Zone 7 Championships

    

     It had seemed like only yesterday when I climbed behind the wheel of my Sports Chassis Freightliner and turned north to Ione California, the sight of this years Zone 7 Championships. I had been here just over a month ago for the California State Championships. I would now return to shoot with the best shooters from the 11 western states. Over 450 of the best and biggest guns would arrive here prepared to test their skills against each other and a team created by Larry Skinner, owner/manager of Comanche Hills Gun Club. When you come to the Zone 7 shoot be prepared to do battle! My two squad members Randy Wells and Jack Chandler did just that, they brought Harley big bikes and a winners attitude. Randy swept his A class victoriously taking no hostages leaving no trail then mounted and quickly left the scene after the doings were done!

      I had called ahead and arranged an interview with Larry for my radio show. We met in the club house. With Larry was Kelly Thomas a referee and long time employee. Together we discussed the upcoming shoot and the process of putting together two major shoots almost back to back. After our interview Larry bought me breakfast. Thanks Larry... only wish you would of had the time to join me.  On my way to register for the upcoming shoot I stopped to chat with Dale Tate, gunsmith. I had seen a friend of his in Chicago at the US Veterans shoot. Dale was standing near a work bench wearing an old oily apron holding a 12 gage sideXside he had just finished working. As I entered the small shop the sweet smell of gun oil and metal filings filled my nose. Stepping across the threshold I was immediately swept up in a time warp and transported back to an old English gun shop somewhere in country side near London. As Dale spoke I tried to keep my attention on the conversation as I leaned against the wall for stability still reeling from the time warp.  I left our brief meeting with the feeling I had been privileged to meet a master craftsman and allowed into the inner workings of his shop lost somewhere in the early 1800S. Like in a time machine as I stepped away from the entrance I suddenly returned to California, the warm sun refreshed my face. Still feeling a little woozy from my time travels I carefully continued down the steps towards the registration office. The next day I returned to see Dale again. This time he had important visitors. Three men shooting together from Washington State. Doctor Mark Engen,Jim Stack, Craig M. Hofkin. They invited me to Washington to shoot at their club. After describing the club...or rather clubs! They have some 10 clubs within 2 hours. I was shocked and wondered why my office had not scheduled me there??? But you guys better keep your eye's open for me...I'll be there!

     Leaving the shop I past several men on the stairs, one of them was Bill Mcguire and his friend Art Maloney. The level of competition was increasing...not many shooters do not know the reputation of Bill in Trigger sports. A big guy he had the body of an NFL ball player but the personality and the friendliness of the "guy next door". He listened to my introduction politely as I explained the radio show. He agreed to an interview at his first opportunity. He had come today to shoot the FITAS and his partners were anxious to get to the contest.  Calmly Bill spoke not showing any concern for his departing friends. At last he said..."hey I am going to make some time so we can shoot together" he smiled and joined his buddies. What a nice guy, and he wanted to shoot with me...at first I was honored. But after thinking about it I thought shooting with a guy like Bill Mc Guire is like Andy Granetelli asking you to drive. The pressure was on!

     Thursday May 31st--->first day of Prelims. I listened to my Lanny Basham tapes on the way to range. His tape on Preparing a Mental Program. Keep the negative thoughts out of your mind, remember if your conscience mind is doing the shooting---> that's the weaker team pulling the trigger! Focus on the Target let your SUBconsciense mind fire the shotgun.....I parked and went immediately to the practice range and began shooting. I was doing OK but not the best. After I said hello to a few other shooters I seemed to settle down and do better.  Art Shepard from Maui Hawaii who owns a trap club on Maui had made the trip. He is also an instructor at his club and invited me to stop in next time I was on the Island. At noon I was suppose to report to station 4 to begin the prelim. I was alittle nervous until I saw Skip and Beverly Zapffe from Chicago on the same squad. Skip is a Master Class shooter, I knew if I could watch him I would get a good idea of how to shoot when it came to my turn in the box. It was good to renew NEW acquaintances. As expected Skip claimed the day with a 92! Great shooting Skip. Beverly you aced several stations and had me watching over your shoulder as well. Dave Santos from the California State shoot was there, all business Dave showed little emotion at seeing me again. His head was in the game. He shot well. The other squad members Ollie Tosh and Dan Christoffersen I had not met before but both shot well and I cheered them on several stations as they blasted targets that evaded the inexperienced.

     But the highlight of the day was at the 5 stand when Bill McGuire and his buddy Ed Maloney pulled up ready to do some practice. I was assigned to the station shooting right after Bill. We said hello and the shooting began. I was lucky on a few and he was GOOD at all of them. But he offered the occasional " "Good Shot" when I knocked down a pair. As it turned out he was on the squad just behind me in the Prelim so I was able to watch him shoot. How easy the great ones make it look. Later we met again at the BBQ station and ate together.  I was impressed at his southern boy attitude, easy going and respectful to everyone who stopped by to say hello to him. Finally he asked if I wanted to shoot the MAKE-A-Break game with him. I had never shot it, but not wanting to seem like a shrinking violet I swallowed hard and agreed. I generally like to shoot a new game alone, experience tells me it reduces the chances of looking stupid....but oh well.... Hey it was fun and I did OK. Heck I won $70.00! But Bill helped, he saw the targets I shot well and we called them several times improving my score. He could of easily won the money but instead generously gave it up to the new guy! How decent is that!

     Just as I was about to leave Zackery Klenbaum the NEW California State Champion was standing g near talking to Bill and Ed. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I introduced myself and arranged to interview all of them at noon the next day for the radio show. Took a few pictures and let them go back to their conversation. Passing the score board I had to look...end of first day of Prelim, I am LEADING! Hell I may not sleep tonight. Drove home pleased with the days events. Friday is my off day, I will take photos and do interviews. Main events begins on Saturday.

     Friday was busy. Everyone was arriving for the Main Event. Lots of personal Quads being hauled in behind new trucks. The air was a thick mix of gas, diesel and the smell of victory. Men, some with their wives, turned a normally quiet parking lot into a busy dirt lot of unofficial armed militia unloading trailers, parking campers. Men and women, boys and girls unpacking gun cases, breaking down barrels. Fixing wood to steel preparing for one of the biggest shooting events of the year.

     I had cornered several normally over looked BIG shooters for an interview that will play on the "Trigger Sport" show. Bill Skinner and Mo Daane both agreed. Each of these shooters can be found at any shoot anywhere...doing what they love. Bill has a business in LA and has marketed some break threw gun accessories. Mo is never in the same spot twice....constantly on the move wheeling and dealing from the shooting cart.... and then there is this rumor about Bryan Laws stealing her award??? Next time I will try to get a better photo Mo...without the sunglasses! She is not only a Master shooter but looks the part. Most of the men look forward to having her on their squad. She is one of a growing population of women coming into Trigger Sports....certainly beats looking at Jack Chandlers legs! I had set up all the radio interview equipment under the dinner tent. It was perfect. Cool breeze. Close to the cold drinks and just far enough away so that the guns behind us did not disturb the interviews. Thank you to all of you who helped!

   Friday night was also Spaghetti Dinner night plus awards for the finals in Prelim. All the usual shooters raked in the awards. The top spots are EARNED in every shoot by the men and women who put in the time and training to be on the TOP! The up and comers fall in the top 10 spots and smart shooters watch carefully as the balance changes from shoot to shoot. As in any competition you see the serious competitors at every shoot.

        But the Main Even started on Saturday. The course was Red White or Blue. The flight times were 8am,11:30 and a third flight was added. Both days were marked with good weather. Warm and sunny, light cloud cover in A.M. was helpful to some. The targets were coddled by none other than Monte Pawley and Dave Fjelline. Dave swept the awards dinner while Monte hovered over each station like a mother guarding chicks. He held the Shoot-Offs and came early each day. By days end the battered returned. Some smiling....some not. Sunday would determine the winners. My squad fought hard on the Blue stations. I learned a lot from watching better shooters. The "Bad Boys" Randy and Jack lead the way. But not without problems. Our favorite squad member was young Jason----from-----. He spent much of his off hour time really enjoying the wild life that surrounded us. He constantly pointed out geese, pheasant and quail along the route. But on station 9 the first hint of trouble rose it's ugly face. As I was shooting after Jason I stood behind him while he shot. After the first round he broke his concentration long enough to look down at the stock of his gun for a fleeting second he hesitated to call the next target but said nothing. Smashing the clay he hesitated again...I saw why this time. A crack had begun to spread from the metal into the wood. Jason held the Browning. Pulled his head together and smashed the last of his targets before releasing his grip. He and I both watched in horror as the wood split open exposing the workings of the trigger. But what separates our Sport------------------>everyone on the squad immediately offered Jason their gun to complete the shoot. But Jason was determined to finish with his own gun. Finding some blue tape left behind on a stand he wrapped his gun tightly and stepped back into each station to prove to us if your strong enough to make the Zone 7 shoot then nothing is going to keep you from doing your best! Jason you set an example that all of us will remember!

Next a fellow journalist and Photojournalist for many shooting magazines held his own as a squad member. Jerry Sinkovec from Idaho Falls fought it out station to station, clay to clay...it may not go down as his best shoot but he was a team member to the end. See you at the next shoot Jerry and nice work! Glad we had the opportunity to shoot together.

But the surprise of the day was meeting Wille T. Ribbs and his son Theo. Willie is better know for his race diving skills with NASCAR. He switched over later in life to Trigger Sports only to watch as his son Theo eclipsed his shooting and will no doubt spring to the top of his class in future shoots. Willie brings experience in the marketing aspect Trigger Sports from NASCAR. We will be getting together soon to discuss some of his ideas.

                                                   But before I close let me give mention to OUR OWN! yes the California Team that came to battle the boys from the other side of the hill. LOOK closely at the photo of the great Tom John....you are LOOKING at the only photo ever taken of this champion SMILING at a shoot! CLICK on that photo you can actually see his teeth! I am selling copies!...lol..lol...but look who else came and fought hard. As normally done I invited all the California talent to dinner on the last night. Bill Leven....I may spell your name wrong??? But I do want to say your quite a gentleman and it was a pleasure talking to you. To the others thanX for accepting the invitation we will catch you on another shoot! No doubt there are more than the usual amount of grammatical errors...and Jerry will no doubt email me with corrections...but I am getting on a plane to Argentina in the A.M. for my annual trip. Some of the finest duck hunting in the known world exists just outside Buenos Aries....for those NOT joining me this year I will do my best to make up for your not being there..lol..lol..c ya! Oh remember you can click on any photo on the page if you want a copy it will increase in size.....lastly--->>> YOU ARE MEMBERS OF THE FASTEST GROWING SPORT IN AMERICA-->BE GOOD AMBASSADORS!