Hi everyone. Shooting has really ramped up in the Midwest. As I write this, the Great Lakes Grand, The Missouri State Shoot, the Kansas State Shoot and the U.S. Open have taken place. Illinois shooters have been winning classes, yardage groups and categories all over the place. It would take me forever to list them all out. Please read the shoot reports of all these shoots to see the dominance of our shooters. I am going to mention two young men who are on a tear. Ian Lawrence, at the Missouri State shoot, won the Doubles, HAA and the HOA. At the U.S. Open, he won the Doubles and HOA. Wyatt Williams won the Handicap and the HAA. Great shooting guys.
    Now to the Illinois State Shoot. The rain gods decided to make up for several months of dry weather by dumping several inches of rain on us in a two-week timeframe. There was mud but the club held up remarkably well and we had good targets, great scores and lots of smiles by the end of the shoot. I'll talk about the AIM shoot first. It is now a comp factor 4 shoot and several of our young men and women received All-American points. The winners were, in Women's competition, Pre-Sub - Madison Lewis, Sub-Junior - Erin Federle, Junior - Madison Franklin and Junior Gold - Chloe Anderson. In Men's competition, the winners were, Pre-Sub - Elliott Turpin, Sub-Junior - Ryland Douglass, Junior - Mason Doran and Junior Gold - Haydon Sanson. 
    In the adult state shoot, we were a solid comp 5 factor again. We had fierce competition all week long. After the smoke cleared, we had several worthy winners. In state, the winners were, Singles - Jaxson Wilson, Doubles - Ian Lawrence, Handicap - Brenden Mowen and Ian Lawrence won both the HAA and HOA. The Out-of-State winners were, Singles - Ricky Marshall, Doubles - Jason Kruse, Handicap - Ricky Marshall, HAA - Jason Kruse and Ricky Marshall won HOA.
    I have a monster of a list of milestones that Illinois shooters have reached. It's just another indication that the shooting season is in full swing. At the 25,000 plateau, David Firkins, Payton Wottowa, Andrew Verdeyen and Steve Margherio have reached it in Singles. David Firkins and Ignacio Villagomez have reached it in Handicap. Micheal Ruebhausen, Thomas Clark and Tad Horton reached it in Doubles. At the 50,000 plateau, David Gillmore, Richard Drennen and Kent Temple have reached it in Singles. Kenneth Mitchell, Michael Ruebhausen and William Huhn reached it in Handicap. Alan Maly and Jim Olin reached it in Doubles. At the 75,000 plateau, Steven Johnson and John Kravanek reached it in Singles. At the 100,000 plateau, Darrell Osterstag reached it in combined targets and Paul Rogers reached it in Hhandicap. Finally, Fred Moffatt reached the 200,000 Singles plateau. Add this all up and this is a lot of targets shot. 
    Finally, on a personal note, Brad Mayberry ran against me to be the delegate of Illinois. I can't begin to tell you how grateful, happy and humbled I am by your support. I promise I will do the best possible job in representing all the shooters of the State.
    Shoot well and support your local club.
                                                                    
Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

     Hi everyone. The weather is slowly breaking in Illinois, and the shoots are coming hot and heavy. The Illinois Southern Zone Shoot was held on May 3 and 4 at Brittany shooting park. The weather was horrible but the Southern Zone shooters still showed up and competed. Thanks to all of you that persevered that weekend. The winners were: In-Zone Singles was Austin Carlin; Out-of-Zone Singles was Myles Arrowsmith. In-Zone Doubles was Carson Sievers and Out-of-Zone Doubles was Coltyn Schutte. In-Zone Handicap was Trey Rohlfing and Out-of-Zone Handicap was Myles Arrowsmith. Steve Margherio won In-Zone HAA and Myles Arrowsmith won Out of Zone HAA. Congratulations to all the winners. We also have a new Director. Jesse Tedrick defeated Dennis Baker in an election and will be assuming his new duties. Many thanks go out to Dennis for all the hard work he has done through the years for the ISTA.
    The following weekend the Illinois Central Zone shoot took place at the Peoria Skeet and Trap Club. As bad as the weather was the previous week, it was that good at Peoria. The shooters showed up and we had a great time. The winners were: In-Zone Singles was Mike Dennis and Out-of-Zone Singles was Rodney Johnson. In-Zone Doubles was Anthony Fortino and Out-of-Zone Doubles was Stephan Terzo. In-Zone Handicap was Mason Duran and Out-of-Zone Handicap was Mack Webb. Finally, Mike Westjohn won In-Zone HAA and Matt Nicol won Out of Zone HAA.
    I have received word that Illinois has lost two shooters this past month. Rollie Segar and Frank Degrazia have both passed. Both of them were good shooters, good friends, and most importantly, good men. As I said last month about Ron Cox Sr., these men have been the bedrock of trapshooting in our state for years. It is so sad to me that people like them are no longer here with us. Rest well men. You have earned it.
    The AIM program has the ALL-STAR team which is the equivalent of the All-American team with adults. There are 4 categories with 20 kids in each category, for a grand total of 80 kids. Illinois has 21 of those 80 kids, or in other words, Illinois had one quarter of all the ALL-STARS. There are a couple of groups of people I need to give a shout out to for creating this amazing stat. The Mohr family at Brittany Shooting Park do a wonder job of organizing AIM so that we have more kids shooting all the time. I also want to congratulate the coaches around the state who develop all this young talent. I am in awe of the jobs you all are doing.
    Finally, Jason Hassler has reached the 25,000 milestone in Handicap. Great shooting, Jason.
    Shoot well and support your local clubs.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

    Hi everyone. You can tell it is spring time in Illinois. Not only have the swallows returned to Capistrano, but shooters have also reached several milestones. John Nord has shot 50,000 Singles and Jerry Hasler has shot 75,000 Singles. Pat Jarnagin has shot 25,000 Handicap targets and Mike Dennis has shot 100,000 Doubles. Congratulations to all of you.
    Illinois shooters have been winning at early state shoots. At the Florida State Shoot, Mike Hathaway won the preliminary Handicap event. At the Arizona State Shoot, Paul Jacobs won the Veteran category in the Handicap Championship. Ron Fearheiley won the Veteran category in both the Singles Championship and the HAA.
    I received a phone call a few days ago that really saddened me. Ron Cox, Sr. from Browning, IL has passed. For as long as I have been trapshooting in Illinois, Ron has always been there. In a way, he has been the foundation of my trapshooting house. He was never a great shot, but he showed up and did the best he could on that day and was a good friend. His greatest accomplishment was having his son, Ron Cox, Jr., who won a State Championship in Doubles years ago. I will miss him and his willingness to help and being a good man. Rest well, Ron.
    By the time you are reading this the Illinois State Shoot will be upon us. Come on down to Illinois where you will find good targets and good people for your enjoyment. I hope to see you there.
    Shoot well and support your local clubs.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate  

   Hi everyone. I know I am the Illinois Delegate and I am supposed to talk about Illinois things, but some times something happens in our sport that I just must talk about. Dagen Voigtman was the high average leader in all 3 events. This is the first time this has happened in the long history of our sport. If anyone was going to do this, I am glad that it is Dagen. He has shot for several years at the Illinois State Shoot, and I have gotten to know this young man. He embodies everything that is good about our sport. He is an exceptional shot and an exceptional person. Congratulations, Dagen. You deserve every accolade that you will get in your career.
    Shooting has started up in the southern states and I have some results. At the Spring Grand in Arizona, Dan Staker won Veterans Doubles in the Doubles Championship and in the Handicap Championship, Tom Fester won the Senior Veteran category. Senior Veteran shooter Mike Westjohn, had himself a week at the Southern Grand in Florida. He won his category in the Preliminary Singles, Singles Championship and the HAA. Mack Webb won the Senior Veteran Preliminary Handicap. Elsie Collin won C Class in the Preliminary Singles and Annabelle Kadell won D Class in the Singles Championship.
    I want to give you an update on our new Hall of Fame. By the time of the Illinois State Shoot, we should have the pictures of the HOF members on the wall, many cabinets installed, and the brick walkway in place. It will be awesome.
     Shoot well and support your local club.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate