By Guest writer Kristie Campbell
Club Secretary
Leagues at the Bonners Ferry Gun Club (BFGC) had a soft open this week as the club and the High School trap team started their league season with the beginning of the eight-week Spokesman-Review Trapshoot. This year marks the 106th year the Spokesman-Review has held the annual winter leagues.
The league started Saturday, January 6, and runs for eight weeks ending Sunday, February 24. Each week BFGC, along with gun clubs all over the Inland Northwest, submit their top four scores for a total score out of 100. The gun club is competing in the Division III category, the Women’s category, and the Duke’s Claybusters will compete in the Youth category.
The scores submitted for the S-R shoot for BFGC are as follows:
- Division III (84-100): Bill Bustillos 23, Michael Compton 21, Ron Campbell 20, Dean Nelson 20, Jerry Schilling 20.
- Women (75-100): Melanie Campbell 22, Amanda Myers 19, Kristie Campbell 18, Charlotte Holman 16.
- Bonners Ferry Gun Club, 115-200
- Youth (79-100): Trenton Myers 21, Linus Holman 20, Cora Nichols 19, Noah Nichols 19, Garrick Patty 19.
The weekly scoresheet for the Duke’s Claybusters High School team is determined by the number of targets broken out of 50 targets. Joe Campbell 34, Charlotte Holman 23, Linus Holman 36, Sebastian Holman 31, Trenton Myers 40, Cora Nichols 30, Noah Nichols 31, Kelsey Noble 23, and Garrick Patty 40.
Because there was a tie, the club counts back from the end of the scoresheet to the last bird missed to determine the winner. Trenton Myers won the week on the countback.
The weekly scoresheet for the adult shooters is Bill Bustillos 37, Kristie Campbell 36, Melanie Campbell 42, Ron Campbell 34, Michael Compton 33, Gene Frederickson 28, Dean Nelson 36, Dennis Smith 27, Charley Runnion 31, Amanda Myers 40, and Mike Pruitt 30. Melanie Campbell won the week in the overall.
After the league shoot, the shooters all enjoyed playing Annie Oakley. Despite the heavy snow, all had a great time, and several shooters went home with an extra pack of meat or cheese. At BFGC, Annie Oakley is played with three guns up. All shooters line up behind the trap field, so approximately at the 28-yard line away from the trap house. The first three shooters raise their guns to begin the game.
The first shooter then calls for a bird and shoots. If the first shooter hits it, the next person in line becomes the caller. If, however, the first shooter misses, the second shooter gets a chance to break the bird, then the third. If all three shoot and miss, the second shooter becomes the next caller, but if the second or third shooter breaks the bird, the first or first and second shooter are eliminated.
If a shooter shoots out of turn or shoots at a bird broken by a previous shooter, they are eliminated as well. Once the end of the line is reached, the order wraps back around to the beginning and continues until the set number of shooters is left standing. They then win a prize.
We look forward to next week with the official beginning of league shooting. BFGC competes in three concurrent leagues, the Spokesman-Review, the Camas Prairie Trapshooting Association, and the local Bonners Ferry Gun Club winter leagues. Feel free to come on out and shoot, and don’t forget, shoot straight and keep your powder dry!