Great shooting was on display this past Saturday at the club. Most everyone was shooting OK, dealing with a pretty stiff wind coming out of the east.  The birds after leaving the trap house, were going straight into the wind, causing them to climb hard and taking forever to crest. On the Wobble field, The high birds were going almost straight up. Needless to say, kind of a tough shot. 

Hats off to  Char, she shot spectacular despite the wind and put up her first straight Wobble 25. Congratulations are in order. The club house shot her hat afterwards, with the coup de grace being applied by Jim C. with his 4.10 pump. The poor hat looked pretty sorry afterwards.

Justin is a Dad!!!!! Congratulations Theresa and Justin! After 57 hours of labor (no that is not a typo), Theresa gave birth January 8, to a little baby girl.  Little Baby Eleanor, was 20 inches long and weighed in at 7lbs 13oz. Mother and daughter are doing fine as well as Dad. I’m looking forward to seeing Eleanor’s baby pictures. Well done Justin and Theresa…well done.

Last Wednesday, December 30, the “Off A Lot” gang was introduced to Trap Doubles. The night was a huge success., with Ken and Doug showing the way, for the rest of us beginners. Well done to both, they shot very well for the first time out.

Dan B. and Joe Jr. provided the setup and instruction before we went to the line. These guys are what shotgun sports are about. Their demeanor, talent and professionalism really shines a positive light on our sport. Thanks Dan and Joe.

The “Off A Lot” 2009/10 trap league is winding down. Last update (Dec. 27) had Danny’s team out in front of Uncle Joe’s team by 18 birds. It is going to come down to the wire. A very exciting finish is in store.

Yours in shooting

Jack

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas and New Years. You are all very special people and make me so proud to be a part of all this. On behalf of Stacie and myself, thank you.

We have a surprise. Wednesday night, February 10, the night of our banquet, we will have a surprise guest speaker. This gentleman is what shooting sports is all about. He is the best ambassador I have ever met for our sport and one of the best people you will ever meet in your life. He agreed to speak to us on his way to another function. You are not going to want to miss this.

I had to move the time up 1/2 an hour to 5:30 pm. This is to give our speaker time to make his other commitment. So please note the date and time February 10, 2010. At 5:30 pm.

Remember, you can bring your immediate families or girlfriend, boyfriend, or the kids. We will have a couple of games to play for the kids.

Besides the awards being given out, we will introduce all the new members and talk about the upcoming year. I’m really excited about the future. We have a few irons in the fire and Danny will talk about one of them the night of the banquet.

Also, this is a potluck, so bring a dish to pass.

God Bless you all

Jack

http://www.hitchingpostevents.com/

The Hitching Post
2940 S. Ravenna Rd
Ravenna, MI 49451

Last Wednesday, W.W.S.C. was supposed to be closed. In an unexpected turn of events, one of the Charter Members, made us an offer that we couldn’t refuse. Art took time out of his schedule and opened the club for us. This was a great gesture on his part and provided the team with an opportunity to work on some things.

The team took full advantage of the opportunity, with trap field #1 set up to repeat the same throw over and over, this provided some great practice for those that were having trouble with a particular shot. Dan and Uncle Joe used this as a coaching session for each shooter that wanted it.

Trap field #2 was set up as a regular field and a lot of the team was able to post some scores. We had a little mist in the air and at times the wind kicked up pretty good. But all in all, the scores were decent. Everyone was concentrating hard and having a tremendous time doing it.

After the last line was shot, we gathered up the equipment and spent some quality time in the club house shootin the breeze. The night was memorable. Thanks to everyone who made it out and helped make it happen. You guys are the best!

Ted and Steph made it official Wednesday night. In case you weren’t at the club, Ted put the “big ring” on Steph’s finger and she put one through his nose (just kiddin). They said they are setting a date early next year. So please remember to congratulate them both. They are a match made in heaven.

Another week and another scoring update. Results are here.

This is getting a little exciting. I went ahead and added a few more simple calculations^* to give us an idea of what team was ahead before we got to the end of the season. The results: If we all keep shooting like we’re are Uncle Joe’s team will come out ahead by 3 birds. So, we’re pretty close right now.

*: I should probably come up with a better model than I’m using right now that tosses out outliers in previous performances when calculating future performance. Some of the previous scores are very unlikely to ever appear on the sheet again; like Arlen’s 3 and Jack’s 25. Just kidding, Jack.

A visual inspection of Trap House #2 has confirmed that Don’s shoulder has healed and he’s shooting again.

I’ve updated the online score sheet with this Wednesday’s results. You can find them here.

The sun had set, the lights were on and the wind had died down…the perfect conditions for shooting.

The Tri-Star had put up a pretty decent round an hour before. Now the decision had to be made. Should the next round be registered? A good portion of the whole team had shown up tonight and there was magic in the air. All the tea leaves said yes, count it.

The line was started on station 2. The birds were flying consistent and seemed to draw the Tri-Star‘s barrel into the perfect point of break. It felt so right…it was automatic. Station 3 and 4, same scenario. The Tri-Star was doing all the work and grinding up bird after bird. Could this be the night? Station 5 loomed. The heart was starting to pound. The first bird on five was a hard right, the Tri-Star came off the hold point, led the bird by a foot, fired…followed through and a solid break. Another one ground up.

Number 1 station was all that was left. The temperature was cold, every breath was visible. Steady, keep concentrating, control the breathing, stay into the gun, follow through, feet placement. Come on heart, slow down a bit. 24 straight so far. Could this be the night? The final bird, a straight away…no excuses, it’s the easiest shot and it wasn’t a hard left. Could this be the night? The Tri-Star pulled into position. Floated the bird 35 yards out. Just got to break this last bird. Squeeze the trigger, don’t flinch.

Yes, tonight was the night.