Clay Target Nation

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

Clinton-Irwin’s Klody Memorial

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The Clinton-Irwin Rod and Gun Club near Barkeyville, PA hosted the 16th Klody Memorial observation (Klody One-Day) on June 10th. John Klody was a tireless volunteer at this Club during the time that the second field was being built and field two is named in his honor.

The weather was great, in the low 80s with light winds and an overcast (perhaps due to the lingering smoke from the Canadian wildfires?).

Four shooters arrived early and shot doubles on Saturday morning. Brian Steinert was CH and A1with his 96; Brian’s dad Don took B1 with 86.

Fifteen shooters then participated in the main event (20 and 28-ga). Tom Shields took HOA CH honors with a nifty 195 and Carl Biddle’s 191 was good for HOA RU.

The 20-gauge was first.  Ernie Avolio’s 99 was good for CH and A1. B, C and D class firsts went to Paul Augustin, Don Steinert and Andrew Hazlett, respectively.

In the 28-gauge event on Saturday afternoon, Shields’ 98 made him CH and A1.  Don Steinert, John Avolio and Hazlett, respectively, took B1, C1 and D1.

Many thanks to everyone who helped.  Shoot sign-up and score-keeping/posting was handled by Wayne Haines and Casey Vensel.  Pullers and scorers included Terry Leake, Greg Lopata, Dave Snerker and Rich Vensel. Casey Vensel ran the kitchen and provided hot dogs, burgers, macaroni salad and browinies for lunch.

Nice club, nice people, good birds, good lunch, Clinton-Irwin would love to see you at their August 4-6 Lopata Classic!

– Contributed by George Gleich

Tom Cutlip Memorial

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The summer of 2022 saw West Virginia Clays of Charleston lose one of its favorite sons, Thomas Cutlip. Tom had been a long-time member and officer and friend to the skeet shooting community in West Virginia and the surrounding area. He is sorely missed. The weekend of June 3, 2023, the first Tom Cutlip Memorial shoot came to fruition. 

West Virginia and the surrounding area is very active in the Scholastic Clay Target Program, and this weekend was the first registered targets for 11 young shooters from Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Fourteen-year-old Carter Shafer took C1 in the 12-gauge with a 94, D1 in the 20-gauge with 94 and HOA C1. Triple-Sub Tyler Dahse was 12-gauge E1 with a score of 93. Sub-Junior Alexandra McGrew was C1 in the 20-gauge with 90, C2 in the 28-gauge with 89 and won her first shoot-off in .410-bore for D2.

The adults shot well also, with Joe Charles taking 12-gauge gun champ with 99 and 20-gauge gun champ with 97. Bob Estep was 28-gauge gun champ with a fine 95 on his first registered targets. Scott Sparks took the .410-bore with 92. A special thanks to Jill Taylor, shoot chairwoman, and Brenda Horne for the best food on the planet. With any luck, this will be a recurring event in honor of a fine gentleman, Thomas Cutlip.

– Contributed by David Ashworth

Penny Penwell Memorial Shoot

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Grand Prairie Gun Club was proud to again hold the Penny Penwell Memorial Shoot April 14-16. Donny Penwell hosts this shoot in honor of his father, Penny Penwell, who was well-known in the Dallas area as a great shooter and supporter of skeet shooting. Donny makes sure shooters have a memorable time at his shoot. And the gun club members, who volunteer their time and hard work, are extremely supportive and take great pride in throwing great targets and providing delicious meals. They work tirelessly to ensure everyone one has a great shooting experience at Grand Prairie.

(L to R) David Chancellor 28ga CH, Dustin Holmes 410 CH, Jason Foshea 12ga CH, Michael Dennis DBLS CH, Adam Roberts HOA CH

The Texas referees are second to none – they came out and worked with no planned breaks. It is so important to have good referees, and it certainly helps shooters to perform at their best. These referees did a great job, and we appreciate their support, as well as Allen Cline for his leadership to develop and train referees in the state of Texas.

The Saturday night shrimp boil and the 28-gauge Calcutta auction are definitely highlights for this shoot! Three-man teams are blindly identified electronically based on classes to get good competitive teams in place, and they are auctioned off to the highest bidder. It is great fun and provides great camaraderie as consortiums are sometimes formed to pool their funds to bid on the favored teams. Quite a bit of analysis is typically done to ensure success in winning the auction for the best team.

2023 winners of the Penny Penwell Memorial Shoot:

Adam Roberts – HOA Champion

Jason Foshea – HOA runner-up

Mike Gershick – HOA third

Kathleen Butler – HOA Lady champ

Jason Foshea – 12-gauge champ

Mike Gerschick – 12-gauge runner-up

Tommy Hubbard – 12-gauge third

Kathleen Butler – 12-gauge Lady champ

Nicholas Godfrey – 20-gauge champ

Adam Roberts – 20-gauge runner-up

Dennis Godfrey – 20-gauge third

Jo Ellen Collin – 20-gauge Lady champ

David Chancellor – 28-gauge champ

Adam Roberts – 28-gauge runner-up

Ken Wright – 28-gauge third

Jo Ellen Collin – 28-gauge Lady champ

Dustin Holmes – .410 champ

Doug Toulouse – .410 runner-up

David (Tim) Cudia – .410 third

Kathleen Butler – .410 Lady champ

Michael Dennis – Doubles champ

Travis Mears – Doubles runner-up

Jon McDonald – Doubles third

Tracy Ragle – Doubles Lady champ

David Chancellor came down from Oklahoma to referee the shoot but also shot, winning the 28-gauge after shooting a perfect score of 100 and winning the shoot-off. Then he iron-manned as a referee, as he often does.

Come out and join this shoot next year – we would love to have you!

– Contributed by Randy Walhood

Kathleen Butler Lady HOA CH
Nick Godfrey 20ga CH

Onion Snow Open

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The Sportsmen’s Club of Forest County in Marienville, PA held their second-ever registered skeet shoot, the Onion Snow Open, on May 22. 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. Registered monthly targets at the club have resulted in several new shooters being added to NSSA’s rolls in the past few years. 

This shoot was a two-gun affair, including 100 birds in each 28- and 12-gauge. The weather was relatively warm, but otherwise not especially nice — clear in the early morning and late afternoon, but windy with clouds and off-and-on rain for much of the day. Fifteen shooters participated. There were three flights, which meant a full slate for this one-field club. Allison Shaffer, Mark Eckert and Chris Kline, respectively, were HOA Champion (193), runner-up (191) and third (190).

The 28-gauge was first. Mark Eckert’s 95 made him gun champ, while Jared Shaffer’s 95 was good for runner-up. Class winners included Tom Shields (AA), Allison Shaffer (A), Evan Martin (B), John Avolio (C) and Norm Wagner (D).

A great lunch was enjoyed by all, with ham barbecue, macaroni salad, baked beans and several fresh fruit salads, followed by a large assortment of delicious desserts. Many thanks to Lois and Carol Shields!

After lunch, the 12-gauge event took place. Allison Shaffer’s 99 made her the 12-gauge champ, while Chris Kline, also at 99, was runner-up. Evan Martin, Jared Shaffer, Colby Eckert and George Gleich, respectively, took firsts in A, B, C and E classes.

Kudos to Tom Shields for overall shoot management and to Paul McConnville, Mark Williams, Dale Gallagher and Dave Smerker for their efforts before and during the shoot. Many thanks also to Casey Vensel for sign-ups, scorekeeping and posting, etc.

It was neat to again experience the “advance warning” of the exiting birds as they were thrown flawlessly from vintage Winchester 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 7. Thirty-four shooters participated in this two-gun event, 12-gauge in the morning and 20-gauge in the afternoon. The weather was overcast with scattered rain showers, mainly in the afternoon, but relatively warm and not too windy.

Chris Kline took HOA honors with a perfect 200. Pat Leyo and Mark Eckert both posted HOA scores of 197. Debra Meade was Ladies HOA champ with a 195. Great shooting by all!

Kline’s 100-straight won the 12-gauge event outright. Meade’s 98 was good for Lady Champion. Class winners in the 12 included: Leyo (AA-97), Jack Harshbarger (A-99), Meade (B-98), John Avolio (C-97), Don Steinert (D-95) and George Gleich (E-89).

Kline was also 20-gauge champ, but not until he bested Leyo and Frank Smithmyer in a shoot-off of 100-straights. Missy Vescovi was Lady Champion with a 98. Class firsts went to: Smithmyer, Leyo, Mark Eckert (99), Scott Hazlett (94) and Andrew Hazlett (86), AA, A, B, C and D, respectively.

Kudos to Ryan Holtz for running the desk and Michael Vescovi, who was chief referee. Non-shooting referees included Renee Calvert, Andrea McMullen, Alex Farrell and Braden Holtz — great job, refs! Thanks also to Pat Leyo for doughnuts and to Renee Calvert for cookies!

Many skeet shooters agree that recruiting young shooters is one of the most important tasks we face as a sport. Generations’ next generation of skeet shooters is on the way! Sub-Junior Luke Holtz (13) and Juniors James and Braden Holtz and Gabe Smithmyer shot on a squad with Gabe’s dad Frank who showed them how to do it with his 100-straight.

Nine pairs of parent and child competitors participated in this shoot. Families represented included: Harshbarger, Sutton, Hazlett, Vescovi, Steinert, Smithmyer and three sets of Holtz teams.

Junior shooter Zak Sutton of the Lawrence County Young Guns from Wampum, PA, shot and did quite well (two 95s). Sporting clays is the main focus of this group of several dozen young shooters, but they also participate in trap and skeet. Zak’s dad, Ed, shot his first registered skeet and finished with very respectable scores.

And speaking of young skeet shooters, Generations also hosted the PA SCTP Championships on May 20, with approximately 90 young people participating. Kudos to Joe Gans 3 for all his efforts with the kids!

– Contributed by George Gleich

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