RELOAD!

MAY 2000 NEWSLETTER

Bruce Buck, editor

A PEARL IN THE PECONICS...

by Vinny La Scalza.

The sign-in on the morning of April 16th went smoothly, but you could
feel the anticipation in the air as over 65 Travelers began to get
ready. Very few had ever shot at the Peconic River Sportsman’s Club
on Long Island before. With large, dark, churning clouds overhead,
the unknown loomed large, and many Travelers could be heard chanting
their own personal mantras- "Keep your head on the gun." "Stay in
front." "Wood on wood."

As the excitement peaked, Al gave the signal to start. Within
minutes, every station had a person standing in the shooter’s box
with a curious squad of craning heads and pointing fingers circled
tightly around him. Before the first shot, if you were fortunate
enough to turn around and look back into all these faces you
understood what this game is all about. It was Christmas morning and
your best birthday all at once! This course was the most interesting
course I have ever shot.

This course had three traps at 5 stations, 2 traps at 6 stations and
single traps at three stations. So what?! Well, you almost never
see a station with 3 traps on any clays course. This one had 5. This
allows the course designer to exert maximum mental pressure on the
shooter. He can throw two report pairs off two traps. The shooter
must remember the two targets and their separate break points, and
then execute some plan to break the two targets. Just as the shooter
starts to get into a rhythm, he must forget these targets because
there are two more targets sitting on the arm of the third trap
somewhere, ready to become simos in the air. The shooter must review
his mental "video tapes" and remember the trajectories and
breakpoints of these birds even though it seems like ages since he
has seen them.

Even many of the two trap stations followed a similar idea. The
first trap was used to present a report pair then the second trap
might be used for a simo pair with different trajectories. All of
this analyzing and remembering is exhausting. I heard many shooters
recounting missed targets because they simply forgot where the next
pair of birds was coming from.

How does one deal with this? Simply pay attention. Any time a bird
is in the air, focus on it. These are "free looks". When you are
waiting, try to find branches, rocks or anything distinctive that can
act as a mental guide to a target’s flight. Then when it’s your turn
all you need do is locate a certain branch or tree to prepare for the
target. The target will cross this branch, so I will break it here.
Focus, Focus and Focus.

Lets take a look at #7, one of the three trap stations. You shot
from an eight foot platform at a bird leaving from a trap at ground
level 25 yards off your left shoulder and streaking up and away at a
45 degree angle. It got away fast.

This was followed on report by a bird off an enclosed platform again
off your left shoulder going down and away. This platform was a mere
8 yards away and the bird was relatively easy. You would be shocked
by the number of misses on this bird. Too many shooters watched (in
vain) for a break on the first target, and were late on the second
bird. You had to get the "gettable" birds on this station or it ate
you alive. Still on #7, the next two simo pairs came from a hand trap
at ground level hidden behind the platform on your left. You only
got to see these birds after they appeared from behind the enclosure
at 25 yards and moving away from you. Two birds in the air and
getting smaller means an emphasis on speed, but to jump on these
birds you had to know where they were going to appear from behind the
enclosure. If you waited with soft focus eyes, you lost a precious
beat of time and were forced to take two long shots. But, if you
mentally found a mark on the enclosure that aligned with the 2 birds
before it was your turn to shoot, you were able to jump on the first
bird taking it much closer and consequently better able to handle the
second bird while it was still in this area code.

One final note. If you missed the first bird of the simo pair, stay
with it on the second shot. The chances of hitting it should be
higher than finding and hitting the other by now distant bird.

If you followed these rules, you left this station with a minimum of
four. The best shots in the club got 5’s and 6’s here. If you got
lucky and nailed an additional bird or two, you descended the
platform to backslaps and cries for instruction. Yesss!

Kudos to the clever course designers, Val and John Henderson. They
gave up two weekends just to design and build the course for us. All
the Peconic members who volunteered to run the shoot for us, have the
Traveler’s deepest respect and gratitude. It was only fitting that
after the shoot we could share with them our Chicken Française,
sausages and peppers, baked ziti, egg plant, Columbian coffee and
triple layer chocolate frosted cake served on white table cloths in
the club’s Playhouse.



HOA Mike Greco 85
I-1 Al Anglace 84
I-2 Al Burket 80
I-3 Paul Elia 79
II-1 Mark Schreyer 81
II-2 Peter McCree 78
II-3 Kevin Goodspeed 77
III-1 Chuck Magistro 75*
III-2 Ernie Andreacchi 75
III-3 Don Talius 67
IV-1 Bob Burgess 73
IV-2 Frank Bareis 70
IV-3 Tony Restivo 57
V-1 Manny Carames 53
V-2 Vince Repaci 50
V-3 Craig Johnson 48
VI-1 Bill Fucini 37*
VI-2 Chris Harvey 37
VI-3 Donna Galotto 30
Ldy-1 Rebecca Buck 55
Ldy-2 Sue Foster 53
Ldy-3 Terry Schare 49
Vet-1 Joe Maresca 80
Vet-2 Bruce Buck 69
Vet-3 Lans Christensen 52
SVet-1 Vincent Veltre 61
SVet-2 George Kutch 59
SVet-3 Herb Weinberger 55
*ties decided by tie-breaker station


FOR OUR LADIES

by Susan Foster

I am a new member of CTSCA. I would like to commend the Travelers on
their acceptance of women and young people into the club. I get a
good feeling when I them at the shoots.

My first shoot was as a guest at the 1999 Fairfield sub-gauge shoot.
As a woman, I was made to feel very welcome. I was also impressed by
the way the shoots were run and give the board a hundred thanks.

I applaud the other women shooters too. Starting out is not an easy
task. You have to love this game. You won't stick with it if you
don't. I knew this when I first started to shoot. I loved being
outside, I loved the smell of the shells (Federals), putting the
shells into the barrels and the weight of the gun. I loved it all!

Aside from the basics of eye dominance, gun fit, gun gauge (personal
preference) I suggest taking a lesson. Don't depend on good advice
from anyone except an expert.

Advice can ruin a good relationship. When I first started three years
ago someone told me it takes determination and persistence. I started
at skeet. I wanted to give up because I was getting worse instead of
better, but I didn’t quit. After awhile I was shooting in the low
90's in skeet, but I sure didn't start out in the 90's!

Progress is slow. Sporting clays is not easy. My scores still
fluctuate from the low 30's to the high 60's. What they say holds
true: practice, practice. Practice as much and as often as you can.
When you get in that box and set yourself for the target and call
PULL, remember to enjoy the journey. If nothing else you've met some
really nice people along the way.

I would like to take this chance to thank all those who supported me
along the way (you know who you are) and I will try my best to pass
on what I've so generously been given.

WELCOME ABOARD… Readers will note that we have a couple of new names
writing for Reload!- Vinny La Scalza and Sue Foster. We hope to add
some other new writers in the future. The help and the fresh
perspective are most welcome. We know it gets tiring to hear the same
old drivel from the same old driveler. It’s time for new drivel!


CTSCA FITASC CHAMPIONSHIP

FITASC is the caviar of sporting clays and no one dishes out bigger
or better portions of it than Richie Frisella at Peace Dale Shooting
Preserve in RI.

Peace Dale is hosting the Connecticut Travelers Club FITASC
Championship. It’s a 75 bird event. Obviously, space is extremely
limited. You can shoot at any ONE of the following four times:

Friday June 2nd, 1:30 PM- 18 guns
Saturday, June 3rd 9:30 AM- 18 guns
Saturday, June 3rd 1:30 PM-18 guns
Sunday, June 4th 9:30 AM-18 guns

Cost: $65 (Juniors are $35), includes coffee, donuts, luncheon and awards.

Reservation and prepayment is required and must be received by
Tuesday, May 30. Mail prepaid reservations to:

CTSCA FITASC
c/o Peace Dale Shooting Preserve
441 Rose Hill Road
Peace Dale, RI 02879

When you reserve, please indicate 1st and 2nd time preference.
Squadding with your buddies is OK if you all reserve together. Please
include your mailing address, telephone number and email address.
Peace Dale will get back to you to confirm your time and date.

Open shooting will be available all three days so you will have
plenty to do both before and after your FITASC. Club prices for
Sporting and 5 stand will be $15/50 Sporting and $6.00 for 5 stand.

DIRECTIONS:

I-95 to Rhode Island Exit 3A (Rte 138 East). Take 138 East towards
Kingston for 11.7 miles. Turn Right onto Rose Hill Road. Go 3/4 mile
on Rose Hill to Peace Dale Shooting Preserve entrance on Left. Club
telephone is 401-789-3730.

MOVIN’ ON UP… Now that email is a fact of life, the powers that shake
and bake at the Travelers thought that the time had come for the
Connecticut Travelers to have their very own fancy email address.
After sorting through thousands of contest entrys, we have a winnah!
ctsca@email.com

From now on, please use this email address when emailing with the
Travelers home office. Don’t worry. It all still goes to Al.


MARYLAND SPRING TRIP…

by Vinny La Scalza

On April 7, Friday night, if you were lucky enough to be seated for
dinner at Black Eyed Susan’s in Chestertown, Maryland, you would not
have been able to hear yourself think. There were 54 Travelers
seated for dinner. They had just driven down from M & M Preserve in
Pennsville, New Jersey, where they had shot a round of Sporties.
With liberal amounts of both alcohol and exaggeration " the joint was
hoppin’!"

The dinner conversation was all about M & M. "Meticulous" and "neat"
were the two words often used to describe it. While some of the
places we shoot have an industrial quality about them, M&M is the
perfect place to bring a novice for an intro to our sport. Nice
targets in an almost stately, landscaped surrounding.

Saturday had us shooting at Hopkins Game Farm in the morning and
Chesapeake Clays in the afternoon. Both courses gave us 25 stations
of 4 targets each, but that is where the similarities ended. Hopkins
could be tamed if you had the quartering away target in your bag.
About half the targets thrown were from a hand trap situated off your
right or left shoulder.

Chesapeake Clays, on the other hand, mixed it up quite a bit.
Everyone seemed to be talking about the poison bird station that was
located there. Three birds, 2 orange and 1 black, were launched off
the same trap arm. If you were unlucky enough to hit the black bird,
you had a bird deducted from your score. This horrific idea gripped
the imagination and was the cause of many "being too careful"
misses.

Late that evening a tired group of Travelers ate at The Grainery in
Georgetown. Trying to remember all the stations of the day seemed to
cause disorientation. This was only magnified as Al Anglace started
to hand out gifts to people. Carved ducks, multi-purpose tools, and
monogrammed gun cases filled the air. Was this Christmas?

Imagine the look on our faces when we awoke the following morning to
a beautiful one inch blanket of snow. Maybe it was Christmas? Well,
most people continued on and finished the weekend shooting at the
very enjoyable J&P Sporting Clays range.

Thank you Danni, Cyndi, and Al.


CARTRIDGE DEAL…

The Travelers have been offered a special deal by Victory Cartridge
Company. Prices are per flat of 10 boxes of 25 each.

1 oz 480s $35
1-1/8 oz 480s $36
7/8 oz Compak $37
1 oz Challengers $38
1-1/8 oz Super Sptng $39

The offer is for prepaid orders of 20 flats or more. Delivery is at
the first available shoot. Contact Paul Elia at 201-681-3817 to
order.

MISS MANNERS GIVES A HOOT...

Perhaps you have been in this situation. You are at a formal dinner
party, seated to the right of the hostess and listening with rapt
attention to her conversation. After all, you are engaged to her
daughter and hoping to make a bit of an impression. The forkful of
salad you just safely conveyed to your mouth contained an olive. The
olive contained a pit. Your mouth now contains that pit. The mother
of the love of your life is looking at you and waiting for a response
to one of her endless questions about your prospects. That pit is
really big. Probably spawned by a Majestic Colossal size olive. The
expensive ones. It is a really fancy dinner party. Very big pit.

Miss Manners to the rescue? Well, not exactly yet. You will have to
suffer for a moment while Miss Manners completes the parable and
makes her usual subtle point about sporting clays.

Social situations, like the dinner party, often require that you do
something slightly extreme to survive. Sporting clays is the same
and calling for the target is just such a situation. Sometimes you
have to yell for that target. Usually it is not polite to raise
one's voice, but some situations call for drastic action.
Unfortunately, when the trapper is at some distance and there is no
buzzer, yell you must. No way around it. No polite way to do it.

Many sporting clays shooters call for the bird in velvet shrouded
dulcet tones. Smooth, drawn out, ineffably polite, this type of call
positively ensures either a late pull or no pull at all. There are
times to be modest and times to be forceful. Your goal is to see to
it that the fourteen year old trapper, whose mind is most assuredly
elsewhere, gets the message. Eschew the politesse. Make sure that
your call is loud and sharp. A Bela Abzug tone of voice is about
right- sort of a cross between someone yelling "Fire!" and
someone hawking fish. Being forced to repeatedly call for the bird
frustrates both you and also the other members of your squad. This
is the one case where Miss Manners countenances the loud mouth.

Also, it is probably most effective to actually use the word "Pull!",
rather than something more individualistic. Use just that word and
nothing added to it. "Pull!" starts with a hard consonant, which is
easily heard over distance. There can be no confusion. The trapper
knows what it means. He is listening for that word and not for any
other. This is not the time to be self expressive and different.
Remember this: a late pull or no pull at all is not going to ruin the
trapper's day, now is it? Stick up for yourself. Don't be shy. Give
a hoot.

Now for that olive pit. Raise your napkin to your mouth. Pretending
to dab your lips, surreptitiously transfer the pit into the napkin.
Lower the napkin to your lap. Remove the pit and slip it to that
disgusting little Chihuahua which has been lurking under the table
trying to make love to your ankle. Being socially correct is
important, but so is getting a little revenge.

NATIONAL WILD TURKEY …

The National Wild Turkey Federation is holding a shoot on June 10th
at Tamarack Preserve in Millbrook, NY. The Travelers are one of the
several co-sponsors. We are urging our members to attend and to
support the NWTF. The CTSCA will be donating concurrent awards at
the shoot. In turn NWTF has donated several awards to the Travelers
for distribution at our shoots. If you hadn’t won one at our previous
shoots, perhaps you will at this coming Travelers "May Minuet"
monthly shoot on May 21 at Tamarack.

The NWTF shoots at Tamarack have the reputation for genuwhine
Travelers Tough courses utilizing the full mastery of that certified
clay conjurer Bob Vanecek.

VIDEO LIBRARY…

We have a library of fifteen of the best sporting clays videos for
rent to Travelers. These tapes will make us all Master shooters. The
Technoid guarantees results (of some sort or another). Rental is $6
each, max two at a time for twelve days. Contact Craig Johnson at
203-356-9991. Craig can tell you what’s in stock and what the mailing
and return details are.


*** 2000 CONNECTICUT TRAVELERS SHOOT SCHEDULE ***

APR 7-9 SPRING TRIP TO MARYLAND
APR 16 PECONIC-TAX TIME REVOLT
MAY 21 TAMARACK-MAY MINUET
JUN 3,4 PEACE DALE- CTSCA FITASC CHAMPIONSHIP
JUN 18* MID HUDSON- BUSTIN’ OUT
JUL 16 ORVIS/SANDANONA-SUMMER TIME, SUMMER TIME
JUL 30* MID-COUNTY-DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL CLAMBAKE
AUG 11-13 ADDIEVILLE-GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC
SEPT 17 FAIRFIELD F&G- SMALL GAUGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
SEPT 30,1* FALL TRIP TO CANADA
OCT 15 MILLBROOK R&G-OKTOBERSCHUTZENFEST
NOV 12 FRIAR TUCK-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
NOV 26 EAST MOUNTAIN- KOEHLER SOCIETY FUND-RAISER
DEC 17 MID-COUNTY- CHRISTMAS PARTY

* Signifies a proposed date and venue. As we confirm additional
dates, we will note it on the schedule.

*** OTHER SHOOTS OF INTEREST ***
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM

APR 15,16 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) SPRING FITASC CH
APR 22 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) SCA SC QUALIFIER
MAY 6,7 ADDIEVILLE, RI (401-568-3185) RUGER ALL-AROUND CH
MAY 12,13 SANDANONA, NY (203-629-5255) NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION
JUN 7 PAWLING, NY (203-222-3800) DU SPORTING SHOOT
JUN 10 TAMARACK, NY (803-637-3106) NATIONAL WILD TURKEY S.C.
(Note: Connecticut Travelers are co/sponsors)
JUN 10 NEWTOWN, CT (203-531-4548) WOMEN’S BEGINNERS CLINIC
JUN 17 FIN, FUR & FEATHER, CT (860-429-6566) D.U. SPORTING CLAYS
JUL 29,30 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) NEW ENGLAND FITASC CH
AUG 6 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) SCA SC OPEN
SEP 21-24 SANDANONA, NY (413-339-4377 VINTAGE CUP SxS EXPOSITION
NOV 11-12 PECONIC, NY (631-727-5248) SHOOT FOR WOMEN’S CANCER
NOV 12, 13 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) FALL FITASC CH
NOV 19 PEACE DALE, RI (401-789-3730) FALL SC OPEN

Call (203-454-1080) or Email <bbuck@juno.com> if you know of any open
shoots in our area, which might interest our members.




**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2000
MAY MINUET
TAMARACK PRESERVE
MILLBROOK, NY


Ta dah! We have May’d it through the winter. It is time for our
annual May Minuet. This signals the beginning of the Good Times, so
let ‘em roll. Rollez les bonnes temps to you Cajuns out there.
There is gunning along with the gavottes, grins and garlands as we
turn that May pole into a smoke pole. Sweet spring air will be
redolent with the attar of progressive burning flake powders. The
happy chirps of fledgling robins will mingle with the majestic thumps
of the first really serious clay target shooting of the year. Be
there or be square.

The cost of your dance card will be $65. This will not only include
Bob Vanacek’s fiendishly delightful targets guaranteed to get you
spinning about with or without music. It also includes the usual
upper-middle class eats that Tamarack is so justly famous for. The
band cranks up at 9:00 AM.

Directions to Tamarack Preserve, Millbrook, NY:

From the junction of US 84/US 684/NY 22 take NY 22 North to the
traffic light in Amenia. Go West on NY 44 for 2.9 miles to Turkey
Hollow Road on Left. Look for Tamarack sign.

From the Taconic Parkway, take the NY 44 exit. Go East on NY 44 for
1.7 miles. go Left onto NY 44-A heading East for 3.2 miles and then
back onto NY 44 East. Continue on NY 44 East for 6.7 miles to Turkey
Hollow Road on Right. Look for Tamarack sign.

If lost, strayed or stolen, the Tamarack Preserve number is
914-373-7084.

EYE AND EAR PROTECTION ARE MANDATORY AT TRAVELERS’ SHOOTS!


INTERNET READERS: The Conecticut Travelers are a private
organization. Their shoots are not open to the general public.