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Trapshooting

Backous takes aim at final prep competition

When Zane Backous competes at the South Dakota Trap Shooting State Tournament at the Aberdeen Gun Club, it will be the culmination of his high school athletic career. Photo by John Davis taken 5/28/2025

Zane Backous loves to hit things.

The recent graduate of Aberdeen Roncalli has grown up hitting baseballs, quarterbacks, and clay targets.

While his days on the football field and baseball diamond have come to a close, he will be centerstage this weekend when he will be among the favorites during the South Dakota Clay Target Championships at the Aberdeen Gun Club.

Backous, who will shoot on Sunday morning, has come tantalizingly close to winning a state title, but has come up just short.

“Its really, really hard to win,” Backous said, “and then you also have times like I went 199 out of 200, and got beat by a 200 out of 200 score.”

To be sure, the missed targets impact Backous much more than those he hits, no matter what the final totals are.

“Drop four birds in the regular season and those four misses that you miss, you’re just like I don’t know where I missed. It’s almost one of those things where you shoot, and you expect it to just go poof and it’s still flying away from you,” Backous said. “It’s kind of how the game is. To be perfect, especially through 250 birds, you have to be in the middle and perfect for absolutely everything, because one small adjustment here or there can change centimeters to feet out there.”

And in a sport like trapshooting, anything short of perfection usually isn’t quite good enough.

“It’s super, super hard to be able to be perfect in a game like this,” Backous said.

Zane Backous looks for the result of his shot during trapshooting practice recently at the Aberdeen Gun Club. Backous will be among the competition in the South Dakota Trap Shooting State Tournament this weekend at the Aberdeen Gun Club. Photo by John Davis taken 5/28/2025

Backous has been very close to perfection before, missing just one target in a round of 200 attempts.

“I went 199 out of 200 at the South Dakota State Shoot and got beat by Matt Bartholow, who had 200 out of 200,” Backous said. I think I missed it somewhere in my last box, so I went 175 straight and then somewhere in my last box I missed it.”

When Backous is on the line, he is a study of concentration, and not just on his own rounds. He likes to keep track of his competition as well.

“When I shoot, a lot of people don’t like to do this, but when I shoot, I not only know my own score, but I know the people around that are shooting with me,” Backous said, “especially if they’re right there with me and if they’re close enough to me that I have to know where they’re scores are and how many I’m ahead and how many I’m down and stuff like that.”

Backous said most the other shooters aren’t like that, but it helps him to get a break from his own round and also brings out the competitor in him so he knows what he has to do in order to come out ahead.

“It helps me think about something else other than my next bird. It’s a distraction, but it’s a good distraction. For me it helps if I know I’m down a bird on somebody it helps me put that cheek down as hard as I can on the gun, just because the competitive side of me,” Backous said. “If I’m up on somebody, I don’t want to give them that lead back. It’s just one of those things, understanding where I’m at compared to others really helps me to just bear down and focus, focus on the bead and the clay.”

Aberdeen Roncalli’s Zane Backous, left, runs with the ball past Webster’s Isaac Nelson (5) and Trace Shoemaker (77) during a game last season at Dacotah Bank Stadium. In on the play for Roncalli is Austin Schmit, back far left and Webster’s Gage Baumgarn, front far right. Photo by John Davis taken 9/27/2024

Trapshooting is one of those activities where perfection is demanded and rewarded. Anything less can just lead to frustration.

“It’s a game of absolute perfection,” Backous said. “There’s a lot of guys in the world that’s kind of where I’m at right now, and if you’re not perfect, it’s not great.”

And close, doesn’t really count.

“You come off the line, you shoot a 49 out of 50, you’re like dang it,” Backous said. “I want that bird back.”

When it comes to hitting clay targets, it combines a mix of mental toughness and muscle memory, and one trumps the other, according to Backous.

“Your muscles can do a lot for you and you recognize patterns and the birds what not, but you become unfocused for half a second, and instead of being out in front of the bird, you’re right on the bird and when it’s going left, being on the bird isn’t a hit. … You have to be very, very mentally sharp and focused,” Backous said, “and then the muscle memory comes along with that.”

Backous was an all-state football player and a key member of Smittys baseball teams. He said he equally enjoyed all three of his sports through the years despite each one being different than the other.

“I just love doing everything. I wouldn’t tell you there’s a one true love to anything. I would tell you that everything has its own certain thing that you love,” Backous said. “Football it’s the brothership you get with everybody. Traphshooting it’s the perfection in it, being able to go 100 out of 100 and still almost not satisified with yourself. Baseball it’s the being able to go 3-for-10 and still being really successful.”

Zane Backous, of the Aberdeen Smittys, throw a pitch during a regional series game last season against Brandon Valley at Fossum Field. Photo by John Davis taken 7/26/2024

The trio of sports also shares things in common which present a challenge.

“They all have their certain quirks and the things that are really good about them and the things that are really bad about them,” Backous said. “Honestly, it’s just one of those things that whatever you’re doing at the time is what you love doing.”

The best feeling between hitting a quarterback, hitting a home run or hitting a clay target?

“Oh, there’s nothing like hitting a baseball out of the ballpark. There really isn’t,” Backous said. “There is no better feeling than a home run trot.”

While Backous would love to finish his high school career with a state championship this weekend, he knows he will be shooting clay targets for years to come as an adult and has experienced the highs and lows of competitive sports.

“It’s one of those things that I really want to win,” Backous said, “but it’s one of those things where if you don’t win, it’s not the end of the world. You’re going to get up tomorrow, the sun’s going to come up.”

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