Entries for the 2012 World English Sporting Championship are now open on the CPSA website.  The Championship and other events will be held August 1-5 at a greenfield site in the Cotswolds area of the UK.  You can enter online at the link below or use the optional .pdf entry form.

2012 World English Championship Entries

2012 World English Championship Information

The 2012 World English Sporting Championship will be held in the UK in the beautiful Cotswolds area around Cheltenham (see interactive map below).  The event will take place August 1-5 and will be hosted at a number of ‘greenfield’ sites by The Clay Shooting Company.  The terrain is supposed to be very good and the area has never been used for clay pigeon shooting.  The event will consist of 200 English Sporting targets, prelims, FITASC and World Sportrap events.  Entries will open February 1st.  For more information see the CPSA website.

View The World Championships 2012 in a larger map

Starting in 2012 the National Sporting Clays Association will no longer have seven Zones and a championship for each throughout the U.S.  Instead there will be 5 "Regions" made up by slightly altering the old Zones.  I’ll lift a segment from a recent NSCA blog post to explain it… 

In general, NSCA Zones have been mapped into Regions with one major exception: Zones 1, 2, and 3 were combined into the Northeast Region, with the three westernmost states (Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan) being moved into the North Central Region to balance the regional populations more closely. Zone 4 becomes the Southeast Region, Zone 5 plus IN, KY, and MI becomes the North Central Region, Zone 6 plus NM becomes the South Central Region, and Zone 7 minus NM becomes the Western Region. (The transfer of New Mexico was in response to requests by members from that state who have had to travel the 1700-mile diagonal of Zone 7 to attend their Zone Championships.)

So there you have the new Regions.  Why they couldn’t still be called Zones, I don’t know.  Each of the five new Regions will hold a championship just like the old Zones did with one big exception, the Regional Champion no longer has to be from that region.  I’m not sure that matters much but there will be less opportunity for some folks to be crowned a champion in their own territory. 

The idea behind all of this was to try and improve attendance at the Zone shoots.  The result is that the all of the old Zone shoots (in the form of 5 new Regions) have now become the NSCA Championship Tour with a points system to track the participants.  The five Regions plus the U.S. Open and National Championship shoots will make up the tour and have been scheduled in such a way as to not conflict with each other.  The icing on the cake is that the Regional Championships will be given Team USA Selection Shoot status.  The tour for 2012 looks like this,

• 3/30 – 4/1      South Central Regional @ Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve, Texas
• 4/19 – 4/22    Western Regional @ Camanche Hills Sporting Clays, California
• 5/17 – 5/20    Northeast Regional @ M&M Hunting Preserve & Sporting Clays, New Jersey
• 6/28 – 7/1      Southeast Regional @ Nashville Gun Club, Tennessee
• 7/16 – 7/22    US Open @ Caribou Gun Club, Minnesota
• 9/13 – 9/16    North Central Regional @ J&H Game Farm, Wisconsin
• 10/30 – 11/4  National Championship @ National Shooting Complex, Texas

The National FITASC is also set to be held in conjunction with one of the five Regional Championships.  These events will also be a part of the Pro Challenge that culminates at the NSCA Nationals.

It remains to be seen how much this might upset the NSCA calendar that is already overcrowded with great shoots and what if any effect the reassigning of selection shoot status will have on some established events.  It’s not hard to see that there will be a good amount of interest in these shoots next year and I think it’s a good move on the part of the NSCA.  If you haven’t been taking time to attend some of these larger shoots, you really should.  Despite what you might hear, there is more opportunity now than ever to shoot first rate sporting clays in the U.S. and it just keeps getting better.

Latest updates from ClayshootingUSA magazine on the Triple Classic Sponsors, Payouts and Prizes…

A True Festival of Sporting Clays, the Triple Classic comes with a Texas style purse. Come and join us at Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve in Simonton, Texas (near Houston), May 3-8th 2011 for five events (850 targets) including;

 

• 100 target Preliminary.
• Blaser Classic 150 target FITASC (New style, 6 Parcours, 18 pegs, 78 traps). New style is rarely shot in America, other than at the World Championship.
• Caesar Guerini Classic 100 bird 5-Stand.
• Pilla 200 target Sporting Challenge.
• Krieghoff Classic 300 target Main Event.

For more information visit www.tripleclassic2011.com.

 

The three Triple Classic events include a Pro Class in addition to M-E. Each Pro Class shooter pays a compulsory $100.00 in addition to the entry fee. This is matched by $100.00 from the shoot organizer ($200.00 per shooter) which makes up the Pro Class only prize fund. Each of the three Triple Classic events (Blaser Classic FITASC, Caesar Guerini Classic 5-Stand, and Krieghoff Classic Main Event) has a 6 man Super Finals to determine the cash payout. Example: 75 Pro Class shooters x $200.00=$15,000 split as follows 1st $5,000.00, 2nd $3,000.00, 3rd $2,500.00, 4th $2,000.00, 5th $1,500.00, 6th $1,000.00. With more than 75 Pro Class shooters and the purse increases proportionately. The HOA across the three Triple Classic Events (total score of the 5-Stand, FITASC, and Main) will additionally be awarded a new Kolar sporting gun.

 

Class payouts in the Krieghoff Classic Main Event start at $1,000.00. Payouts will be dependent on entries in each class, maximum pay out down to 10th place. Concurrent payouts are based on the number of entries. A poor turnout in E class will result in E and D class being combined for cash payouts only (not trophies).

 

There will also be cash payouts in the Blaser Classic FITASC, Caesar Guerini Classic 5-Stand in Pro Class, all other classes and concurrents. The Pilla Challenge will have cash payouts in NSCA classes and concurrents (No Pro Class). The 100 target Preliminary is a trophy only shoot but, three Beretta 391 guns fully outfitted by Briley (including a Triple Classic engraving) will be given away by a random drawing of all of the entrants.

 

Come and join us for a fun shoot. Targets will be set with all classes in mind. There is no need for overly tough target presentations as the FITASC, 5-Stand, and Main Event all have Super Finals. The Super Finals will be the place for the toughest targets.

Wanted to point out that the 2011 Ducks Unlimited shoot in Las Vegas, February 24-27 at Desert Hills Shooting Club, is going to be quite a deal.  If you shoot both the pre-lim and the main, it’s $300 for 300 targets.  That’s a buck a bird which is OK for a big shoot.  Thing is at the DU shoot they give you enough Winchester AA cartridges to shoot the tournament…free.  Yes, it’s included in the entry fee.

So lets do some math.  I would say the cheapest price I see Winchester AA’s around the country is about $7.50 a box.  So if we were to shoot the 300 targets for $300 and subtracted the cost of 12 boxes of shells that gives us an entry fee of $210.  $210 comes out to .70 cents a bird!  A very good deal for a shoot of this size.  You might as well go ahead and shoot the 50 bird 5-stand which cost $50.

Now what if I were to tell you that you could get a double bed room in a casino near the club for only $32 a night?  This shoot is starting to sound really good isn’t it?  You can get these rates at the The Hacienda Hotel and Casino just outside Boulder City a short drive to the club.  The Hacienda is also just a stones throw from Hoover Dam.  The caveats are that the rate is non-refundable and I don’t know how long it’s going to last.  You snowbirds looking for a shoot in a warm place might as well come on out to the desert.  Even more good news is that Virgin America airlines is having a fare sale until December 13.

This has been a popular tournament in the past and this year Dan Mitchell has returned as tournament director and target setter.  Desert Hills Shooting Club has a large air conditioned club house, two 5-stands and a 21 station sporting clays course that meanders through the desert landscape and features multiple elevation changes.  Also it’s only 30 minutes from the Las Vegas strip.

Did I mention the prize package?  In the main event and pre-lim there are prizes for champion and 7 NSCA classes down to 7th place.  Event and each class champion receives a shotgun,  a Browning BPS in the pre-lim and a Browning Silver in the main.  Other places receive multiple cases of Winchester AA ammo.

2011 DU Continental Shoot Program (.pdf)

Online Registration at CH Shoot Results

It was is sure to be a popular event among sporting clay shooters Randy Voss and Caribou Gun Club finally get the call to host the U.S. Open in 2012.  The event is scheduled for July 16-22. Caribou Gun Club is located about 1 hour South of Minneapolis in Le Sueur, Minnesota.

More Info on 2012 U.S. Open of Sporting Clays

The 2011 ClayShootingUSA Triple Classic sporting clays event is now accepting entries.  The event is scheduled for May 3-8 at Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve in Simonton just outside of Houston, TX.  iClays entries will be open sometime on Monday October 18, see the link below.

The Triple Classic website is also up and running with information on the event and entry forms.  I’ll quote directly from the site as it lays out the info in a concise manner.

Entries are now open for the Triple Classic! Organized by Mike and Ben Brunton, Owners and Publishers of ClayShootingUSA, the Triple Classic will be held at Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve, Simonton, Texas between May 3rd-8th 2011.

The Triple Classic is being staged back to back with the 2011 NSCA World Championship that finishes on Sunday May 1st in San Antonio. This combo of major Championships is sure to attract wide support, not just from US shooters, but from those traveling from overseas – making their trip to the US a 10 day festival of everything that is best about sporting clays.

This isn’t the first time that the Brunton’s have organized a ‘Classic’. A history of 15 such annual events in the UK culminated in the 2000 Millennium Classic that attracted over 2000 entries over 7 days. Then came the first Triple Classic – a three stage major championships held in the UK and Russia with the final leg held at The Meadows (GA) that attracted shooters from 38 States and 11 countries. Richard Faulds won the Triple, but it was Bill McGuire that won the last leg at the Meadows.

This time around, the format is slightly different. The Triple Classic is made up of Classic 5-Stand, Classic FITASC and Classic Sporting – all shot between May 3rd-8th. The program is additionally supported with a 100-bird Pre-lim, a 200 bird Sporting Challenge and plenty of games in between the three Classics.

Catering for breakfast, lunch and snacks each day will be available. Golf cart rentals, ammunition and merchandise sales, gunsmiths, and vendors will be offered. Reasonably priced practice and games are available throughout the week. 

Looking over the entry forms the first thing to jump out at you is what a good deal this shoot is.  Great entry fees with the pro class fees being $100 more going into their payout structure.  Shooters placed in the mandatory pro class will find this to their liking and if any find it costly I’m sure they will be able to find a sponsor for the extra entry fees.

May will be coming at us quickly so get on the ball and enter.  You can enter by entry form, online or by stopping by the ClayShootingUSA booth at Nationals.  Have a look over their site and see you there!

2011 Clay Shooting USA Triple Classic Web Site

2011 Clay Shooting USA Triple Classic Entry Form

2011 Clay Shooting USA Triple Classic iClays Registration

OK people just got through talking with Ben Husthwaite about the Clay Shooting USA Triple Classic to take place May 3-8, 2011 at Rio Brazos Hunting preserve outside of Houston, TX.  I can’t explain how awesome this shoot’s going to be! More targets and More prize money than ever!

Estimated $100,000 prize fund!! A whole week of shooting available!!  Your shooting arm will literally suffer medical trauma if you shoot everything that’s available!!  You may have to be carried from the field of play on a stretcher.

300 target main with an expected $250 entry fee!  That’s a deal! 

In addition to many other sporting events there will be a 150 target NEW STYLE FITASC.  Ben says 3 pegs per parcour.  A chief Ref from the UK will preside.  BTW Ben will be setting all of the event targets by himself with 300+ Promatics throughout the events.

Ben says, "This is a shoot for shooters, by shooters.  This is what they’ve all been asking for and I guarantee a mixture of European and American style targets, it will be a fair playing field."

There will be a pro-class with it’s own fees and payout structure so the average Joe M guys have a chance.  They determine who is pro-class.  Waiting on the specifics of this class.

Entries open soon.  They will have a booth at Nationals to take entries but I suspect online entries will open before then.

We need to support this shoot!  The Clay Shooting guys have run their Classic shoot in the UK for a while and they know how to do this.  It’s a very popular shoot.  They stuck their necks out on the last Triple Classic which went to the USA, UK and Russia and pulled it off!  It will be first rate!

Don’t miss out on the 2010 Arizona State Sporting Clay Championship.  The ASCA is going all out to bring you a fantastic shoot on September 23-26 at the Ben Avery Clay Target Center.  If your looking for one last blast before the Nationals this will be a good one.  There will be 850 targets on offer with a Main, FITASC, Sub-gauge and Side-by events, along with $10,000 added money, in-state and out-of-state trophies.  The targets will be set by Dan Twitchell who has a bit of a rep in the Southwest for "interesting" targets.  What that means I’m not sure because I haven’t shot his targets before but I look forward to it. 

Ben Avery Clay Target Center is a state of the art facility run by the Arizona Game & Fish Department and located north of Phoenix at the intersection of I-17 and SH-74.  The host hotel is the Hampton Inn Anthem located north of the shooting center near outlet malls and restaurants.  Click the icons on the custom Google map below for more. 

For more info and to register:

2010 Arizona State Sporting Clay Championship
Official website

The Triple Classic sporting clay event will be held May 3-8, 2011 at Rio Brazos Hunting Preserve in Simonton, TX.  The shoot is designed to come hot on the heels of the NSCA World English Sporting Championships in San Antonio (which ends May 2nd) in what the organizers are billing as a 10 day festival of sporting clays.

Targets are to be set by Ben Husthwaite, Graham Brown and Ben Brunton.  There will be multiple events, with well over 800 targets a shooter could register.  The 300 target main sporting clays and the 150 target FITASC events will both have a six-person super-final.

A magazine ad and Editors Column will be in the upcoming issue of ClayShootingUSA.  iClays registration will open by the end of September and they will be taking registrations at the Nationals.  See the program below for more info.

Triple Classic Program (Download .pdf)