May 1st is here, and I really hope it is a better month than April. North Carolina lost two great men last month including Henry McGinnis and now Tom Pitts. Our prayers are with their families and the trapshooting community.
I woke up early Saturday morning in preparation to travel to Ellerbe for the State 4H Championship. I checked my phone only to read a text from my friend Angela Tollison that Lynn reported that Tom Pitts passed around midnight Friday night. We had heard he was declining rapidly but who knew when it would happen.
Not sure exactly when I met Tom when I returned to shooting in 2001. The earliest digital picture I could find was from Watauga Gun Club in 2004. He hung around Tom Shelley, and I lovingly deemed them SPY1 & SPY2 after the comic book. They traveled extensively together and shot quite a bit back in the day. Tom did the computer work at Watauga only to wind up doing it at the NC Homegrounds. He was very helpful with the 3S software and was always willing to help. I never heard him say one bad word about anyone and always made me feel like he was genuinely glad to see me and talk with me. Always a gentleman he will be sorely missed, and NC has lost a great man. Here is a link to his funeral arrangements - Thomas Pitts Obituary (1951 - 2023) | Fleetwood, North Carolina (echovita.com)
Buckhorn Gun Club held their first weekly BIG50 last Wednesday. Mark Spoon won the singles with a 48, Ed Gideon won the handicap with a 47 and Allan Davis won the doubles with a 42. Ed Gideon won the HOA with a 132…..Mark your calendar for their next BIG50 May 17th.
Ft. Bragg shot Sunday and encountered a wee bit of rain but that didn’t keep folks away. Joe Nalley 99 – Joe Nalley 94 – Joe Nalley 98 – Joe Nalley 291x300. I would say that Joe Nalley was red hot amidst the early soggy conditions. It wasn’t a big crowd but hey the folks that wanted to be there showed up.
Buckhorn shoots this weekend both Saturday and Sunday. Not exactly sure what the program is but is should be 100 singles – 100 caps – 100 dubs both days. They always have a great lunch and tell them Fred sent you.
Saturday the 6th of May the Rockingham County Gun Club will host the SCTP 2023 State Trap Championship. This is an annual event and currently 12 squads of singles are already pre-registered. This event is open to any ATA shooter so come and join us if you need some targets. Close to 60 shooters are pre-registered for the handicap and doubles events. Second Helpings Food Truck will be providing lunch and Kevin Biss will be taking pictures with his drones.
The Georgia State Shoot just wound up and it looks like they had some great weather and some rainy weather. Not sure who won what, but you can check all the scores on http://sosclays.com
Ok that is about it for this week. On the horizon is the SC State Shoot and the NC State shoot. Looking forward to seeing some of you at both events. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Thea and Anne and until next week…….smokem