Hi everyone. Here is the 2023 Illinois All State team. OPEN: Randy Miller 94.6; Bradley Bomkamp 93.17; Lynn Hamlin 93.1; Kent Kruse 92.6; Bruce Bennett 92.02; Ron Wolf 91.81; Kent Temple 91.8; Mike Ruebhausen 91.32; Kevin Wunder 91.29; Richard Drennen 90.17. SUB VETERAN: Mark Fielder 92.64; Ron Fearheiley 92.54; Brian Cox 92.14; Ken Mitchell 91.82; Pat Murphy 91.36. VETERAN: Frank Haynes 94.75; Dan Staker 94.28; Brian Hezel 94; Dave Dressler 92.59; John Kravanek 91.62. SENIOR VETERAN: Tim Marucco 94.75; Mike Westjohn 93.4; Frank Payne 92.7; Ken Rigler 91.18; Charlie Bickle 90.93. LADY 1: Lauren Dunn 93.2; Olivia Rainey 89.78; Jade Short 87.64. LADY 2: Janice Rigler 88.75; Joan Maiden 88.02; Denise Dressler 82.88; Sue Staker 81.74; Brenda Dennis 81.72. JUNIOR GOLD: Wyatt Williams 95.99; Ryan Lewis 95.23; Ian Freeman 90.95; Lucas Mcvaigh 89.46. JUNIOR: Landon Sievers 96.85; Steve Margherio 95.91; Wyatt Sibley 94.49; Evan Maple 93.4; Wyatt Baine 91.52. SUB JUNIOR: Carson Sievers 93.39; Mason Bartlow 92.88, Drake Lawler 92.79; Payton Wottowa 92.28; Coltyn Schutte 92.16. CHAIR SHOOTER: Larry Norton 89.07. Not only are these men and women fine shooters, but they are also just as good of people. You all make Illinois Trapshooting proud.

Last month I told you about the Illinois Northern Zone Shoot at St Charles Sportsmen's Club. This month I want to tell you about the club. A few years ago, the Board of the club decided to update the facility and boy did they do a good job. The clubhouse is large, modern and as nice as you will find anywhere in the country. They have six new trap fields as well as skeet, sporting clays and rifle/pistol. The place is immaculate and reeks first class all the way. To give you an idea how nice it is, they have two sixty team leagues during the year. They could have more teams, but they don't have room for them. Obviously, Chicago shooters think a lot of the club. If you are in Northern Illinois, check this club out, you will not regret it.

I received a call last night that I have been dreading for the last year. One of the giants of Illinois and USA trapshooting has passed. Mike Jordan died peacefully on October 19, 2023. It falls upon me to try to incapsulate his life for this column. You could write whole books about Mike and his accomplishments. I am no author so I will not even try. What I will do is tell you about the man I knew and loved. Mike was a rare blend of talent; he was a superb shoot, a fierce competitor and a true gentleman. God just doesn't make many like Mike. He was a quiet, unassuming man, not given to bragging about himself, and he preferred to let his guns do the talking for him and believe me they spoke volumes. He was the best all-around shot I have ever seen. He was a champion at trap because he liked trap, but he could have won at anything that involved pulling a trigger. His specialty was Singles in my mind. Many times, I watched him turn 200 targets into soot balls. It was an awe-inspiring example of the precision shooting that Mike was capable of again and again in his career. He was also a great teacher. He was always willing to help someone if they asked for it. Those of us that took advantage of this learned to listen because the man knew what he was talking about. I could go on and on, but to sum it all up, he was a friend to all, a mentor to many and my personal hero. Trapshooting will go on without him, but it will never be the same for all of the people who knew Mike. Rest well my friend. You have earned it. I'll see you soon enough on the other side.

I have several milestones reached by Illinois shooters. Mike Ruebhausen and Kim Schaefer have shot 25,000 Singles and Jay West, Chris Deterding and Tom Coley have shot the same number of Handicap targets. David Peace has shot 50,000 Doubles targets.  Brenda Dennis has shot 100,000 combined targets and Pete Vonberg has shot the same number of Handicap targets. Johnny Piscone reached the 27 yard line for the first time. Finally, Rodney Johnson won the Singles Championship at the Missouri Fall Handicap and Leah Tedrick won the Handicap Championship at the same shoot. Congratulations to all of you.

By the time you read this the holidays will be upon us. Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. I want to begin with two milestones a couple of Illinois shooters have reached. Douglas Porter has shot 25,000 Singles and Danny Bartlett has shot 25,000 Handicap targets. Well done guys.

The Northern Zone trap shoot was held at the St. Charles Sportsman Club over the September 9 and 10 weekend. The winners of the Singles, Handicap and Doubles events were Tad Horton, Sierra Spareburg and Kent Kruse, respectively. Out of Zone winners in the same order were Mike Westjohn, Madison Franklin and Mike Westjohn. The weather was great, good shooting occurred and a good time was had by all.

The following weekend, September 16 and 17, the Southern Zone shoot was held at Sparta. Good weather prevailed again with good scores shot all weekend. The Singles, Handicap and Doubles were won by Pete Vonburg, Brock Mcvaigh and Frank Haynes, respectively. The Out of Zone winners, in the same order, were Fulton Manning, Mike Walker and Don Sappington.

I believe I have told you that the shell of the new ISTA Hall of Fame building is up. On the inside there are stud walls with no finishing work done. The reason for this is we have run out of money. To raise more funds, the Board of Directors has created a raffle. The prize of this raffle is a $15,000 Kolar combo trap gun. Only 400 tickets will be sold at $100 each with the goal of raising $25,000 to finish off the HOF. This figure should allow us to get to the point of hanging pictures and displaying memorabilia in the building. We are finally in the home stretch. On behalf of the Board, I would like you to consider buying at least one ticket to help the cause. We are all part of a long-extended family that will be on full display in this new building. It would mean a lot to me too, on a personal note. The drawing will be at the held on Sunday of the Illinois State Shoot in June 2024.

As I am writing this column, I just received word of some tremendous shooting by Illinois shooters at the Southwestern Grand. Landon Sievers won the Singles Championship and Wyatt Williams won the HOA. Great job gentlemen.

Over the next few months, I will let you know who made the Illinois All-State Team and the All-American Team from Illinois. 

Shoot well, have fun and support your local clubs.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate 

Hi everyone. I have finally recovered from the Grand and it was great! Wonderful scores and people all 10 days. Illinois shooters scored regularly in all the categories, yardage groups and classes throughout the shoot. There are so many I can't mention them all so look at the shoot reports in Trap and Field magazine. There are some notable events that I do want to talk about. In the team races, the Veteran, Senior Veteran and Junior Gold teams all won first place. The Junior, Sub Junior and Lady 2 teams won second place. Good shooting everyone. Ricky Merriman came out of nowhere and won the Grand American Handicap with a 100 straight. This is one of those Cinderella stories that the Grand is famous for through the years. Congratulations, Ricky, on a job well done! Finally, Landon Sievers continued his scorched Earth summer by winning the HOA of the Grand. Landon has won wherever he has gone this year. It is fitting that he wins the award that shows continued excellence through the entire shoot. Congratulations, Landon, you continue to amaze me.

Because of all the shooting that has gone on the last month, I have a boat load of milestones that have been reached. At the 25,000 plateau, David Buker, Thomas Clarke, Stacie Segebart and Debbie Hale have reached this in Handicap. Stanley Crowe and David Masko reached this in Singles. At the 50,000 plateau, Ian Lawrence, Norman Lemay, Dennis Baker and Rick Arkebauer have all done this in Handicap. At the 75,000 plateau, Marvin Kuebler did it in Doubles and Lynn Hamlin did it in Handicap. At the 100,000 plateau, Frank Payne did it in Handicap and Kent Temple, Mark Johnson, Garrett Helms and Ron Wolf did it in Combined Targets. Finally, Leland Hassler has shot 200,000 Doubles. If you add all these targets up, this is one hell of a lot of shooting. I am in awe of all this shooting.

Sadly, I have to report the passing of two Illinois trap shooters. Eldon Trent was a very colorful individual. When he showed up at a trap club you knew you were in for a laugh or two. He was also a really good shot in his day. I know his friends miss him terribly. Mike Miller was a fixture at Southern Zone clubs and clubs across the Midwest for years. He was a good man, a better friend and a damn good shooter. It is hard for me to think of going to shoots knowing they will not be there. Rest well gentlemen.

I want to tell you about a gun club that everyone should go and shoot at some time in their shooting career. The Chillicothe Sportsmen's Club is located a few miles north of Chillicothe, Illinois on Route 29. It is affectionally called Chilli by everyone who shoots there. It has 4 trap fields and a nice club house with some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. The club is unusual in that you shoot into a levee that holds back the Illinois river. Because of the brown, green background, they shoot white targets day and night. I know this sounds strange, but they stand out well and are easy to break. It is a great place to go, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good place to shoot.

Shoot well, have fun and support your local clubs                                                                                           

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. I have a boat load of milestones to list this month, so I better get to it. John Morgan, John Rauscher and Dan Barlett have all shot 25,000 Singles. Harvey Schultz and Mark Chiodini have Shot 25,000 doubles, Tim Murphy and James Hugenberg have shot 25,000 Handicap targets.

Ron Fearheiley, Jack Anderson and Thomas Bates have shot 50,000 Singles. Steve Johnson has shot 50,000 Doubles targets. Ron Fearheiley and Ian Lawrence have shot 50,000 Handicap targets.

Dan Staker and Ken Jones have both shot 75,000 targets. Dan is in Singles and Ken is in Handicap.

Finally, Brent Ausbrock and Glenn Simpson have shot 100,000 combined targets. WOW, this is super impressive guys! Keep up the good work.

A few weeks ago, I made a pleasant drive through southern Illinois to the Edwards County Sportsman Club to go to their Founder's Shoot. It is their big shoot of the year, and they ran it like a well-oiled machine. They had 13 squads of Singles and Handicap, along with 10 squads of Doubles. They have a dedicated group of volunteer workers that make it all work. They also have a friendly group of shooters that welcome anyone new to the place. Edwards County is a great example of making a lot out of very little. What I mean by that is they only have a small amount of land and they have fit in two trap fields and a rifle range into that area. Because of the lay of the land, the trap fields are off set from each other. Don't worry about this, there is a fence and a line of trees that separate them, so it is no big deal. The grounds and club house are immaculate, and it is a great place to shoot. If you think you would like to shoot there, it is located a mile north of Albion Illinois on Route 130. Check them out, you will not regret it.

The shell of the new Hall of Fame building is done. All that remains is to finish the inside.  We have people that have said they will install the electricity, and heating and air conditioning. When that is done, we need insulation and dry wall, and we will be ready to walk in and hang pictures. If you would like to donate your expertise or your money to do these final steps, I and the Board of Directors would really appreciate your help. Remember your donation is tax deductible.

I've been looking at shoot reports from around the Midwest and Illinois shooters are doing really well. There are so many categories, classes and yardage group wins I can't list them all. Read the shoot reports in Trap and Field Magazine. I do want to mention two notable events. At the Arkansas State Shoot, Ryan Lewis was both the Out-of-State Handicap Champion and the HAA Champion. Sixteen Illinois shooters won 68 trophies at the shoot. At the Michigan State Shoot, Ian Lawrence won the Out-of-State Doubles, HAA and HOA Championships. Congratulations to all of you. I'm proud to be an Illinois shooter.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate