Hello and another great weather weekend in North Carolina. One shooting event at CCLEOA Friday and will post the shoot report when available. Several shoots this week in North Carolina including two BIG50’s with Buckhorn Wednesday and Charlie Brown Sunday.
The Georgia State shoot cranks up this Thursday and from what I can tell it will be well attended. I got to shoot there one year and shared that experience with Ronnie Manuel. That BBQ smoking on Saturday is quite an experience like smelling the fish cooking at the Spartanburg Gun Club. I’m not sure who will be attending from North Carolina, but we will keep an eye on it. The weather is looking good for the event and great scores are sure to be broken in Covington Georgia.
One cancellation (4/26/2025) and that is the Watauga Gun Club. The PAT traps are in place and have yet to be bolted down and target angles set. There is much more to be done to the grounds and the clubhouse. Hopefully they will be able to hold their scheduled shoot next month.
The Buckhorn BIG50 is Wednesday and I appreciate them holding these shoots during the week. They have been well attended and good scores were broken. Also, Charlie Brown will host their BIG50 this Sunday the 27th. The last event was well attended, and this one is a good warmup for the SCSS/NCHOF just a few days after.
The South Carolina State shoot and the NC Hall of Fame are just around the corner. I hope the weather is good for the event and I suspect it will be well attended. Last year the combo was held in April and was the only shoot on the shootscoreboard site and was before the Georgia State shoot. Go to http://www.nctrap.com for the shoot programs.
Two NC shooters will be inducted into the NCHOF. They are Brian Keever and Noah Gouge. I hope to publish their write-ups as soon as I can get them. Brian shot in his youth and was both a NC Sub-Jr and Jr champ several years. He was also instrumental in surveying the NC Homegrounds prior to the construction. Noah Gouge holds so many shooting titles it would take a bunch of time to list them all. Besides winning in his home state I remember him breaking 100 in singles, handicap and doubles on the same day at the Grand American. The banquet will be held on Saturday night and I am sure it will be well attended.
I spent some time this week adding some content to the Hall of Fame section on this site. I added dates of induction and names of members that were not listed. I added some Trap & Field articles from some of the HOF trapshoots and inductions. I have a lot of work to do and many things to research and add to the section. George Ponton was the person that sent me the T&F articles, and I appreciate his efforts.
Speaking of George, I spoke to him Sunday and he sounded good. He will turn 82 this year and is not shooting anymore due to vision issues. He said he started back shooting when he moved to NC in 1983. My most memorable thing about George is the day he broke the second 100 straight in handicap at the Watauga Gun Club. I also shot well that day and as I approached the clubhouse Jimmy Wilson asked me what I broke? I smiled and said I broke and 97 and Jimmy said you will be the winner for about 10 minutes until George broke his 100. Travis Burke from TN is the only other shooter to break 100 in caps and he was the first. I will try to keep in touch with him on a more regular basis.
Dave Daily has a couple of airline metal gun cases that he wants to sell. He will be bringing them to the SCSS/NCHOF in case anyone is interested. They are in good condition and hope to post a few pictures in the for-sale section.
John Sandell reports short shooting weather up North and that is a good thing. Not sure when the bugs come out but one July, I got eaten alive at the Bradford GC in PA. Some type of black fly was very active, and bug spray would not slow them down.
Make sure you take a look at Dan Johnson's latest installment in the Lodge Tall Tales & True Stories. You just never know what he is going to come up with next.
Ok that will do it for this week, and it looks like some weather moving in. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Will, Art, Mark, Mark, Camper Dan, Thea and Anne and until next week……smokem