Entering a national tournament only a couple of years after entering a sport and winning the tournament is something special.
Doing it on your country's 150th year of existence is something else.
Reg King and his teenage son Logan King went to the Edmonton Gun Club for the Canadian National Trapshooting Competition June 28-July 2. Logan won the junior doubles part of the competition and the high all around Canadian junior championship while Reg won the Canadian Singles Class D championship. Both are exceptional given the large field of 147 shooters.
At nationals, Logan hit 92 of 100 targets and had a toal score of 380 out of 400.
“ I started shooting back in the 1980s and then I stopped for several years,” said Reg. “Then my son started getting into it with the Estevan Wildlife Camp and when he started shooting, he wanted me to shoot with him. So I started shooting alongside him and it's continued on to now. It's a thing a father and son can do together.”
Logan started shooting only in 2014, In the all around part of the competition, he recorded a score of 380.
“It's an individual sport and you don't have to rely on anyone,” Reg said. “But the people you shoot with are fantastic. There's no poor sportsmanship. If we miss a bird and someone sees a chip off it, they'll help up. There's good camaraderie in it.”
Logan practices once a week and is already a veteran. The pair went to Brandon two years ago for nationals but came home empty handed. Last year, Logan won the Saskatchewan Amateur Trapshooting Association Junior Championship and the handicap event.
Going to this Edmonton event over the Canada Day weekend was always on the calendar for them because, as Reg puts it, “It was close and I knew Logan would have a good chance of winning it.”
They often go to registered shoots throughout the province and prairies. The trap range at the club by Boundary Dam Beach is where you'll find Logan practicing.
This weekend, Logan will be off to provincials in Regina.
