2008 Shoots Reports
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12/20/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
One member had a good time at the 12/20/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Bruce Crockett came in first place with 22/50. Bruce also joined the ranks of FCS shooters who have broken 250 or more targets!
11/29/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
Two officers, eight members, seven guests (including four first-time guests), and four sons (21 participants) had a great time at the 11/29/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. I, Randy Rowley, came in first place with 41/50 (tying my third best score). Tim Price came in second place with 36/50. Bret Mercer came in third place with 33/50 (tying his second best score). He was followed by Ron Denison with 32/50; Ryan Rowley (who was on vacation from Afghanistan) with 28/50; Ken Miller with 27/50; Justin Painter with 26/50 (his best score); Roy Brigman, Leroy Brigman, Isaac Price, and first time guest Jake Morton with 25/50 (Leroy tied his best score); Bruce Crockett with 24/50; first-time guest Jerry Stafford with 23/50; first time guest Steve Brown with 22/50; Charles Cutchens, first-time guest Ray Harrison, and Tyler Price with 17/50 (Charles’ third best score); Robin Painter with 14/50 (her third best score); Jake Denison with 11/50 (his best score); and first-time sporting clays shooter Jeff Cates and Alex Denison with 8/50 (Alex’s best score). Randy presented his devotional Do Something Different. It was a cool and windy day that got colder throughout the morning. Note – both Ron and Isaac completed their 30th shoots and only three birds separate them (Ron has shot 719 and Isaac has shot 716)!
10/18/08 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Two officers, three members, one guest, two sons, and one grandson (nine participants) had a great time at the 10/18/08 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on a bright and beautiful day. Ron Denison broke 9 out of his first 10 targets at the first station and never looked back. He came in first place with 43/50, tying the Club sporting clays shoot record (now sharing it with Tim Price and Randy Rowley) and beating his former best score by six birds! Randy came in second place with 40/50. Bret Mercer came in third place with 33/50 (his second best score). He was following by Isaac Price with 29/50, Ken Miller with 26/50, Drew Rowley with 25/50, and Tyler Price with 16/50. Dick Matteson, his grandson, Matthew, and several other shooters shot a round of skeet. Randy presented his devotional Rattled.
10/11/08 Buda Chapter Turkey Shoot
Five officers plus around 25 other people (30 participants) had a great time at the 10/11/08 Turkey Shoot at the Onion Creek Ranch. Ten targets were set up approximately 30 – 40 yards from the shooting station and ten shooters each took turns shooting at their target. The round consisted of:
- Closest pellet to the intersection
- Most pellets in a circle
- Closest pellet to a dot
- Most pellets on the card
Around 15 rounds were shot. There were not many winners of multiple prizes, and the names of the winner were not kept. Winners won turkeys and hams. The shoot proceeds went to assist the Buda Chapter in funding youth scholarship hunts and needed equipment.
8/30/08 Shooting Range Shoot
One officer, two members, and two guests (five participants) had a great time at the 8/30/08 Shooting Range Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range. Chris Rowley, Randy Rowley, and guests Justin and Robin Painter shot shotguns and rifles. Randy shot 17/22 on the shotgun range, Justin shot 12/23, Chris shot 11/21, and Robin shot 10/23. They also shot a .30-06, a .25-06, and three .22 rifles. Randy shot his first three-shot group with his .25-06 where all three bullet holes were touching (he’s had it for 32 years)! He’s shot plenty of three-shot groups where two of the three were touching and the other one was close, but never all three. Perry Barrow shot his .45 pistol.
8/23/08 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
One officer, 11 members, three guests (two were first time guests), and four sons (19 participants) had a great time at the 8/23/08 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club on a hot and humid day. Isaac Price and Beau Harger tied for first place with 40/50 (Beau’s best score and Isaac’s second best score). Eddy Chance came in second place with 38/50 (his best score; breaking his old record by 8). Joe Schram came in third place with 37/50. He was followed by David Smith, Larry Dowden, and Tim Price with 34/50 (David’s best score and Larry’s third best score), Harold and Edward Terry with 28/50 (Harold’s best score by 12 and Edward’s second best score), first time FCS sporting clays shooter James Bean with 25/50, Bruce Crockett and Daryl Shipper with 24/50 (Daryl’s best score and Bruce’s second best scores), Jordan Chance with 23/50 (his best score), Charles Cutchens with 15/50 (tied his third best score), Tyler Price with 12/50, first time guest Dalton Johnson with 8/50, and Hunter Chance and first time FCS sporting clays shooter Mike Shipper with 7/50 (Hunter’s best score). Mark Sullivan attended the shoot but had to leave early. Several shooters also shot a round of skeet.
8/8/08 National Sporting Clay Association Sporting Clays Shoot
Two officers, two members, and three sons (seven participants) had a great time at the 8/8/08 Sporting Clays Shoot with the National Sporting Clays Association at the 671 acre National Shooting Complex (recognized as the most complete clay shooting facility in the world) in San Antonio. They did not have to be members of the association to participate, although Kenneth Kidd highly recommends membership. He says that they are a great association that regulates the sporting clay sport, and they have a very fine magazine. The cost is $40.00/year.
While the student instructor trainees were teaching our students as they shot the “Master Instructors” observed the student instructors’ skills and techniques. This year they had fewer instructors, so the group sizes were larger. They also had several inexperienced shooters, who took up the bulk of the instructors time. They shot in two sections of the complex. One section was significantly harder than the other.
They shot anywhere from four to eight boxes. If you consider that six boxes (the average; three rounds of sporting clays) would have cost us $75 at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club and they got the benefit of a student instructor for the day (at least a $60 value), then the $25 that they paid was an exceedingly good deal!
7/19/08 Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot
Two officers, nine members, three guests, and three first time guests (17 participants) had a great time at the 7/19/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Randy Rowley came in first place with 33/50. Richard Garrett, Bret Mercer, and first-time guest Michael Bettersworth tied for second place with 32/50 (Richard’s best score and Bret’s second best score). First-time shooter Coley Thompson came in third place with 31/50. He was followed by first time guest Trey Berry with 30/50, Ken Miller and first-time guest and first time shotgun shooter Drew Rowley with 29/50, Buddy Allen, Robert Kidnew, and first-time shooter David Smith with 27/50 (Buddy’s and Robert’s best score), Harry Biggs with 25/50 (Harry’s best score), Jon Hart with 23/50, Bruce Crockett with 16/50, Chris Rowley and first-time sporting clays shooter Brian Stevens with 14/50, and Charles Cutchens with 8/50. Several shooters also shot a round of skeet. Randy presented his devotional Rejecting Satan’s Lures. The weather was warm but not brutally hot and there was not any wind to speak of.
6/28/08 Ducks Unlimited Fun (Sporting Clays) Shoot
Two officers, five members, and two guests (nine participants) had a great time at the 6/28/08 Ducks Unlimited Fun (Sporting Clays) Shoot at the Texas Disposal Systems Ranch and Pavilion near Creedmore. For round one, Kenneth Kidd came in first place with 36/50, Tim Price came in second place with 35/50, and Chris Kidd came in third place with 34/50. He was followed by Van Short with 32/50, Randy Rowley with 31/50, Bruce Crockett with 22/50, and Regina Kidd with 15/50. Buddy Allen did not remember his and his son Dustin’s scores. For round two (a different course), Kenneth and Tim tied for first place with 38/50, Randy came in second place with 36/50, and Chris Kidd came in third place with 23/50 There was a mix of easy and hard targets.
In addition to sporting clays some participants shot their flurry game. An automatic thrower throws a random bird from one of three traps. Shooter #one shoots the first two birds and then starts to reload. Shooter two then shoots birds three and four and starts to reload and son on. The catch is the thrower is throwing one bird per second! It threw 30 birds. Tim and Randy came in first and second place with 22/30 and 17/30. They shot the 17 first, which was the highest score of the day at that time. While they were waiting to shoot again two men tied their score. They then shot the 22/30. Van Short and Bruce Crocket came in third place with 14/30. They also shot a 12/30 and a 9/30. Kenneth and Chris Kidd shot a 12/30 and 11/30.
The 1700 acre TDS Ranch is beautiful with dozens of African, Indian, and other exotic animals. They saw Blackbuck Antelope, Axis Deer, Kudu, Gemsbuck, Oryx, Impala, Zebra, Red Deer, a Giraffe, and a rhino!
Lunch consisted of big pork chops, new potatoes with onions, green beans with bacon, blackberry cobbler, and sweet tea! It was yummy!
They used the tickets that they got from shooting sporting clays and that they won from shooting flurry to try to win various prizes but were unsuccessful. They also had several silent auction items and chances to win a pistol in a drawing and the door prize – a Remington 1187 shotgun.
5/24/08 Llano County Clay Busters Open (Sporting Clays Shoot)
Two officers, two members, one guest, and two sons (seven participants) had a great time at the Llano County Clay Busters Open (Sporting Clays Shoot) on 5/24/08. Tim Price came in first place in our group with 39/50 (and tied for fifth overall). Randy Rowley and Isaac Price tied for second place with 32/50. Kenneth Kidd came in third place with 24/50. He was followed by Chris Kidd with 20/50, Tyler Price with 15/50, and Regina Kidd with 10/50. Lunch was beef ribs, sausage, trimmings, and some great deserts. Kenneth Kidd has now broken over 500 birds (life time) at FCS shoots.
5/17/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
One officer, three members, and two sons (six participants had a great time at the 5/17/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. It was a beautiful day. The group did not keep score. Mark Dillow reported that the targets were easy, and he didn’t have to switch from his skeet chokes the entire shoot.
4/22/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
One officer and two members (three participants) had a great time at the 4/22/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at Abilene Clay Sports. Randy Rowley came in first place with 41/50 (his third best score). Roy Brigman came in second place with 27/50 (his second best score). First-time sporting clays shooter (at an FCS event) Leroy Brigman came in third place with 20/50. They shot all 12 stations. It was a beautiful evening with hardly any wind to speak of (which was not the case the day after).
4/12/08 5-stand, Skeet, and Wobble Trap Shoot
Two officers, four members, and two sons (eight participants) had a great time at the 4/12/08 Five Stand, Skeet, and Wobble Trap Shoot at Upland Bird Hunting Inc. despite a windy day. Seven shooters and divided up into two groups. Randy Rowley’s group shot wobble trap while Larry Dowden’s group shot skeet. After an hour they switched. They then both shot 5-stand. Larry Dowden came in first place with 43/50 (his best score and the second best FCS Five Stand score). Randy Rowley came in second place with 42/50 (tying his second best score and tying the third best FCS 5-stand score). Tim Price came in third place with 33/50. He was followed by Jim McGee and Isaac Price with 32/50, Ken Miller with 29/50, and Charles Cutchens with 22/50. The course was basically the same as it was last year but for some reason our scores were higher this year (last year Larry shot a 25, I shot a 26, Tim shot a 31, Isaac shot a 29, and Ken shot a 20).
I had a perfect score going on my second round of skeet until I got to station eight. I then missed two from the high house and ended up with 23/25. Tim also shot 23/25 and Isaac shot 22/25.
Wobble Trap was again a blast! The trap rotates from side to side and up and down. Most of the time when you press the button it throws the bird in a different presentation. One bird may be high to the left and the next one may be low and to the right. They were able to do a “Flush” variant. Two shooters stand ready, both with two shells in their guns. The thrower starts to throw birds (after someone says “pull”) by keeping his finger on the button. The first shooter shoots and two shells and then immediately starts to reload, while the second shooter shoots his two targets and then reloads. The targets launched every 1.5 seconds, so they had to reload fast!
On the way back they stopped and ate at Maggie’s Burger Barn. Randy presented his devotional Reluctant Diners. The group shot between seven and nine boxes each.
3/15/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
One officer, two members, and two sons (five participants) had a great time at the 3/15/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Ken Miller came in first place with 27/50 (his first first-place win). Ron Denison came in second place with 25/50. Bruce Crockett came in third place with 21/50 (his first third-place win). He was followed by Jake Denison with 10/50 and Alex Denison with 5/50.
2/24/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
One officer, three members, and one guest (five participants) had a great time at the 2/24/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at Abilene Clay Sports. Randy Rowley came from behind and took first place with 35/50. Roy Brigman came in second place with 33/50 (he shot 20 out of the first 25). Logan Rankin came in third place with 32/50. He was followed by Ryan Rowley with 29/50 (tying his third best score) and Chris Rowley with 17/50 (tying her second best score). They shot all 12 stations (four birds per station and six birds on station two). The course had several birds that whizzed in low from between mesquite and oak trees. It was a beautiful day with hardly any wind to speak of (which was not the case the day before).
2/23/08 Skeet Shoot
One officer and one guest (two participants) had a great time at the 2/23/08 Skeet Shoot at at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. Guest Tom England had inherited his father’s beautiful Winchester Model 12 shotgun, and wanted to try it out. Mark Dillow and him shot one regulation round of skeet then shot a round just at stations 1, 4, and 7 to allow Tom to shoot incoming, outgoing and crossing shots. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors, though a bit chilly (47 degrees). Capitol City continues to improve the clubhouse. The floor has a concrete stain on it now, and they have gorgeous new counters (they look like they might be a man-made stone).
1/12/08 Sporting Clays Shoot
Two officers, five members, and two first time guests (nine participants) had a great time at the 1/12/08 Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club. The targets were the same as they were at the 12/15/07 Sporting Clays Shoot but it was like shooting a different course because we didn’t have to contend with the wind like we had on that day. Randy Rowley came in first place with 35/50. Ken Miller came in second place with 29/50 (he passed the 500 lifetime target mark). Chris Rowley came in third place with 20/50 (her best score and the first time that she has placed). She was followed by Bruce Crockett with 17/50 (his third best score), first time sporting clays shooter John Bobo with 15/50, and first time sporting clays shooter Harry Biggs with 13/50. Mark Dillow and first time guest Kevin Coe shot sporting clays, but they only were able to shoot two stations. First time guest Jon Hart shot 3/10 clays. Randy presented his devotional Decoyed.