The Dillon County 4-H Shooting Sports Club sent seven members to compete in the State Trap qualifying event which was held at several locations around the state on October 8, 2022. The Dillon County team traveled to Moree’s Sportsman Preserve in Society Hill, SC to compete. Other locations for the qualifying event were In Orangeburg, Edgefield, and Pickens. Due to the number of participants, other locations are also used to narrow the field down to a number of shooters that can compete at one site on the same day. This year the Trap Championship will be held on November 19 in Edgefield, SC.
The Dillon County shooters were competing in 2 different divisions. 4 members were competing in the Sr, division which is composed of 10th, 11th, and 12 graders. The other 3 shooters were in the Intermediate 1st year division as it was their first time competing or they are in the 6th through 8th grades.
The competitors each shot 100 trap targets. In shooting trap the target is thrown from 16 yards in front of the shooter at an unknown angle of 45 degrees. While the general direction of the target is known, it varies with each shot in an uncertain angle. Due to the distance from when the target appears, a gun that holds the pattern together for a longer distance is generally used. Todays shotguns have interchangeable chokes to allow the gun to be custom modified for the clay target game being played. Events such as skeet and sporting clays may use different choke constrictions than trap shooting.
150 shooters will be invited back to compete for the State Championship. There will be 5 divisions with 30 competitors in each division. The Sr division is composed of 12th,11th ,and 10th graders who have competed in previous years. The JV division is for 9th graders or anyone above the 9th grade that has never competed before.
The intermediate division is composed of 7th and 8th graders who have competed before. the Infermediatr 1st year division is for all 6th graders or 7th and 8th graders who have never competed. The rookie division is for 4th and 5th graders.
The Dillon County 4-H team also competes in the SCDNR CLAY TARGET SPORTS PROGRAM which has competitions in Skeet, Trap, and Sporting Clays The club started practicing in September 2022 and with both the SCDNR and 4-H/SCTP events the group will be competing until June 2023. There is still time for any interested youth to join the group. Simply contact the Dillon County 4-H extension office to learn how to participate.
The members of the.Dillon County group who qualified to attend the State Championship event are as follows:
Nash Harpe – Sr. Division – Score 83
Gavin Grant – Intermediate Entry Level Division – Score 52