Week 4: Signs of Hope

The weather Gods definitely smiled on the Oregon Sportsmans Club this evening. After two days of steady rainfall, the sky cleared up just in time for our league shooting. Finally, the UCB Local 505 put up a respectable team score. We are still way off our 2009 pace but hopefully this is a sign that the bleeding has stopped.

John was the leading clay bluster tonight. The Local 505 also made up our second bank score. Alex missed out on possibly the best lighting a guy could ever wish to shoot under. Perfect weather conditions lead to really decent bank scores.

Mr. Hanke came up with a nickname for himself that may have just stuck. Say hello to "Clubhouse Curt!" Curt sometimes lacks confidence on the trap line but always brings his "AA" game to the bar, clubhouse, and card games.

The Local 505 found a new way to spice up trap shooting nights. A quick phone call to Pizza Pit quickly satisfied our hunger. So sad that Schmalzy missed out on this fresh, hot, and delicious pizza. Thanks again Curt for the tasty grub.

OSC Sporting Clay Shoot

The Oregon Sportsmans Club held a sporting clay shoot today. By the number of trucks in the parking lot it looks like they had a good turn out.

Our team consisted of myself, Bill Shultz, Kevin and Kris Hermanson, and a guy named Jeff.

The Hermansons both shot really well.

Chuck grilled up delicious brats for lunch.

Friends of the 505

The United Clay Busters Local 505 has made a lot of friends while shooting at the Oregon Sportsman's Club over the last five years. Here's a few of the Tuesday night shooters.

Meet the newly formed team named "Jake and the Fat Men." Ron Sam (second from left) has been a friend of the 505 for years and gave us some great shooting advice early on. His son Jake (far right) started shooting trap competitively this year and is looking solid on the line. The rest of the team includes Rick Philips (not pictured), Mark, and Darin.

You may remember our buddy Cale Severson from our 2009 blog posting where he found an ancient Mastodon tooth. Well, Ol' Cale went on to become the club trap shooting champion last year and has a new hat to prove it. He's well on his way to winning another cap in 2010 and maybe he'll finally give Kriefski his DNR hat.

Tony Allhands has been the Tuesday night club bartender since we started shooting in 2005. Tony shoots on the River Pirates and is always up for a good laugh and a cold Miller Genuine Draft.

Week 3: No Comment.

I'm not going to talk about our team scores tonight out of pure frustration and just focus your attention on this picturisk image of the River Pirates shooting on the lower range. There's always next week UCB.

Saturday Trap Rats

Alex and Curt have been working the line and hammering clays the last two Saturday mornings. Nothing builds confidence like 100 rounds through your Browning. The UCB Local 505 is looking forward to getting back to league shooting after a bye week due to Memorial Day.

Curt is taking his time and shooting fine.

Curt and Alex working out the kinks from the 23 yard line.

Honoring our Veterans

The United Clay Busters of America honors all Veterans and U.S. Armed Forces on this beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for your service and all the sacrifices you and your families have made. I celebrated my freedom this morning by participating in a 100 clay target salute at Oregon Sportsman Club. What an awesome club and a great morning of clay busting.

Week 2 Report

Week 2 came and went with a few bangs and a handful of lost birds. The UCB was hoping for a strong season on this our 5th year of shooting but so far it hasn't been the case.

Mike broke the most birds tonight so lets give him a nice round of applause.

The big story of the evening was our endurance 500 card game. Or as I heard it described from the bar "Iowa's version of Euchre." We only played one game tonight but that game ended up having 29 hands. The game lasted into Wednesday morning.

Team Harper/Krull were victorious in the end. Good game gentlemen.

Team Shotguns. Part 1 of a 5 Part Series

As I was cleaning my gun I realized that I haven't featured any of the UCB • Local 505's shotguns on this blog. This trap season I promise to feature everyones iron. With that said, say hello to my Browning Citori Sporting 525. This gun is a real Clay Hater® and it is certainly a pleasure to shoot. Thanks John M Browning for such a well built hammer and as for the nails, well another thanks to Remington for the hard-hitting STS loads.

2010: In Like a Lamb

The United Clay Busters of America • Local 505 kicked of the 2010 season a little ugly tonight. We had a great team score after the first round thanks to Harps 25. We handicapped back to the 23 yard line and the wheels fell off the bus. The beautiful pink sunset at around 8:20 p.m. did not do us any favors. You know the birds are hard to see when the guy scoring for you recruits a co-pilot to help him spot hits and misses. On a brighter note, team Kriefski/Krull dominated the 500 card table with big comeback win. Thanks for playing Harps and Cale.

Shawn crushed a perfect first round and Mike was the Week One Top Gun. Congrats.

#$%&@ Bank Night

The 2010 season is officially under way as the UCB Local 505 shot their first bank scores tonight. We shot more like the Rusty Clay Busters but no worries because our soft cotton, pink shooting shirts should arrive any day now. Special thanks to Cale, the 2009 Club Champion and sometimes good friend, for scoring for us. We shot in the missing man formation this evening and look forward to Curt joining us on the line next week.