Clay Target Nation

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

Tanner Memorial Open at San Antonio Gun Club

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It was a hot time at the San Antonio Gun Club on the weekend of July 21-23. To paraphrase “pants on fire,” it was “fields on fire” as temperatures broke records on both Saturday and Sunday. The gun club provided iced water and ice-cold towels, which allowed shooters to survive the 104-105-degree blast furnace heat. The Tanner, named in memory of Col. William “Wild Bill” Tanner, a retired World War II fighter pilot ace, was attended by 55 forged-in-Texas-heat shooters.

Jamie Gaines, assisted by his erstwhile crew of kitchen help, once again delivered a finger-licking shrimp boil, and ice cream helped cool the Saturday evening heat.

Van Boerner took HOA honors. Lady HOA Champion was young Peri Olson. Gun champs were Greg Massari, Doubles and 12 gauge; Troy Behrens, 20 gauge; Bill Tanner (Col. Tanner’s son), 28 gauge; and Cody Sergeant, .410.

Young Ms. Lauren Lee from Houston was honored with the traditional ceremonial cap shooting for her first 100 straight in the 20 gauge. Way to go, Lauren, with many more to come!

As an additional feature and a further way of giving back to the shooters, the San Antonio Gun Club sponsored a no-fee, three-man blind draw for the .410 event. The winning team members each received $50, 2nd place $35 and 3rd place $20, all paid in cash on the spot.

Some very special thanks to the referees are in order. Their conscientious efforts during the high heat conditions that eventually forced a 30-minute cool-down period for them is tribute to their dedication to the event. They and the field staff of the San Antonio Gun Club helped make the shoot a memorable one. 

– Contributed by Terry Olson

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Parsons’ 398 Dominates 3F Summer Classic

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Craig Parsons, 12-, 20-, 28-gauge and HOA Champ; Dave Wilke, 12-gauge runner-up

The 3F Club in Lewiston, New York, hosted the 3F Classic on July 21-23 with 48 shooters attending from New York, Pennsylvania and Canada. The 3F continues to host one of the top money shoots in New York and also maintains Top-100 status. For the 2017 event, over $3,000 in added money was awarded, along with breakfast, lunch, dinner and a cocktail hour for all, thanks to its many dedicated sponsors.

Friday started with the doubles event with four 99s being posted by Des Ivanov, Matt Kelly, Bill Black and Ed Smith. After a lengthy shoot-off, Ivanov emerged as champion, with Kelly as runner-up. Class winners were Don Lewandowski AA1, Bill Black A1, Mike Smith B1, Aaron Burnett C1, and John Yackiw D1.

Saturday brought clear and bright sunshine, light winds and temperatures in the 80s to the Niagara region for the 12 gauge. Seven perfect scores (Mike Ferchaw, Des Ivanov, John Kapron, Matt Littlefield, Craig Parsons, and Juniors Matt Lenehan and Dave Wilke) and eight 99s were posted. After three boxes, Parsons won the championship with Wilke runner-up. Class winners were Lenehan AA1, Colin Smingler A1, Victoria Ferchaw B1, James Johnson C1, Al Morris D1, and Jimmy Hunter E1.

Following the lunch break, shooters took to the field for the 28-gauge event, in which Parsons posted the lone 100 to win the championship. Eight 99s were called to the shoot-off field to battle it out for the second spot. Ed Smith outlasted Littlefield, Kapron, Ivanov, Joe Strazzezeri, Dale Patterson, Mike Ferchaw, and Dave Sobiegray for the runner-up title. Class winners were Kapron AA1, Strazzeri A1, Sobiegray B1 and Bruce Raymond C1.

Sunday morning the weather was still cooperating, with bright sunshine and light winds. The 20-gauge event concluded with four 100s by Kapron, Bernie Lenehan, Parsons and Smith, plus six 99s. Parsons outlasted the field to take the championship, and Smith took runner-up. Class winners were Kapron AA1, Lewandowski A1, Dana Driscoll B1, and Burnett C1.

For the .410, the final event of the day, all eyes were on Craig Parsons, looking for the 400×400. Thirty years ago, Craig posted a 500×500 at the 3F during the 1987 New York State Shoot, but with the lone 100 and his first in the .410, Dale Patterson captured the championship. Parsons, Sobiegray, and Kody Hoth shot off 98s for runner-up, with Hoth prevailing. Class winners Parsons AA1, Sobiegray A1, Victoria Ferchaw B1, Mike Haff C1, and John Yackiw D1.

Finishing at 398, Parsons captured the HOA crown. Des Ivanov and Dale Patterson shot off 395s for runner-up, with Ivanov prevailing. Class winners were John Kapron AA1, Dale Patterson A1, Dave Sobiegray B1, Victor Stirpe C1, and John Yackiw D1.

Thank you to all of our dedicated sponsors, especially Duane Manth and Manth Mfg., without whom we would not be able to offer the added money, and to the venue to enable us to grow the shoot year after year. Thanks to Randy Cook for his generous donation for the 20-gauge B-C-D event. Thanks to our referees and all our volunteers who made this shoot possible, including Mike Clarke, Jeff Ventry, Garland Taborn, Dave Sobiegray, Rich Falcone, Tim Baldwin, Jackie Ventry, and Lisa Kelly.

We invite you to join us next year and make it a vacation. There’s a lot to do in Niagara Falls!

– Contributed by Dave Sobiegray

12-gauge shoot-off

 

 

 

Honeybelles: Beginner Women Shooter Initiative in Florida

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Earlier this year, in conjunction with a Florida Sporting Clays Association (FSCA) Board of Directors discussion about state daily fees and their best usage, a discussion about the need to grow our sport by attracting new clays shooters in Florida focused specifically on targeting youth and women. The questions always on the table in discussions like these are how best to get something started, who would be willing to do some work to get something going, and how exactly to go about it.

Being the only woman on the FSCA board, I agreed to take on the women’s initiative, to define an approach to be brought back to the board for their approval.  From my many years of experience shooting and hanging around a lot of gun clubs, I have observed that any woman who was not brought up in this environment, or who doesn’t have a husband or boyfriend now, or a dad, grandpa or uncle who took her out shooting as a kid, has no idea of what to expect, and therefore is a victim of fear of the unknown. The end result is that they will almost never venture out to visit a gun club “cold turkey.” They don’t know where to begin or if they will like it. They don’t have equipment, nor know where to start, and they certainly don’t want to be seen as unable to do whatever is expected of them by the experienced (mostly older men) shooters at the gun club. It can be a very intimidating place to a female neophyte, even though she may really want to try to learn to shoot.

So, my approach was pretty straight-forward: find several other women who were certified, at least as Level 1 instructors, who were willing to volunteer some of their time, introducing other women who had an interest but no prior experience to the shotgun sports we love! Several other important imperatives: have guns short enough and light enough to fit women, use light loads that will not kick them into next week on their first outing, start with the very basics, have it be affordable and make it FUN!  Also very important to this formula was selecting the venues – gun clubs in our Southeast Florida area who would agree to dive in and become partners with us in this pilot effort.  Channing Boyd at OK Corral Gun Club and Maria and Fred Fanizzi at Quail Creek Plantation were more than willing, and FSCA agreed to underwrite some of the cost to allow us to keep this introductory experience affordable. Our plan was to hold two clinics this spring as proof of concept and, if successful, expand to other member clubs and other areas across Florida next winter and into next year. 

After seeking out four other certified ladies who were willing and excited to get involved, we had some start-up work to do before we could begin to advertise our clinics. Lyn Cacella, Robin Mixon, Dee Orr and Connie McIntosh joined yours truly in this initiative.

We defined a two-hour class format to keep it affordable, interesting and lady-shooter-friendly, as an introduction for beginning shotgun shooters. Our theme was to have only qualified lady instructors teaching new lady shooters in a safe, non-threatening and fun environment. We created a logo and chose a name that was catchy, fun and related to Florida: we are the FSCA Honeybelles, and we are trademarking our logo. With the help of a fellow board member who is an attorney, we also created a disclaimer form to provide liability protection for ourselves and FSCA.

For our classroom instruction, we created a class curriculum and developed a 20-slide PowerPoint presentation of basics, providing a hard copy handout for each student.

We approached several area clubs to gain support for our effort, which we documented with a written agreement, clearly stating cost assumptions and responsibilities. The clubs helped us with an attractive target fee, a meeting room, use of several carts and loaner guns for the hands-on hour of the clinic. We handled all pre-registration, collecting entry fees, getting disclaimer forms signed, conducting the classroom session and the hands-on shooting hour. The $25 clinic entry fee included one round of 25 clays and ammo, plus gun rental and cart usage, a goodie bag, and a personalized Certificate of Completion.

Sponsors also signed on to help keep costs down. John Martinelli of Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice was very generous and donated a goodie bag for each lady which was filled with lots of Natalie’s goodies. NSCA provided eye and ear protection, as well as Complimentary Limited Memberships (CLMs) for each graduate for the remainder of 2017. This membership gives these new shooters digital access to Clay Target Nation articles and advertisements for guns and gear they will be interested in checking out for future purchases. And, of course, they will be NSCA members if they decide to try their hand at shooting a few registered targets.

We set up a dedicated email address for the Honeybelles so all interested ladies could easily register for the clinics and we could confirm their attendance online. This also gave us a great contact list so we can maintain contact with our new friends in the future. 

To promote the two clinics, we created a flyer and made copies available to the clubs to post and to email to their members to pass the word. We also posted it on the FSCA Facebook page. 

Each of the instructors agreed to volunteer her time for these two-hour clinics, with an assist from FSCA to pay each a $15 travel allowance to and from the clubs on clinic days. 

And the response? Overwhelming!

The response was so amazing that two clinics had to be scheduled on the second date at Quail Creek so as not to turn anyone away. The final count for the three clinics combined was 52 new lady shooters introduced to safe clays shooting!

Feedback was solicited after each session to identify ways to improve clinic plans as we proceed, and in general, the response was fantastic. They loved the format and the experience and are interested in shooting again. Here are a few comments from our attendees:

“I am definitely more comfortable with my gun after Sunday.”
“Definitely had fun!”
“Thank you so much for the wonderful lesson! I had a great time and will definitely do it again.”
“It was such a memorable day!”

What’s Next?

So, where does this all go from here? We feel the most important thing is keeping these new converts shooting in an encouraging environment until they gain enough confidence to come out to the gun clubs on their own. To that end, we are emailing informal shoot dates during the summer when several of us will be at the gun club and available to take a few clinic grads out on the course with us to help them as they develop their skills and confidence.

We have agreed to prepare a kit in the fall to share with other FSCA member clubs in other areas of the state who want to try to implement their own chapters of the Honeybelles.

We will probably schedule one or two more beginner clinics in this area to recruit more new lady shooters, as the word spreads about how much fun these clinics are.

We have had requests to present a slightly more advanced curriculum for ladies who have shot some but not a lot and want to improve their game.

Finally, we hope to schedule a six-week traveling league between three clubs, awarding prizes using a Lewis method so all participants have a crack at winning something. We intend to schedule a banquet or barbeque on the final week to celebrate completion and present awards.

Our thanks to Don Currie, NSCA Chief Instructor, for his encouragement and assistance in getting our plans off the ground, and to OK Corral and Quail Creek clubs for their support and enthusiasm. And, of course, special thanks to Lyn, Robin, Dee and Connie – my fellow Honeybelles – and to the 52 ladies who came out and participated with us in our three clinics. We’re anxious to keep this effort going in the fall!

— Contributed by Louise Terry

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Christian Sets New World Record At Great 28

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A world record was set at Gun River Skeet and Trap Club in Plainwell, MI. You may be wondering—what world record?  400 and 500 single-gun events are now being recognized, and Gun River hosted the first 400 28-gauge event of the season. The shoot was completely full with 30 competitors.  All meals were catered and free to all.  In the field were four open world champions including the current 28-gauge world champ, Bruce Christian, as well as four class world champions.  There were two events on Saturday and another two on Sunday, totaling a 400 bird race.  The weather was great—sunny and a little windy.

For Event 1 on Saturday, there were two 99’s posted. Dave Schiebel came out as champ and Al Magyar runner-up. Dave Scott was AAA1, Don Nelson AA1, Greg Sapick A1, James Springer B1, and Joe Mathu C1.  In Event 2, one lone 99 was shot by Bob Dubridge, making him champ over runner-up Denny Tannis, trailed by Bruce Christian as AAA1, Don Nelson AA1, Tom Pavlack A1, Chris Lozano B1, and Joe Mathu C1. 

After a great day of shooting, what’s next?  A party, of course!  Tom and Darcy Pavlack hosted a grillin’ party for all with burgers, brats, smoked chicken, salads and Tom’s smoked homemade beef jerky, followed by a decadent dessert of locally made ice cream with all of the toppings.  Thank you to Paxton Arms for your generous donations of the shooting merchandise given away at the party.  Event and HOA winners were recognized with special awards in a big “reveal,” each receiving unique engraved and paint-filled picture rock awards. Engraved picture rock coasters were also handed out to all shooters.

Sunday culminated in two more events. Event 3 produced four 98’s, and after the smoke cleared, Tom Pavlack was event champ with Bruce Christian as runner-up, Howie Bailey AAA1, Don Nelson AA1, Edward Bowker A1, Jim Meles B1, and Joe Mathu C1. In Event 4 Dave Schiebel’s lone 99 designated him again as champion with Bruce Christian runner-up, Don Nelson AA1, Edward Bowker A1, Ed Bowker B1, Joe Mathu C1, and Holly Bowker D1. That is not a misprint; there are three—yes, count them, three—Bowkers in that event.

There was $2,000 in added money dedicated for HOA, and one of our sponsors Sweet Manufacturing put up an additional $500 for any competitor posting a 4×4. Realizing that no one was going to meet that goal, they decided to give the money away regardless.  An announcement Sunday morning that the HOA winner would receive the entire $500 was well received by all.  At the end of the day, there was a clear winner—Bruce Christian posted a 391 and a new World Record.

I want to thank all of the volunteers that helped make this event a success, but I especially want to thank Jason Johnson for all of his hard work. His efforts toward this weekend made the entire event a great time for all. The only person who may get more thanks will be his wife, Michelle, for putting up with us—warts and all—for the entire weekend.  Thanks to all who shot. We hope to see you next year!

– Contributed by Tom Pavlack

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2017 Vintage Skeet Championships

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“What is vintage skeet?” you ask. It is the original version of the skeet game we now shoot, but using the original, circa-1935 rules. These rules included a variable delay of the target’s release rather than the instant releases now seen and a low-gun starting position. Your guns couldn’t be shouldered until the target was in the air. The target sequence used is the standard sequence which is currently in use. These original rules make the game more difficult, as evidenced by only three 25 straights shot over this year’s entire four-day tournament!

Our Annual Vintage Skeet Championships is a continuing celebration of the NSSA’s 1st World Skeet Championships, which was shot in Salon, Ohio, in August 1935. According to the April 1935 edition of the Skeet Shooting News (the official publication of the infant National Skeet Shooting Association), this was to be the first time that state and sectional champions had an opportunity to shoot shoulder-to-shoulder for championship glory during the six-day tournament, and the concept created a lot of interest among skeeters of the period.

Our 17th Annual NSSA World Vintage Skeet Championship was held March 2-5 at the Gator Skeet & Trap Club in Gainesville, Florida. We had 171 entries participating in the 2017 Championships, which were shot using an NSSA Event 6 registration certificate. This is significant, as it allowed both members and non-NSSA members the opportunity to participate in our favorite shotgun game. Targets shot by NSSA members are counted towards individual lifetime target statistics but do not impact their current averages.

While the primary emphasis of the tournament was vintage skeet, Gator Skeet & Trap also offered daily gauge-specific side games such as 5-stand sporting, Monte Carlo (a.k.a. Olympic trap featuring 15 machines), and a sliding trap game shot from the 16- through 20-yard lines.

Thursday was day one and offered events for our 16-gauge aficionados as well as a modern skeet Doubles event. While any gauge could be used for the Doubles event, only true 16-gauge guns were permitted in the 16-gauge skeet championships and the optional side games. There was also a concurrent game gun and hammer gun handicap event offered throughout the entire four days of tournament shooting. These handicap events awarded extra targets to those shooting the smaller gauges, leveling the field for the smaller gauges and allowing them to compete more fairly. These concurrent handicap events have proven to be quite popular in the last few years.

The 16-gauge skeet honors and gold medal went to Georgia’s Joe Dickson, posting a 47×50. Team CZ-USA members Dave Miller and Jeff Neumann captured both the silver and bronze.

The 16-gauge side games were hotly contested, with Dave Miller nudging out Rick Staples and Neil Wilkinson. The 16- to 20-yard sliding trap event was also dominated by Team CZ-USA, with Dave Miller again taking the gold and teammate Jeff Neumann the bronze. Kevin Brooks slid in between to take the silver. On the Olympic bunker, Hal Hare took the 16-gauge gold medal, followed by Dave Miller and Jeff Neumann.

Thursday’s final skeet offering was a 50-target modern doubles-at-all-stations event, but shot with a low gun and delayed target release. Former A.M.U. shooter Joe Dickson took the top spot on the podium with a 47×50, followed by silver medalist Neil Wilkinson and bronze medalist Hal Hare.

Eurotarget USA supplied the clays for all events during the tournament, and they flew straight and true, with minimal, if any target breakage. This was the second year that Gator chose to use these fine imported targets.

Friday was the second day of our four-day shoot, being reserved for .410 skeet, 28-gauge skeet, and assorted 28-gauge side games. Florida’s Hal Hare captured the .410 gold on a gusty morning, shooting a 43×50 with an SKB 200HR, and took an early three-target lead in the HOA race. Neil Wilkinson took the silver with a 40×50, and Joe Dickson was only a target behind with a 39×50.

In the 28-gauge championships, Hare again took the gold medal with another SKB 200 HR, firing a 44×50 to hold off Jeff Neumann, silver, and Neil Wilkinson, bronze, who were both one target behind at 43. The 28-gauge 5-stand event was again taken by CZ’s Dave Miller, followed by Neil Wilkinson, silver, and Kevin Brooks, bronze. In the 28-gauge sliding trap event, Dave Miller again displayed his mastery taking the gold, followed by Kevin Brooks and Rick Staples who took silver and bronze. In the final 28-gauge side games, Dave Miller prevailed to take another gold, besting Hal Hare, silver, and Robert Hill, bronze.

Saturday was day 3 and reserved for 20-gauge fans. Both vintage skeet and exciting side games were offered. A gusty but balmy day in early April lifted everyone’s spirits and aspirations. What a relief from the snow and ice up North! Saturday saw one of our first 25 straights, shot by Rick Staples. Quite a feat at vintage skeet! Joe Dickson showed his form and posted two rounds of 24×25 in his gold-medal performance for 48×50, followed by Kevin Brooks with a 47×50 to take silver and Hal Hare with a 46×50 for bronze. Rick Staples took A1, Neil Wilkinson captured B1, and Dave Miller won C1 honors.

In the 20-gauge side games, Dave Miller really showed his shooting skills, winning the 20-gauge 5-stand event and 20-gauge bunker by convincing margins, while Kevin Brooks took the gold in the 16- to 20-yard trap game. An all-you-could-eat fish and shrimp dinner followed Saturday’s shooting, all courtesy of the officers and directors of the Gator Skeet & Trap Club.

Sunday was the final day of the festival and was reserved for 12-gauge skeet and side games. Joe Dickson and Dave Miller both posted elusive 25 straights, with Joe posting a gold-medal score of 48×50. Kevin Brooks finished second with a 45×50, and Hal Hare took third with a 44×50. Additional winners were Neil Wilkinson A1, Dave Miller B1 and Robert Hill C1. It should be pointed out that in vintage skeet, the classes are determined via the Lewis Class system, allowing everyone to shoot against others of similar skill levels.

The 12-gauge 5-stand awards went to Dave Miller, gold; Jeff Neumann, silver; and Rick Staples, bronze. The 12-gauge 16- to 20-yard trap was won by Kevin Brooks, gold, followed by Dave Miller, silver, and Neil Wilkinson. The 12-gauge bunker event was taken by Dave Miller, gold; Hal Hare, silver; and Lou Stallings, bronze.

The High Over All race was closely contested throughout the tournament and finished in a tie between long-time shooting friends Joe Dickson and Hal Hare, posting identical scores of 177×200. The tiebreaker was a vintage skeet miss-and-out shoot-off with the .410 bore, with Hare nudging Dickson by one target to take the HOA gold medal. Dickson won the silver and Neil Wilkinson the bronze. There was also a special HOA Veteran concurrent won by Robert Hill with a 15-target margin over Lou Stallings.

The last events to be determined were the tournament long concurrent races for both the game gun handicap and hammer gun handicap. Game guns could be any gauge but needed to be 7 pounds or less, have barrels 28 inches or less, and have double triggers and splinter forearms. Smaller gauges received added targets to their scores.

Hammer guns were required to have exposed hammers, as the name implies. Again, the smaller bores received an equalizing handicap added to their scores. These events were quite popular, with 27 entries participating. The game gun champion was Neil Wilkinson shooting a .410 bore, runner-up was Hal Hare using a 20 gauge, and third place was Kevin Brooks with a .410 bore.

The hammer gun handicap was won by Hal Hare with a Pedersoli 20 gauge, Robert Hill, runner-up, with a 12 gauge Pedersoli, and Neil Wilkinson, 12 gauge.

Many thanks to the officers and directors of the Gator Club for the daily luncheons and the Friday and Saturday evening dining. Thanks to our sponsors, Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company, Claybuster Wads, NSSA and Eurotarget USA, and kudos to Negrini Gun Cases, CZ-USA, Tilden Trophies and Rudolph Foods. We appreciate your continued support of the vintage skeet games.

 

– Contributed by Hal Hare

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