The Black Ash Sportsman Club Winter Classic Skeet League is scheduled to start Jan. 5 at the club grounds, 84010 Clark Road, Guys Mills.

Shoots take place every other Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until March 30. Cost is $10 for a round of 50 targets; junior (16 and under) cost is only $7. The cost includes an end-of-season dinner banquet March 30.

Shooters can compete back or ahead, so one does not have to be at every shoot. One must shoot at least five rounds to establish a handicap and be eligible for the final match. Practice Targets are $3.50 per 25.

For information, e-mail winterskeet@blackashsportsman.org, go to www.blackashsportsman.org or call Tom Mattis at (814) 720-5045.

Congratulations to the Lake Edinboro Sportsman Club, which captured the Erie-Crawford Trap League Championship Thursday night with a 13-1 record.

Exhibition shooter Tim Bradley will be part of Family Field Day Oct. 7 at Corry Rod & Gun Club, Route 957 Columbus.

Bradley is a member of Team Benelli U.S.A. who uses shotguns, .22, pistol and a scoped rifle — left-handed and right-handed — in his exhibitions. He shoots golf balls, playing cards and as many as nine clay targets at once in midair.

Bring your shotgun and rifle to shoot skeet, trap, wobble trap, games and running Deer. There also will be air rifles and pistols to try. Children ages 8-17 may shoot a round for free with the purchase of a ticket.

Shooting starts at 10 a.m. and the Bradley show starts at 1 p.m. Tickets for those 15 and older are $15 each. Tickets for those ages 6-14 are $7 each. Proceeds go to the Corry Area High School trapshooting club.

There will be free T-shirts for the first 50 children; hunt giveaways by Pheasants Forever, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Mossy Oak, Zink Calls and Dan Bump; vendor booths; a Chinese auction, and food by L&L Good Eats.

For information, call Sherry Anderson at (814) 462-6008 or visit the club online.

The Pine Grove Sportsmen’s Association in Russell raised $7,502 during its Save A Pair for Breast Cancer Awareness shoot July 22 to benefit Susan G. Komen For the Cure Pittsburgh. An additional donation is expected to be made when remaining event t-shirts are sold.

On Aug. 1, Kathy Purcell, chief executive of Susan G. Komen Pittsburgh, drove to Russell to accept the donation. Purcell, first row left, met with Carlette Proukou and Spear Proukou, the event organizers and, in the back row, Pine Grove Sportsmen’s Association president Dave Carlson, vice president Scott Carter and treasurer Terry Trumbull.

The ladies free .22 was settled in a shoot-off between champion Cindy Cable and Ashley Walton, who tied with 38 points in the 54-shooter field.

There were 112 shooters in the 50 pink singles. Kevin Sturzenbecker and Ray Lee emerged from qualifying, and Lee won the Challenge Shoot-Off and a Beretta 391 Sporting Clays shotgun, provided by Etchen Guns of Ligonier. Sturzenbecker won a pink Crickett .22 donated by Rick Brecht.

Troby Russ of Russell won a drawing for a Marlin .22 rifle and scope donated by “Grizzly” Gary Wertz of Grizzly Gary Outdoors

The Northwestern Pennsylvania Pheasants Forever chapter and the North East Sportsmen’s Club will put on a Young Guns shooting Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the gun club grounds, 11647 Townline Road, North East.

Shooters ages 6 to 10 will be able to use air rifles and .22s and shooters 10 and older also can try clay target shooting on the trap range.

Guns, ammunition, targets, safety gear, coaching and lunch will be provided at no cost. Participation is limited to the first 30 registered children. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The event is made possible by grants from the Forever Shooting Sports Program and MidwayUSA.

Junior trapshooting teams from Lake Edinboro Sportsman’s League returned from the Pennsylvania State Sportsmen’s Association Shoot June 8-9 in Elysburg with two first-place wins, two third places and the junior high gun award.

The two-day competition included the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s Academics Integrity Marksmanship State Championship and the Scholastic Clay Target Program State Championship. The LESL junior teams are composed of 29 shooters from Erie and Crawford counties.

In the ATA/AIM competition, two LESL teams claimed first-place wins. In the Sub Junior category, the Odd Squad won with a composite score of 440 out of 500 hits, with Matt Kirby breaking 93 out of 100. Doug Birchard hit 92 targets, Jacob Meszaros 91, Zoe Rupert 87 and Ryan Kirdahy 77.

In the Junior category, the Young Guns scored 486 out of 500. All five members of the squad hit at least 95 of their 100 targets, and Frank Myers IV brought down all 100 to earn high gun. Casey Inks hit 98, Billy Therasse had 97, Mitchel Meszaros shot 96 and Josh Zelina hit 95.

High gun Frank Myers IV.

In the SCTP championship, Team Squirrel Bait finished third in the Intermediate level and Top Shots was third in the Intermediate Advanced level.

Billy Therasse and Zane Berger each broke 99 of 100 targets in the SCTP event. Garrett Pude and Mitchel Meszaros each hit 98 targets and Rupert had the first 25 straight score.

If you feel the need to obtain a multistate concealed firearms permit, make time for a 4-hour class March 31 at Gem City Outdoorsmen Club.

U.S. Concealed Carry instructors offer nonresidential Utah and Arizona concealed firearms permits they say are honored in at least 33 states. Instructors are NRA and Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification certified.

The class runs 5-9 p.m. and costs $75 plus the permit application fees. Bring a driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID and cash or check. It’s not necessary to take a gun to the class.

Registration is required. Call Kayte at (724) 376-6336.

The Allegheny Northwoods Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society will host a sporting clays fun shoot Feb. 18 at the Sandy Creek Conservancy, 688 Polk Cutoff, Franklin.

Registration will start at 8:30 a.m. and shooting at 9 a.m.

Registration fee is $50 per shooter, or $55 after Feb. 13, and includes 100 targets, lunch and a free ticket on a specially selected shotgun for every 10 broken targets.

Proceeds will be used to restore and protect grouse and woodcock habitat

For information, contact Dave Galbreath at (814) 226-5574 or dgalbreath@zoominternet.net.

Sighting in a rifle ahead of deer season isn’t just about accuracy. It’s also a chance to assess any safety or structural issues that may have come up since a rifle last was put through its paces, sometimes a full year before. And for many, sighting in is as much a tradition as deer season itself.

Jack Hanrahan visited Walnut Creek Rifle Club for its recent sight-in days and returned with a story, photos and video: