Young Skeet Shooters I help train young skeet shooters along with my friend and head SCTP coach, Joel Blankenship. One of the things we encourage in these young shooters, after they have attained a level of confidence in their shooting, is to have them enter registered shoots. Several of the youth we have trained have shown skill levels that make them competitive. Some have shot on squads where they haven't known anyone on the squad, but after the first time shooting with these squads, they are welcomed back like they were long-time friends and many times are asked to shoot with some … [Read more...]
Hartmann’s Hint #56: Volunteering
Volunteering Last August, the Oklahoma Gun Club was one of the host clubs for the Zone 6 shoot. Zone 6 has gone to an electronic shoot, and each state has at least one club hosting the shoot. Each of the three days, there were several volunteers that came and helped the shoot run smoothly. We had loaders, water bearers, lunch makers and others that were sweeping the stations between squads. At every shoot I have attended at the Shotgun Division of the Oklahoma City Gun Club, there have been several volunteers that were guided by the chairperson of the division. Each volunteer is … [Read more...]
Hartmann’s Hint #61: You Can’t Be Too Safe
You can't be too safe Safety is something that should always be central in our thinking. It's difficult to think about shotgun shooting without thinking about the things we have to do to make it a safe sport. One safety consideration when you're shooting shotguns is to make sure you only carry shells for the gauge you're shooting. One of the things that older shooters will remember is when 20-gauge shells were red just like the 12-gauge shells were. The reason the manufacturers and the sport changed the 20-gauge shells to yellow was for safety reasons. If, back in the … [Read more...]
Hartmann’s Hint #62: Thinking
Thinking I recently went to a 5x50 shoot at the Oklahoma City Gun Club. The club is a great place to shoot with some great people attending the shoot. I was assigned to a squad that was made up of people I know from Kansas. One of them, Mr. Cloyce Spradling, mentioned that I should write a hint about thinking, so here it is. During the shoot, as I raised my shotgun to call for high 2, a fly landed on my hand. I had to lower the gun so I could blow it off, and then I proceeded to call for the target while I was still thinking about that ##$^%&$ fly, so I missed the … [Read more...]
Hartmann’s Hint #63: Seeing the Target
Seeing the Target How often do you recognize that you didn't really see the target as you shot? Either you blinked at the wrong time or your barrel came into your primary focus and your eyes were drawn to the barrel. I believe that my greatest fault (in shooting) is, at times, losing sight of the target for one reason or another. I know that my gun has a beautiful barrel and that I can look and admire it when I'm not on the station calling for a target, but I still have a tendency to let it get in the way. One of the ways that I try to keep this tendency under control is by holding … [Read more...]
