A Bad Day To Be a Clay Target!
Steve Van Lieshout

Saturday July 16th at The Highlands was this year’s 22nd Annual Sporting Clays “Fun Shoot”.

Some of the attendees shot scores in the 90’s, some shot in the 30’s.  All in all, it didn’t matter as it is just for fun!

There was much to bring away from this great day of this year’s event. We had 101 shooters which was a near record turnout. This happened with 5 or 6 of our regular attendees who were out of town who typically bring a team with them. How could they not schedule their summer around this event? I mean, ........Africa or the The Highlands outside of Cascade, WI ..............kudu, eland, leopards or clay targets...........well I guess I understand......never mind.

We had 7 husband and wife teams competing with us this year which was a record for our event.  Thankfully, all the couples are still happily married, in spite of being in close proximity to each other carrying shotguns for the duration of the event.  The top husband and wife team with a combined score of 146, was Chris & Karen Erickson, followed by Jason & Jenny Dahlmann with a 143.

There were 12 Lady Shooters this year which was also a record turnout. So much for the perception that our event is a bunch of guys! I look forward to an even larger number of ladies next year. However, if they keep shooting so well, we may consider modifying the rules to handicap them.........all us guys have sensitive egos you know! Jessica Jacklin was this year’s Lady Top Gun with a score of 76. Last year’s event was her first time ever shooting sporting clays. It shows what a couple million targets over a year can do to your score! Congratulations Jessica!

We also had 4 Junior (16 years old and under) Shooters, lead by Joe “without a D” Rogers who shot a 73. Travis Frey, Amanda Frey and Tyler Simcock shot 57, 45, & 44 respectively.  Way to go! It would be great to set a record next year for the Junior’s category.

It says a lot about either the abilities of the lady and junior shooters, or how far my shooting needs to improve that they are my role models. I think my score was MINUS 6! I did hit two trees though!

The team competition was razor thin as Team 2, consisting of Matt & Jake Yunk, Mike Betters, John Miller, and Karl West, will be kicking themselves because they missed first place by a SINGLE target out of 500 targets!

The Topgun Team was Team 10, consisting of Andy Busalacchi, Bernie Bendar, Bob Kussrow, Chris Tzakais and Jason Dahlmann, had a combined score of 404!

The Parent/Junior scores were topped by Jim Frey and his son Travis with a combined score of 136, followed by Justine Klug and her daughter Amanda with a score of 112.

The Men’s Topgun was both Andy Busalacchi and John Dennert who both shot 91, followed by Jason Dahlmann with a 90.

I would like to thank all our attendees who make this event so special. Next year bring a family member, friend, or a random stranger who may be interested in joining us for a great day.

I would like to thank TJ Sommer and his staff at The Highlands www.thehighlandsclub.com) for the great hospitality, venue, and food for our event. That also includes that twisted, vindictive, evil person, Josh, who was the mastermind for the course setup, to challenge all of us and our shooting abilities. Way to go.

I would also like to thank Ivan Gehl of Richfield Cabela’s (www.cabelas.com) for  providing the gun raffle prizes, as well as Matt Yunk of Accurate Graphics for all our event printing.

Last but certainly not least I would like to thank Janean Gehl, our SCI Chapter Secretary, who makes everything run smoother!

Next year’s 23rd Annual Fun Shoot is tentatively set for July 14th. It’s time for me to start practicing so that I can shoot plus 6 next year!