Gun Club and Claybuster Update
Hello Fellow Trap Shooters!
The trap club is now open to all trap shooters at 10:00am on Wednesdays, new, experienced, youth and over-the-hill gang, all are welcome, and coaching is available. Our targets are White Flyer fully orange clays, and the houses are set to ATA standards (Amateur Trap Association). We currently offer both singles and doubles shooting. Regular shooting days are Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am, open to all shooters, but our high school team has practice and coaching on Saturday. Sundays are the best day to shoot with the Over-The-Hill Gang, and because we have two trap houses, wait time is not usually an issue.
The two greatest accomplishments of the 2020-21 shooting year for our club are the successful league shoots by our high school trap team and our ATA certification allowing us to hold registered ATA shoots, which we are currently working to schedule so as to not interfere with other nearby clubs.
The Dukes Claybusters (our high school trap team) really came through this year in both league and individual accomplishments, with their two 1st-place and one 2nd place position. The Big Sky I-Net shoot presented a great plaque engraved to the top Junior Team and runner-up team. They also gave a belt buckle to the top Junior shooter and the top Sub-Junior shooter. The Camas Prairie league also gave a great plaque, engraved to the first place and runner-up teams in their winter league competition, and individual awards such as new Junior shooter high score. There are right at 24 clubs in the Camas Prairie League.
The Spokesman-Review Telephonic shoot has 26 plus clubs entered, but there were no trophies or awards…at lease none that I know of for the last few years.
“I remember my first trophy,” reminisces Coach Lonny Jelinek. “I took first place at Naples Elementary School. Even back then we had to have good grades, or we could not participate on the track team. The goal was to make the team as well as individual. I remember shooting ground squirrels out of the cow pasture to keep the cattle from breaking their leg. I guess you would call this bounty hunting as me and my brothers got $0.05 a tail. But I guess the greatest trophy I won was my first deer and helping to feed the family.
What I’m trying to get across is that those trophies matter. Putting all the enthusiasm and learning into our youth, good grades, integrity, and marksmanship matter. The Bonners Ferry Gun Club, the Lance Schoeman Family (Heron, MT) “Trophy”, Bill Nelson Family, and Jamie Fulton (Bonners Ferry) “Engraving”, made a trophy to honor the “Duke’s Claybusters” Bonners Ferry High School Trapshooting Team for the Spokesman-Review 2021 top score Junior trap team which included all the team members names. It will be displayed at our local high school after it finishes its term on display at Pace-Kirby downtown.
I appeal to all the Spokesman-Review winter league clubs to consider donating an old trophy or a small donation to our youth trapshooting fund. Let’s show some appreciation for our youth clubs in all sports. This is my opinion, I am 78 years old and a certified NRA Shotgun Coach, and proud of our youth clubs in all sports.
Also, congratulations to Tom Daniels and crew in the rifle division for setting two national records in two years, and to the young ladies rifle shooters also. Come on boys… tired of rifle? Come try a moving clay target!
Thanks for listening.
Shoot safe and keep your powder dry, Coach Lonny
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