September is ending much cooler than it started, and I am ready for the seasonal change. Cool weather shooting is great, and you know what I am talking about. One shooting event over the weekend and a BIG50 this Wednesday.
The Joe Bouvrette Memorial shoot was held Saturday at the Watauga Gun Club. Looks like Morgan Shaw and BIGD Tollison tied with 96’s in the singles, BIGD won the handicap with a 90 and Caleb Mathis won the Doubles with a 92. BIGD also won the HOA with a 276x300. WGC shoots next on October 24th when they hold the annual “Chicken Wing Fling”. Last year deep dish cobbler was prepared over open fire, and it was delicious.
Buckhorn shoots this Wednesday and it is a BIG50 format. Registration at 11 with shooting to begin at noon. The weather looks marvelous and I hope they have a good turnout. Buckhorn shoots next on November 8th.
I took a little road trip Saturday headed to Clinton NC home of the Coharie Gun Club. The Coharie GC is a two-trap club situated by a hog farm and they registered targets for many years. Horace Best moved very near the club, and you can smell that hog farm from his house. Horace is a former NC State Singles Champion and one of the few that did it with a 200 straight. Horace has been having some issues with his wrists due to arthritis and is unable to shoot at this time. He hates to say goodbye to the sport and the people associated with it. We visited for a while and shared memories from days gone by. He told me stories of him souping up the family car to drag race in 1962 and a blown engine ended his reign of terror. He had a few shells and loading components and after I loaded up, I headed to Hillsborough to see Tommy Brown. He showed me around his property, and I caught a glimpse of some of the trophies he has won over the years. Next stop was Buckhorn and it took a few minutes to drop off a few items. Next stop was the Rockingham Gun Club for my last stop and then back to Jamestown. It was a full day of driving, and I slept pretty good Saturday night.
I talked to Tom Shelley last week and he said he put the first wood in his fireplace during that cool snap. He is hanging out at the lake in his camper and caught some big stripers in Boone Lake. Tom has been known to visit Alaska for Salmon, and he cooked up some just recently. I sure miss him around the trap line and maybe he will slip by for the Chicken Wing Fling in October.
The Dixie Grand is just weeks away and the numbers I see for pre-squad are interesting. Championship doubles Friday, Championship Singles Saturday and Championship Handicap on Sunday all have more than 200 entries. That should increase with shooters signing up when they get there. Also the food vendor at the Homegrounds will be none other than Big Dave owner of the Forest City Fish Camp and the fellow that caters for the HOF banquet. I hope the weather is nice for the event and no rain or remnants of hurricanes drifting inland.
That is going to do it for this week. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobby, Phil, Mac, John, Art, Barron, Mark C, Mark S, Dan, John W, Jimmy D, SPY2, HGIII, Fish, Thea and Anne and until next week……smokem