The current state trapshooting tournament at the Aberdeen Gun Club is a three-day event that requires a lot of planning and problem-solving throughout those three days.
“We started getting ready for this probably about two months ago, or better,” said Jerry Brick, president of the Aberdeen Gun Club. “We’re trying to find out what all we are going to need for equipment. So, we’re ordering equipment and trying to work with the weather to get things installed.”
Brick works right up until the tournament starts to get things ready.
“I got the third trap on the skeet field installed the day before everybody came, so it was pretty tight on that one,” Brick said.
Brick stays busy throughout the entire tournament, fixing things. When asked how much he is works while the tournament is happening, Brick replied, “Constantly. There’s always something and it’s never the same thing twice.”
One of the reasons there is so much to do at the tournament is that there are more participants every year.
“It’s growing every year,” Brick said. “It’s great. I like to see the younger people getting involved with it.”
And with the participation growing every year, Brick is helping make sure the tournament itself evolves with it.
“We’re adding equipment on, so it’s making it easier to run the tournament as it gets bigger and better,” Brick said.
He talked about the importance of having the tournament, bringing in the top shooters in the state.
“It’s a culmination of everything that they have been doing since around March,” Brick said. “A lot of these kids will start out and they’re not very good shots and by this time of year, there’s a lot of them that I wouldn’t want to compete against.”
Brick said that despite all the time and work that goes into putting on the tournament, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love it,” Brick said. “It’s making the sport grow. And I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, but I like working with the kids. My wife thinks I put way too much time into this, but I guess we’ll call it a labor of love.”
Cordell Vitense
TAKING AIM AT TWO DIFFERENT TARGETS
While many shooters are competing in the clay target portion of the state tournament, some, like Kaylee Blauert of Pierre, are doing both the clay target and skeet shooting.
The upcoming senior explained the differences between the two.
“In trap you only have five stations and in skeet you have a lot more than five,” Blauert said. “In skeet, you shoot both high house and low house and then you shoot doubles at the same time. Whereas trap your shooting one shell at a time and it always goes to the same spots.”
She feels one is more challenging than the other.
“I feel like skeet is,” Blauert said. “You have to get whatever changes based on wind and tuff, but in trap you do, too.”
Even though Blauert says skeet is harder, she said she still prefers shooting skeet to shooting trap.
Blauert has plenty of experience in shooting both trap and skeet, as she started trap shooting in sixth grade and skeet in seventh.
She explained what drew her into shooting skeet.
“Well, our current coach is in charge of skeet and five stand, so he encouraged a lot of us to do it,” Blauert said. “And it’s just more exposure to shooting.”
Blauert described the environment of competing at the state tournament.
“It’s a lot of people,” Blauert said. “It’s different than our home field, so it’s a little more challenging, because you have to reorient your brain to a different field.”
She also talked about the state tourney atmosphere.
“It’s very welcoming,” Blauert said. “You can talk to anybody. Everybody is really supportive of your shooting, and they encourage you to do your absolute best every time.”
When asked what she’s looking forward to the rest of the tournament, Blauert joked,” Hopefully better scores.”
Cordell Vitense
PATRIOTIC STATEMENT: The Canton boys’ trap shooting team was easy to spot at the Aberdeen Gun Club on Saturday. Members wore shirts sporting the American Flag at the event.
“It’s just been kind of a team thing,” said upcoming senior Hunter Hamre. “Last year we did Hawaiian shirts. We like to stand out a little bit. It brings character.”
Of course, the patriotic shirts are very appropriate since the country is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. Not only are the shirts attention grabbers, they also feel good, according to Hamre.
“We opened them this morning,” Hamre said. “They feel great, stretchy, they’re breathable.”
When asked if they will make him shoot better, Hamre responded, “I hope so. I need all the help I can get.”
The state tournament provides a much different atmosphere than the regular season which is all done virtually. This weekend, shooters have to deal with a variety of potential distractions.
“It’s not really distracting,” Hamre said. “If you kind of shut it all out with your ear plugs and lock in, you can’t really hear everyone else. You’re kind of just to yourself.”
Dave Vilhauer
ENJOYING AN ADRENALINE RUSH
Howard’s Macy Jeffery, who is competing in the tournament, said trap shooting is different than other sports.
“Sometimes you get this adrenaline rush that I don’t think is the same as you get in other sports,” Jeffery said.
Shooting is a sport that runs in her family.
“My brother did trap shoot and that made me want to do it,” Jeffery said.
She tries to have fun and lift the spirits of others while competing.
“I just really enjoy encouraging people to have fun,” she said.
Jeffrey, like the rest of the shooters on Saturday, had to deal with warm conditions.
“Hopefully it gets a little cooler,” she said. “Because it’s really hot.”
Jeffery was focused on staying consistent throughout her rounds.
“I just want to keep doing what I’m doing,” Jeffery said. “Keep getting near the same score and just do a little better than my last scores.”
Cordell Vitense
MANAGING MULTIPLE TOURNAMENTS AT ONCE
Josh Kroells was a busy man at the tournament on Saturday morning. Kroells, who lives just outside of the Twin Cities, is the vice president of the USA Clay Target League and is in charge of keeping tabs on multiple tournaments all across the country.
“In Louisiana the banners didn’t show up, we had awards go to the wrong place, and stuff is delayed,” Kroells said, “so we’re dealing with a lot of logistics.”
Kroells wasn’t really an avid shooter growing up, but enjoys being involved in shooting sports.
“I just like helping kids,” he said. “I went to school to be a teacher, so this works out good. I like coordinating things, so it’s a good fit for that.”
He said that the South Dakota tournament ranks among the top 10 of the biggest in the country. There are 857 shooters in this year’s state tourney, and South Dakota had 1,361 participants this spring.
Minnesota has the largest tournament in the nation, stretching out of over nine days.
There are currently 36 states that offer trap shooting tournaments.
“The goal is to be everywhere,” Kroells said. “What’s unique about us, teams are approved to use the school name. So, every school here today has permission from the school to use the school name.”
He said the number of participants in trap shooting continues to grow, because all individuals are able to compete in it.
“There’s kids that are not big enough, tall enough, fast enough, strong enough to do other sports, well this is something they can do,” Kroells said. “We have kids in wheelchairs. We have kids that are handicapped that are out there participating with the other kids.”
And, he said, the sport is safe.
“All the kids have to have a firearms safety certificate,” Kroells said, “so we preach safety, safety, safety.”
Dave Vilhauer
PERFECT PERFORMANCE
One of the highlights of the opening day of the state trap shooting tournament was the perfect performance of Dalton Moorhouse, who shot a perfect 50 for 50 on skeet shooting.
“I try to keep my mind as clear as possible,” said Moorhouse who competes for the Deuel-Deubrook Area squad. “But towards the end, you start thinking about a lot of different things. You just have to clear yourself out, basically.”
This isn’t Moorhouse’s first time at state trap shooting, as he used to live in Minnesota and he has competed in both Minnesota and South Dakota.
He said there is a difference between the two state tournaments.
“It’s a lot bigger in Minnesota. … there’s a lot more shooters.”
To Moorhouse’s point, there are just over 800 student-athletes who compete at the state tournament in South Dakota, while there are over 8,000 who compete in Minnesota.
As difficult as a perfect score may seem, Moorhouse came into the tournament with confidence.
“I knew I could shoot perfect,” Moorhouse said. “I’ve been able to it several times this year.”
Now that he’s shot perfect early in the state tournament, he has a clear goal for the rest of the event: “Shoot perfect.”
Cordell Vitense
