Hi everyone. I want to begin with some sad news. Longtime Southern Zone trap shooter, Monty Houge, died recently. Monty shot for years and was well liked and respected. He will be missed by his family and friends.
Another Illinois shooter is reaching a milestone. Charles Vanderveen is closing in on 75,000 singles targets. Congratulations, Charles.
The Illinois Southern Zone trap shoot was held at Brittany Shooting Park on the weekend of May 5 and 6. They had a great turnout of shooters which was amazing considering the spotty weather we had. The shooting was red hot and when the dust cleared, our All-State Junior shooters schooled the rest of us. Landon Sievers won the Singles, Handicap and High All Around. He tied for the Doubles but lost in a shoot off to another Junior shooter, Wyatt Williams. These kids make it tougher and tougher on old guys. Landon, when you start giving lessons let me know. Congratulations to all the shooters and winners at Brittany.
I received a phone call from the Morrison Sportsman's club in April to come up and shoot there. As I write this, I just got back from there and let me tell you I was completely blown away by the facility. Morrison is in the northwest part of the State across the river from Clinton, Iowa. It is the most picturesque club I have seen in Illinois. It sits up on a hill surrounded by trees, except for the trap line. There is a field in front of the traps that slopes down to a tree line that doesn't affect the shooting. The whole place is clean, modern and well maintained. It felt like a state park to me. However, the best thing about the club are the people. I have never met a friendlier group of people that treated me like a prince while I was there. In short, the place is awesome! If you think you might want to shoot there, the contact information is on the ISTA website. If you go, you will not be disappointed.
Shoot well and have fun!
Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate