Clyde Taylor and John Williams- lessons

[straightaway]

Many years ago back in Northwestern Pa (Bradford area) lived a shooter named Clyde Taylor. He was a frequent traveling partner of my original trapshooting mentor, Harol Kiser. Those two would travel all over Pa, Ohio and NY state.

Clyde was one of the best singles shooters I have ever seen. He had more trigger patience than anyone. He would not pull the trigger until he was exactly where he wanted to be. It was amazing watching him. No idea how many hundreds he had but I do know it was more than a pocketful!

I have tried several times to find him in the Shooter Information Center on the ATA website to no avail. It would be very interesting to see his stats. There is a Clyde Taylor that shows up there that I believe is his son. The man I’m referring to was AAA/27.

Clyde shot a Ljutic mono gun. The Ljutics were/are as durable as any target shotgun ever produced bar none. I’m not aware of it ever failing him. Never. Not one time.

One of my favorite memories of one of his victories was in Cicero, NY. It can be nasty there and it sure was when he took the Singles Championship. Mid 40s, driving rain and 20 mph winds with gusts over 30. There were several of the (at the time) Big Boys on hand duking it out for AA points.

Clyde hammered out the only 200 in those conditions. It was amazing. He’d mount that Ljutic, growl for a target then follow it. Up, down, sideways. Didn’t matter. Clyde would shoot it when he got there. Mr. Deliberate gets it done.

Another note, this was during the time of hand pullers and hand set traps that threw real 3 hole targets…….not the same as today.

In the same area was another good friend. John Williams. John himself was a very good shooter that worked very hard at improving and maintaining his shooting. Like several of the rest of us, John would marvel at Clyde’s ability to handle difficult targets.

I recall we were at Sugar Grove Rod and Gun (now AMVETS) for a registered tournament. Conditions were sporty and John was sitting on a 99 with the clubhouse lead for the singles. Right on cue Clyde comes in with a 100 from one of the last squads.

Exasperated, John catches up with Clyde in the clubhouse and half jokingly asked Clyde when he was going to start giving lessons. Clyde replied in his gravely voice, not joking at all, “boy, I’m giving you a lesson every time I step on the line”. Poor John had absolutely no reply for that. Several of us that saw and heard the exchange could do nothing but laugh at John’s obvious exasperation.

Unfortunately we lost Clyde too soon a few years later and John has not shot a target in years. Times and targets are certainly different today, but, there remain a few constants. You can learn volumes from simply observing. As Clyde was fond of saying, there’s no substitute for experience.

See you next time wherever it is. Travel Safe. Dan