encouragement of everyone who stepped up to the line and being the first to congratulate every shooter for a win or milestone. John could walk up to you and say, “I remember when you broke a 98 to win the Inland Empire Handicap in 2017” as well as the date and sometimes which traps you missed a target on. Trapshooting history in the region and all the friends he made were near and dear to John. A memorial was held April 11 with a 50-50-50 program and sharing of memories. John, you will be greatly missed.

There will be another one-day shoot here at Walla Walla on April 11, followed by shoots at Coulee City and Marlin in early May. We will be busy crushing clays and be back here in Walla Walla during late June for the state shoot.

Lastly, I’ve dropped some hints as to this year’s WSTA Hall of Fame honoree. Some of you may have guessed. In just over 20 years of ATA shooting, Jake Turner has compiled an impressive resume through his travels in the Northwest and at the Grand American. Jake will join his father-in-law Mark and his son Travis Iksic on the Hall of Fame wall after his induction at the state shoot at Walla Walla Gun Club in June. We will share his history in a later issue along with the shoot results. Congratulations are due, and Jake has many years left to add to an already long trophy list.

Shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Sean Lewis

WSTA Director

Wyoming

The Spring Grand numbers were up, and the scores were up. Congratulations to Kim Ideen on a score of 200 in singles and winning Lady II. Those were not easy targets with the wind and heat. Here’s hoping that the rest of the shoots this year are up in attendance and all with higher scores.

We can tell it’s spring in Wyoming because the winds are hitting that 70 to 80 mph mark. Hope you all are preparing for a lot of shooting in your time off. The Wyoming State Shoot is July 2-5. I hope to see everyone there. Laramie will be using SOS Clays Software this year, so get pre-squadded on the SOS site. Thanks and see you next month.

Ron Miller

 ATA Delegate