Clay Target Nation

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

3rd Annual Newark Open

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The 2023 Newark Open was held on July 28-30. Once again, great scores were posted. Three years running and HOA scores have been 397, 398, 398. If you like good targets, great scores, added money, a free handicap event, and plenty of free food, you should put this on your schedule.

HOA CH, RU, 3RD

This year’s tournament started out on Friday afternoon with some pretty good conditions, although quite humid. Some fine scores were posted, highlighted by Ontario, Canada’s Dan Morris winning a shoot-off of 99’s with Craig Parsons. Third was captured by Steven (Woody) Wood.

Saturday started out calm and humid again, but our noon flight of 12-gauge shooters were not so lucky. They got drenched! They were able to brave the downpour to conclude their third round but were called in to wait out the storm before being able to finish the event. After a 30-minute or so pause, shooting resumed in the rain. The first flight of the 20-gauge shooters also got soaked, but good scores still prevailed. Once everyone got dried out and guns were dried and cleaned, lunch donated by Newark member Craig Halstead and his wife Cindy was served.

Luckily, the remainder of the afternoon was dry, and we were able to complete the day’s events in time for all to enjoy dinner provided by the Newark club. This year’s dinner was catered by local favorite Bad to the Bone BBQ, and at the end of the evening, only a few scraps were found to be left over.

The winners of the day were:

12-gauge champion, Don Lewandoski; runner-up, Dess Ivanov; and third, Craig Parsons, after a shoot-off of 100 straights, and

20-gauge champion, Dess Ivanov; runner-up, Steve Wood; third, John Boone.

The 20-gauge B-C-D handicap event with free entry, sponsored by Pat Breen and Cliff Patridge, was won by Walt Aldrich with a fine score of 99. Runner-up was Larry Clarke, and third place was split between John Greco and Victor Stirpe.

Sunday brought dry conditions and more great shooting highlighted by Newark’s own Cameron Baker smoking his very first 100 straight, in the 28-gauge event. Dess continued his hot streak with another 100 straight as well. Several people reported that they heard Dess breathe quite a sigh of relief when he heard that Cameron had left the club after smashing his straight to honor his commitment to play on his summer soccer team and would not be able to shoot-off the event. 28-gauge winners were champion, Dess Ivanov; runner-up, Cameron Baker; and third, Woody Wood.

In the afternoon .410 event, all eyes were on the Bulgarian. Everyone was pulling for him, as he was the only competitor at 300 straight. I suppose the lack of sleep caught up to him Sunday afternoon, as he had just arrived home from a trip to Bulgaria at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Some fine shooting on a few short hours of sleep! Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t what everyone was hoping for, but he posted an awesome 98 in the small-bore event, capturing the HOA championship with a great score of 398X400. Other winners in the HOA were runner-up Craig Parsons and third-place Steve Wood.

The .410 champion was Dan Morris, and runner-up was Craig Parsons, after a shoot off of 99’s. Third went to Dess.

– Contributed by Craig Parsons

DBLS, CH, RU
12 CH & RU
20ga CH & RU
Cameron’s 1st 100

Photo Gallery: Ladies Skeet Clinic at World Skeet Championships

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The inaugural Ladies Skeet Clinic was held on September 29 during the Mini World, with 12 participants paired with four instructors. Instructors were JoEllen Collin, Jackie Ego, Bethanne Miles, and Hannah Goddard, with Susie Galloway assisting. The objectives of the clinic were to provide a safe, friendly and supportive environment for our students to learn the fundamentals of shotgun shooting from and with other women.

– Photos contributed by Susie Galloway

Click on a photo to enlarge.

Ladies Skeet Clinic at World Skeet Championships

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The inaugural Ladies Skeet Clinic was held on September 29 during the Mini World, with 12 participants paired with four instructors. Instructors were JoEllen Collin, Jackie Ego, Bethanne Miles, and Hannah Goddard, with Susie Galloway assisting. The objectives of the clinic were to provide a safe, friendly and supportive environment for our students to learn the fundamentals of shotgun shooting from and with other women. 

Experience levels ranged from never having handled a gun/shotgun before, to some beginners who had shot a little skeet, sporting clays, or trap. All were eager to learn about skeet shooting.  We had classroom time where we got to know each other, gave a brief overview of clay target sports, with emphasis on skeet, its history, and NSSA, and conducted a thorough safety orientation.

JoEllen Collin and Jackie Ego checked everyone for eye dominance, and the instructors helped dial in gun fit for all the ladies. Instructors went over proper mount and stance before each group headed out to the four fields NSSA had ready for the group. It wasn’t long before shots were fired and cheers went up and down the line as some of the students broke their very first skeet targets.

At the conclusion of shooting, the group headed to headquarters, met members of the NSSA staff and the Executive Committee, and enjoyed a fabulous lunch, compliments of NSSA. NSSA also provided Complimentary Limited Memberships for all the clinic participants. Huge thanks to duPont/Krieghoff, Krieghoff, Briley, Federal, and NSSA for their generous gifts, loaner guns, ammunition and the special touches that made this inaugural clinic a success. With a full clinic and waiting list for the inaugural event, we’re already planning for an expanded 2024 event.

– Contributed by Hannah Goddard

Ray Harding Open at Fredericksburg Rod & Gun

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Fredericksburg Rod & Gun Club held the first Ray Harding Open (a rename of the Battlefield Open) on July 15-16 to honor Ray Harding who gave so much to Virginia skeet during his life.  Ray shot skeet for 50 years, was president of the VSSA for two terms, was skeet chairman and NSSA Director for 20 years, and served on the club’s Board of Directors for most of his skeet career.

HOA CH Conor Stephens and Lady HOA Lindsay Coffman

Photos of Ray were displayed and shooters talked about him all weekend. Ray had a hobby of carving and painting intricate wooden pins of birds, dogs, fish and grouse feathers. Each gun champion at the shoot received a grouse tail feather pin as a memento of the shoot and Ray.

The first shooter to be “pinned” was Fred Wood, who won doubles. Conor Stephens was 12-gauge champ with the only 100 of the weekend, followed by 28-gauge champ Dick Weinley and 20-gauge champ Gil Traore, both with blistering 99s. Conor repeated as .410 champ, but the pins were “one to a customer.” James Reinhold was presented with the fifth pin in the box for his fine shooting (doubles third, 12-gauge A1, 28-gauge runner-up, 20-gauge A1, .410 third, and HOA runner-up, even as he refereed after each time he shot in the hot and humid weather. His HOA score was his personal best, just six birds behind HOA Champion Conor Stephens.

Judy Harding took delight in presenting pins to the champs and noted she had found more (of Ray’s carvings that she can present next year.

– Contributed by Judy Harding and Becky Myers

Judy Harding 12GA CH Conor Stephens
20ga CH Gil Traore

Judy Harding and Doubles CH Fred Wood

WorldWide Summer Classic

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Many years ago, Gordon MacRae sang “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin” in the musical “Oklahoma!”, and indeed it was on August 6 as the Victor Rod and Gun Club in Victor, New York, hosted the seventh annual WorldWide Summer Classic. The weather was as near perfect as it gets in Western New York, with light winds and temperatures in the 70’s. This 12-gauge and doubles one-day registered skeet shoot, with $3000 in added money, is highly favored by shooters in the region. 

The shooters started to arrive for registration early in the morning. Shooter registration was fast and efficient for the 45 shooters due to a new, streamlined pre-registration process. The shooters were in very good spirits as they gathered in the pavilion. They enjoyed catching up with old friends while making new friends. The machines were dialed in to throw great targets against a great background. Everyone was eager to start the competition. The freshly cut and trimmed fields awaited the shooters.

The morning started with the 12-gauge event. Both Christopher Dole and David Cooley crushed all 100 targets for the only perfect scores of the day. After a brief shoot-off, Dole emerged as 12- gauge champ with David becoming the runner-up. Bill Kalwas and Mat Kelley took their scores of 99 into a shoot-off for AA class 1st and 2nd. Kalwas emerged as class AA1 after a lengthy and exciting shoot-off. Chad Seelbinder had the lone 99 score in B class to claim B1. Mike Haff and Victoria Ferchaw also had scores of 99. Mike emerged the winner of the shoot-off over Victoria to claim A1. Rounding out the other 12-gauge winners were Walt Aldrich (C) and John Yackiw (D).

At midday, the kitchen crew prepared a great lunch, much to the delight of the hungry crowd.  For the afternoon doubles competition, the winds remained relatively calm. Owen Cooley and Bill Kalwas each broke 99 targets. Kalwas won a short shoot-off to claim the doubles title, with Owen Cooley taking the runner-up spot. Doubles class winners were David Cooley (AA), Scott Janowski (A), Jeff Ventry (B), Terry Prem (C) and Jack Mutchler (D).

For the ninth year in a row, a shoot-off was not required to crown the HOA champ. Bill Kalwas bested the field with a superb 198×200 score. This was Bill’s second HOA Champion title in a row. David Cooley and his son Owen shot off for HOA runner-up. This father-son match-up drew the interest of the crowd. David was able to beat Owen after a spirited shoot-off, with Owen taking A1. Owen is a Junior shooter and a rising skeet star. We will be seeing him a lot on future winners’ stands. The remaining HOA class winners were Kody Hoth (AA), Dan Berry (B), Jack Mutchler (C) and William DiSalle (D).

Everything ran smoothly from the registration process through the shoot-offs due to the tireless efforts of the members of the Victor Rod and Gun Club.

We cannot thank Rick Simmonds enough for generously sponsoring this shoot. Rick is a long-standing member of VRGC and an avid shooter. We also want to thank Chief Referee Jim Thompson and his crew of referees, who did a fantastic job as always. Most importantly, we would like to thank the shooters. Without shooters willing to travel from across the region to participate, we could not have a successful shoot. We are very fortunate to have such a passionate group of skeet shooters in this part of the country. We look forward to another great shoot in 2024.

– Contributed by Wes Bailey

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