I recently had the opportunity to attend, as a spectator, the Grand American World Trapshooting Championship held in Sparta , IL at the brand new World Shooting and Recreational Complex.  The complex is still in the building phase and will not be open to the general public until September 2006, although it has been open and accessible for special events.  It will consist of 1600 acres featuring 250 acres of water, 120 trap fields that extend for 3 ½ miles, 2 sporting clays courses, a Cowboy Action shooting corral, a permanent exhibition building, 746 RV campsites plus an additional 264 regular campsites, a gift shop and a full service restaurant and lounge.  Upcoming events include the Clays Championship for sporting clays enthusiasts and the Briley Open for skeet shooters.

To give you a little history on the Grand, the first one was held in Queens , NY in 1900 with a total of 74 participants.  In 1916 women were allowed to compete in the Grand American for the first time.  Following that, in 1924 the Grand made its new home in Vandalia , Ohio and was at that location until 2006.  In 1925, Annie Oakley shot in the Grand, breaking 97 of the 100 clays.  By 1927, the Grand American handicap had reached 1,000 participants.  This number would double to 2,000 in 1954, to 3,000 in 1965, and 4,000 in 1978 and more than 5,600 in 1997.  In 1990, Leo Harrison III broke 991 of 1000 targets to record the highest overall score in the history of the Grand.  That record still stands today….unless it is broken this year!  I heard the Leo was back to try and break his own record!

When arriving at the facility the first thing, besides the water tower, that you immediately see, is the row of vendor buildings flanking one side of the main complex building.  There are five permanent buildings lined up one after another that houses various merchandise during the Grand. Here you will find gun manufacturers such as Beretta, Remington and Perazzi.  You can browse through countless new and used guns, each and every one nicely displayed.  There are also the accessory distributors such as Gamaliel where you can purchase items on the spot or just make a “wish list” for sometime down the road.  I made a “wish list” myself but only purchased a pretty little aluminum plate featuring a woman shooter.

On the other side of the main complex is the row of vendor tents.  Here you could find real homemade ice cream, wonderful pulled pork sandwiches, buffalo burgers, and lots of other really good stuff!!  There were also numerous gunsmiths set up with full service portable shops and could do almost anything you wanted while you waited!  A lot of people make the trip to the Grand just to get their guns fitted or repaired in person, and don’t necessarily participate in the events.  There were items here to appeal to everyone, not just shooters.  One display that stands out to me for some reason was pet bowls made from marble!!  $20 would get you a medium size, very indestructible, non-tippable 100% marble bowl for your favorite pet!  Also onsite was a chiropractor who offered “adjustments” on the spot, massage therapists and a sports medicine practitioner.

The Grand itself runs for 10 days.  It is split into what is called the Preliminary Week and the Grand Week, culminating in the final event, The Grand American Handicap.  In addition to monetary awards, there were also Remington & Krieghoff gun give-away’s and a GMC truck give-away.  I snapped a picture of this woman who had survived the Preliminary Week and was participating in the Grand Week.  I was very surprised at the number of women shooters I saw as I made the 3 ½ mile walk down the line of trap houses. I stopped to watch a few of them shoot and it was interesting to see the different styles.  There is something to be said for consistency, and these women were definitely consistent!  Myself, I have shot skeet and sporting clays for a number of years.  Just this spring I purchased my first trap gun, a Browning BT-99 12-gauge, and began my introduction to the sport.  If I can only get half to three-quarters as good as the women I watched, I will be quite happy!