Calamity Carolyn
Photography: Wendy Mair
Shoot a shotgun? Me?? No way. I’m afraid of guns.
All that changed, however, when my husband decided to take up bird hunting shortly after we moved to Utah. Consequently, he was gone every fall weekend on bird-hunting trips. In order to see more of him, I decided to join him. I must say, though, I didn’t really like getting up at 3:30 a.m.; driving down Parley’s Canyon through snowstorms; or trudging through ice and mud in darkness, only to sit in the cold on an overturned bucket waiting for waterfowl to fly overhead. And even when I had a chance to shoot, I never hit anything.
Then a good friend encouraged my husband and me to join him at the Heber Valley Gun Club for some trapshooting. I was hesitant. It was winter, and cold. When I pulled the trigger, the recoil of the gun hurt my shoulder and cheek. But, lo and behold, I actually hit a few targets! I quickly decided that shooting at little clay targets was much more fun than shooting at live birds.
My husband and I signed up for our first competitive trapshooting event, the annual Round Robin tournament, hosted each spring at the Heber Valley Gun Club. Each Sunday for three weeks, participants shoot at 75 targets. The first week I surprised myself when I was able to shoot at all 75 of them. Of course, I didn’t hit too many. One of the veteran shooters told me that I would never be successful at trapshooting with my little 20-gauge shotgun. He handed me his son’s 12-gauge and said that I was welcome to use it for the remainder of the tournament. That was all it took. Shooting a gun that fit me made all the difference.
Within two months, I had my own 12-gauge shotgun, and my husband and I had joined the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA). We started participating in organized ATA tournaments almost every weekend that summer. The people we met as we traveled to different gun clubs in Utah and surrounding states were incredibly friendly, helpful and generous. One day when my gun broke, there were at least six people ready to lend me their guns before I even left the trap line.
The first time I broke 25 targets in a row, I was ecstatic. It took me a long time (16 years), but the day I finally broke my first 100 straight targets, I had a contingent of friends waiting to congratulate me with hugs and kisses.
It’s hard to believe that I was once afraid of guns. I now shoot three different kinds of trapshooting events in ATA tournaments in order to qualify for the five-member Utah State Ladies Team. I’ve managed to make the team three years in a row.
Just watching a little target turn to dust is exciting and addicting. I love the sport of trapshooting and the people associated with it. My husband and I have traveled to other states to compete at trapshooting events and we’ve always felt welcome. We’ve made many friends, won some prizes, and look forward to enjoying our sport for many years to come.
Carolyn Southerlin is a retired high school English teacher who has been trapshooting for more than 18 years.
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