Happy day after Father’s Day to all the father’s out there. Several folks I talked to over the weekend were celebrating with a cookout and family gatherings. One shoot over the weekend and three events this week including a midweek BIG50 and two 300 bird events over the weekend.
It sure was great to get a little bit of rain in the Triad area and the cooler temps are much appreciated. Saturday the Rockingham County Gun Club hosted a BIG50 and shooting began at 9. SubJr Ronan Weary and Allan Davis tied in the singles with 47’s and shot an extra round to determine Ronan the winner. 42 was the high score in the handicap and it was broken from the back fence by Jacob Gossett. Retired GPD officer Brian Pilcher came out of mothballs to win the doubles with a 45. Jacob was HOA with 46+42+44=132x150. We had a couple of new to trap shooters participate and Tommy Brown shot the Kolar he bought from Tom Shelley in handicap. Tom shot his last registered targets at the NC State Shoot in 2023 and withdrew after 125 singles. He is having issues setting the release trigger and I hope he gets it figured out.
I took a trip to Wake Forest NC Sunday to visit a trapshooting legend. If you shoot in North Carolina and get a state shoot program take a look at past winners and Sherwood’s name is written quite a few times. Sherwood is 81 and is unable to shoot due to some stamina issues and he really misses competition. He is in the process of selling his house and will be moving about 6 miles down the road into a similar sized home with a different layout and less acreage. I took him some pictures that Horace Best took of him back in the glory days of the Pinehurst Gun Club. I rolled down to his house to pick up some shells and a Winchester SuperX 1 that he wanted to get rid of. His nephew was there to assist in loading the Federal plastic and paper shells. He was in between showings of his home, so time was a little tight. I am planning on riding back down and taking him out to dinner in Durham somewhere. I left there and traveled to the Durham County Wildlife Club to meet Spence Dowdy and swap a Super-X pull trigger for a Super-X “Hoblit” release trigger. Cliff Dowdy left a Super-X to Spence, and he always wanted a pull trigger and now he has one. The frame on the Hoblit trigger assembly is thicker and wouldn’t fit into my guns receiver so there might be some adjustment needed. I am looking forward to shooting this classic gun and Bob Kemp has a 30” IM fixed choke barrel for the gun and two stocks.
Talking about Bob Kemp, he is also 81 and doing well and still working. He mentioned that the Charlie Brown Gun Club will be hosting a 300-target event on August 1st. Megan Smith and Margaret Johnson are running the event and when I get the flier in pdf or word format I will post it on this site. Mr. Weary sent me a screen shot and he was the one to let me know about the event.
Buckhorn will host a BIG50 Wednesday with registration at 11 and shooting at noon or before. Weather looks good for Wednesday but that could change. Watauga shoots a 300-target program Saturday and right now it looks wet but since when is the weatherman correct. Ft. Bragg shoots Sunday and the weather looks great with a high of 97 degrees. I will post the programs when they are available.
Looking into July the Buckhorn Gun Club will host a two-day shoot on the fourth of July weekend. Not sure what kind of meal they will prepare on Saturday night, but I can assure you the meal will be delicious.
In a few weeks I will be traveling to Ruffsdale PA for the Konne-Yaut Indian shoot. You can check out the group by going to www.kyitrap.com. If you look at the pictures on the site those pictures were taken by yours truly. I did not build or do I manage the website, but they did a great job. For those of you that remember JC Nunn he got into the group in 2011 and was inducted at the Bradford Gun Club. He got a ½ yard punch both years and then on to Ruffsdale. In 2013 he was in several handicap shootoffs and he was 90 years old that year. We returned to Ruffsdale in 2014 and JC shot his last registered handicap targets on Sunday, and he broke a 90 at 91 years young. So, lots of memories this year and I return to West Penn Sportsman in 2027 where I was inducted in 2009……I will be going up a day early to shoot sporting clays at West Penn with Dave Daily and Uncle Rick along with several others in the family. Then we head to Ricks house in Pittsburgh for some Sicilian pizza and other Italian delicacies.
Oh, I talked to Tom Shelley and he has been out fishing quite a bit and just invested in two Kolar’s worth of tree trimming. I told him about Tommy Brown shooting the gun he sold him and he was glad to hear it. I talked about how hot it was at the NC State shoot and he reminded me of the year different clubs manned different trap fields. I have a picture of Tom Pitts, Barbara Farmer and Tom Shelley up under an umbrella on a field that was mud and no grass. Tom said that was the year that spread or sprayed horse manure on the fields and that smelled great. GOOD TIMES!
That will do it for this week and hopefully more rain will be heading our way. I believe the Galloway’s are going to attend the Maryland State Shoot so Ida can visit her family. Hunter commented that his father won the NC Handicap, NC Doubles and the HAA in 1960 with Buck Ledwell the Singles Champ. I have not forgotten the content for Ronan and the Mathis brothers but I will get around to it….. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Art, Barron, Mark C, Mark S, Dan, John W, Jimmy D, SPY2, HGIII, Thea and Anne and until next week……smokem
PS….Every year an award is given out at the NC State Shoot meeting, and it honors an individual for their contributions to NC trapshooting. The winner this year was none other than NC HOFamer Darvin Cornett and it is well deserved. Always moving and fixing and helping and keeping Donna straight. Thanks Darvin!