Bonners Ferry shooters turn out for trap shoot despite weather
<p>Trap shoot competitors</p>
BONNERS FERRY — Shooters gathered at the Bonners Ferry gun club starting Sunday, Jan. 4 for an eight-week trap shooting competition sponsored by the Spokesman Review.
According to club spokesman Lonny Jelinek, all trap clubs within the Inland Empire are eligible for the shoot if they want to participate.
Scoring is tallied by the size of the shooting club, large medium and small, and each club competes on Sundays. Each shooter gets 25 clay targets at 16 yards and the highest four individual scores are turned in.
The first day, Jan. 4, was a snowy day at the Bonners Ferry Gun Club. Fifteen members turned out to shoot despite the weather.
Even though the targets are orange and black, they were very hard to see, Jelinek said.
High scores from Jan. 4 were Duke Guthrie, 25 x 25 (25 targets broken out of 25), Larry Zeigler, 24x25, Ken Nystrom, 23x25, and Lonny Jelinek, 23x25. Total: 95x100.
Kudos go out to Ken Brink.
“Ken is one of the toughest shooters in north Idaho,” Jelinek said. “He broke 21x25, which is very good considering he is just getting off chemo. We are all proud to have a member who loves the sport that much.”
Jan. 11, two members from the Yaak drove over, one came from Troy and Bob Walker came up from Sandpoint, helping out the team score with a 24x25. Members came by Saturday before the shoot to shovel six inches of snow off the walkways.
Sunday had high clouds, no wind and fair visibility. 18 shooters turned out for the event. Top shooters were Ken Nystrom, 25x25, Duke Guthrie, 24x25, Gary Shaeffer, 24x25 and Bob Walker, 24x25. Total: 97x100.
After the scoring rounds, an Annie Oakley fun shoot is held. Three shooters stand at the ready, if the first shooter misses the second shooter has a chance to knock them out of the game. If they miss, the third shooter has a chance to knock out both of the first two.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Jelinek says. “Barb Camps and Mary Knutsen took their toll on the men in the Annie Oakleys.”
Jelinek would like to invite anyone interested in trap shooting to come by at 10 a.m. on Sundays to join in the fun. Men, women and kids are all invited to the Bonners Ferry Gun Club, east of the Three Mile truck stop on Highway 2, next to the rifle and pistol range.