Boy, has shooting exploded across the Midwest and Illinois over the past month. I am going to try to cover the highlights but I am sure I will miss someone. If I do, please contact me and I will mention you in future columns. First, read the shoot reports of other State shoots because Illinois shooters have been doing well. The week before the Illinois State Shoot, the US Open took place at Sparta and a couple of notable things happened. Tim Lewis shot his first 100 straight and Mike Jordan broke 200 straight in the Singles Championship. Good shooting both of you. I wanted to mention Mike because he is a hero of mine and he never ceases to amaze me over his shooting ability through the years. It is a treat to watch him.

Now I want to talk about the Illinois State Shoot. It went from warm to hot and the wind blew from every direction except up or down. Through it all great scores were shot and a good time was had by all. First of all, I want to thank the Mohr family and The Illinois Board of Directors for putting on a great shoot. The shoot went well and great scores popped up like mushrooms. AIM was shot first and we had over 300 shooters toe the line. There was a lot of impressive shooting and it is obvious to me our future is in good hands. The winners were: Steve Margherio won both the Singles and Doubles and Wyatt Sibley won the Handicap. I am looking forward to watching these guys in the years ahead. 

Now I want to talk about the regular shoot. Megan Byrns and Zac Painter shot their first 100 straights in Singles and Logan Applegate shot his first 100 in Doubles. Ryan Lovelace, Ty Leach and Drake Reynolds all reached the 27 yard line for the first time. All of these shooters are kids! Wow, I am in awe of our younger shooters. The winners of the Championship events are as follows: Mike Hathaway won the Singles, Terron  Williams won the Doubles, Gavin Rynders won the Handicap and Landon Sievers won the HOA and HAA. I am really happy for Mike because he finally broke through and won a big one. 

 You can tell that shooting is back on in Illinois by the number of shooters that have reached milestones this past month. I'll do Singles first; Gallen Tully, James Martin, William Nash and Jack Vick all have shot 25,000, Mark Elliott has shot 50,000, Mike Miller has shot 75,000, Marvin Kuebler has shot 100,000 and Mike Westjohn has shot 200,000. Handicap next: Douglas Porter, Steve Carver and Ross Walch have shot 25,000, John White, Lynn Gibson and Mike Miller have shot 75,000 and Richard Haltek has shot 100,000. Lastly Doubles: David Peace has shot 25,000 and Danial Meinecke has shot 400,000! Wow, that's a lot of of shooting. Good job everyone. I also want to give a special mention to Mike Westjohn. I had the honor of presenting him with a pin and certificate at our annual meeting for his 500,000 combined targets. Mike, at our meeting, you said you were told to ride this horse for as long as you could. Let me tell you, this accomplishment shows you are one hell of a fine rider!

Finally, I want to invite any shooters who missed our Shoot this year to please come back. We missed you and would love to see you next year.

It's time for me to shoot so until next time, shoot well.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

I am writing this in May and trap shoots are popping up like mushrooms in Illinois. Covid-19 restrictions are finally being lifted and we are getting out to shoot. The only flies in the ointment are the shell shortage and unusually cold and windy weather. Let's hope both these situations work themselves out quickly.

I have 3 Illinois shooters that have reached milestones in their careers. Thomas Bates has shot 50,000 handicap targets, Frank Bentley III has shot 100,000 singles and William Reardon has shot 100,000 combined  targets. I know I sound like a broken record but dedication to our sport is always impressive.

I want to take a moment to mention a story about Frank. Several years ago Frank won the Illinois State Doubles Championship. This happened right at Father's Day. Frank dedicated this win to his father, who is also a trap shooter. I don't think Frank II could have been any more happy and proud after Frank III did this for his dad. Stories like this make our sport so great!

I could not make it to the Missouri State Trap shoot but I have been following the scores and Illinois shooters have showed up. We have won many categories, classes and yardage groups. See the shoot report for who has won what. 

Finally, I am happy to report that we are collecting money for the new Hall of Fame as more and more people are buying bricks to line the entrance of the new building. Please check out the link on the ISTA  web page to buy your own brick and be a part of Illinois trap shooting history.

It's time for me to go shooting so I will see you next month. Shoot well and stay safe.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

By the time you are reading this the Illinois State Trapshoot will be upon us. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to say this. It has been a long year to reach this point and we are ready to host a great shoot. Please plan on coming to Brittany Shooting Park and join us for a week of fun in June.  I want to take a moment to mention two people who were instrumental in getting us to this point. The first is ISTA board member Ned Meyer. Ned is a Swiss army knife that will do anything to help the cause. He took on making our program this year and did a wonderful job. The other is our President, Mike Dennis. Mike, under difficult circumstances, showed true leadership as he held the board together and kept us focused on the prize of having a shoot this year. If you see either one of these gentlemen be sure to thank them for their good hard work. I want to congratulate Lawrence Gillum for breaking a 97 to win the Handicap Championship at the Southern Grand. Nice shooting Lawrence! You made Illinois proud.

I also have two target milestones to mention. Mike Dennis has reached 75,000 Singles targets and Tom Fester has shot 25,000 Singles targets. Way to go guys! Dedication is always rewarded in the end and you guys are showing us the way.

Finally, I want to wish Patricia Miller, wife of Hall of Famer Randy Miller, a hardy get well soon. Pat suffered a stroke at the end of March but quick, effective treatment by the doctors means she is recovering fast. We miss you Pat and are looking forward to seeing you soon!     

Shoot well and safely!

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

As I write this the grass is starting to turn green and the trees are starting to bud out. You can feel that spring is about here and I can't wait to get out to shoot. We have a full slate of shoots scheduled here in Illinois and I want to encourage everyone to get out and shoot and support our clubs that really need your help.

Illinois has a couple of shooters that are reaching milestones. The neat thing about this is they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The first one is Ron Piro, a long time shooter out of the Peoria Skeet & Trap Club. Ron won the state Handicap Championship several years ago and has now shot 100,000 Doubles targets. Way to go Ron! Keep showing us what dedication is all about. The other shooter is Garrett Helms, a great Junior Gold shooter here in Illinois. Garrett shoots all over, and where he shoots he wins. He was recently tearing up his category at the Southern Grand in Florida. He has already shot 25,000 Handicap targets. Great shooting Garrett! 

Sadly, I have to report that longtime, southern Illinois shooter, Tom Winn, has passed away. Tom was a fixture here in Illinois for many years. He and his brother Richard ran the Rend Lake Shooting Complex for many years and had shooters from all over coming to shoot there. We'll miss Tom here in Illinois and my condolences go out to his family and friends.

Shoots are just now starting up so next month I should be able to tell you about great shooting results from our shooters. Shoot well and stay safe.                                          

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate