Bright sunny conditions attracted 38 competitors for the Cobar Clay Target Club’s Christmas Novelty Shoot.
Competitors travelled from Bourke and Nyngan to vie for the renowned excellent meat tray trophies, the challenge of unusual events, and to experience the club’s hospitality.
The club also welcomed novice shooters on the day, who displayed great skill with the tricky targets thrown.
The first event, a 10 target Eye Opener, had 18 competitors, ranging from C Grade to AA Grade, shooting for a possible score of 10/10. That was the last of easy targets for the day, and the remainder of the program was a challenge for both experienced and novice shooters alike.
Event 2: 15 Mixed Targets (5 Single Barrel off 11m; 5 Point Score off 15m; 5 Double Barrel off 20m): 1st—AA Grade, Button Powell 53/55; A Grade, Garry Jones 25/25; B Grade, Jarrod Barraclough 25/25; C Grade, Ben McBride 24/25; 2nd—AA Grade, Darragh Newton 52/55; A Grade, Tony Holzigal 33/35; B Grade, Douglas Ferguson 33/35; C Grade, Chris Bruce 30/35; and the encouragement award was won by Nicole Bruce.
Event 3: 15 Target Walk Back (start at 25m then move forward): 1st—Bryan Manns 24/24; 2nd—Jarrod Barraclough 23/24; 3rd—Mick McGuire 20/21; 4th—Scottie Brydon 18/19; 5th—Rob Thompson 17/18, the Novice award was won by Joel Crawford, and the encouragement award went to Carol Pritchard.
Event 4: 15 Target Crazy Points: 1st—AA Grade, Bryan Manns 55/75; A Grade, Tom Dickson 49/75; B Grade, Douglas Ferguson 53/75; C Grade, Christie Wheeler 45/75; Novice award, Joel Crawford.
Event 5: 10 Pair Continental (targets fly out two at a time at varied heights and angles): 1st—AA Grade, Bryan Manns 16/20 on a toss; A Grade, Tom Dickson 15/20; B Grade, Douglas Ferguson 16/20; C Grade, Ben McBride 15/20; Novice, Joel Crawford.
Event 6: 10 Pair Deauville Doubles (drawn out of hat): Seven pairs shot a possible score and after a shoot-off, the following were in the winners circle: 1st—Jarrod Barraclough and Tom Dickson 14/14; 2nd—Cameron Cutting and Rob Thompson 17/19; 3rd—Glen Vlies and Darragh Newton 16/19.
Highguns on the day were: Veterans—Button Powell 113/135; Juniors—Darragh Newton 111/135; Ladies—Christie Wheeler 93/135; C Grade—Ben McBride 100/135; B Grade—Douglas Ferguson 116/135; A Grade—Tom Dickson 112/135; AA Grade—Rob Thompson 120/136.
The Overall Highgun was Bryan Manns 121/136.—contributed
The wrap-up event of the day attracted a lot of interest and enthusiasm. Names were drawn out of a hat, then a meterage drawn out of another hat, then that competitor had to shoot 5 targets straight on the meterage drawn.
If that shooter missed, then another was drawn out, and so on, until a final winner emerged.
Some thought they had it in the bag, only to miss the first target, then another all the way until the last target.
The adrenaline was pumping.
In all, 6 or 7 shooters had the privilege to compete, with the final draw being Bryan Manns, who displayed great skill shooting both right and left handed to take out the event.
The President thanked all who travelled, and the locals who turned out, who helped to make it a successful and happy event with everyone going home with a delicious meat tray. It was overheard among the crowd “it was the best Christmas Shoot they had been to so far”.—contributed
