Two
great shoots inspired me to write about how, with a little imagination,
clubs can offer shooters more variety, and that keeps us coming back for
more! There are different
ways to get more "bang for your buck". Here are two great examples.
Saturday,
June 16, 2001, we drove to the Chicken Ranch to shoot the Beretta Blow
Out. Over 100 shooters came
out vying for guns and prizes as opposed to trophies. Rather than have ONLY trophy shoots, Chicken Ranch decided to
have an annual shoot that gives away guns instead. Based upon attendance, prizes included Berettas (3 were given
away, plus another in a raffle), shooting glasses, collared shirts, and
$25 gift certificates. Since
the three guns and prizes were won by random drawings, everyone who
attended had an equal chance to win a gun or prize. Scott Robertson won HOA with a 95 (talented), Brent Barrett was
RU and won a gun to boot (talented AND lucky). The Green family and David Garrett, as usual, did a fine job with
the targets and everything ran smoothly.
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Saturday
evening we drove 145 miles from Chicken Ranch to Dallas so we could
attend the Backwoods TRAPS event on Sunday. Backwoods TRAPS is 255 miles from Houston, which means we don't
get up in that neck of the woods often. However, if you have never been there, it's worth the trip.
And, if you are coming a long distance and can combine it with
another shoot, I would highly recommend it. Over 120 shooters turned out to compete for around 20 belt
buckles. These were not
just any ol' belt buckles either. These
buckles were down right beautiful. You'll have to take my word on this, as I don't HAVE one to show
you; we didn't win one! A
neat trademark of Backwoods TRAPS is they have a "bonus shoot"
whenever there are 100 plus shooters in attendance at a sporting clays
competition. They take the
top two shooters in each class and add about a dozen, randomly picked,
hang-around-till-the-end, additional shooters. These individuals get to shoot it out for 3 money prizes.
A total of $500.00 is given away to the top three finishers of
this group. Uhhhhh, we
didn't bring home any of the green stuff either! Think about this.
Fifty-five
dollar entry plus fees got you a fish fry (or chicken) lunch, beautiful
buckle prizes, and $500 in cash prizes, and great targets!
Both of these clubs are showing great imagination
with trophies and prizes. Try
to make their shoots in the future. You won't be disappointed.
[Joe
Barton]
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