December 20th Smoke Report

Weekly Trapshooting Info
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smokem
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Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:50 pm
Location: Jamestown, NC
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December 20th Smoke Report

Post by smokem »

Good morning folks and we finally got a little bit of rain in the area. Buccaneer shot Saturday and I hope they had a good turnout. Next registered shoot in NC is January 2nd at Buckhorn so please mark your calendars for that event.

Really not much going on in North Carolina to speak of. One thing that I was made aware of, and it involves the rising cost of trapshooting. For some of us running a trap shoot it involves time and organization and attention to details. Over the years individuals have taken the time to develop software to manage trap shoots.

Back in the days of Pinehurst there was a fellow that developed a piece of cashiering software and was there to be sure it worked and did the data entry. Most of you are familiar with RJ Stuart and his working at major shoots around the country and some clubs even use his software unto this day. The newest package to hit the market a few years back was 3S and Durham County, Watauga, Homegrounds and Rockingham County (not sure about Buckhorn) use it to run their shoots.

Bill Howe brought it to my attention that George Cooke that created 3S had sold it to the fellow that created Pre-Squad and the new guy had put a lot of time and effort into enhancing the product. The only caveat is that the new guy wants you to pay $3 dollars a day to cover the expense of the club using his software to cashier their shoot.

So, in North Carolina you pay $3 ATA + $3 NCTA + $3 for this software access? Now this isn’t anything that nobody knows about I mean it isn’t like a secret or anything. Folks would say what is $3 extra bucks when you pay $36 per hundred - $60 for shells and shoot a $350 - $25,000 shotgun. Marty and others are aware of it and hopefully this extra daily fee charge can be averted. I mean there are other software packages out there that could be used if worse came to worse. I mean a charge like this couldn’t come at a worse time with the price of shells is at an all-time high and local trapshooting participation is slowly scaling back. We will try to keep you posted on events as they unfold.

Bill Howe called me last week to discuss some items I had posted in my smoke report. As many of you know Bill is in the NCTA HOF and for many years led the high target attainment category. As time has worn on Bill had a couple of back operations that slowed him down a bit, but he is back in good shape right now. He did mention that Jim Hughes is now on top of the heap in yearly target attainment and I really don’t know how many he amassed to tell the truth. A quick look at the ATA website should give me that number but when you put Hughes in the system, I can never find his name listed? Not exactly sure what is going on.

That led me to calling George Ponton and we had a long conversation about target attainment in the state and George is the one that keeps up with that. Checking on NCTRAP I found that through August 2021 Bill Howe leads the singles with 198,900, Charlie Brown leads the handicap with 166,300 and Bill Howe leads the doubles with 171,650. Bill Howe is the first NC trap shooter to reach 500,000 targets and that doesn’t take into account the targets he has shot in the 2022 target year.

George sounded good and he was looking forward to the Christmas Holiday. He has not shot in awhile and remarked about the issue with finding shotgun shells at a reasonable price. He is also having issues with his eyes and that is what might keep him away from the sport he loves. Not quite sure when we will see him again and he hopes to get out and visit at some of the shoots at the Homegrounds. If you have his number give him a call to see how he is doing. Many years ago, when I was shooting halfway decent, I broke a 97 in handicap at Watauga. I believe Jimmy Wilson asked me what I broke (97) and he said to enjoy it for just a few more minutes. What I was witnessing was George on his way to a perfect 100 in handicap at Watauga. That place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everybody was pulling for him and not sure if he played the middle 50 pot or not. That was quite a memory and I still got a yard and won my yardage…..just had to have been there.

Our Southern trapshooting brother from Georgia Dave Hollingsworth is a little under the weather. Please keep him in your prayers if you don’t mind. He will be ok but considering his active truck driving lifestyle this might slow him down quite a bit.

I have an eye appointment Wednesday and it is a regular checkup. I should have scheduled cataract surgery at the beginning of 2021 but put it off. Not saying getting my eyes fixed will help my shooting but hopefully it will help when I referee and score. I know it will make driving at night a whole lot better that is for sure.

Ok that is about it for the before Christmas edition of the smoke report. I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. Hello to Scott, Ronnie, Cowboy, Tim, Bobbie, Thea and Anne and until next week……..smokem
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