Clay Target Nation

The official magazine of the National Skeet Shooting Association and the National Sporting Clays Association

Forest County Invitational

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The Sportsmen’s Club of Forest County in Marienville, Penn., held its first registered skeet shoot on May 21. The Club was established in 1970 but didn’t have a skeet field until about 15 years ago. Club members Norm Wagner and Paul McConville were instrumental in the planning and construction of the field. As many as 20 skeet shooters use the field on Thursday and Saturday afternoons, and a number of these shooters volunteer to help get things done around the club.

This inaugural shoot was a two-gun affair including 100 birds each in 20- and 28-gauge. The weather was summer-like, hot, and humid with partially cloudy skies. Twelve shooters participated. There were three flights, which meant a full slate for this one-field club. Chris Kline was the overall high gun winner with his 195, while Adam Vollmer (191) and Rich Vensel (190), respectively, took runner-up and third.

The 20-gauge was first. Tom Shields, obviously utilizing home field advantage, shot a 99 to win the gun championship outright while Vensel’s 97 was good for runner-up. Class winners included Vollmer (AA), Evan Martin (A), George Gleich (C) and Dan Amsler (D).

A great lunch was enjoyed by all, pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans and fresh fruit followed by a large assortment of delicious desserts. Many thanks to Lois and Carol Shields and Marie Trilli for all their efforts related to the food!

After lunch, the 28-gauge event took place. Kline’s 98 made him 28-gauge champion, and Vollmer was runner-up with a 95. Vensel, George Kirik, Gleich and Amsler, respectively, took firsts in A, B, C and D classes.

The club was sparkling for this shoot. It was obvious that a lot of work had been done. Kudos to Tom and Larry Shields, Norm Wagner, Mark Williams, Dale Gallagher and Dave Smerker for their efforts before and during the shoot! Kudos also to Casey and Rich Vensel for sign-ups, scorekeeping and posting, etc. A sense of nostalgia was felt while shooting at birds thrown from Winchester traps since many, if not most, clubs now use “fat traps.”

– Contributed by George Gleich

 

Blackbird Open

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The Blackbird Open was held at Generations Skeet Club near Patton, Pennsylvania, on May 1.  Thirty-four shooters participated in this two-gun event, with 12-gauge in the morning and 20-gauge in the afternoon. The weather was not great, with rain most of the day, but the shoot must go on; at least it wasn’t windy. There was one straight on the day and numerous scores in the high 90s, despite the rain.

Jeff Holtz took HOA honors with a nice 197, followed closely by HOA runner-up Jack Harshbarger’s 196.

Jeff Holtz’s 100 straight won the 12-gauge event outright. Class firsts went to Joe Vescovi (AA-98), Michael Vescovi (A-99), Jack Harshbarger (B-98), Tim Holtz (C-96) and George Gleich (D-92). Debra Meade’s 97 made her Lady Champion.

Jared Shaffer won the 20-gauge event with a 99. Class winners included Jeff Holtz (AA-97), Jack Harshbarger (A-98), John Avolio (B-95), Colby Eckert (C-95) and Emily Harshbarger (D-92). Allison Shaffer was Lady Champion with her 98.

Thanks to Ryan Holtz for running the desk.  Michael Vescovi was chief referee.  Non-shooting referees included Paige and Andrea McMullen, Renee Calvert and Alex Farrell — great job in the rain, folks! Thanks also to Pat Leyo for bringing doughnuts, to Joe McGarvey for preparing a large container of hot stew, and to Renee Calvert for the chocolate chip cookies.

– Contributed by George Gleich

Clayton Snow Memorial Shoot

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The 13th annual Clayton Snow Memorial was held at Meadville Sportsman’s Club in Meadville, Penn., on May 14. Clayton Snow was a long-time member and supporter of this club and was especially interested in encouraging young people to learn to shoot.

Despite forecasts calling for thunderstorms and rain, it was warm and partly sunny most of the day with light winds. Seventeen shooters participated in this 200-bird shoot (20- and 28-gauge). The high total score of the day (195) was turned in by Mike Zavasky who had a 96 in the 20 and a 99 in the 28; Dave Wilke was HOA runner-up after winning a shoot-off of 193s with Kody Hoth.

The shoot began with the 20-gauge event in the morning. Wilke shot a 97 for gun champ. Gary Trilli was runner-up after winning a shoot-off of 96s with Zavasky. Class champions included Hoth (AA), Zavasky (A), Gary Trilli (B), George Gleich (C) and Willis Proctor (D).

The 28-gauge event took place after lunch. Hoth was gun champ after he and Zavasky, runner-up, shot off their 99s. Zavasky (AA), Paul Augustin (A), George Kirik (B), Gleich (C) and Mark Jones (D) were class winners.

Samuel Marks handled registration and score posting. Samuel, his dad Sam, and Keith Snow pulled and scored. Becky Snow oversaw the food: KFC, potato salad, chips, chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies – yum! Marie Trilli made the shooting towels awarded to gun champs and runners-up.

Extra special thanks go to the Snow family for sponsoring this shoot by providing money and locally produced maple syrup as prizes to the gun and overall champs. Clayton’s widow, Kathleen, and two of his sons (Dale and his wife Janet, and Keith and his wife Becky) attended the shoot; Calvin Doctor, the Snows’ grandson, made the maple syrup.

– Contributed by George Gleich

  

Penwell Memorial Skeet Shoot

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The 2022 Penwell Memorial was held at the Grand Prairie Gun Club (Texas) on April 8-10. Close to 50 shooters managed to find ammo to participate in this fine event. The brisk winds that blew didn’t seem to deter anyone from having a great time. Adam Roberts won the Doubles event on Friday with a 97. Runner-up was Johnny DeLeon with a 96. Third was won by Jason Foshea in a shoot-off of 95s with Mike Schmitt.

The 12-gauge event was captured by Donny Penwell with a lone 99. Runner-up was determined by shoot-off of 98s between Layne Merritt, Richard Funk and Gary Edwards. Layne won runner-up with Richard Funk taking third and Gary Edwards A1.

The 20-gauge had three 100 straights – Jason Foshea, Gary Jaggears and Cody Sergeant, who finished champ, runner-up and third, respectively.

On Saturday night, the club treated the shooters and guests to a shrimp boil with all the trimmings. After the dinner, a Calcutta auction was held on the 3-man blind teams in the 28-gauge. This proved to be a very spirited event.

The club is fortunate to have volunteers who run the shoot, empty the trash, load the houses and prepare the meals. A huge ‘thank you’ to all the volunteers who make the shoot possible.

Sunday brought more wind, with Jason Ward winning the event. Richard Funk was runner-up and Cody Sergeant was third. All posted 98s with the order determined by shoot-off.

Mike Gerschick won the .410 event with the high score of 96. Runner-up was Jason Ward with a 95. Greg VanBelois, Richard Funk and Johnny DeLeon battled it out for third, with Greg VanBelois claiming the victory.

At the close of the day, Jason Ward was the HOA Champion with a 389. Richard Funk and Mike Gerschick shot off scores of 387, with Funk taking runner-up and Gerschick third.

Many thanks to the Penwell family who donated custom knives to the gun champions and solicited sponsors for this event.

– Contributed by Randy Walhood

January Open – Dallas Gun Club

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January 22 was the perfect day to hold the first shoot of 2022 at Dallas Gun Club. Weather was great for January, with sunshine and no wind. Forty-one shooters ventured out to shoot the tournament of 100 12-gauge targets in the morning and 100 12-gauge targets in the afternoon. Of the 41 shooters registered, over half were Sub-Junior/Junior shooters competing in their first NSSA registered tournament. Most wore their team colors/vests showing their team spirit for their school where they shoot competitions against other schools under the auspices of the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Youth in Education Shooting Sports (YESS). Twenty-one shooters shot in the SCTP concurrent. 

Several years ago, the Dallas Gun Club moved from a one-day format of 50 targets each in 12-, 20- and 28-gauge and .410 bore to a menu of 12-gauge only for the day. This provides an opportunity for shooters without the 4-gauge set-up to join in; thus, the Dallas Gun Club has seen an influx of youth shooters showing up each January and February for the 12-gauge events. It has been a wonderful experience for all – getting to know new shooters, making new friends, and talking up the 4-gauge competitions.

Cody Sargent, well-known in the worldwide skeet community, handily won the HOA event as well as both 100-target events with a perfect score of 200. Mike Schmitt and Jeff Myhre tied with 195s, with Schmitt prevailing for runner-up and Myhre with third.

With many youth shooting their first registered skeet targets, there was one who celebrate a momentous occasion – Jacob (Jake) Farrand, who shoots for the Carroll Clay Target Program in Southlake, Texas, shot his first 25 straight. Several of his teammates gathered to shoot his hat. They did a good job hitting the hat, and Jake was still able to wear it home proudly.

Thank you to all the shooters who came out to make this shoot great fun with good friends and shooters. Thank you to the staff at the Dallas Gun Club for the great targets and food.

– Contributed by Jo Ellen Collin

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