Good morning and for everyone that attended the South Carolina State Shoot at the NC Homegrounds I hope you had a good night’s rest. For those of you that volunteered and worked at the shoot your rest was just a little bit deeper rest than others.
Big shout out to the NCTA, NCHOF, SCTA, VFW, new refs, new loaders, trash truck, grub wagon, and other volunteers. Some individuals arrive up to two weeks before an event to prep the traps and other issues. I noticed minimal target breakage and never noticed a trap breakdown the three days I attended.
I could take a lot of time to break down all the major winners but that would leave out other shooters that tied and might have shot off or forfeited. http://www.shootscoreboard.com
I know that Mark Spoon won the NCHOF singles and I am not sure of the doubles and caps and HOA winners at this time. I will take time to mention the 2026 South Carolina State Singles Champ Tom Elbertson. About three weeks ago Tom had a retina replacement and wasn’t even sure he would or could attend the shoot. He showed up and two 99’s later……..he told Dan Johnson he gobbed em up. Congrats and everyone look out in a few weeks.
Weather was interesting with cool and windy and almost cold conditions. With the lack of rain, the carts and kids on e-bikes produced periods of dust that floated across the line when the wind shifted to the South. Folks will be detailing their cars or maybe waiting until after the NC State.
The Hall of Fame banquet was great with Jim Hughes and John Miller being inducted for 2026. A great meal was prepared by Big Dave with the Forest City Fish Camp, and he was there cooking the steaks. First up after a brief introduction I brought to light the passing of four shooters that included Charlie Ackroyd, Hulden Hollis, Roger Latham and Jim Tiner. Next up Karole Miller brought to light some of the interesting things about her HOF husband including his uncanny knack and the ability to fix things including PAT traps and golf carts among other odd and critical things. She also wanted to thank all the folks at the Buckhorn Gun Club for reaching out and taking them into the BGC/NC trapshooting family. She did great and didn’t get choked up and then it was the Hall of Famer’s moment.
From my memory I have pictures of Jim and Darvin and now Joe Nalley normally sit near the back of the table layout. But no, they were up front and offering advice and giving him the eye……no pressure. John will tell you he prefers being in the background and public speaking might not be one of his super talents but with his crew gaping and gawking John delivered a sincere heart felt message. He thanked who he wanted to thank and from his words you could feel he was truly honored for his HOF induction picture to hang on the wall in the Keever Clubhouse.
Then it was Jim Hughes turn and his son delivered a no note message about the Hall of Famer he calls dad. He mentioned that trapshooting was in the DNA of the Hughes family and it started with his grandfather. One thing he mentioned was that Jim’s dad and Jim lacked “patience”. Jim always strived to be the best trapshooter he could be and sometimes the planets aligned. Jim took over the podium, and you have to admit Jim Hughes is quite the speaker and he related a story about his father that really needs to be written and published. I will ask him to put that amazing story in writing for later publication. Pictures were taken, necks were hugged and that exact group of friends that assembled Saturday night will change in 2027.
I will try to assemble some of the pictures I took and get them up sometime this week. Ft. Bragg shoots this Saturday, and I will put up a program when I get it. I have the results for the CCLEOA BIG50 from a few weeks ago and will get it posted soon. Also, I will be working on a little article about the HG’s trash truck operator….
Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Art, Barron, Mark C, Mark S, Dan, John W, Jimmy D, SPY2, HGIII, Burt Reynolds, Thea and Anne and until next week……smokem