Presidents Message - February 2011

The new skeet season is here!! Thanks to the club representatives working together our new VSSA shoot schedule is out. The Richmond Gun Club will again host the 5-man team fun shoot on March 27th. The format this year has at least one shooter on each team shooting the 410, 28, and 20. Fees this year are $25.00 per shooter or $125.00 per team. Each team has to furnish a referee for another squad. Start putting together your teams now. Please call Jackie Conners at 804-240-2961 or email her at jackefay37@aol.com with your lineup and referee.

I have had many shooters ask me about letting the shooters select the Referee of the Year. This year we are going to do just that. You the shooters will be given the opportunity to vote for the referee of your choice. To see that everyone gets but one vote here are the rules.

Email: rumyers@cox.net

Address: R.U.Myers

5506 Burley Court

Burke, VA 22015-1925

Phone: 703-323-8321

Fredricksburg Rod and Gun Club will host the 2011 Virginia State Shoot August 17-21. We urge everyone to make plans to attend this year. Let’s make this the largest and best state shoot in the whole NSSA. Richmond Gun Club will host The Armed Services Skeet Championships May 16-20. The Ken Pletcher/ Old Dominion Open May 13-16 and the Great Eastern June 16-19 are both open shoots. I hope to see you all at each of these shoots.

I would like for the shooters of Virginia to congratulate Bob Myers for setting the life-time record for registered targets of over 451,136 (previous record).

The Hall of Fame is going great but we need input from our shooters. I have been asked why certain shooters have not been honored. To be honored the shooter has to be nominated. If you know someone you would like to nominate for the Hall of Fame our rules and guidelines are available on our website “vaskeet.com” or from your club representative.

Presidents Message - February 2010

The new skeet season is here!! With the help of our past president, Ray Harding, and our club representatives, our new VSSA shoot schedule is out. We have revised our schedule to separate the shoots of the larger clubs. We will all have to work together to make this work. The Richmond Gun Club will again host the 5-man team fun shoot on March 7th. The format this year has at least one shooter on each team shooting the 410, 28 and 20. Each team has to furnish a referee for another squad. Start putting together your teams now.

Arrowhead Gun Club will host the 2010 Virginia State Shoot. We urge everyone to make plans to attend this year. Let's make this the largest and best state shoot in the whole NSSA.

The Hall of Fame is going great but we need input from our shooters. If you know someone you would like to nominate for the Hall of Fame our rules and guidelines are available on our website " vaskeet.com" or from your club representative.

Charles Daniel, VSSA President

President's Message - 24 December 2008

We in Virginia are very lucky to have such a large number of shoots where we may pick and choose where we want to shoot our targets. The Clubs invite all shooters, their families and friends, to enjoy good targets, good food, and most of all to have a good time. We can't make all of them so enjoy the ones you attend.

Our 5-Man Team Fun Shoot will be at the Richmond Gun Club on March 22, 2009. This year you may shoot any gun you prefer. All team members must be from the same club to be eligible for money prizes and the 5-Man Team Plaque. Start working on your team now. Also, if you can, please donate a prize or two to be given away in the drawing.

As you know, shoot attendance was down at most of the shoots last year. With high prices for supplies and the economy, we may see the same this year. VSSA is working to keep the prices of the State Shoot down this year, but from the last review of revenue for last year we may need to make some adjustments.
The State Shoot will be held at the Richmond Gun Club in 2009 and I'm sure the staff at the Club will do a fine job of having the Club ready.

Jeff and Suzanne Bond will be donating an NSSA lifetime membership to the HOA Sub-Junior Champion at the 2009 State Shoot and at each future State Shoot for as long as possible. Thank you, Jeff and Suzanne.

Last year the first Hall of Fame inductees were inducted into the Virginia Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame following a great dinner for all who attended the State Shoot This year we will induct two more nominees who are worthy of this achievement. You have until March 31, 2009, to get your nominations to the VSSA President.
We would like to welcome John Daubenschmidt as our Secretary. John was elected to take over for Becky Myers whose term had expired. Welcome aboard, John.

Now, on to a new shooting year! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and wishes for good targets and lots of fun.

Ray L. Harding, VSSA President

The new skeet season is here. Christmas is two weeks away and some of us old folks hope there will be something special under the tree this year. It could be a new loader or maybe a K-80, dream on. Whatever it is, I'm sure everyone will be happy.

The VSSA shoot schedule for 2008 is out and to start the season off, the Richmond Gun Club is again hosting the 5-Man Team Fun Shoot on Sunday, March 2. Start putting your teams together now.
The Fredericksburg Rod and Gun Club will host the 2008 VA State Skeet Championships. This shoot ranks in the top three state shoots for the number of shooters each year. In 2005, we were #1 in the country and our shoot was closed. Let's all make plans to attend the 2008 VA State Shoot and try to be #1 again.

Richard Haynie, our past president, proposed a Virginia Hall of Fame at the August meeting in 2007. The proposal was discussed and approved without opposition at the November Board meeting. Rules and Guidelines for the selection of persons to be inducted can be found on the VA website or a copy may be obtained from any club representative.

As you all know, attendance at some of our big shoots in 2007 was off from previous years. Gas, cost of shooting supplies and motel prices are some of the reasons, but not all. There are over 50 four-gun shoots in this state alone. We can't make them all. Each shooter knows his or her limit, so plan carefully and enjoy all you can.
Remember, skeet shooters are the finest people you will ever meet.

Ray Harding, VSSA President

Here it is coming up on Christmas and New Year's Day once again so you know what that means -- the new skeet season is getting ready to get started! Maybe over the holidays you can find time to break out your skeet guns, try to catch up on your reloading, and shoot a few practice rounds at your local club.

The new VSSA shoot schedule is out so it's time to start your skeet season planning. Three of my teammates have already been asking about what shoots we can attend, camping arrangements, and generally "talking the talk".

In planning my shooting season, I'm looking forward to the State Shoot at Arrowhead. Ryan Tribble "raised the bar" for shooting last year with TWO 4x4s at that club, so with great fields and plenty of Southern hospitality on hand, scores and participation should be at an all time high!

The two challenges that I have for you this year you have heard before, but are ones that I believe very strongly. Numebr one: Introduce a new shooter to our game. You can either help a kid shoot his/her first round of skeet, or you can take somebody from work, a hunting buddy, or a family member to the club for their first round. I guarantee that you'll have fun and make a friend! Number two: Take the referee's test and become an official referee. When you phone or email to pre-register for a shoot, offer your seervices to shoot management in case they need you -- and again when you sho up to register. I overhead a seasoned shooter/referee ask a young new shooter if he had taken the referee's test yet. When the youngster said that he didn't want to become a referee, the veteran shooter explained that everyone should take the test, whether or not to become a certified referee, if for no other reasons than to learn more about the game. I whole-heartedly agree.

I've been saying that I have attended shoots at 14 Virginia clubs, and how I would like to get to more. Well. last summer a shooter told me about taking my advice and going to two clubs where he had never shot before. Great! Another shooter told me that he enjoys reading my letters. Super! Since this is my fourth and final newsletter message, it's good to know that somebody actually reads these things!

In closing, start planning your shooting season now, get a copy of the referee's test and look up the answers, and be thinking about who you might invite to go to the skeet field with you one afternoon.

Richard "Groundhog" Haynie, VSSA President

Groundhog Day is right around the corner. Hunting season is over, and reloading season is in full swing. The new shoot schedule is out, and plans are being made. Within a day of the new schedule being finalized, I received an email from a squadmate asking about what shoots we could make. Another shooter and club member wanted me to send him a copy so he could start his skeet season planning. To me, planning my skeet shooting schedule is like a kid making out his Christmas wish list. You don't always get what you want, but it was fun planning/dreaming about it.

Looking back, I realize that I have shot skeet at 14 different clubs here in Virginia. That means that there are still several clubs to which I haven't been -- a situation that I plan to remedy over the next two skeet seasons.

Last year in this spot, a lot of you enjoyed a tale of my shooting 1400 targets with my old friend, Ron Headley, and beating him by only six. Well, last season we only got to shoot 700 targets together at the State, but I only managed to beat him by one. That was too close. I am planning to do better this year.
I have a new challenge for you this year: Introduce a new shooter to our game. You can either help a kid shoot his/her first round of skeet, or you can take a friend, hunting buddy, or a family member to the club for their first round. Take a former shooter to the club and reintroduce them to skeet, or talk a "club shooter" into giving registered skeet a try. What have you got to lose? I guarantee that you'll have fun and make a friend.

A non-shooter once overheard me talking about going to a bunch of shoots and asked me, "Why so many"? My best answer was because I get to eat some great food at the Saturday night dinners! (How many of us, besides me, can usually tell what shoot we will be attending by reading only the Saturday night dinner menu?)

In closing, get your plans in order. Choose what shoots you want to attend. Try to go to a new club this year. Try to shoot your best scores ever, and above all else, be safe, have fun, and enjoy the game.

Richard "Groundhog" Haynie, VSSA President

Here we go into a new skeet year. This is the time to reflect and plan- reflect on the events from last year and plan for the coming year.

For me, reflecting on last year brings a lot of good memories. I had a chance to thoroughly enjoy a shoot at a club I had never been to before (Brushy Mountain), I got a new gun, and I got to visit with an old friend and fellow shooter, Ron Headley, and his family while attending shoots at Arrowhead and Halifax. Ron and I grew up together in downtown Lively, Virginia, and when he called the other night to inform me that we shot 1400 targets together last year and that I had beaten him by only six birds, I politely informed him that was five more birds than I needed!

In planning for the coming year by selecting the 15 or 16 Virginia shoots that I would like to attend, I can't help but think about the State Shoot at Fredericksburg. For me, Fredericksburg brings back fond memories. From shooting my first round of skeet there in 1964 (it was a 21/25) to having Ray Harding pull "Try it -You'll like it" in 20 and 28 for my son and I in 1995, to winning a gun in the BCDE Challenge in 1997, I always have a great time at Fredericksburg. I know that there are some special challenges in having the State Shoot at Fredericksburg, but I have full confidence in Keith and the rest of the State Shoot Committee that it will be the best that it can be.

Like what was said at the VSSA meeting in November about skeet shooting in Virginia, "It ain't broke!" Almost every shoot that I attend is full and has a waiting list. We don't have an open weekend in the shoot schedule from March through October! We have several new sub junior and junior shooters. And best of all, shooters are enjoying themselves with more laughing and less complaining than I can ever remember. We must be doing something right!

Once again I would like to challenge you to take the referee's test and become an official referee. Offer your services as a referee to shoot management. By becoming a referee on the field, you will learn more about the game, look at more targets, meet new people, and have a hand in introducing new shooters to the game.

In closing I would like to borrow a line from my predecessor, Eric Lowe, when he said, "Shoot well, visit with old friends, make new friends, and above all else, enjoy the game."

Richard Haynie, VSSA President