Seasons greetings and I hope you and the family had a great Christmas Holiday. With warmer temps in the area, it was rather pleasant indeed. I heard from quite a few trapshooting folks and thanks to all that wished me Merry Christmas.
From what I am seeing Buckhorn shoots a typical 300 target program this Sunday the 31st. Also, Watauga is listed for a BIG50 this Sunday also. The NCTA 24 shoot calendar is slowly filling up and hopefully all clubs will establish their schedules soon.
The next smoke report will lead us to the New Year, and it is always great starting fresh. All those resolutions and promises of losing weight and eating better. Of course, others are plotting and planning the shoots they will plan to attend.
Last time I checked everything costs more and the prices gun clubs are charging for 100 registered targets is about getting ridiculous. I mean everyone knows basically what 25 targets costs but come on. I did not see any figures on NC gun club target attainment this year and maybe that is being calculated. Terry Roush used to publish a yearly newsletter that showcased information like that and published a monthly article in Trap & Field about trapshooting in North Carolina when he was the delegate.
I read that the prices of targets are going up and that will bump the prices up once again. I have programs going back 20 years and might dig into prices in the early 2000’s just as a cost comparison to what we might see in 2024. 2024 might be the year folks realize that the cost just does not justify the rewards……time and targets will tell.
The NC Homegrounds will be abuzz with activity this year with the addition of the SC State Shoot running concurrently with the NC Hall of Fame shoot. This will happen in April and a month early for the traditional SC shoot normally held in May. The HOF will be based on the 400 targets on Saturday and Sunday with no preliminary day events normally held on Thursday and Friday. I wonder if the folks at the Spartanburg Gun Club are kicking themselves for not working out a deal with the SCTA?
Well, that is about it for this report and boy did I get my days mixed up. At least I got it done on Christmas day. A big hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobbie, Phil, Mac, Thea and Anne and until next week……….smokem