TIM'S CORNER
Several Oklahoma shooters shot well at the May 26th Iowa Park Shoot. Pat Stacey won the 200 Doubles with 193. Nathan Lemke, Kelly Thatcher, and J.R. Holloway all ran 100’s in the singles. Kelly had 95 in the Handicap.
It would have been difficult to report on the shooting during the past two months without mentioning the weather. With eight inches of rain flooding the area, the surprise F-3 tornado touching down in El Reno causing extensive damage and two deaths, many questioned if the Oklahoma State Shoot would go on. With tremendous effort by Ron Bliss and other board members, camp sites were graded and graveled, the entry road graded, many boggy areas roped off and some let up of rain, the State Shoot was a tremendous success.
I was encouraged with the large numbers of youth shooters participating in the State Shoot. Fifty-three AIM shooters shot the Singles Championship Saturday. This has been building for years through the efforts of OSU, 4-H programs, the Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife Conservation Program, the FFA Shooting Program and the Collegiate programs are producing AIM/ATA shooters. Shooters like Corbin, Shelby, Abigail, Kya, Emma, Shay, Klayton, Josh, Braydon, Colt, Christopher and Jacob are leading the way and encouraging others.
There is also a large increase of girls shooting. There are too many to list them all. Joe Sissanois (New Jersey ATA Delegate) in a June article stated “There was an increase in young female shooters in the singles, and surprisingly high increase in numbers of girls shooting handicap and doubles, too. His statement only confirmed what I noticed at the Oklahoma State Shoot. These young shooters are making lifelong friendships just as we older shooters did. They compete hard, but when the shooting is over, they come together in the clubhouse, to visit, play cards, and catch up. The proud parents should be commended for their guidance and support. With an aging shooter population, it is vital to get young people involved to keep the sport going.
All three State Championships of the State Shoot were won by young shooters. Klayton McGee won Singles, Colt Quisenberry took the Doubles Champion, and Zachary Piancino won the Handicap Championship. Ron & Brayden Bliss won the Oklahoma All-American Shoot off. Pat & Josh Stacey won the parent/child event. Jeff and Paula Trayer won the husband/wife event. New young shooter Wyatt Krittenbrink won the shoot off for the Henry Golden Boy Rifle. The entire State Shoot results will be in the Trap & Field magazine and you can view them online at this OTSA website.
I joked that I had to drive to Kansas to see sunshine. The Kansas State Shoot enjoyed good weather the whole time. Forty Oklahoma shooters attended and won numerous trophies. Results will be available online at shootata.com and in the Trap & Field magazine.
Kya Funkhouser is profiled in the June issue of Trap & Field on page 64. Kya broke her first 100 straight in the White Flyer Class Singles Event. Stan Crawford now has his name added to the “Quarter of a Million Club.” Ron Bliss attained the 100,000 Singles mark; Jeff Trayer reached 25,000 singles, Pat Stacey 75,000 doubles, and Billy Pierce 25,000 doubles.
I wanted to take this opportunity to commend our Board members for their hard work at this year’s state shoot. This is one of the best bunch of people I have ever worked with. Everyone had a job or jobs, to do and they did them. This what they call “TEAM work!!” Also, thanks to all the shooters who participated, especially our out of state friends, for making the shoot a big success, in spite of the weather. We threw 152,200 targets compared to 141,000 last year.
Since the first of the year we have experienced week after week of bad weather, causing many shoots to be cancelled. Clubs may want to consider scheduling additional fall shoots to make up lost revenue. Fall weather in September and October is still very good shooting weather in Oklahoma. It would be a great way for shooters to start off the 2020 target year.
Ashton Huffstutter won the Ada Tuesday shoot with 41, Jerald Ford won the next one with the same score and Mike Grove won the June 11 with 46. For the second time the 4-H had to cancel their shoot due to the weather. They have not yet set another date.
Forty Oklahoma shooters attended the Kansas State Shoot. I was there and enjoyed the sunshine that appeared.
Arkansas had another fantastic state shoot. Each year it grows larger. This year the scores were higher which indicates the targets were good and breakable. There were 221 AIM shooters with 9 - 100’s in the singles. Twenty Oklahoma shooters attended and most won one or more trophies. There were 7 – 100’s in event 7 on Saturday. They almost reached 300 shooters (298 exact). However, 700 shooters started the Championship events when the weather put a stop to everything on Sunday. The lightning, wind and rain stopped the Handicap event. Plans are to try and finish at the Southwester Zone Shoot. All out of state shooters should thank Arkansas for the designated “out of state money”.
We are proud of Justin Cavett for breaking his first 100 straight in singles and winning the 27yard line with a 96 in Handicap. Chuck Sharp also received his 27 yard line pin. I took pictures of these folks in front of the Arkansas State Shoot sign entrance and we will post them soon.
I want to close with a tribute and thanks to all our veterans. AARP reports we have over 68,000 veterans in the state of Oklahoma. We want to thank them for our freedom.
Tim