Well look who made it in the paper today…

The 2013 Class AA Champions, thats's who!
K I N D  O F  A  B I G  D E A L .

The 2013 United Clay Busters of America Local 505

Brothers with arms.

2013 CLASS AA CHAMPIONS!

After 15 weeks of shooting over 3,750 rounds of ammunition the United Clay Busters of America have been crowned the top dogs at the Oregon Sportsman's Club. It only took nine years and finishing runner up in 2009 and 2012 for the Local 505 to finally pull off a championship. Great season Mike, John, Shawn, Jeff and Alex. Huzzah!

The Sport Products team won the first six weeks title and the Local 505 won the second six week title. This lead to a shoot off and great camaraderie between the two teams. Sport Products won the coin flip and choose to shoot first. Stu Cameron lead all shooters and showed everyone how it's done. Congrats Steve, Ron, Stu, Bob and Bryan on another great season. See you next year.

 Special thanks to Kevin for being the official scorekeeper of the Class AA shoot off.  Job well done KMH.

2013 Numbers

2013 Oregon Sportsman's Club Top Guns. Congrats to Cale on winning another championship hat. It's great to see two United Clay Busters in the top three.

2013 Class AA Total Kills

LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMMBLE!

It's official. The United Clay Busters of America Local 505 have won the class AA second half title. This means they'll be in a shoot off against defending champions Sport Products. The Local 505 lost to Sports Products in the 2012 AA championship shoot off. The coin flip is Monday, August 25 at 6:30pm.

Week 12 - Unofficial 2nd Half Champions

Left to right: Mike, John, Shawn, Jeff and Alex

The Local 505 came into tonight 16 birds ahead of the S/S Boys and needed to shoot a decent score to wrap up the second half championship with the opportunity to face Sport Products in a AA shoot off. It wasn't pretty but unofficially the UCB beat the S/S Boys by just two birds. 1306 to 1304. Let's hope the official scorekeeper's numbers add up the same.

Mike and John's scores were close all season. It came down to the last night of shooting. Mike won the UCB 2013 Larry Wilcox Top Gun trophy by one bird over John. Congrats on a great season Mike. John was the Week 12 Top Gun.

There are still a few teams left to shoot but it looks like Cale Severson has the Oregon Sportsman's Club 2013 Top Gun title wrapped up. Congrats and nice shooting Cale. The proud Papa is shown here with son Gavin and his wife Ashley.

Week 11 - Takin' Care of Business

The Local 505 had a reduced crew in Week 11 as Mike and Shawn were M.I.A. on personal time. The Local 505 took care of business and posted a decent score that keeps them in the AA championship hunt. John was Top Gun with only one week remaining in the regular season.

Mr. Lucky won the Springfield 9mm handgun from a raffle board at the clubhouse. Congratulations Jeff.

What a sweet raffle prize. Well done OSC.

Week 10 - Keep Calm Chive On

The Local 505 posted a solid team score in week 10 as they fight their way into the championship hunt. Alex (Mr. Top Gun + Chiver) found his rhythm and lead the team with some darn fine shooting. Mike and Shawn were M.I.A. but had very healthy bank scores. KCCO.

Three Weeks Remain

Let's make them count.

Week 9 - Hammer Time

The Local 505 is standing tall and putting the hammers to the clay. Mike lead the team again in week nine and earned the prestigious top gun award. Alex was back on the line after two weeks of business travel. John was away on vacation.

Week 8 - These dogs hunt

The Local 505 pounded the targets in week eight and Mike earned the team Top Gun award. Alex and John were M.I.A. as they were out of town on business travel. Only four weeks left in the season.

Week 7 – Class AA Baby

The first half of the season is over the the United Clay Busters are, once again, in Class AA. They finished third overall at the club. Not bad for how lousy their season started. Congrats to Sports Products for the first half Championship. The Local 505 hopes to meet you again for a Championship shoot off in August.

The state of the Union is strong. The Local 505 shot solid team total especially considering Alex was traveling on business and will be making up his score. Congratulations to Jeff as he posted his highest career score with some very fine shooting. John earned the team Top Gun award in week 7.

Kelly and Mary shot an early practice / makeup score on this hot and humid July night. They did a real nice job hammering the clay.

Cupcake Shoot 2013

This Local 505 member made a quick Saturday afternoon trip to the Sauk Prairie trap range between Babe Ruth tournament baseball games. Their targets are cupcakes compared to the OSC.

Their trap houses sit around 18 or 20 inches out of the ground because they are able dig deep pits. Not possible in the OSC lowlands.

Their machines are calibrated and launch beautiful targets.

Week 6 = Record Breaking

Week 6 – where do we begin. Well, let's see. The season is half over. Alex was MIA on vacation in Door County. Mike pounded the sh#t out of the clays and earned the shiny team Top Gun title. Shawn was one bird off the Top Gun title and he posted his highest score ever. The Local 505 posted their highest team score ever and the highest team score of any team at the club this year. The United Clay Busters are poised to do some serious damage in the second half of the season. Roll tide.

To say the mosquitos were bad tonight would be an incredibly gross understatement. It felt like a scene from the horror movie “The Swarm.”

Week 5 – Make Up Date

The Local 505 took advantage of the holiday bye week to make up their week five scores. The sump pump is working again and the lower trap field was firing on all cylinders. John was the team top gun in week five.

 Alex and Jeff could not make it this week due to family conflicts so they used their bank scores. Rick P. joined Shawn, Mike and John and helped the team keep their rhythm. Rick is a long time friend of the Local 505 and is very handy with a shotgun.

Harps crushed his average again this week with some damn fine shooting. Mike and John also introduced Shawn to their “Hunt Club” shooting course which, once again, proved to be a ton of fun.

Week 5 - DENIED!

Heavy rains overwhelmed the sump pump in the lower trap house. The rising water flooded the trap machine and needless to say our fun was over before it began.

The Local 505 waiting in the on-deck circle.

Mother Nature isn't done yet. Rain is in forecast for the next five days.

Legend of the Hook Lake Sportsman

Week 4 - 72º and Sunny

 John was Top Gun in week four and wants to send a special thank you to Mother Nature for the beautiful June evening. 72º with no wind made for perfect shooting weather.

Say hello to team JC Electric. No they're not reality TV bounty hunters but rather a great group of Oregon Sportsman's Club trap shooters. Howdy Joe, Phil, Todd, Steve and Jeff.

The post shoot debrief with Cale who was a "trap team of one" in week four.

The Week 3 Recap

 Mike pulled his score up in week three and was the team Top Gun. Shawn also shot well and posted a score above his average.

Mosquito bait at table no. 3.

Shawn and Jeff thumped Mike and John in 500. Shawn had the cards tonight and bid like a Maverick. 

OSC Sporting Clays

The Oregon Sportsman's Club hosted a great sporting clay's event on Saturday, June 8. The Local 505 sent representatives and found the course fun with a few incredibly challenging stations. That's just the way they like it. Next shoot is July 15.

Meet the Local 505

Shooter: MIKE, AKA “X”

Years of service: 9  ::  Team Founder / Captain  

Shooting order: 1st 

Career highlights: Five-Time Team Champion, 2007-09, 2011-12

Hometown: Appleton, WI  ::  Occupation: Advertising

Gun: SKB O/U Model 875 – custom back-bored and ported

Ammo: Remington STS Custom Reloads

Dog: German Shorthaired Pointer

Dog Name: Bonasa Flats’ Boondocks Bandit, AKA “Gage”, AKA “The Workman”

First gun: Daisy Competition Match 499 BB Gun. It was Christmas present from his father in 1977 and Mike still has it.

Shooter: JOHN, AKA “Krully”

Director of Team Communications

Years of service: 9 – Founding Member

Shooting order: 2nd 

Career highlights: Three-Time Team Champion, 2005-06, 2010

Hometown: Greene, IA  ::  Occupation: Advertising

Gun: Browning Citori 525

Ammo: Remington STS Custom Reloads

Dog: Only in his dreams

First gun: Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun

Shooter: Shawn, AKA “Harps”

Years of service: 9 – Founding Member

Shooting order: 3rd 

Hometown: Beloit, WI  ::  Occupation: Photographer

Gun: Beretta O/U

Ammo: Remington Target Loads

Dog: Maltese Shitzu

Dog Name: Lefty

First gun: BB Gun

Shooter: JEFF, AKA “Szpak”

Years of service: 1  ::  Shooting order: 4th 

Hometown: Nomad, USA  ::  Occupation: Internets

Gun: Browning Cynergy Classic

Ammo: Winchester AA

Dog: Boston Terrier – The Gentlemen’s Breed 

Dog Name: Scout

First gun: Crosman 357 Co2 Air Pistol – favorite target was G.I. Joe's

Shooter: ALEX, AKA “Schmalz”

Years of service: 7  ::  Shooting order: 5th 

Hometown: Darboy, WI (unincorporated)  ::  Occupation: Advertising

Gun: Browning Citori XLS Skeet

Ammo: Winchester AA

Dog: between dogs right now. The best dog he ever knew was Norman, a German Shepherd. They were best buddies.

First gun: Crossman Pumpmaster 760 Air Rifle – his Grandpa Schmalz placed a bounty of $.25 for any pigeon shot in or near the barn.

Week Two - The Tale of Two Rounds

The Local 505 rocked their first round from the 16 yard line. Then as Forest Gump famously once said, "the handicap round just jumped up and bit us." A few rounds of cold brewskis, deer sausage and peanuts immediately followed. John was the Top Gun in week two.

Holiday Bye Week

There's really no "hot blog action" this week as we're granted a bye due to the Memorial Day holiday. Harps made up his two bank scores with some damn fine shooting. Shown above is the UCB's good friends the Sorry Shooters getting in some practice with guest shooter Harps in the third stand.

The Week One "Suckfest"

Week one is in the books and the Local 505 is wondering WTF? After a great spring of practice the UCB did not post the team score they wanted. On the bright side they shot even worse in week one of 2012 and still won the first half championship. The 2103 shooting order: Mike, John, Shawn. Jeff and Alex.

John was Top Gun in week one and he shot above his 2012 average.

Great to have Harps back on the line and at the bar for the first time in 2013. Hockey season is over – for the time being.

Bank Night 2 = Awesome

The Local 505 completed their second bank night with some damn fine shooting. There was an amazing lightening show in the sky directly north of the range as the team shot – which some might say was a sign from the Shooting Gods. Mike was Top Gun for the week. 

John is owner and founder of Man Cave Munitions and has created some special handicap loads. In R&D testing the new rounds hit like a sledge hammer from the 23 yard line. 

A Union meeting was held on the patio immediately following shooting. Cold brews and deer sticks were served. Proud to say the state of the Union is strong.