Greetings from a snowy and chilly Jamestown NC. After everyone getting lathered up about the winter storm it finally appeared and it was/is a mess. I have chatted with folks from Bradford PA to Florida and the Florida folks are glad they are down South.
Only one shooting event this week and it was at the Watauga Gun Club. The weather was a little bit of an issue and the event was cancelled. Not sure if there is a snow date but they have two BIG50’s scheduled in February.
I know there are a few folks in Florida including Terry R and John Sandell and his wife Grace. John left a city that will get more than a foot of snow, and I do not blame him. Former Konne-Yaut Indian shooter Herman Glover said they had about 8 inches at his house near Bradford PA.
Wintertime is a little tough for folks that like to shoot. I mean you can go shoot when it is cold and raining or you can move to a place that is warmer like Florida. I do remember shooting at the Silver Dollar at the Dixie in January and freezing. I looked at the smoke report from January 2025 and evidently it was warm that weekend. Flash forward to 2026 and here we are in an ice/snow/freezing rain event with extremely cold weather.
I don’t know how you spend the winter waiting to get back to shooting in milder weather. Some folks, load shells, clean guns again, org the loading bench, watch shooting videos, read old clinic notes, do gun lifts, practice on your Terry Jordan wall chart or practice with your friends using VR. I have been trying to get my loading bench organized and inventory components and load some shells. Hopefully one day I will retire/retire and probably still not have time to get things done.
I got a call from Phil Berkowitz, and he commented about shooting in some cool windy conditions in Florida. He shoots at Robinson Ranch and other local clubs. I asked him if he would attend the Southern Grand and he said he would hopefully attend the Florida State Shoot that follows soon after the SG. Phil hopes to make it to the NC State Shoot, and it would be great to see him.
I have been keeping in contact with Tom Shelley and he found a new home for his Kolar. I won’t divulge who has it because some tweaking and practicing will be taking place very soon. If all goes well that Kolar will be murdering clay targets real soon. Tom still has an XT and could come out and play from time to time. I personally will miss him at the shoots and enjoyed all the time we had with Tom and his running buddy Tom Pitts. I used to refer to them as the characters from MAD magazine as SPY1 & SPY2. The cartoon was called SPY vs SPY and it chronicled these guys trying to outdo each other. Tom Pitts was SPY1 and Shelley SPY2 and you can google and enjoy the actual cartoons from days gone by.
Harlan Campbell will be offering trapshooting clinics in March at the Rockingham County Gun Club. As soon as details are available, I will get them published. He is offering two-day, one-day and half day instruction. Harlan is no stranger to offering clinics in North Carolina as a highly sought-after instructor.
That is going to do it for this week. At the time of this writing, we have not lost power here at our residence and hopefully not at the daycare either. I will be riding over to check that out in the morning and get it ready for the children and parents. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Art, Barron, Mark C, Mark S, Dan, John W, Jimmy D, Thea and Anne and until next week……smokem