MARIETTA - Sunday was gun day for Central New York sportsmen and women.
Angela Kershner / The Citizen
Secretary of the Tri-County Trap League Don Wells, left, shakes hands with winner Chris Landon after the winter league trap shoot off at the Otisco Lake Rod & Gun Club in Marietta, Sunday.
Secretary of the Tri-County Trap League Don Wells, left, shakes hands with winner Chris Landon after the winter league trap shoot off at the Otisco Lake Rod & Gun Club in Marietta, Sunday.
In all, 91 shooters came together at the Otisco Lake Rod and Gun Club Sunday for the Tri-County Trap Shooting League's annual winter shoot - an event so popular people come from all over the state.
“We had 186 shooters in the entire league this year,” said Don Wells, secretary and treasurer for the league. “We get shooters from all over; some of them come from as far as 100 miles just one way to shoot in this league.”
The league, which got its start in the mid 1970s brings together shooters from Camillus, Falcon Sportsmen's Club, Otisco Lake and the Weedsport club. Camillus was this year's overall winner, marking the club's third straight championship.
The league's numbers were up this year, attracting more and more trap enthusiasts. Wells believes the reasons for this are twofold.
“Those are good strong numbers,” Wells said. “We have a good following. A lot of people enjoy the competition of trap shooting. But they also enjoy the competition against each other.”
This feeling of competition with yourself and with your fellow competitors has helped keep the winter competition going for more than 30 years, but it has also helped create an environment where friendly competition can thrive.
“There is a real fellowship here,” Wells said. “Everyone can come here and they can compare their scores and talk about shooting and share in each other's success. Everyone can come here and shoot and have a good time and have the support of everyone.”
One of the appeals of shooting is that there is room for everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, trap shooting is a sport anyone can take with them their “I started when I was about 11,” said Chris Landon, who won the high average for the league with a 98. “My father got me involved. I just always had fun doing it and I've always liked the competition. It feels really good to get out there and compete.”
This year marks Landon's fourth high average award.
Landon said it takes concentration and determination to be a good shooter.
“You have to have confidence,” he said. “You can't get nervous and you have to be steady. You just have to try to be consistent, but if you have a bad day you have to shake it off and keep plugging along.”
The winter shoot brought out some strong competition, something Landon said helped drive him to bring out his best.
“There were a lot of good people here with a lot of good scores,” he said. “I was one of only two people to shoot a 50 today. The other was a really good shooter, and I thought he might beat me a couple of times. But I just go out and concentrate and try to do my best against a lot of really good people.”
“It feels great,” said Bill Parfitt, president of the club. “Everyone out here wants to win; they are all pretty competitive people. People here even want to beat the people on their own teams, they can be your best friends but you still want to shoot better than them. So we all want to win and we all come out to compete.”
Parfitt said the competition was stiff with the Camillus club pulling out the win by just a point and a half.
“It was very close competition this year, The closest it has been in a long time,” Parfitt said. “Out of a total of 3,000 birds, the Otisco Lake club beat us by one bird but we beat them in points; it was extremely close, but still a lot of fun.”
Parfitt said every member of the club brings something to the team and represents the well-rounded nature of the sport.
“We have 33 people,” Parfitt said. “There are all types of people. This is something the whole family can do. There are fathers and sons and husbands and wives. There is one guy who is 84 and still shooting. It takes hand-eye coordination. As long as you have that, it is something you can do your whole life and it is something everyone can do and contribute to the club.”
The shoot represented the end of the winter season and many shooters are already well into summer competition, but Parfitt said that they are already planning for next winter.
“It is a year round sport,” Parfitt said. “We're definitely going to try our best and we are looking forward to trying to make it four in a row.”
“We had 186 shooters in the entire league this year,” said Don Wells, secretary and treasurer for the league. “We get shooters from all over; some of them come from as far as 100 miles just one way to shoot in this league.”
The league, which got its start in the mid 1970s brings together shooters from Camillus, Falcon Sportsmen's Club, Otisco Lake and the Weedsport club. Camillus was this year's overall winner, marking the club's third straight championship.
The league's numbers were up this year, attracting more and more trap enthusiasts. Wells believes the reasons for this are twofold.
“Those are good strong numbers,” Wells said. “We have a good following. A lot of people enjoy the competition of trap shooting. But they also enjoy the competition against each other.”
This feeling of competition with yourself and with your fellow competitors has helped keep the winter competition going for more than 30 years, but it has also helped create an environment where friendly competition can thrive.
“There is a real fellowship here,” Wells said. “Everyone can come here and they can compare their scores and talk about shooting and share in each other's success. Everyone can come here and shoot and have a good time and have the support of everyone.”
One of the appeals of shooting is that there is room for everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, trap shooting is a sport anyone can take with them their “I started when I was about 11,” said Chris Landon, who won the high average for the league with a 98. “My father got me involved. I just always had fun doing it and I've always liked the competition. It feels really good to get out there and compete.”
This year marks Landon's fourth high average award.
Landon said it takes concentration and determination to be a good shooter.
“You have to have confidence,” he said. “You can't get nervous and you have to be steady. You just have to try to be consistent, but if you have a bad day you have to shake it off and keep plugging along.”
The winter shoot brought out some strong competition, something Landon said helped drive him to bring out his best.
“There were a lot of good people here with a lot of good scores,” he said. “I was one of only two people to shoot a 50 today. The other was a really good shooter, and I thought he might beat me a couple of times. But I just go out and concentrate and try to do my best against a lot of really good people.”
“It feels great,” said Bill Parfitt, president of the club. “Everyone out here wants to win; they are all pretty competitive people. People here even want to beat the people on their own teams, they can be your best friends but you still want to shoot better than them. So we all want to win and we all come out to compete.”
Parfitt said the competition was stiff with the Camillus club pulling out the win by just a point and a half.
“It was very close competition this year, The closest it has been in a long time,” Parfitt said. “Out of a total of 3,000 birds, the Otisco Lake club beat us by one bird but we beat them in points; it was extremely close, but still a lot of fun.”
Parfitt said every member of the club brings something to the team and represents the well-rounded nature of the sport.
“We have 33 people,” Parfitt said. “There are all types of people. This is something the whole family can do. There are fathers and sons and husbands and wives. There is one guy who is 84 and still shooting. It takes hand-eye coordination. As long as you have that, it is something you can do your whole life and it is something everyone can do and contribute to the club.”
The shoot represented the end of the winter season and many shooters are already well into summer competition, but Parfitt said that they are already planning for next winter.
“It is a year round sport,” Parfitt said. “We're definitely going to try our best and we are looking forward to trying to make it four in a row.”
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