After years of high and low swings in terms of popularity, the local skeet club is finding itself taking a serious aim for new members.
The club, which holds its shoots on the grounds of the Sportsmen’s Club property at Frog Creek each Tuesday night, only has six members these day. But it’s definitely looking for more to join for next season.
Long-time club member Ted Brockie said he envisions attracting an “ideal” number of 15 shooters each week, which then would be split up into three groups of five.
He certainly would like it to see a resurgence in the sport here.
“Back in the ’60s, we had about 20 or 30 [shooters], both Americans and Canadians,” said Brockie, adding that number is a far cry from the small handful who now come out on a weekly basis.
There also used to be a friendly competition each year between the local skeet club and the trap shooting club from across the river. But that definitely wasn’t possible this year because of the low numbers.
(The club here does go over to the American side every Wednesday for trap shooting in order to get in as much shooting practice as possible).
Brockie said he likes the uniqueness of skeet shooting, in which the shooter fires at moving targets from various stations set up in a semi-circle. That gives the shooter a challenge in that they are always shooting from a different angle, he noted.
But he also promoted the safety of the sport, and the camaraderie among those who come out, as other benefits of the club.
“If you would come out for the first time and shoot a good score, the guys there would be your biggest fans,” he said, adding most people who come out for the first time would nail eight or nine targets out of a possible 25.
“I think a lot of guys are intimidated to come out, because they can’t always make it out, but all of our guys are really supportive,” he stressed.
Larry Cousineau, in his first year coming out with the skeet club, can attest to the support everyone gives to each other.
“I was just a new guy but my first time out, I noticed it was a really good group of guys,” said Cousineau, who has shot well in just his first year.
“I always wanted to go out. I had thought about it but just hadn’t made it,” he added.
Last week’s shoot saw John Sether take top honours with scores of 21, 24, and 21. Jon Roosen was second with rounds of 21, 18, and 18 while Harry Poster recorded scores of 19, 19, and 18.
Other rounds were turned in by Brockie (20, 21), Cousineau (18), and Brenda Nicolson (18).