Clay Target Nation

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

2019 Junior World Goes to Fort Bragg

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The National Skeet Shooting Association, Cross Creek Skeet Association, and Fort Bragg Clay Target Center invite all Sub-Junior, Junior and Collegiate shooters to participate in the 2019 Junior World Skeet Championships. The NSSA Junior World is a special event for our youth shooters to take part in their own championship event. The NSSA’s three youth categories are Sub-Junior, any person who has not reached their fourteenth birthday; Junior, any person who has not reached their eighteenth birthday; and Collegiate, a fulltime undergraduate student in an accredited degree-oriented learning institution. Parents and coaches are also welcome to shoot at the event, but preference is given to the youth participants.

The Junior World is an important shoot to our youth concurrent shooters vying for All-American teams, as many All-American points are awarded at this event. However, those not interested in All-American status need not be deterred, as the Junior World is a great way to venture to a new club, meet new people, and make lifelong friends. The Junior World is also a special event because of the age divisions, allowing those of a similar skill level to compete against each other.

While the Junior World program includes multiple gauges, it is not required to compete in all the events. It is perfectly acceptable to sign up for just the 12-gauge event if that is all you wish to compete in. While Fort Bragg has 12 skeet fields, it is important to pre-register so shoot management can plan and make all the necessary arrangements for a successful shoot.

Looking for more to do than shoot while heading to Fort Bragg? Fort Bragg Clay Target Center is located at 651 East Manchester Road, in the town of Spring Lake, in the Sandhills Region of North Carolina. The Sandhills of North Carolina has plenty to offer any family that comes to visit. The military history of Fort Bragg, the Airborne-Special Operations Museum, revitalized downtown Fayetteville, local towns with numerous antique shops, nearby world-class golf courses and so much more make this a very special place. Additionally, North Carolina beaches are only two hours away, and the North Carolina mountains are approximately four hours away.

I can promise you much work has already been put into making the 2019 Junior World a huge success, and much more effort will take place over the next few months to make the 2019 event very special. Registration opened on April 1, so if you haven’t already, make sure to complete your pre-registration form and mail to Cross Creek Skeet Association, Jim Tiner, 2141 Pridgeonfarm Road, Fayetteville, NC 28306.

Pre-registration form, hotel and general information can all be found on the Junior World page at bit.ly/JrWorld.

For any other questions regarding the Junior World, contact me at nboyd@nssa-nsca.com or call 210-254-1533.

Groundhog Day Referee Shoot

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Skeet season started early for the Oklahoma State referees this year. Since becoming Chief Referee, it has been my policy that all referees who fall under my jurisdiction be certified yearly by completing their standardized NSSA test. Though all referees now have a 3-year certification, I find the NSSA test to be an excellent refresher for the upcoming skeet season. I set up an online version of the NSSA test on a free website called Testmoz.com. This allows me to easily track test scores and make changes as the NSSA makes changes to its test. This also allows seasoned refs the convenience of fitting the refresher into their schedule. New referees will still take a mandatory training class and the initial paper test.

The shoot followed the meeting, and after a couple of late dropouts, we were down to 11 shooters. The weather was surprisingly favorable for February in Oklahoma. There were a few competitive shooters, some were collegiate or past skeet shooters, and we have some that rarely shoot their shotgun at all. A handicap system was used to balance our scores. Those with a handicap shot regular skeet and got to add their handicap to their score. Those with a zero handicap shot regular skeet until station 4 where they shot back-to-back doubles, then regular skeet again. Zero handicap shooters didn’t get an option target and just shot their 25th shot at high 8. The first event was 50 targets, and the prize was the first Groundhog Day Champion skeet towel; it’s all about bragging rights. With his handicap, Sam Galles was the champion with a 48. We had a second event concurrent with the first, and it consisted of a 5-card draw poker hand. In the second box, every shooter drew a card from the deck on stations 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8. When all the shooting was done, we compared our poker hands. The high hand from each field went against each other for the first Groundhog Day Poker Hand Champion skeet towel. In the end, Todd Johnson won with 2 pairs, Queens over 8s.

There was no money to win – only the enjoyment of shooting with friends. I want to make sure that each year this great group of people know how much I appreciate them and have an opportunity to have a little fun. I’m already looking forward to the 2nd Annual Groundhog Day Shoot and hope those who couldn’t make it this year will be able to join us next year. Like any good event, it takes more than one person to pull it off. Thanks to everyone involved for making the first Groundhog Day Shoot a success.

– Contributed by Andy Schuppert

Chief Referee, Oklahoma

Salisbury Gun Club Celebrates Rick Fears with 28-Gauge Shoot

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Friends and family gathered at the Salisbury Gun Club recently in honor of Rick Fears, a member of the Salisbury Gun Club since 1965. The celebration kicked off with a 50-bird, 28-gauge shoot won by Don Handy. The shoot was named “The Rick Fears 28-Gauge Classic” because over Rick’s long skeet shooting career, he fell in love with the little 28 gauge and shot it in the 12, 20 and 28-gauge events. Following the shoot, participants gathered with Rick and his family, plus a host of both old and new friends to enjoy lunch and fellowship.

After lunch, the crowd was treated to a good-natured roast of Rick and a brief summary of Rick’s long skeet shooting career. Rick earned places on 18 All-American Teams from 1985 through 2009 and 36 Maryland State Teams. He was inducted into the Maryland Skeet Hall of Fame in 1998. He has recorded 136 100-straights in registered competition, including 10 in the .410 bore. During Rick’s long career, he has registered more than 255,000 targets, shooting in events in 37 states. He has been a perennial club champion at Salisbury Gun Club, maintaining an event average of 98.3.

– Contributed by Norman Bunting

 

Gil Rodler Memorial

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Memorial skeet shoots are all about remembering and memorializing some of our greatest shooters. That’s the case with the Gil Rodler Memorial. He attended every Pennsylvania State Skeet Championship from 1954 until 2013. Further, he won more of those PA Championship titles than just about anyone. But the longevity of his year-after-year PA State Championship attendance does set him apart – 60 straight years.

But there’s more. He won national titles like the U.S. Open Doubles Championship. While Gil shot a Krieghoff Model 32 for most of his 4-gun career, he shot Doubles with a Perazzi MT6 with a Modified choke in the second barrel. He was noted for shooting the second doubles target way, way out there and smashing it. Gil was also well known as not only a serious competitor, but one with grim determination that showed on his face, his body, his every muscle. These days we’re told to relax while shooting. Rodler never shot relaxed.

September 3, 2018, was the fourth annual Gil Rodler Memorial. It takes place at the Tarentum District Sportsman’s Club near Sarver, PA. Our tradition for this shoot is always Labor Day – as well as 50 targets in the .410, 28, 20 and 12 gauge – in that order – so a one-day shoot. With the club’s three fields we are limited to 30 4-gun shooters (four flights), and this year’s shoot was filled within 24 hours of announcement – testimony to local shooters who have such respect for Gil Rodler, and to the Tarentum District Sportsmen’s Club as well, with its totally renovated clubhouse and all new Lincoln skeet, trap, 5-stand and sporting clays traps.

Well-known Pennsylvania shooter Roy Holtz won the High Overall Championship with a 195. Josh Crofutt was only one target behind for runner-up. Crofutt also won the .410. Tom Shields was 28-gauge champ, Josh Crofutt the 20-gauge, and Tim Holtz won the 12-gauge.

The club always puts out a great lunch spread, and this year’s Rodler Memorial was no exception. Kudos to kitchen help Regina Nemergut, Marie Palmer (who also shot the full program) and all the others who helped. Running the shoot was Dave Cominsky, using the NSSA skeet shoot software.

This club intends to keep the Rodler memory alive with a Labor Day shoot for years to come. The 50-target, 4-gun format has been very popular with our local shooters. We shoot the 12-gauge last to eliminate the need for cleaning barrels by tube-set shooters. We shoot 50 .410s first. Shooters bring their 28-gauge guns or tubes and shells. Consequently, immediately following the 50 .410 targets, we’re able to start the 28-gauge with no delay. Same with the 20- and 12-gauge events: shoot the 20 first and go right into the 12-gauge with no time lost. We find this an efficient way for each competitor to get in 200 targets in the day. We try to finish shoot-offs early enough that shooters can get back to their families for the rest of the Labor Day holiday.

– Contributed by Nick Sisley

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Pennsylvania State Skeet Championship

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Pennsylvania Skeet Shooting Association held its 82nd annual Pennsylvania State Open Skeet Championship at the Shenecoy Sportsmen facility in McConnellstown, PA on August 24-26. The weather, facilities, targets and referees were all great. 190 participants shot at least one gun, including 37 out-of-state shooters from Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Alessandro Vitale, Zone 2 committeeman from MD, was open HOA (398) and HAA (497) champion. Sam Armstrong was open HOA (396) and HAA (495) runner-up. Pennsylvanians Ted Capers and Fran Kosmacki were open HOA third (395) and open HAA third (492), respectively. PA HOA champion, runner-up and third, respectively, were Capers, Kosmacki and Richard (Frenchy) Larosa; Kosmacki, Larosa and R. Dennis Lehman were PA HAA champion, runner-up and third.

The 28-gauge Prelim started the festivities on Friday morning with 48 shooters participating. Michael Zavasky posted the lone 100 and emerged as champion. Clay Gormish and Jared Shaffer shot 99s and were, respectively, runner-up and third.

117 participants shot Doubles on Friday afternoon. Armstrong and Vitale shot 99s and were open champion and runner-up, respectively, while Chris Kline’s 99 was good for open third. Kline (99), Gary Nace (98) and Lehman (98), respectively, were PA champion, runner-up and third. PA class firsts went to Kosmacki, Kenny Riddile, Gormish, Tom Hillard, David Darrough and Rege Guckert (AAA-D).

In the main event, there were 13 perfect 100s in the 12-gauge, seven in the 20, 10 in the 28 and one in the .410. PA champion, runner-up and third, respectively, were Lehman, Kline, and Ernie Avolio in the 12 (185 shooters with Michael Stasio from DE winning open champion); Capers, Lehman and Gormish in the 20 (183 shooters); Kosmacki, Zavasky and Gormish in the 28 (176 shooters with Armstrong open third); and, Peter Anderson, Capers and Paul Augustin in the .410 (171 shooters, with Vitale’s 99 taking open runner-up).

Class (PA) winners were Matthew Sanders, Frank Smithmyer, Augustin, Meghan Darrough, Rich Rothrock, Richard Teti and Jack Makdad (12-gauge AAA-E); Kosmacki, Dan Felton, Adam Vollmer, Mark Saussure, Jackson Paul and Robert Saam (20-gauge AAA-D); Tom Johnson, Pat Leyo, Ed Call, Colin Crawford, Jeff Wright and Tracey Snyder (28-gauge AAA-D), and Joe Vescovi, Matthew Sanders, William Teti, Howard Page, Paul and Bob Waite (.410 bore AAA-D).

Among Junior shooters, LaRosa, Meghan Darrough and Paul, respectively, were PA HOA champion, runner-up and third, and open champion, runner-up and third. PA Ladies HOA winners were Debra Meade, champion; Meghan Darrough, runner-up; and Linda Sanders, third. Open Lady winners were Meade, champion, Sue Huszai at runner-up and Meghan Darrough, third.

A mega-hat shoot took place on Saturday evening, starting with a hat shoot in memory of Frank Walsh. After the memorial hat shoot, seven other hats were blasted by a long line of shooters. This must have been one of the biggest hat shoots (at least by the number of shooters out there) of all time.

Colin Crawford bested 47 other shooters to win the BCDE Challenge shoot-off. The top prize was a Henry rifle donated by Ed and Theresa Call.

The 5-man team handicap championship shoot-off – free to all shooters, based on 12-gauge averages – involved 13 teams. For the second consecutive year, the winners were the North Carolina Boys: Scott Graham, Russell Bingham, Steve Timmons, Rob Pope and Chip Simmons. Each received a beautiful belt buckle.

With 33 entries in the HOA Handicap shoot-off, the winners were Capers, Kosmacki and Leyo, in order.

PA State Teams for 2017 were recognized. The PA first team included Kosmacki, Lehman, Kline, Felton and Gormish, and each received a nice wooden plaque.

A drawing between 13 first-time 4-gun shooters at the State Shoot resulted in Carl Biddle being reimbursed his 4-gun entry fees. Josh Crofutt was the winner of free entry fees to the 2018 World Skeet Championships.

The PSSA President’s Cup award for 2017 was presented to Bob and Becky Myers in recognition of their long-time support of skeet clubs and their major milestone of 1 million combined registered skeet targets at the World Shoot this year.

Many shooters had firsts at this year’s State Shoot. Shooting their first 100s were Rich Rothrock, Jack Makdad, Armand Watts and Randal Horsley in the 12; Colin Crawford in the 28; and Peter Anderson in the .410. First 75s included Tori Holtz, Joe McGarvey and Guy Barr in the 12. First 50s included Allison Shaffer and Tracey Snyder in the 28.

George Gleich shot his 225,000th registered bird during the 20-gauge event.

All Juniors and Sub-Juniors participating in this year’s State Shoot had 100% of their entry fees paid by PSSA; shells used (4 boxes for each event except the Prelim) were also provided by PSSA.

Special thanks to the many club volunteers and sponsors whose hard work and support made our event a success, and to those who contributed a total of $5,400 in added money.

– Contributed by George Gleich

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