The first of the year is fast approaching and I have yet to witness a schedule for the Ohio 2010 skeet year. I am sure most clubs have established a shoot schedule for 2010, and I am sure if they were submitted and or E mailed to Ralph he would publish their schedules. Seeing a complete schedule would allow interested skeet shooters a chance to wonder which shoots they can attend in the up coming year. They would be able to dream of warm, sunshine filled days of Spring & Summer. You cannot put these schedules in front of potential participants enough. Blackwing seems to do this best. The Quinns never let a chance go by to expose Blackwings’ schedule to their shooting base. There needs to be better information distributed to our shrinking shooting population. Over the last couple of years I have received personnel invitations, multiple mailings, and E-mails to attend shoots at Blackwing. There is a reason this 3 field club continues to shine in an otherwise dull state. Promotion, promotion and when you finally arrive to shoot, you feel welcomed. They continued to try different ways to make a same ole, same ole shooting sport more interesting. The grounds are maintained, the fields are clean, they go out of their way to throw good targets, and refs continue to improve. Not everything is perfect, and you certainly can’t please everyone. Can’t do anything about the background, or the wind, that seemingly never stops.

 

Come back Ron was a theme last year. I hope that something can be done to have Ron come back. What an ambassador to the skeet shooting sport, not only at Blackwing but in Ohio. His efforts to bring new shooters to the sport was second to no one. He always goes out of his way to greet and always was eager to make your stay pleasant. He is always ready to talk skeet and bird dogs. I have had the pleasure of shooting with and against Ron over the years. Always a gentlemen and a sportsmen. Come Back Ron? The Ohio skeet world needs you back. Maybe you are  back and I haven’t heard, if you are, everyone needs to know. If you aren’t back and aren’t coming back, thank you for the years you put in.

 

Sportsmen's is on a slow road to rebuilding some of their skeet houses. High seven / low 6 has been completed and the destruction of high 6 / low 5 is slowly being done. The houses are well done and thought out, but slow to be done. There are plans to do two more sometime in the future (not near future). Not that I need to be informed, but I have not heard anything more about the ColorMatrix, or the 400 x 400 - 410 shoot. If anything has been done, now is the time to get the information out. Interesting enough, Sportsmen's seems to be throwing more trap then skeet targets. On open to public days our two trap fields seem to be going non stop. Both fields are equipped with PAT traps that seem to work without interruption. The partial destruction of 6 has put out both field 5 & 6 skeet fields out of order. Maybe the plan is to keep them out of order long enough to eliminate registered shooting at Sportsmen’s. (Conspiracy Theorist). Now is the time to be planning and promoting shoots. It is my understanding Sportsmen’s schedule has not been submitted to the NSSA. I am not sure what the hold up is. NOTE: Sportsmen’s has raised their non-member rounds to $6.00 and kept member rounds at $4.00 per. Their hope is to inspire those sitting on the fence to join the club. We have recently changed our bylaws to include that all new members (never been) must be NRA members. Now, if you enjoy any shooting activity why aren’t you an NRA member?    

 

The boys are learning fast. I spend almost everyday working them in some way. Yesterday (12/28) I took them for run in the snow and cold. The fun of watching them rock n’ roll is great and the exercise for me is fun. Next fall in the Michigan Grouse woods will  be great.