Hi everyone. I have different news items I need to take care of this month. First, I want to congratulate Ian Lawrence for winning the out of state Singles Championship at the Missouri State Shoot. Ian sets a high standard for those of us in Illinois. We have to work like heck just to try and keep up with him. Good shooting Ian! We are proud of you!

Sadly, I have to mention the sudden passing of an Illinois shooter. Robert Grieves unexpectedly passed a few days ago as I write this. Robert was a good friend and a good shooter in this state for years. He was the type of guy you looked forward to seeing every time you went to shoot. He will be missed by all who knew him. My condolences to all his family and friends.

Now, I want to talk about an unsung hero of trapshooting here in Illinois. The Secretary of the Illinois Board of Directors is Joan Maiden. She is married to Bill Maiden, one of the Directors on the Board. Joan is a very brave woman! She decided to put up with 12 crabby old men, instead of just one. She has done a wonderful job dealing with all of us and organizing all aspects of shooting in Illinois so that everything runs smoothly in the State. She is a real asset, and I don't know what we would do without her.

I'll see you on the Trapline.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. I have a lot to talk about this month, so I am going to dive right in.

I want to recognize some shooters that have reached milestones this month. Mike Hathaway has shot 50,000 Handicap targets. Jack Miller has shot 75,000 Singles targets. Last but not least, Frank Payne and Randy Miller have shot 75,000 Doubles targets. Way to go guys!

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Central Zone and the Southern Zone shoots were held here in Illinois at Peoria and Sparta respectively. They ended up being a tale of two age groups. At the Central Zone, Perennial Senior Vet All-American Mike Westjohn showed everyone how to shoot. Mike won the Singles, Doubles and High All Around. Doug Valerio won the Handicap to keep Mike from making a clean sweep of it. At the Southern Zone, youth was served as the crack Junior shooters took over the shoot. Landon Sievers won the Singles, Steve Margherio won the Doubles and Wyatt Williams won the High All Around. Only Vet Donn Thetford prevented them from making a sweep of it.

By the time you read this the new High Average awards will have been handed out at the Illinois State Shoot. As a reminder, this is a new award for shooters who are not All-Americans or All-Staters but have carried a high average in one or more of the disciplines. The winners are as follows.

SINGLES                                        HANDICAP                                        DOUBLES

 1. Justin Dewitt                               1. Randy Miller                                 1. Brady Cox                                   

 2. Randy Miller                                2. Wyatt Williams                              2. Tim Marucco                                    

 3. Brady Cox                                   3. Jarryn Smith                                 3. Ken Mitchell                                   

 4. Ronnie Fearheiley                        4. Joshua Taylor                               4. Chris Deterding

 5. Hayden Hemrich                          5. Derek Beckman                            5. Justin Dewitt

 6. Wyatt Williams                             6. Ty Deterding                                6. Cole Gordon

 7. Cole Gordon                                 7. Tyler Gordon                                7. Matthew Byrns

 8. Tal Segar                                     8. Chris Deterding                            8. Tal Segar

 9. Chloe Turasky                               9. Matthew Byrns                             9. Lynn Hamlin

10. Tim Marucco                              10. Jim Lyons                                   10. Randy Miller

It is now time to talk about the Illinois State Shoot. The AIM part of the shoot was on June 11 and 12 and let me tell you the kids showed up to shoot. I, and other workers, were handing out 100 straight patches and 27 yard pins like they were jelly beans. It is amazing the quality of young shooters we have in Illinois. If I tried to list you all I would forget people and I don't want to do that. So I am giving a blanket congratulations to all who achieved milestones during the shoot. The winners are as follows, in Singles, Brady Cox is the Men's winner and Jayce Wellen is the Women's winner. Landon Dent won the Men's Doubles and Ashleigh Painter won the Women's Doubles. Garrett Jackson won the Men's Handicap and Olivia Rainey won the Women's Handicap. Finally, Steve Margherio won the Men's HAA and Ashleigh Painter won the Women's HAA.

Now for the State Shoot. The word for the week was HOT, both in scores and temperatures. The shooters and the workers did a fantastic job dealing with the extreme heat and to my knowledge no one ended up getting sick on the line. A storm blew through Friday and knocked power out for a few hours. The power company quickly got us back on line and we only lost an hour of shooting time. The storm also lowered the temperatures and the Championship targets were very pleasant to shoot. The winners were Chase Horton - Singles, Cole Gordon - Doubles, Leroy Jording Jr - Handicap, Chase Horton HAA and Terry O'Brien HOA. Good shooting all of you. Mike Walker and Mike Westjohn were inducted into the Illinois Hall of Fame. This is a well deserved honor for both these men. Congratulations to both of you. Last, but not least, Leland Hassler received his 500,000 combined targets certificate from the ATA. If you have ever watched Leland pound away at Doubles targets you would know how he reached this incredible milestone.   

Finally, I want to give a big thank you to the Mohr family and the Illinois Board of Directors. I missed the weekend because I tested positive for Covid and was sheltering at home. The fact that no one missed me shows what a good job they did. When you work with good people it shows at all the right times. I'll see you on the firing line.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. As I write this, the weather words are cool and windy. It makes for very economical shooting. You either don't shoot, or if you do and miss, the target comes back and lands at your feet and you can shoot it again!

I have some milestones to mention. Duane Thomann has shot 25,0000 singles. Mike Hathaway has shot 50,000 singles. Mike Dennis has shot 75,000 doubles. These are all good men and good shots, and I am happy for all of them.

I have deliberately not mentioned products in my column. I do not think it is my job as a Delegate to promote for profit things related to shooting. Sometimes, however, you bump into something so good you just have to talk about it. I bought a Butler this past winter. I had problems getting the gun to work properly. I spent a couple of months dealing with Darrell Farr and Jason Lee of Butler Arms trying to correct the problem. I ended up sending several parts of the gun to them to be checked and talked to them several times on the phone. Through the whole process they both remained pleasant and patient with me until we identified and resolved the problem. They also never charged me a dime for any of this. All they said was they wanted me to be happy with the gun! Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying you need to run out and buy a Butler. If you have been considering one, however, know that you will be dealing with customer service second to none.

Looking at shoot reports so far, we are not shooting as many targets as we have in the past. This is perfectly understandable based upon all the forces working against us. I'm going to make a few suggestions that might help us all get through these difficult times. I would encourage clubs to throw more Big 50 targets. It halves costs which I think shooters will appreciate. Have shooters score and load machines in return for reduced target fees. I've seen this work at shoots and I think it is worth a try. Finally, make shooters feel appreciated when they show up at a club. I was at a small club a few years ago where the owner walked down the entire line thanking everyone for coming, asking if they needed anything and wishing them good luck. Little things mean a lot, and I know this really impressed me and made me want to go back.

One last thing, the Illinois Board of Directors were blindsided by a late price increase in targets. This forced them to increase target fees at the State Shoot to $37.00 a hundred. They regret doing this but they were backed into a corner and had to do this to stay even.

I'll see you on the firing line.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. As I write this, it is really starting to green up here in Illinois. Soon trapshoots will be springing up like mushrooms across Illinois and the Midwest. I can hardly wait to see my friends and shoot some targets.

Congratulations to Kenneth Mitchell for shooting 100,000 combined targets. When you think about this, Kenneth has shot a lot through the years. As I always say, I really admire dedication to our sport. Good job Kenneth!

I have been reading the results of some of the major shoots down south this year. Illinois shooters have been winning their share of categories and yardage groups, I am happy to report. However, it seems to me the numbers are down some at these shoots. This is understandable when you consider inflation, Covid and shell shortages. What really concerns me is the impact of all these forces on the small clubs across our country. This same situation happened in our country seventy years ago after WWII. The solution back then was to have a lot of 50 bird events to keep costs down for the shooters. I think it is time for our sport to emphasize Big 50's more than we have in the past. If it worked back then, it could work today. I would like to encourage all the small clubs across our country, if they don't already have Big 50's, to throw some of these programs. I think shooters would love to keep shooting by reducing costs this way.

I'll get off my podium now. Brittany Shooting Park and the Illinois Board of Directors are busy working to prepare for the Illinois State Shoot in June. We are the first State Shoot in the Central Zone of our country, and we would love for you to come out and shoot some birds with us. I'll see you on the line.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate