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Scott Syme, Pamela Lewis, Shawn Cahoon earn 2006 Rookie of
the Year awards
Scott Syme broke seven 100s in his first
ATA season, including one from 21.5; earned his way to the 27; and logged an
all-around average of .9372 while capturing TRAP & FIELD’s overall Rookie of
the Year award for 2006. The Fountain Green, Utah, shooter earned prizes at
Nevada and Colorado state shoots, Las Vegas’ Midwinter tournament and eight
additional club shoots while registering 4,100 singles, 5,050 handicap and
3,300 doubles targets in his first ATA season.
Pamela Lewis of Springfield, Mo., won nearly 25 trophies at five
clubs while capturing the women’s R-O-Y title. Shawn Cahoon of Pocatello,
Idaho, earned 1 1/2 yards, posted his first 100 straight, and collected a
total of 17 awards at his state tournament, ATA Western Zone site and club
shoots to secure age-group R-O-Y honors.
Scott Syme: ‘I learned enough this year to be able to learn a lot more’
Scott’s first experience with a shotgun came while hunting pheasants on the
family farm in central Utah. “Back then there were a lot of pheasants, but I
was a horrible shot.” In his third season out, he got his first rooster, and
the shot was “my first experience with ‘it’s better to be lucky than good
any day.’ ”
Other than practice for bird-hunting season every year, Syme
(rhymes with “him”) didn’t have much experience with clay pigeons until
after college, when he was working in southern Utah and began shooting
unregistered targets at a few of the local trap clubs, using his old
pheasant gun. “I learned to shoot with my mouth closed so the recoil
wouldn’t knock out my fillings,” Scott said. “I didn’t know there were fancy
trapguns that could be fitted to you and would be comfortable to shoot all
day.” Taking a second job that summer, he earned enough to buy a BT-99 and
broke 24x25 from the 16 the first time out with it.
He shot area leagues and turkey shoots for about a year. After a
transfer to the Salt Lake region and shooting most of the clubs in “the
valley,” he heard more and more about the ATA organization. “Everyone said
that is where the competition is, and if you’re good at it, you can make
some money back.” He didn’t really learn much about it at the time and soon
became busy with other concerns—getting married, starting a family, going
back to school, and switching careers “along with many changes in my zip
code.”
Eleven years passed. By that time back in the little valley where
he grew up (he can see his old hometown, Moroni—population less than
1,500—from his house), Syme discovered there was an active trap club in the
next county, about a 20-minute drive from his home. “There were also some
very good shooters who hung out there. Next thing I knew, I wanted to be one
of them—the trap bug was back full strength.” He dusted off his Browning and
started shooting again.
After taking a clinic with Rick Marshall in April 2005 [see sidebar
story—Ed.], Syme bought a Citori XT Combo. Because he was near the middle of
the ATA season (and because he had a chance for a big trophy hunt that
year), he decided to keep working on his trap game, start registering
targets the following season, and make a serious bid for the 2006 Rookie of
the Year honor.
He fired at his first ATA targets Labor Day weekend 2005 at Golden
Spike TC in Brigham City, collecting the Class B award with 184x200 in the
windy opening doubles event, three trophies in singles and handicap, a yard
punch, and B high-over-all honors.
In December he headed south to Las Vegas’ Holiday Shoot, where,
short of the minimum-target requirements, he was put on the 25-yard line. “I
fell apart and started to get frustrated. I reminded myself that I was there
to learn and get experience. At that shoot, I learned that no matter how bad
things are going, don’t ever quit; no matter what the score is, use the rest
of the round to experiment and try to figure out what you are doing wrong.”
On the third day, he broke 95 for the 23-26 prize (but no yardage; 98 was
event-high). Two months later he returned to the club for the Midwinter
Tournament, where he lost one short-yardage tie-breaker, won the next, and
landed in the No. 1 spot in the final event with an Honor Roll 100 straight
from 21.5 yards. Before the season was over, he would break 100 six more
times (all in 16s). “Each 100 was a thrill, but that first time was
unforgettable.”
Syme got his first 100 straight in singles at his next shoot two
months later, the Snake River TR tournament at Twin Falls, Idaho. That was
good for B laurels, while a 98 from 23 yards earned him the 22-24 prize as
well as move back to the 24.
The last day of April he was bumped up to A for singles and doubles
at Great Salt Lake GC. “I was nervous going into a higher class. By this
time I was really liking the winning part, and I knew I would have to step
things up if I wanted to keep winning.” He took his class trophy in the
doubles with a 96.
He shot three of four weekends in May at different Utah clubs and earned
trophies at each, including an A award at Spanish Fork for his second 100
straight in 16s. (He posted 100s at all three of his registered shoots at
Spanish Fork: this one on Memorial Day weekend, the state shoot and the
Western Zone tournament.)
June 2 at Great Salt Lake, Syme lost his last two program targets
to get into a three-way tie of 95s for the long-yardage award. It was his
first shootoff (other tie-breakers he’d been in were carryovers), and Scott
missed the last bird in the first round to let his opponents back in. He and
another remained tied at 24 after the second extra set, and while Scott lost
his last two in the third (“I’ve never seen so many people laughing so
hard”), he eked out the win by one target. He also gained a half yard, to
24.5.
The following week was Nevada state, where he posted his
season-best doubles score of 99, good for non-resident class honors in the
championship event and a significant component of his Class A-winning
390x400 all-around tally. He also left the shoot on the 26 following a yard
for 49x50 and a half for 96.
Scott noticed that “the intensity level at state shoots is higher. There are
bragging rights to be had, and people seem to shoot better.”
He acquired some bragging rights of his own at Colorado state the
following week, racking up Class A trophies in the opening singles (98),
class doubles (98), title 16s (196, including his second 100 straight in as
many state championship events), all-around and HOA. His 96 on opening day
also put him into a tie for the visitors’ high-gun prize; he finished with
the long-yardage trophy along with a half-yard punch to 26.5.
The next week Syme returned to Utah for the state shoot, where his
high scores included 99 and 198 in singles, two 93s in handicap, and 97, 96
and a pair of 95s in twins.
The second week of July he headed out to his home club, Nephi GC.
The shoot “was bittersweet because I was almost out of vacation time and
knew I had to go back to work.” He picked up another Class A doubles trophy,
for 98, and he finished his trek to the back fence by breaking 99 (also good
for the long-yardage award) thanks in part to a dud shell on his 73rd
target. After the failure to fire, Scott “didn’t turn my brain back on. I
was thinking, ‘I wonder if this is going to go off?’ Next thing I heard:
‘Lost.’ That woke me up, and I got the rest of them.”
During the season he used several different brands of shells, both
new (mostly Remington STS and Nitro) and reloads from his Hornady 366. “I’m
still trying to use up my AA hulls from years ago.”
Also during his rookie year, he experienced a problem more
associated with longtime shooters: the dreaded flinch. Utah ATA Delegate Joe
Roach, one of those Scott thanked for his “knowledge and consistent advice”
to him, encouraged him to try a release trigger after watching him struggle.
Scott finally did, taking to it like a duck to water. “They told me they’d
never seen anyone pick up and shoot a release so smooth right off,” Scott
said. He has done a great deal of bowhunting, and he thought that with all
that practice and experience, releasing ammo feels more inherently natural
to him now. “Maybe I was setting myself up to flinch,” Scott mused.
“Life has been good this year. I got to travel around and shoot all
summer; I went on what was probably a once-in-a-lifetime elk hunt with my
hunting buddy; and my youngest son was born (the appropriately named Gunner
joined Scott, Kristi and siblings Dianna, Cheyenne, Cody, Duncan and Sadie
on Sept. 18).
“I got to meet some wonderful people and become good friends with them. . .
. I will forever be grateful that I live in a country where I have the right
to ‘play with guns.’
“There are people out there with better averages than mine and
people who won more trophies, but I don’t think anybody out there learned
more than I did this year. . . . I learned enough this year to be able to
learn a lot more. I made plenty of rookie mistakes, but what I learned was
worth it. Knowledge comes from experience, and experience comes from
mistakes.
“Most of the shooting goals I had were for this year. Now that it
is over, my long-range goal is to become a shooting coach. I know the
fulfillment that shooting has brought me, and it would put a big smile on my
face to see other people realize the fun that shooting could bring to them.”
Pam Lewis: ‘If I follow [my] routine, I will break the target’
With no plans for the 2005 Labor Day holiday, Pamela Lewis went to
the computer and looked up trap clubs in Missouri. After a phone call to
Sheldon TC and encouragement from Dee Cox to come out and shoot, Pam and
husband Ron headed to the club. Perry Cox set up a trapfield and joined the
couple in shooting several rounds that day.
Perry invited them to come back for the club’s Oct. 2 registered
shoot, where Pam broke 82 in singles and 69 in handicap on her first ATA
targets. She improved significantly on those scores when she returned to the
club less than a month later, registering a 92 in the 16s and 89 from the
19.
Pam’s scores have fluctuated during her rookie year, and she
finished the 2006 season with a combined average of .8373 on 2,400 singles,
3,800 handicap and 3,800 doubles targets. “I attribute the variation in my
scores to changing guns and trying new techniques as I have read or heard
about them through other shooters.” Pam said.
Pam won her first ATA trophy Nov. 11 at Aurora TC, topping Class D
in singles. Later that month, she led women’s standings in all three
disciplines at Sheldon TC.
On April 9 Pam won D doubles honors at Bella Vista (Ark.) SC and
less than a week later captured ladies’ honors in doubles and handicap at
Missouri TA.
In May she pocketed Class D doubles prizes at Bella Vista and
Aurora and added a 19-21 award at the latter club.
Pam got the only punch of her rookie season on June 4, earning a
half yard for a 96 at Sheldon TC and placing second in the field.
The next weekend she claimed short-yardage honors at Aurora and a
women’s 16-yard prize at Bella Vista.
On June 18 Pam led ladies in both handicap and doubles at Missouri
TA, and a week later she claimed another women’s handicap prize at Twin
Lakes GC in Mountain Home, Ark.
In July Pam earned two women’s trophies at Sheldon TC, plus Class D singles
and doubles trophies and a 19-21 yardage award at Bella Vista.
She finished the 2006 target year with short-yardage and Class D
doubles prizes at Aurora and a women’s twin-bird award at Sheldon.
Pam shoots a Browning Special Trap over-and-under for doubles and a
Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon II for singles and handicap. She uses new Estate 2
3/4 dram, 1 1/8 oz. 8s for registered targets. Ron reloads shells for their
practice rounds.
“The most important lesson I have learned is to relax, slow down,
and have fun,” Pam said. “On the line I take a deep breath before mounting
my gun. While mounting my gun, I exhale slowly, remind myself to keep my
head on the stock, and visualize—waiting for the target, locking my eyes on
the target and making a smooth move to the target. Just before I call for
the bird, I make sure I have ‘quiet eyes’ (my eyes are still, not shifting).
This seems like a lengthy routine, but it only takes a few seconds. If I
follow this routine, I will break the target. My goal is to increase my
consistency by utilizing the above routine each and every time I walk out on
the line.” Pam says that focus is her biggest struggle and finds that some
days are harder than others.
Pam started her sophomore year of registered shooting by winning a
belt buckle at the Missouri Fall Handicap for Class D runnerup honors with
193 in the 200-bird singles contest. She also carded a 97 (her highest score
to date) in the main yardage contest for a one-yard punch. “These scores are
higher than my average, and I believe utilizing the breathing and
visualization technique during these events was the main reason I was able
to achieve them,” Pam said.
Future goals include making the 2007 Missouri state women’s team
(she missed making the 2006 team by just .06) and to shoot at the Grand
American.
Shawn Cahoon: ‘When you miss, just forget [it] and move on’
Thirteen-year-old Shawn Cahoon of Pocatello, Idaho, was introduced
to trapshooting by grandfather Gary in October 2005 at Pocatello TC. Shawn
said he didn’t do very well in his first attempt; however, with help from
Gary, dad Dee plus other shooters at the club, he steadily improved. Shawn
and Dee began practicing at the club every Sunday and Wednesday.
Already an ATA member, Gary took his son and grandson to a two-day
competition at Twin Falls GC in April 2006, where both Dee and Shawn joined
the ATA. Shawn earned sub-junior singles honors at that shoot with 183 and
25 in shootoff. Shawn’s sister Shana has also started shooting and is
“getting better every time she picks up the gun.”
The beginning of May, Shawn competed at Skyline GC, where he shot
ATA doubles for the first time. At the end of the month he competed in the
Idaho State Shoot at Pocatello GC, securing top C honors in the title
singles with 192.
Shawn was the sub-junior handicap winner with 94 at Skyline June
10, and the next weekend at Pocatello he earned age-group recognition in
singles with 92 and handicap with 93.
The first week of July Shawn competed at Twin Falls, where he paced
age-group singles scoring with 96. Six days later he won another singles
award with 98 at Skyline.
The Cahoon family collected several trophies at the ATA Western
Zone tournament. Shawn snared four club prizes at the Spanish Fork, Utah,
site. In preliminary competition he netted a C singles prize plus three
sub-junior handicap awards—two with 95s and one with 97, the latter score
earning him a one-yard punch.
Dee and Gary won club and zone awards—Dee, D singles honors in the
feature 16s, and Gary, senior vet recognition in the main handicap.
Back at Skyline the next weekend, Shawn collected two Sportsman
Warehouse gift certificates for D doubles recognition with 87 and B
high-over-all honors.
Shawn finished the target year by winning four trophies at
Pocatello’s Gun Shoot. He was the Class B singles victor with 198, which
included his first 100 straight. He also netted three handicap prizes, the
last with 96 for short-yardage honors and a half-yard punch to 20.5. He also
posted his high doubles score of 90 during the tournament.
After becoming ATA members, Shawn and Dee started shooting in a
league at Pocatello, where they still participate. Shawn is joining a
doubles league in March.
He began shooting a Remington 870, and in August he switched to a
Beretta 682 Gold E combo. Except for adding an adjustable comb, he has made
no changes to the gun. He uses Federal Top Gun shells.
He has worn a Browning vest ever since he has started shooting. Shawn wears
Insta-Mold ear protection and glasses from Post 4 Optics, preferring bronze
and reddish pink lenses.
In addition to trap, Shawn goes duck hunting with his grandfather
and plays baseball. He hopes to continue baseball next year at Highland High
School and also play on the freshman football team. However, he especially
likes trap because he enjoys traveling and meeting new people.
When he first started shooting, Shawn’s main goal was to hit 100
straight. Now that he has accomplished that, he wants to shoot on an SCTP
team at the Grand American. The Pocatello club is planning to form some SCTP
teams.
Shawn said his biggest challenge during his first year of ATA
competition was keeping his grades up so he could keep shooting and
practicing enough so he wouldn’t lose his technique.
The advice Shawn has found the most helpful, and what he would tell
other new shooters, is that “when you miss, just forget about that bird and
move on to the next one.” He tries to keep calm and stay focused. “I learned
when you’re up on the line, don’t get mad and don’t be so hard on yourself
just because you missed a bird.”
Through his shooting, Shawn feels he has gained discipline and
respect for his fellow shooters. His parents said their son has learned
commitment, hard work, sportsmanship and new skills.
During his first year of ATA competition, Cahoon averaged .9212 in
singles, .8895 in handicap and .7762 in doubles for a cumulative average of
.8623.
Copyright 2007 to Curtis Magazine Group, Inc.
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