News and Notes

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Jim Schmidt and Doug Whiton, on behalf of PSC announced the clubs extensive trap shooting schedule for 2008. Shoots will be held on two Pat-Trap equipped fields equipped with CVR releases. For details click on antique target below. Announced dates start with a 5/4 marathon followed by five registered shoots on 6/29, 7/27, 8/17, 9/28 and 10/19.

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The Clays Committee, chaired by Jason Green, is continuing its goal in 2008 of rebuilding trap shooting at Pelham F&G and working toward again making the facility a candidate for the NH State Shoot. Assisting Jason, as part of the Trap Committee, are ATA shooters Dave Abdinoor, Leo Lessard, NHTA President Steve Szczechura, Jim Giarrusso, Jim Sweet, Nicole Pigeon, Pete Tomaini and others. The committee recently announced this years shoots as follows: 4/13 Marathon, 6/14 Non-Registered Fun Shoot (Father's Day Shoot), 6/29 Registered Shoot and 9/7 Registered Shoot. Currently, the club will be open for practice every Saturday (9:00AM to 1:00PM 5/22 to 9/04) and Sunday (9:00AM to 1:00PM year round) and Thursdays (5:00PM to 9:00PM 5/22 to 9/04). Click on patch for marathon flyer.

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Cheshire is having their annual SAP SHOOT March 30, 2008 starting at 10:00AM. This is a non-registered shoot consisting of 50 singles and 50 caps. For details click on the poster below. Note in the flyer the additional trap shooting being held at CF&G. ATA Big-50 shooting will be offered every Wednesday through April, May and June starting at 4:00 PM and will consist of all or a part of 50 singles, 50 handicap and 50 doubles. Lastly, a marathon will be held April 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM for singles and doubles at $12/100. Participating in these shoots is a good and inexpensive way to shake off cabin fever and support a forward looking club at the same time. Info: Dick Clauson 603-835-6666 or dclauson@verizon.net.

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Robert W. Francoeur of Hudson, NH, died Dec. 31 following a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

After retiring, he split his summers between Hudson and a lake house in Maine. In winter he enjoyed escaping to Florida, where he played golf, fished and shot trap. Since 1991 he had registered 21,900 singles plus 9,300 handicap targets.

Born in Massachusetts, Mr. Francoeur served with the Air Force in Italy during WWII. He attended Nashua Business College before receiving his degree in accountancy and finance from Bryant College. For several years he worked at nashua Corporation, becoming a developer specializing in the construction of post office buildings. He was a well-known area developer and owned and operated the Hudson Motor Inn. Active in civic affairs, he served as Special Police Officer for the town.

An avid hunter and fisherman, Mr. Francoeur traveled on African safari and took numerous trips to South America, Canada and all over the U.S. including Alaska. He enjoyed flying in his area in his twin engine Cessna. For many years he raised and raced standardbred horses. he was a communicant of St. John the Evangelist Church.

Survivors include Rachel, his wife of 56 years; a daughter; three sons, including Gary, also an ATA shooter; 10 grandchildren; two sisters; a cousin and several nieces and nephews.

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Well Roy Carroll is doing it again in Florida by winning mostly all the vet trophies in the big Florida shoots, at least when fellow vet Kay Ohye is doing something else. Check out Roy's wins by going to (or clicking on) Accomplishments or to Bob Stewart's site www.rjstuart.com. In addition to Roy check out Colin Bigras regarding some fantastic shooting accomplishments prior to and going into the Southern Grand. Incidentally, the guy who gave Colin a ride to Florida turns 50 this week. Happy Birthday Steve! NH shooters seen around the Silver $ include Steve Blain, Don Linger, Mike Blaisdell, Jack McDonald, Roy Carroll, John Chick, Pete Tomaini, Dick Betz, John Lavoie, Stu Patenaude and Dave Sicley (and maybe others).

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Leroy E. (Dutch) Mosher died peacefully at his home in Gilsum, NH September 25 following a period of declining health. He was 90.

Mr. Mosher registered targets throughout the New England states for more than four decades, and he counted the many friendships made in the shooting community among his favorite memories. He continued to shoot regularly at his beloved Cheshire County Fish and Game Club in Keene until just a few months before his death, finishing his career with 40,750 singles, 27,750 handicap and 11,500 doubles targets registered. A plaque at the club commemorates his efforts-along with close friends, the late Bill Blanchard, Ed Fairbanks and Ora Smith-in bringing trapshooting to the facility.

Like many fortunate shooters over the years, his ATA life membership came as a result of the generosity of Bill and Ruthie Hunter of California, and he took great pleasure in exchanging cards with them each Christmas holiday.

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The NHTA Winter meeting was held at Kit Fox Hall, on the grounds of the Pelham Fish and Game Club. Members enjoyed a hot meal and some lively discussions when the meeting was called to order by President Steve Szczechura including the 2008 NH State Shoot location. Although Scarborough was well supported by a large contingent of members (mostly seacoast) MMSC won out in the final vote so see you at Minute Man on July 11th, 12th & 13th. The 2008 State Team was announced with a large round of applause for Mike, Phil, Buddy (D), Felipe, Jeff, Buddy (H), Roy, Fred, Steve and Frosty. 2008 NHTA officers were determined with Steve and Phil unopposed. Jeff and Kim resigned and were replaced by Buddy and Tia Hackett. A standing ovation was given to Kim and Jeff for their dedicated service to the NHTA. Also thanked were Sue Wright and Theresa Blaisdell for their efforts procuring and distributing the trophies. Click here for the official minutes.

Please be advised that meeting notices have been sent to all members advising that the annual meeting will be held at the main hall of the Pelham Fish & Game Club on Friday November 30th at 7:00PM. As usual a hot meal will be served prior to the meeting. Details will be provided at the meeting but only two clubs are being considered for the 2008 NHSS, namely Minute Man SC and Scarborough F&G. To that end members will vote at the meeting and all those not able to attend are asked to return the absentee ballot (return envelope provided) provided with the meeting notice. If you plan to eat at the meeting please notify secretary Kim Lafleur at kjlafleur@comcast.net or 603-485-4365 for planning purposes. Please bring to the meeting any thoughts you have on the organization, good or bad, for all to discuss. Also consider if you would like to run for office in the NHTA in '08. Anyone needing travel instructions can click on the clubs file and then Pelham F&G. Also anyone needing a copy of the meeting notice or absentee ballot can click on the shooting patches below. If not attending the absentee ballot should be returned to Kim Lafleur, 22 Bullard Drive, Hooksett, NH 03106.

11/01/2007: For those of you who don't subscribe to TRAP & FIELD the November issue has a nice article/interview with NHTA VP Jeff Lafleur (to view article click on the thumbnail below and when it comes up click on the small box in the lower left corner).

10/05/07-The 1920 NH State Shoot was held at the Portsmouth Country Club. A trophy from this shoot is presently available on eBAY (item 160165201525).

IT'S A REAL NICE PIERCED BASKET ON ITS OWN MERIT WITHOUT THE FACT OF IT BEING A TROPHY...

In 1901, a group of Portsmouth men who wanted to have a place of their own to play golf, organized and established the Portsmouth Country Club. They bought a piece of farmland and hired Alex Findlay, a course architect, to build them a nine hole golf course. A course was built and in five weeks they were playing golf on it Thirty-two years later nine more holes were added. In the 1950's the U.S. Government decided to build a bomber base in New Hampshire. They took the property by eminent domain forcing the club to find a new location. The original course is now the Pease Golf Course

A REAL NICE VINTAGE PIECE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE TRAP SHOOTING / PORTSMOUTH COUNTRY CLUB MEMORABILIA...

Unfortunately there are no records of the 1920 shoot other then a list of all state shoot winners showing Elmer Reid of Manchester as the winner of the NHSS. It is interesting to contemplate whether John Phillip Sousa, who was known to have shot at Portsmouth, could have been the recipient of this trophy. His shooting ability generally did not quite match his band leading/music skills.

Jimmy Giarrusso snapped this pix of these three senior vets at the 2007 Maine State Shoot. They are, as I'm sure you know, (from l. to r.) Ken Hopkins of Rhode Island, Cal Stinson, Jr. of Maine and Ray Alvarez of Vermont. What you might not know is that prior to this shoot they have (combined) shot at 1,117,700 registered targets. That equates to about 45,000 rounds of 25. If you wished to duplicate this by shooting eight hours a day you would have to shoot daily for 5.1 years.

In case you don't know it Amy is a regular columnist for The Weirs Times writing usually about skiing, climbing and other outdoor activities. The May 31, 2007 issue contained a bit of an exception with Amy contributing a nice article about trapshooting with emphasize on dad Stu and the PAT-TRAP. If you'd like to read this article click on the link below and then select the May 31, 2007 issue. This will bring up a .pdf file of the entire issue which you can scan through to fine Amy's article.

Pelham Fish and Game has scheduled a marathon for Saturday June 30th. This is just six days before the NH State Shoot so it's a great warm-up and a way to get your targets in if you think you'll be shooting penalty. On top of that Pelham is charging a very reasonable $12.00/C. Both singles and doubles will be available as well as food. If possible give Trap Chairman Mike Pacheco a call on 603-635-7043 to make a reservation. You may also e-mail the same to clays@pelhamfishandgame.com. Shooting will run from 9:00AM to 3:00PM or as required. Pelham is making an effort to get their registered shoot program going again so please help support the club.

Norm Liberty has set up a very special raffle to benefit the Scarborough and Androscoggin F&G Clubs in his brother Fred's memory. Please go to www.mainetrapshooting.com to read MTA President Joe Hill's tribute and to see the raffle details. Adding this link was suggested by Dick Betz, a longtime NH resident now living in Safety Harbor, FL, who was totally impressed with this proposal from Norm. We agree!

The NHTA and all its members wish to express their condolences to the family of fellow New Hampshire shooter Lee Trottier who unexpectedly passed away on May 11, 2007.

The April 2007 issue of Shotgun Sports featured an excellent article on All-American Mike Blaisdell. The article, written by Connie Mako Miller, was in the "Look Who's Talking" section of the magazine and provides everything you ever wanted to know about Mike. In addition the article has some great pictures of Theresa, Jake (and Mike). If interested click on the pages below:

Note: Until I can sort things out the upper left image is page 1. The lower left is page 2. Page 3 shows Mike and Brian. From there page 4 is in the middle and page 5 is Mike and Jake. The two below are 6 and 7 left to right.

Well this was yet another winning shoot for Roy Carroll that should help propel him toward a berth on the 2008 Veteran's All-American team. Roy took four trophies namely (E1) warm-up singles AA (97), (E3) warm-up doubles class A champ (95), (E6) class doubles Vet RU (93) and (E9) singles championship Vet champion (194). NH SHOOTERS PLEASE GIVE ROY A HAND! Click on url to see entire shoot results and click on shell box to see Roy's record to date. Note nice shooting by New Englanders Aaron Pollak, Colin Bigras and Cal Stinson.

Good news from PSC and the efforts of Jim Schmidt and Doug Whitton to provide more registered targets in NH. From Jim:

Greeting from the Peterborough Sportsmen's Club.

In an effort to get our trapshooting schedule to the shooters, the club has chosen to send an e-mail to all of the shooters listed in the New Hampshire Trapshooting Association's website address list. Our program will feature six shoots during the summer and fall of 2007. The first two shoots will be singles/doubles marathons and the following four shoots will be the traditional 100-100-100 format. This is the second year that the Peterborough Sportsmen's Club will be offering ATA registered targets. Please plan to make a trip to Peterborough and enjoy shooting on our two trap fields.

The program is enclosed and is in .pdf format. Your can go to www.Adobe.com and download the free Adobe Reader software if you have trouble opening the attached file. We are looking forward to seeing you this summer at many of the New England state shoots.

Please share this program with all of your trapshooting friends.

Shoot well...

Jim Schmidt, ATA Life Member

Vice President - Peterborough Sportsmen's Club

Note:To view the 2007 program click here!

Well, as mentioned below, all those folks as well as John Chick and Pete Tomaini did show up for a small registered shoot on Saturday 4/7/07. Conditions were pretty windy but the NH group held its own shooting and availed themselves of a great Easter dinner provided by the RR management.

Still shooting like a machine, Roy Carroll captured the open vet trophy at the Florida State Shoot (4/1) for both the AA and the HOA. In the former Roy shot a 384 (96.0 avg.) and a 1240X1300 in the latter (95.4 avg.). Roy and Sylvia, Jack and Sandy McDonald and Steve and Carol Blain are currently heading over to Robinson Ranch in Dunnellen, FL for a little Easter shoot this weekend. They plan to head north around 4/14/07.

John and Ruth Lavoie, the folks who help feed us poor trapshooters during the summer shooting season with the bounty from their Hollis Farm, stopped by the Silver Dollar to shoot in the Southern Grand and visit with all their shooting friends. John stepped up to the plate Thursday for a preliminary handicap and fired a 95 from the 23 yard line for a 10th place trophy in a tough field of competitors. On top of all that John went on a little pig hunt down by Okeechobee and nailed a nice 145 pound porker using a rifled slug in his trap gun!

The NHTA, on behalf of all New Hampshire trapshooters, offers its condolences to the family and friends of Fred Liberty, the ATA Delegate representing our shooting friends in the State of Maine.

Roy Carroll, who over the last couple of years has been struggling with some physical problems has, with the aid of Florida sunshine, put it all together in a fantastic week (2/27-3/4) of shooting at the Browning-White Flyer-Winchester Invitational held at the Silver Dollar Trap Club in Odessa, FL. Roy took six prizes, all in the Veteran catagory, starting with E4 (Browning Singles) and a 99. Next he took the Vet class in the White Flyer doubles with a 97. With this confidence he shot a 96 in the Doubles Championship winning Vet class again. Not to ignore caps he shot a 93 in very windy conditions (hi score 95) to again take the vet catagory. All of the above was good enough to give him Vet HOA with a 1038X1100 and a Vet AA with a 384X400. The 384 was second highest behind Larry Bumsted's 387. If the above wasn't enough Roy was the lucky draw winner of a Browning BT-99 Trapgun valued around $1200. Way to go Roy!

Shotgun shooters, there will be a Youth Shooting Benefit Shoot on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 10:00AM at the Peterborough Sportsman's Club. Program: 50 16 yard trap targets and 50 24 yard handicap targets. Cost is $15 for the hundred targets. Juniors only $7.50. Proceeds, after expenses, to support the PSC Youth Shooting Program. This is a fun (non-registered) shoot and all ability levels are welcome. Doug Whiton, Coordinator.

Cheshire County Fish and Game announces their non-registered "HANGOVER SHOOT" starting January 1, 2007 at 10:00AM. The shoot will consist of 100 targets, 50 singles and 50 caps at 24 yards. Trophies will be provided for three classes plus junior/vets and ladies. See Club section for directions. Cheshire also announced that their annual 100 bird "SAP" shoot is scheduled for January 21, 2007.

The annual state winter meeting was held on Friday December 1, 2006 at the Lone Pine Hunter's Club in Hollis, NH. Approximately 30 members attended a very enjoyable evening dinner and meeting. President Steve Szczechura presided over the general meeting. After much discussion the body voted on selecting Minute Man Sportman's Club to again host the NH State Shoot on July 6, 7 & 8 2007. The NHTA did indicate a willingness to consider the Pelham venue in 2008 if Pelham could demonstrate its desire and ability in run some registered shoots with the NHTAs assistance. Other business included the formation of a NH Hall of Fame committee, chaired by Pete Tomaini, to develop the ways and means of generating a virtual HoF on this site. . ATA Delegate Phil Wright presented an update on Sparta and other ATA matters. Also the 2007 NH State Team was announced (see State Team Section). Congratulations to Phil, Mike, Buddy, Jeff, Jim, Felipe, Paul, Frosty, Steve and Fred. Lastly, by unanimous vote, the 2006 officers were voted in for 2007 term. Official minutes to follow.

Don't forget to notify Kim Lafleur at kjlafleur@juno.com if you plan to attend the December 1st NHTA Winter Meeting at 6:30PM at the Lone Pine Hunters in Hollis which will feature a sit down meal. See announcement below. Kim needs this info so there will be enough food on hand. Your NHTA officers have gone out of their way to set up this type of meeting to boost participation and to not interfere with your schedule this busy time of the year (including deer hunting). Lets do our part with a record attendance.

It is time once again for all interested members of our association to meet and discuss matters pertaining to the past and upcoming year. We have scheduled the meeting for Friday, December 1, 2006 at Lone Pine Hunters Club in Hollis, NH. A free hot meal will be available starting at 6:30pm, with the meeting beginning promptly at 7pm.

For those of you who have not been to Lone Pine before, take exit 6 off Route 3 onto Route 130 West toward Hollis. Proceed 3.1 miles to Parker Road (across from Kingdom Hall). Take left onto Parker Road, proceed to the stop sign and take a left onto Rideout Road. Proceed .9 miles to the club entrance.

In order to have enough food available for all members please RSVP to Kim Lafleur no later than Friday November 24, 2006 via email at kjlafleur@juno.com or telephone 603-485-4365.

See Comments regarding the death of ATA Hall of Fame Director Dick Baldwin of Danbury, CT.

Jim Schmidt announced that he, along with Doug Whiton, will be running the clubs initial slate of registered shoots this year. The club has only one field currently but will be adding a second field this fall. Consequently shooters will have to pre-register for the scheduled marathon shoots (300 bird) by calling either Doug on 588-4010 or Jim on 924-1980. The dates are July 2nd, August 20th, September 17th and October 22nd.

Take a look at the "For Sale" section as things are starting to be listed. Maybe the items now listed are of interest to you or perhaps you've some unneeded items you'd like to list.

A "For Sale" and "Comments" section has been added to the site map. Anyone wishing to sell trap related items may list them in the "For Sale" section and anyone wishing to comment on trap shooting in NH including the NHTA, the ATA and the web site itself can e-mail the Webmaster and it will be posted in the "Comments" section.

That's sap as in maple syrup! Cheshire County Fish and Game will be holding a 100 bird non-registered shoot on 2/19/2006 with the proceeds to be used to send juniors to the NH State Shoot and to Camp Perry. Entry fee will be $18.oo for adults and $9.00 for juniors. Prizes will be maple syrup products. The shoot will start at 10:00AM. For directions see Cheshire in the "club" section or click on the shell box for the CCF&Gs web site. Try to support this club which continues to do good things for our sport as per this shoot and the "Toys for Tots" shoot they held in December. Click on shell box for details.

If your looking for some entertaining and challenging shooting try some 5-stand at Horseshoe Pond Fish and Game in Merrimack. They shoot it on Sundays (closed 2/12 for 3-D archery shoot) starting around noon. The club is located in Merrimack on Green's Pond Road which is off of Continental. If you take the Continental exit off of the Everett Turnpike you head west to Continental and turn right and take a very quick left on Green's Pond Rd. The shoot is run by Richard "Bear" Gath and target fees are a reasonable $3.00/round. The club also offers skeet shooting on Saturdays also starting at noon.

The Lone Pine Hunter's Club is sponsoring a Texas Hold'em tournament on Saturday March 11, 2006 in order to raise money for the club's defense fund. This very active trap shooting club is again closed to shooting (see below) and involved in very expensive litigation. The game starts at 4:00 PM with a $50 buy in with rebuys available. Half the money collected will be paid out to the top five players. Complimentary snacks and pizza will be provided. Come on over and support a good cause. For more info please call Shane Tumpney @ 1-978-649-6514.

The Lone Pine Hunter's Club in Hollis, NH has suspended all shooting after loosing the latest round with a small group of deep pocketed abutter's. After recently resuming shooting in 2004, primarily due to the passage of RSA 159B, the club is again pushed back to square one after the abutter's successfully challenged the constitutionality of 159B. This law declared that gun clubs being in existence for a reasonable time could not be challenged on noise concerns. The NH Supreme Court refused to hear the case and remanded it back to Superior Court which ruled it unconstitutional.

The NH Union Leader of Jan. 2, 2006 covered the inauguration of Manchester's new mayor as well as a related article in John Clayton's "In the City" column. John's article covered an earlier Manchester mayor who was an avid and talented trap shooter named Eugene Reed but in trap shooting circles was known simply as "Mayor". Click on the flyer below to read the whole article.

The annual state winter meeting was held on December 2, 2005 at the Lone Pine Hunter's Club in Hollis, NH. Approximately 32 members attended a very enjoyable evening dinner and meeting. President Steve Szczechura presided over the general meeting. After much discussion the body voted on selecting Minute Man Sportman's Club to again host the NH State Shoot on July 7, 8 & 9 2006. Other areas of discussion included non-resident versus open trophies with a vote favoring staying with the non-resident format. ATA Delegate Phil Wright presented an update on Sparta and other ATA matters. Also the 2006 NH State Team was announced (see State Team Section). Lastly, by unanimous vote, the 2005 officers shown above were voted in for 2006 term.

Trapshooting is little slow this time of year so to spice things up for awhile we'll add your digital pictures in the photo section pertaining to your hunting and fishing endeavors. So send in your pixs on upland game, ducks and geese, whitetails, elk, moose and just plain hunting and fishing pictures up to and including your gunning dog. For starters click on one of the last thumbnails in the photo section for a great shot of Mike and Jake.

Don't forget to notify Kim Lafleur at kjlafleur@juno.com if you plan to attend the December 2nd NHTA Winter Meeting at 6:30PM at the Lone Pine Hunters in Hollis which will feature a sit down meal. See announcement below. Kim needs this info so there will be enough food on hand. Your NHTA officers have gone out of their way to set up this type of meeting to boost participation and to not interfere with your schedule this busy time of the year (including deer hunting). Lets do our part with a record attendance.

Cheshire F&G (see Clubs for directions) is holding a 50 singles/50 handicap shoot on Sunday 11/27/2005 with all proceeds going to the USMCR Toys for Tots program. Please bring an unwrapped new unopened toy if you attend. The entry fee is $20 including a 3 class lewis. For further info call Dick Clauson at 603-835-6666.

What are you doing Sunday? Come on over and shoot with us..We're having a turkey shoot and we'll all have some fun!

This sounds like a good idea if you're not deer hunting. See Cushing's under "Clubs" for directions.

Mike advises that Kay is scheduled for his annual training session at Cheshire Fish and Game in Keene on April 21, 22 and 23, 2006. Anyone interested should call Mike, Dick Clauson, Dan Madden, Chuck Tatham or any other members of that notorious club for particulars.

I recently got around to sending a note to Ed Dugal's widow regarding the moment of silence at the state shoot and to tell her of Ed's initials on the 2005 state pin (and included a handful of the same). She wrote back:

The pins are wonderful and a great honor. I can't think of anything that would have pleased Ed more & I thank you so much. Please thank the members of the NHTA for their remembering Ed at the State Shoot. He really missed trap shooting and all his friends. God Bless all from Ed.

For any of you NH shooters planning to shoot in ME this weekend rainy weather has caused Scarborough to reschedule its two day shoot to October 29th and 30th. If you haven't seen the schedule they start at 9:00AM both days and will have 200 singles and 200 doubles on Saturday and a standard 300 bird card on Sunday.

It is time once again for all interested members of our association to meet and discuss matters pertaining to the past and upcoming year. We have scheduled the meeting for Friday, December 2^nd at the Lone Pine Hunter’s Club in Hollis, NH. A free hot meal will be available starting at 6:30pm, with the meeting beginning promptly at 7pm

For those of you who have not been to Lone Pine before, take exit 6 off Route 3 onto Route 130 West toward Hollis. Proceed 3.1 miles to Parker Road (across from Kingdom Hall). Take a left on Parker, proceed to the stop sign and take a left on Rideout Road. Proceed .9 miles to the club entrance on left.

In order to have enough food available for all members please RSVP to Kim Lafleur no later than Monday November 28, 2005 via email at kjlafleur@juno.com or telephone at 603-485-4365. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Celebrate National Trap Day at Cushing's Trap Range in Surry, NH this Sunday October 9th. Frosty and Gennie promise beautiful fall weather and will be serving the regular program lunch. Hope to see you there! See Cushing's in the Clubs section for club location and other particulars.

Odds and Ends-Recognize any of these? Click on plate to enlarge. If you have a trap related plate that's not here let us know or send a pix!

All

I had many inquires yesterday regarding the program for the next shoot at Scarborough on October 8th & 9th. I don't yet have a "formal" program to send you but can tell you that on Saturday we will be shooting 200 singles (10 per post) and 200 doubles. On Sunday we will be shooting 100 singles (5 per post), 100 handicap and 100 doubles.

Sunday will be the "winner takes all" middle 50 in handicap and it should be between $400.00 and $500.00

I will send an official program as soon as possible. See you all then!

SF&GC/Trap

Sparta

If your looking for some local shooting this weekend Cheshire County F&G has a 300 bird registered shoot on Saturday 9/24/05 starting at 9:30AM. On a lighter note Frosty and Gennie have an Old Fashioned Turkey Shoot at Cushing's on Sunday.

A 96 fired by Sue during the 7/3 Cup Shoot at Minuteman was enough to send this pretty grandmother to the back fence, making her the first New Hampshire woman resident to achieve this distinction. Sue's trapshooting parents, Bill and Ella Ayles, as well as her husband Phil, once again proves the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Sue was presented a bouquet of roses at the annual state shoot meeting by Dan Madden. In the picture below Dan is in the center. Why that guy on the left is there is a good question. Congratulations Susan!

A final ceremony for Nate will be held at the Reading Gun Club on Sunday July 24th at 10:00AM. This will be the cannon firing of Nate's ashes over the range. To get there take 93S to 95/128S. Take first exit (36) for Washington St. At end of exit ramp take right at the light. Go to next set of lights and take right on to Washington. Go through two sets of lights. At third light take right on to Cedar St. Cedar turns into Salem Street. One half mile down take right on to Rifle Range Road.

Nate's daughter-in-law Maria called to invite Nate's friends to a luncheon following the Memorial Service on Saturday July 16th (see below). The luncheon will be from 1PM to 4PM at the Crown Plaza in Nashua (off of Exit 8 of the Everett Turnpike). Details of the symbolic cannon firing have not been finalized but will be announced here when known. To see full obit click on poster.

Nate Guyer passes. Based on e-mail from JoAnn Burns and Dave Parker the following sad news is announced:

JoAnn Burns

GUYER - Died June 29, 2005, Nathan Guyer Jr., 85, in Nashua. The CREMATION SOCIETY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE in Manchester is in charge of his arrangements. Memorial Services will be held Saturday, July 16 at 11:00am at the Church of the Good Shepard, 214 Main Street, Nashua, NH. Donations may be made in Nathan's memory to Home Health and Hospice Care, 22 Prospect Street, Nashua, NH 03062.
Sunday, July 3, 2005

Nate shot at 41,850 ATA registered targets in his lifetime. His greatest love, however, was to shoot "elimination". Toward the end this summer he would rest in his car until the end of the evening "elimination" round was called at which point he would bounce out with a twinkle in his eyes and a Remington 3200 in his hands. You would never want him shooting on your right. Henceforth, at Lone Pine, this game will be called a "Nate Guyer".

For those attending the somewhat wet VT State Shoot don't forget to check out the pictures posted at www.losttarget.com . The results are also posted at www.shootata.com showing some good shooting by the NH folks.

Pre-squading information from Roy Carroll to all shooter's planning to attend the Grand American in August:

16	HINZ, ALAN	MA	AA	100
16	CULBERTSON, FRANK	MA	A	99
16	GIARRUSSO, JIM	NH	B	98
16	COLBERT, JOE	NH	C	94
16	KORALISHN, BOB	MA	D	90
HDCP	KOUTROUBA, JIM (21.5)	MA	19-21	96
HDCP	HACKETT, BOB (23.0)	MA	22-24	95
HDCP	TOMAINI, PETE (24.0)	NH	22-24	95
HDCP	SHIELDS, DON (27.0)	MA	25-27	93
DBLS	BURNS, DAVE	NH	A	93
DBLS	COSTA, BRUCE	MA	B	95
DBLS	CAMPISI, JOE	NH	C	91

On 4/1 Dick Clauson requested some information from the NHTA regarding the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP). He indicated he and others from Cheshire Fish & Game were working with high school kids. We asked him to explain and he returned the following email:

This is an outdoor sport club at Monadnock High School.An after school project.They do trapping, fishing, hunting in the fall and last year trap was added. This all was started by Ed Fairbanks a deceased NHTA member many years ago and kept up at the school.

Congratulations to Cheshire, Dick, Chuck and Sandy for giving something extra back to the sport!

In an effort to get more league and recreational shooter's to shoot ATA registered targets in New Hampshire the Lone Pine Hunter's Club has set-up the Big 50 program of registered shoots (16 yards only) for every Tuesday in April, starting this afternoon at 5:00PM. All ATA shooters are welcome to shoot but the emphasis for this reduced rate shooting should be to get new shooters on the line.

(follow-up):13 shooters shot registered targets on 4/5, including 5 new shooters!

More fast breaking news from Florida! At the Florida State Shoot Don Linger, from Glen, NH, won the Vet trophy in Event 2 (HDCP) with a 96. In Event 7, singles, Jack McDonald of Kingston, NH took Class B with a 100X100.

Note: As is the tradition of the NHTA, whenever possible, Ed's initials "ETD" will be shown on the 2005 NH State Shoot participation pin.

Due to the current and anticipated poor field conditions, Scarborough has decided to cancel it's first registered shoot of the year on April 17th. The next scheduled registered shoot is on May 1st and should not present a problem. We hope to see you then!

While most of us are struggling through a tough winter up north snowbirds Roy Carroll, John Chick, Jim Giarrusso, Joe Hammond, Don Linger, Stu Patenaude, Howard Patch, Jack McDonald and undoubtedly other New Hampshire folks are fighting the sun and wind in Florida. Don Linger had a good day at the Skyway Honor Shoot (1/27/05) winning three titles while Joe Hammond and ex-NH shooter Dick Betz took one each. Speaking of transplants from NH Ed and Carmela Courtemarche did some excellent shooting at the Robinson Ranch Chain Shoot (2/15-20) in Inglis, FL. Ed took the singles title Tuesday (100) and Carmela took the ladies crown with a 91. Ed took Wednesday’s doubles with a 96. Thursday and Friday Roy Carroll was top dog in singles with a pair of 99s. Ed wrapped it up by winning Class A doubles in the afternoon with an 88. I stopped by the Silver Dollar Chain Shoot on 2/26 and saw where Roy shot a couple of 23s to go with six 25s to post a 196 in the singles championship. Squad mate Stu Patenaude posted a 195. Hopefully the FL State Shoot will provide some additional wins for NH shooters.

Trap & Field magazine has a monthly feature titled "Around the ATA" which is made up of inputs from state delegates. To read Phil Wright's contribution to the April issue click on the box at the left.

The NHTA wishes to thank Richard Conner, the creator and previous webmaster of this site, for his significant contributions to trap shooting in NH including his continuing support of this site for an additional five years after moving to California. For you new shooters Rich shot out of Jaffrey for at least a dozen years, was NHTA President for two or more terms and topped off these achievements by winning the Grand American Handicap in 1997. Scroll down the Accomplishments section to see more details and pictures of Rich. A job well done!

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