LEAR JET! LEAR JET! LEAR JET!

"....it was a dark and stormy night.".....wait a minute, wait a minute! ----> " It was a dark and stormy DAY!" Ya know shooters I am NOT buying into the Global Warming thing but has anyone proposed the idea that just maybe..... LEAD & CLAY= DARK & WET? ----->This is real Nobel Prize stuff....

I mean how many shoots have we gone to this year...(only 4 months into this year by the way).. that it has been raining or threatening to rain ON-BEFORE-DURING the shoot?? .TIP OF THE DAY---->I wish I had invented the product called "FROG SKIN", believe me shooters, THAT should win the PRODUCT REVIEW of the year award. THANK YOU JIM PORTER! Bring on the rain, Bubba! ...oops I guess in the Dallas/Ft Worth area they say " Bring on the rain, BILLY BOB"... Hey if you don't get out much--> "BILLY BOB'S is the largest Honky Tonk in the world!...in the WORLD, 6,000 screaming, dancing, beer drinkers on the floor at once...oh yeah, good time here, Charley.

HEY REMEMBER IF YOU WANT A PHOTO JUST CLICK ON IT AND IT WILL GO FULL SCREEN AND HIT PRINT!

This is just ONE of the reasons to come to the LEAR JET. I have been to a few shoots, folks ,but I  must tell you, in all honesty, SCOTT ROBERTSON works harder than anyone I have seen to give you the best shoot possible + WIN MONEY! MO DAAN made the trip all the way from RENO, NEVADA just to shoot here. Of course, she is the fastest rising STAR in woman's shooting.

So, on my way here, I carefully dialed in the address on my GPS. Not without some problems I arrived Thurs. afternoon amid looming, dark clouds. Hard to believe SCOTTY could have found this location and resurrected this piece of property and converted it into what it is today. Caught this guy crossing the road...they say dead sailors come back as seagulls...so does this mean that..? Hey if your get the choice don't, don't come back as the SOFT SHELL ones....people eat them! EEEKS!

Almost immediately I ran into, none other than, the one and only WENDELL CHERRY! I caught him in registration. Now, we all know WENDELL is a quiet guy. Not given to a lot of publicity....in fact, I have seen him turn and try to slip the PRESS rather than stand still for an interview. But this time I had him trapped in registration....even persuaded him to stand still for a photo with the girls holding a couple of model Lear Jets! NEXT TIME WENDELL---> A GUITAR!

No sooner than watching WENDELL slide out the door without a word....JON KRUGER strolled in the back door just returning from shooting small gage. It is always a pleasure to see JON. He is a friendly, warm guy with a big smile and a story to tell...IF you can get him out of the crowd long enough to tell it. I asked him what he had been doing since I had seen him at the KRUGER CHALLENGE, and he looked up from removing the chokes in his K-80 with a glimmer in his eye and said..." Hunting Coyote..." I surmised he had shot 2 or 3. I took the bait..." Where?" I asked...

"Oh, me and McStay hunted at his ranch in Montana..." ya know with JON you have to drag the  information out of him one word at a time..." get any?" I pushed....

" Yea...about 30..." I had to ask him a second time because I could not believe my ears.."How many??"

JON looked over his shoulder as we went out of SCOTT'S office, " yeah, 30 and a few odds and ends...be sure to pull the door shut tight, JAMES...got to go shoot..see ya later." I just sort of stood there thinking I have never seen 30 coyotes in one area...I am going to try and have JON describe that hunt to us on the radio show so stand by for more details. Soooo, I guess JON you have withdrawn your name from the PETA awards list this year?

As I walked out the door, I was just about to turn and walk back to the truck when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye...MO DAAN! Now here is a lady I cannot say enough about. Serious shooter...yes! Warm and generous person...yes! Beautiful....yes! But did you know she had a gentle hand and love of horses? Keep your eye on this girl, she is going places. THANX FOR BEING A FRIEND, MO!

I finally got back to the truck where my wife and dog were patiently waiting. This year my wife goes with me...yes, we struck a deal. She is a Golfer. So when I am shooting/interviewing/photographing....she is on the golf course whittling away at her craft. She knows who she has to beat and goes after them with a smile and a vengeance. I really admire her determination. The dog...well he waits..and waits. A trained Cadaver Search Canine with a good nose. Harmless unless you sneak up on him or threaten him.

So, off we went searching for golf courses nearby...and there were plenty. Hey, shooters how many of you play golf AND shoot? Would you email me and let me know who you are...I bet we will all be surprised.

PRELIM:

No sooner had I arrived, I was engaged in a short barrage of questions that all pretty much sounded like this,.."Where were you this morning?" To a news guy like me, a statement like that strikes fear in my heart that I had missed something important...no not exactly. Seems it was a bit CHILLY this morning and WINDY and WET for the 8 am FITASC event. I gave myself a mental pat-on-the-back...boy I'm glad I didn't sign up for that...But, hey, aren't you the same guys who say.." Sporting Clays is like hunting.." Sooo, when did you last go duck hunting in a warm summer breeze??

I hurried to the ELM FORK store, because, I feel I must be wearing the cap of the Event I am shooting. Some superstitious thing about SUPPORTING THE RANGE!!! SCOTT quickly pointed out to me that he appreciated that I was SUPPORTING him, but it's OK to remove the price tag! oops another fashion faux paux...

Ran into this bunch on the patio just outside the office. THEO and his buddies were plotting against the "old guys". In a interview later in the day, I asked THEO how many registered clays he shot in 2007. He wasn't positive, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 11 THOUSAND!....Did I mention I just got my 3000 pin? Think that's why THEO RIBBS is MASTER CLASS and I am a....LOW CLASS shooter, as GARY GREENWAY calls me?

When I saw GARY WALSTROM, I knew I would get the straight story about the weather. He was neatly bundled up in a mountaineers jacket but had more to say about how much he liked the targets than the weather. Good to see you again, Gary....and another GARY....McSTAY appeared suddenly with a young friend from Idaho. We reminisced about the past KRUGER CHALLENGE and the next KRUGER CHALLENGE. Always enjoy speaking to McStay, he has done so much for   SPORTING CLAYS..and of course with a good Irish name like McStay he always has his leprechaun with him...seldom seen by many, but in this lucky photo, I caught him standing next to GARY'S right ear on his right shoulder giving him tips on what to say to the "Radio Guy".

But finally....I catch up to my squad on station 4.

Boy, what a privilege it is to shoot with the great ones...I lucked out and because a few shooters canceled out we combined the A and B squad and came up with none other than the recent HOA from Kid & Clays, TONY RIVERA ,as the squad leader. But hey, the squad was also made of some damn good shooters, like MIKE HALLMARK and JASON BURROUGHS and DAVID NIEDERER. I was in good company and took advantage of it by watching them closely and listening to any suggestions they may have had to improve my shooting. In fact, on one station I missed the last target, as it veered off sharply to the left. I walked away from the station thinking I had done my best. As I began putting my gun away and preparing for the next station the squad called me BACK! .." hey that last target was not a true clay...you get that one over." I looked at my squad leader and TONY motioned me forward. Can't thank you guys enough for that second chance. I guess after I left the station they agreed and spoke to the REFEREE the last target was not a complete target...I was surprised to get called back AND did take full advantage of it by smashing it! THANX GUYS!

Basically there were no problems. Only once did the traffic back up and the troops became restless...seen here, our friend JON KRUGER, marched up and down the line, keeping order.

The targets made you think, but they were all reasonable and within 30 or so yards. You broke some, you missed some, but you could not blame the trapper!

MAIN....

The weather broke...Dallas became Texas again, not some cold miserable State north of the "Mason-Dixon"...right. Hey,hey, don't get your feeling hurt if you come from one of THOSE States....but it was beautiful and just kept getting better throughout the afternoon. At this point, I usually like to put in a photo...but how do you show a photo TEXAS..it's in your heart. You know it, when you feel it...

Anyway, for me, the MAIN started at 11am. A dash from across town on almost car-less freeways and I was pulling in by 9am. Caught DAVID MILLER, CZ GUNS at the 5 Stand. What a sweet gun. Can't wait to tell my Pals in CaLEFTornia about this shotgun!----> HEY PETE & DAVID, ARE YOU LISTENING??? YOU NEED THIS GUN!!! IT'S A STEAL @ $2,400.00 US BUCKS!----> www.cz-usa.com

Boy, I tell ya, sometimes I just can't resist taking a photo when I see something out of the ordinary. As I was walking to pick up my cart, I spotted these rubber boots! Ya know when a guy sees something like this, your mind starts running wild with images of SARA JESSICA PARKER stepping out of her coach in something magical and slipping into these boots..humm. Then I saw GARY GREENWAY'S shooting cart parked beside the coach.....I'm not going any further with this...so I dropped my card into the boot and moved away before the door opened. She probably thinks I have a foot fetish or something..lol..lol..of course the coach could be from CaLEFTornia and some guy named John could be wearing them...ouch!

FOLKS...check this out. WHEW... speaking of pink!

Anyway, I caught all the REFEREES together getting their morning briefing, so I rushed in for a photo op...I began by asking if anyone is wanted by the FBI, please raise your hands....why is it always the guys in the back?? ThanX guys...and girls, you did a good job. Hopefully, you will retain the experience you received this year, for next year's event.----> Ya know, there was this one guy...you could hear him calling targets from across the field! When I got to his station I asked him NOT to holler out the targets, I missed!..lol..we all got a laugh out of it.

HEY REMEMBER, JUST CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE AND COPY!

Lastly, as I was leaving, I saw TONY RIVERA on his shooting cart. I asked him how his shooting was today...he didn't smile, but only moved his hand as if to say...some good, some bad. He had lost that killer look he had in San Antonio...but you know, what TONY is, all over TEXAS, with his  business----> building in Houston, Dallas AND San Antonio. He has crews everywhere! Since TONY is the KINGPIN of his organization, my best guess is that he had a couple of disturbing phone calls...hang in there TONY, your friends support you on the good days and ESPECIALLY on the bad ones. Nice shooting with you TONY, always a learning experience. The best laugh I had all weekend was when we passed a sign on SCOTT'S course that said, NO AMMO LARGER THAN 7 half's...I went over to TONY and said I was shooting 8's do you think SCOTT will know?---> lol..lol...

The day was quickly ending, but when WILLY TIBBS came up, I had to stop and talk to him. Now here is a guy who not only has a son who is a MASTER CLASS shooter, but WILLY himself has a serious competitive background in car racing. He has been on my radio show so often he has become a CO-HOST! But what he does not know is that we have more in common than he thought....not only is my good friend and neighbor ANDY GRANATELLI, of STP fame, but I sponsor a top fuel dragster! As WILLY says, shooting is much much tougher than driving race cars. So I listen when WILLY says.."If you want to be a lawyer..go to Harvard. If you want to be a shooter, move to TEXAS!"....and WILLY came from Southern CaLEFTornia!

FINALLY the scores were completed----> MR. JON KRUGER HOA....JON KRUGER HOA......JON KRUGER HOA...........JOHN KRUGER HOA.........

I can't be more pleased.... CONGRATS JON!

But BUT, BUT...Wendel fought hard and took RU, just ahead of our ROJO BANDITO, TONY RIVERA, followed closely by ANDY DUFFY! ---->AND GIBBEN MILES----> he is a major threat to the top contenders, and I expect to be talking a lot with GIBBEN in tn the future.

C U @ the next shoot!

Oh, Oh, before I forget, here is a picture of KILLER! You heard about him--->rumored...I say rumored...to be the  "THE AVENGER OF OKEECHOBEE"...lol..lol..lol...sleeps on the couch with his BLANKY, pillow and ball...lol..lol..yep, a real KILLER there....

Oh, and for those of you who are saying.."that radio guy needs a hair cut...here's the "skinny" on the hair...it's a bet. When I get VP, DICK CHANEY on the show, I can cut my hair!" .....anyone out there who can help, please contact me soooon!