ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN

Shoot, new complex an ideal site for charity event

With dove season approaching, the Baptist Health Foundation Charity Clays event at Jacksonville last Friday was a timely opportunity to sharpen the shotgunning skills.

In just its third year, the Baptist Health Foundation Charity Clays shoot is a popular and effective fundraising medium, said Jamie Deason, special events and development officer for the Baptist Health Foundation. She said this year's event raised more than $57,000. The money will be used to help purchase an Alcon Luxor microscope for Baptist Health Eye Center.

"This event is growing fast," Deason said. "We've done a golf tournament for the last 25 years. It raises $500,000 or $600,000, and we think this has the potential to do that, too."

This year's event was held for the first time at the new Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex in Jacksonville. There aren't enough superlatives to describe this facility. It is splendid.

The AGFF Shooting Sports Complex is funded by the Game and Fish Foundation, a private organization that is separate from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. It's construction and upkeep are through private donations, in partnership with the city of Jacksonville. Aside from an introductory allocation from the AGFC, hunting and fishing license money is not used here, nor is conservation sales tax money.

The complex contains 14 trap fields and three skeet fields that overlay three of the trap fields. Each contains a scoring chair. The fields abut Holland Bottoms WMA, so there is no private property in the line of fire. There is also an event center with classrooms, gift shop and other amenities.

Chris Minyard of Glen Rose is the new manager for the AGFF Shooting Sports Complex. The facility opened in early February. Since then, Minyard said, 700,000 clay targets have been thrown on the facility.

"We're hoping for a million targets to be thrown here by the time we reach our first anniversary," Minyard said.

The targets are biodegradable, Minyard added, and in five years a reclamation specialist will be contracted to remove all of the lead pellets from the grounds for recycling.

"We're not hurting the environment, and we're making everything clean," Minyard said.

The facility is open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For Jacksonville residents, it costs $4 a round to shoot 25 targets. For nonresidents, the price is $5 per round. Nonresidents also can buy as many as four rounds at $4 through the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Daily Deal. Jacksonville residents may buy ammunition at the facility for $12 a box, or $13 a box for nonresidents. You may also bring your own ammo.

The facility is the permanent venue for the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports state tournament. It also hosts a number of American Trap Association shoots.

For the Charity Clays event, my teammates were Gary Middleton of Little Rock, Bryan Reddick of Little Rock and Jordan Bontke, a reporter with KATV, Channel 7.

This was the first time I've shot clay targets in a formal setting in years, and only the second time I've shot trap. Skeet was always my game, so my goal was just to shoot competently.

Each flight shot a total of 100 targets. Reddick and I shot our Winchester SX3 autoloaders. Middleton shot a Browning Citori over/under 12-gauge, and Bontke shot a Remington 1100 trap gun.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't cleaned my SX3 in about a year, and it has fired many rounds during that time. We used Winchester Super Light Target Loads, and my gun cycled about 75 percent. The bolt often retreated far enough to eject the hull, but not far enough to remain open on the empty chamber.

Reddick's gun cycled more dependably, but the Super Light loads are at the lower limit of the SX3's cycling curve.

Middleton frequently travels to Argentina to shoot doves, and it showed. He's very good.

After I figured out the footwork for each stand, I got on a nice roll that ended with a score of 79. That was far below the three top shooters, Herb Peach of Ten Triggers Hunt Club, Frank Scalia of of Bard and Mike Brink of Arvest. They each shot 96 of 100.

Arvest also won the event with a score of 433, followed by Mitchell Williams (426).

I cleaned my SX3 as soon as I got home. What a mess. Now its bore and machinery gleam like a Hollywood dental job. I fired a Super Light load when I was done. It threw the hull a good long way.

Bring on the doves.

Sports on 08/31/2014

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