At 07:00 on Saturday 17 March 2018, at the Wattlespring Sport Shooting Club near Bapsfontein, we accompanied the range officers on an inspection of the ten sport shooting ranges to assess whether the inclement weather affected the range conditions and the complexity of the range. Then it started to rain and rained even harder as shottists arrived to register. Great! It is a fine day for ducks and we want to shoot clay pigeons. By 09:00, we realised that the few shottists that had not arrived yet, probably decided to stay home. We started the day’s programme by welcoming all present, providing a short information session on the range lay-out and rules, and concluded with a safety talk.

Fortunately, the rain subsided slightly and by the time the first shots were fired at 09:20, only a slight drizzle prevailed. It stopped raining altogether when the shottists started on the fourth range. The conditions were challenging, but the shottists had a wonderful time. However, the scores reflected the difficulties. The club’s personnel deserve a special mention for handling minor technical difficulties with electronic equipment that did not function so well in the wet weather. It was resolved quickly, and the rest of the day’s events proceeded without any problems.

The last score cards were handed in around 12:20 and by 12:30 all scores were out and shottists were given 15 minutes to confirm. By 13:00, the prize-giving commenced.

We greatly appreciate the generous sponsorships that we received from the industry.

• Inyathi Sporting Supplies donated six crates of Fiocchi Official 12 Bore 24g ammunition and a R5000 discount voucher on the price of any Franchi shotgun. Inyathi Sporting Supplies import and serve as agents for among others Fiocchi ammunition, Browning and Franchi shotguns, Bore Tech cleaning accessories, Schaftol wood oil and Ballistol rifle oil. They also sponsored Fiocchi shotgun ammunition for the 2017 regional shotgun shooting events.
• CENS South Africa donated five sets of custom, passive hear protection. The lucky winners can upgrade with additional equipment to convert these sets to fully electronic ear protection devices.
• Wattlespring Sport Shooting Club donated ten rounds of 25 clays and a weekend for two at Al Thandiwe Safaris.

Before getting to the results, we must congratulate Dieter Labuschagne, chairman of the Pretoria East Branch and Andy Sutton, the branch shotgun co-ordinator, for the successful hosting of the first SAHGCA National Shotgun Shooting Event. We ask them to convey our message to Wesley, Sam, Claude and their teams at Wattlespring. They raised the bar for all future national shotgun shooting events.

Barry du Toit of Cheetah Branch was the  2018 National Shotgun Shooting Champion with a score of 44. Pieter Rheeder came second and Barries Barnard was third. They both had a score of 43. 

They both had a score of 43. From left to right: Pieter Rheeder(2nd), Barry du Toit (champion) and  Barries Barnard (3rd).

Herman Labuschagne won the junior division with a score of 35; Sanet van Jaarsveld came first in the Ladies division with a score of 27; Johan du Toit won the Veteran division with his 40 score, and Robbie Crawford-Brunt won the Super Veteran division with his score of 38.The full results are available on the member administration system under national shooting results.

As can be expected from a national competition, the winning scores were very close and we had to use the count-back method to determine the winner of the Super Veteran division. Robbie Crawford-Brunt and Charl Naudé both scored 38. We also had to use this method to determine the winners of the second and third place in the Open division as Pieter Rheeder en Barries Barnard were tied at 43. We started counting back from the last clay on the range. The person that lasted the longest before missing a clay, is the winner.

We believe that participation in the regional shotgun shooting events will continue to grow in 2018. We are pleased to announce that three new regional shooting events have been added to the 2018 shotgun shooting calendar. Kwagga en Cheetah Branches already fixed their dates and the date for the Hartbees Branch event will be added soon.

Finally, we want to thank all the shottists that participated in the Association’s shotgun activities. Without your support we would not be able to justify a national competition. Your continuing support will encourage us to achieve new goals.

Regards

Johann van de Giessen
Manager: Hunting Affairs