The 2023 version of our Big Gun Open sponsored by Tucker & Gunther Dental Excellence had no sooner begun when then heavens began to leak. Luckily it was to be just an intermittent nuisance, so the weather forecast earlier in the week wasn’t complete crap. By the middle of the doubles event, the sun finally broke through.
24 shooters participated in the 12 ga. event presented by VFW Post 6773 began in light rain for a bit but judging by some good scores, shooters were not affected too much. Chris Dole claimed champ with his lone 99 while a shoot-off of 98’s between Dale Snow and Dave Wilke determined runner-up, with Dale coming out on top. AA1 went to Cody Hoth who broke 95. A1 was claimed by Dave Wilke with his 98 while Scott Daniels took A2 with a solid 96. Danny Ficarra took B1 breaking 97 while Matt Lenehan was just one back at 96 for B2. C1 was won by Bruce Raymond whose 97 bested Greg McChesney’s 96. D1 went to Keith Snow who busted 85. E1 went to Stacey Asel who broke 87 with Ethyn Moore taking E2 with a 84.
24 shooters also shot doubles presented by Minella Plumbing. Chris Dole also brought his “A” game in the afternoon. He came out on top in a shoot-off of 95’s with Matt Lenehan to claim gun champ with Matt then taking runner-up. AA1 went to Bruce Raymond who busted 84. Cody Hoth won A1 breaking 94 while Dan Berry took A2 with a 91. B1 was won by Dale Snow after a shoot-off of 90’s against Mike Asel, Mike then taking B2. Greg McChesney took C1 with his 88 while Mark Kinner snagged C2 breaking 85. D1 was won by Keith Snow following another shoot-off of 82’s against young Ethyn Moore, with Ethyn claiming D2.
American Legion Post 237 presented our HOA event this year. Class 1 was taken by Chris Dole who was steady all day. His 194 total was five clear of Cody Hoth’s 189. Matt Lenehan claimed the Class 2 top prize with his 191 followed by Dale Snow’s 188 with Greg McChesney taking 3rd following a shoot-off of 184’s against his grandpa Mike Asel. Good effort Mike!
A huge THANK YOU to all of the club volunteers who got the club in shape for this event. Marc for keeping the clubhouse spotless and keeping the traps loaded with birds. Mike and Cheryl for manning the lunch area. Mark Holthouse for his expert refereeing along with Mike, Paul and Steve ref’ing the other field. And Mike, Marc, and Steve for grounds keeping. Thanks too to Matt and Greg for installing a 220V line to our picnic area to run our new french fryer which we’ll debue at our Fish Fry Open July 7-9. Thanks again!
Please show your appreciation for the sponsors of our shoot, shown above as well as the following, who were good enough to donate added prize money, by considering them first for your needs. Shooting sports need them more now than ever before! THANK YOU!
Don’t forget that our club can host shooters who wish to shoot “targets only” from April 1 thru June 30. Our normal summer skeet shooting hours are on Thursday’s but if you’d like to shoot on another day, contact Mike Wojtecki at 814-323-2413 for other arrangements.