Good morning and how did you like that transition from hot to cold? South Carolina hosted their shoot at the NC Homegrounds and it was a great success. A couple of shoots this weekend in North Carolina and hopefully it will warm up before then.
Two shoots in North Carolina with Fort Liberty and Watauga hosting typical 300 target programs. The weather looks great for both locations with Boone looking ten degrees cooler. Always a great time at both locations.
I guess when it was announced that the South Carolina State Shoot was going to be held in April in conjunction with the NC Hall of Fame folks said what? Yes, SC State and NC HOF at the NC Homegrounds in April who would have thunk it?
I mean what could go wrong – 17 traps – ample camping – competent and efficient shoot management – Dixie Grand publicity……etc etc. Attendance was up and 245 shooters stepped to the line for the Saturday Championship Singles and shooting was over at 4:30 with shootoffs starting soon after.
To the folks that pulled this together it was a great experience for all that attended. Early in the week it was windy one day and then hot and dusty and then a touch of rain Friday morning and then hot and a little windy and then calm Saturday morning and then windy and Sunday it rained all dang day. The flags barely moved all day Sunday, but the rain fell straight down with no blowing or swirling. I mean a 99 was broken in that mess so it couldn’t have been that bad and it was cold.
As far as the NC HOF is concerned, youth ruled the day. Coby Townsend won the singles, Jacob Gossett won the doubles and the HOA and Isaac McCoy won the handicap. These youngins have put in the work and congratulations to them all. Mark Spoon broke back to back 95’s on Thursday & Friday and punched himself back to the elusive 27 yard line. Doug Monjeau won out-of-state HOA and HAA Vet and congrats to him along with his shooting partner Mark Spoon.
As far as the South Carolina winners Shawn Speakman won the singles championship for the second time, Clemson shooter Brodie Mahaffey won the handicap and the doubles, but the HAA was won by Milon Campbell after a shootoff with George Powell. This is just a brief overview of some of the winners. All score info can be found at http://www.shootscoreboard.com
Bob Goodman and Greg High were inducted into the NCHOF Saturday night and the banquet was great. Grant Leister presented Bob Goodman and mentioned his notable accomplishments while he was the treasurer with the ATA. Marty Hill presented Greg and talked about all the traveling together and about how Greg really loved the sport of trap after a brief bout with skeet. Greg told a story about him being in the boy scouts and earning merit badges at a local scout camp. He said they had a little trap setup with clay pigeons, and they used a 22 with rat shot to break the birds. He said every day he went back to shoot and the staff tried to get him to go to other locations to get other merit badges. His family showed up in a big way with his wife, brother and sister and family, both sons and family and a niece from out West and another niece that just became a veterinarian. I enjoyed watching his family react to his stories with joy and happiness.
Big shout out to the NCHOF and the NCTA on a job well done putting on the latest event. Some folks got to the HG as early a Friday the week before to get the ball rolling. Setting everything up and getting the traps ready and the targets loaded and on and on and on. For most of you that shoot multiple days you know how tiring it is just to compete much less work and shoot. The NCTA and NCHOF are always looking for new folks to step in and help if you are so inclined.
The North Carolina State Shoot is just a mere 5 weeks away and prepare now to get your A game ready because you are going to need it. Pre-Squad will be open 4/29 so make plans to get on the site and get squadded up. Marty Hill will be classifying shooters prior to the shoot so contact him to get that done. If you are planning to go to the Georgia State Shoot this Thursday pre-squad is still open FYI.
I will wrap it up and would like to say more but I am a little tired after driving 142 miles in 120 minutes. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Thea and Anne and until next week………smokem