Another successful year for the Ohio State Trap Shoot

Editor's Note: Ohio Supreme Court candidate and 2012 Buckeye Firearms endorsee Sharon Kennedy attended the shoot and enjoyed talking with the shooters.

by Larry S. Moore

MARENGO - The 2012 Ohio State Trap Shoot is officially in the record book. By all accounts it was another great and successful event. The campgrounds and trap line were full of shooters all week. Even if the shooters didn't make the scores desired, a good time was enjoyed. This was the 126th annual Ohio State Trapshoot and already the seventh year at the Cardinal Shooting Center grounds outside Marengo.

The Ohio State Trapshooting Association (OSTA) has added some fun events on Monday that coincide with the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) youth championships. They are the Shoot for a Cure breast cancer awareness pink target practice and the Wounded Warrior events. You don't have to be a registered target shooter to participate. This provides shooters with a chance to warm up for the official start on Tuesday. Additionally, recreational shooters can join the fun for a good cause and experience trapshooting on the Ohio State level.

No one enjoyed the shoot more than Jack Fishburn, who developed and owns the Cardinal Center shooting grounds. I spoke with Fishburn briefly. He noted, "I'm having a really good time here. We've come a long way since all that mud our first year. I love having the youth shooting. Really, this is a ball."

Like Fishburn, I really like seeing the large turnout of the youth SCTP shooting. These young people really know how to handle their trap guns and break targets. I also met some of the nicest young people from across the state at the competition.

Dave Schock, OSTA Youth Director, was one busy man on Monday. Schock reported, "We had fifty- eight squads with 288 total participants in the SCTP event. That is up about 30% this year. We added a non-resident division with teams from Kentucky and Michigan competing. Yes it was pretty busy. We have a lot of help to handle the crowd. We changed some things this year to include an introduction of all the teams so everyone has a chance to meet the other teams. We also did more pre registration for entry to streamline that process. There is huge amount of parental support with all the teams. We gave a shooting bag to the top shooter this year. That was Tyler Johnson of Williams County Gun Club who had a 197 out of 200 targets. It was really close as three other youth scored 196. The national SCTP organization provides medals to the top three teams in each category. The OSTA provides a picnic for the kids and we had a lot of door prizes. We want every team to leave with a great shooting experience."

The OSTA Tournament Director this year was ATA Hall of Fame Trapshooter and former OSTA President Brad Dysinger. Dysinger was keeping one eye on the skies for any threats of rain storms and one ear tuned to the weather forecast all week. By the end of the tournament he was extremely pleased not only with the weather but the number of shooters competing. Dysinger comments, "Overall the attendance and shooters was up slightly. The Ag Day on Wednesday had the largest number of shooters for the John Deere Handicap with Richard Zombeck winning the shoot-off for the John Deere lawn tractor. We had three new AG Day sponsors with Bayer Crop Science, Beck’s Hybrids and Specialty Fertilizer Products. Thursday was a huge day with almost 2477 total entries participating. Overall the weather cooperated and we had a great shoot. The Cardinal Center with the campgrounds and shooting facilities continues to be a great venue. We had shooters from thirty-five states. The number of shooters continues to grow. We are working hard to keep trap shooting fun and successful in Ohio."

Shooters had the opportunity to support the Wounded Warrior Project, shoot pink targets for breast cancer awareness, watch some talented young shooters and participate in one of the largest state trap shooting events in the United States. It's hard to imagine improving on the success of the SCTP program but Shock indicates they have some more ideas for next year. Additional prizes included a Blaser USA trap combo gun; an E-Z-GO ST Sport golf cart and trailer; and new sponsor A. D. Farrow Harley Davidson provided a motorcycle.

The Ohio State Trapshooting Association (OSTA) and Cardinal Center continue to expand the competitive shooting events. There are sporting clays and archery courses available at the grounds. If shooting American style trap isn’t enough of a challenge, shooters can try breaking the even swifter targets from the Olympic style bunker traps. Trapshooting is strong in Ohio. There are numerous quality events at local clubs across the state. OSTA is fortunate to have the Cardinal Center facility to host the Ohio State Trapshoot.

The next major tournament at the Cardinal Shooting Center is the Cardinal Classic on August 22 to 26, 2012. For more information on the Cardinal Center see "cardinalcentercamp.com" and for information on the OSTA see www.ohiotrap.com.

Outdoor writer and hunter education instructor Larry S. Moore is a long-time volunteer leader for Buckeye Firearms Foundation and winner of the 2005 USSA Patriot Award, the 2007 League of Ohio Sportsmen/Ohio Wildlife Federation Hunter Educator of the Year and the 2010 National Wild Turkey Federation/ Women in the Outdoors Hunter Education Instructor of the Year.