Right on target Skeet club keeps on firing

Skeet shooting has a long-standing history at the Fort Frances Sportsmen’s Club range at Frog Creek, and still has a dedicated group of shooters who hit the range on Tuesday nights to aim at targets flying at 60 miles per hour. Skeet shooting requires quick reflexes and a steady aim. The shooters stand in various stations on a semicircle that faces two trap houses, with targets flying out of the houses, one or two at a time from opposing directions, with a total of 25 in each series. Ted Brockie, a long-time member of the club, recalls winning his first championship in 1963. “I had the reflexes of a 16 year-old, so it made it easier,” Brockie said with a laugh. “On Labour Day, we all put our cards on the table and see what happens.” Brockie also won titles in ’64 and ’68, and said fellow competitor Leonard Noonan has won the trophy six or seven times. Brockie was also quick to credit the efforts of the late R.J. Kennedy, who died of lung cancer two years ago, for his support of the club. Kennedy himself won the trophy six or seven times. International Falls resident Jerry Koslucker and Noonan both shot perfect rounds of 25 last Tuesday (June 24), and there has only been five this season since the club started shooting in late April. “If I can shoot in the 20s, I’m happy with it,” Koslucker remarked. “It’s not an easy sport to master.” Noonan has been coming out to the club for decades, and said that the competition and camaraderie keeps him interested in the sport. “I’m 71 now so I have to keep these young fellas on their toes,” Noonan said with a sly smile. “I can’t let them get ahead of me. It’s a really fun sport—you don’t need much of a blast to break them, but the key is movement; it’s all about the swing.” Brockie said the sport takes some getting used to, and like anything, the more you practice at it, the better you’ll get. “You have to shoot where the target is going to be, not where it is, and that’s a hard thing to do,” he noted. Brockie and Noonan recalled the club having a much larger contingent of dedicated shooters but that number has dwindled down over the years. “All the distractions people have during the summer has eroded the numbers of shooters that we have come out,” Brockie said. The average cost is $7 per person per round to pay for the targets and the shells to load your gun—no more than the cost of going to see a movie. New shooters are always welcome and you can get more information by calling Brockie at 274-9136.