I caught up with Anthony Matarese and Tom Seay at the Gator Cup in Okeechobee Florida and talked about the tournament in general. We discussed the methods used to shoot some of the difficult targets, the differences in both shooters mounts, how they approach targets, what they pay attention to while waiting to shoot and so much more. As you would expect from two top level shooters, this episode is packed with great information.
Dan served for many years in the US Army as a shooting instructor for the US Army Marksmanship Unit. Carlisle competed at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, with a bronze medal in trap in 1984, and shooting both trap and skeet at the 1988 Seoul Games. He was a seven-time gold medalist at the Pan American Games, winning the individual trap title in 1975, 1983, and 1987. Dan won the 1982 World Championships in skeet shooting, but won more titles in trap. He was a six-time US Champion in trap, and in 1985-86, won both US titles in trap and skeet. In civilian life, he continued as a shooting instructor at the Gold Medal Shooting Academy. Dan was inducted into the US Army Marksmanship Unit Hall of Fame in 2008. He was the USA coach for trap shooting at the 2008 Olympics.
Braxton Oliver, a 23-year-old shooter, is a multiple-time All American, 5 years on Team USA winning two Team Gold Medals and shot for 2 years on the PSCA tour. Braxton started shooting guns at the early age of 5 with his grandad, Larry Corbet, who helped farm, build and run Rose Hill Sporting Clays in North Carolina. Soon after, Braxton started shooting clays with Larry and his dad, Mike Oliver which led to shooting competition sporting at age 12. In the earlier years of his shooting, Braxton would shoot upwards of 1500 practice shells every weekend to learn the game and to get better. Fast forward several years and Braxton has multiple top 5 finishes at some of the largest tournaments nationwide and continues to rival some of the best shooters in the world.
Braxton's family owns Hunters Pointe Sporting Clays and continues to run Rose Hill in North Carolina. His sponsors include Krieghoff International, Laporte, and Greenwood Custom Stocks.
Score Chaser founder Casey Chase lives and breathes Sporting Clays. She manages tournaments throughout the United States, including the sport’s cornerstone tournaments, from state championships to Nationals. Having worked with the sport’s premier clubs, she gathered a clear sense that shooters and clubs needed better software tools to help their tournaments run smoothly. Score Chaser was founded to keep the focus on shooting and minimize time spent on the tedium of bookkeeping.
The Gator Cup is one of the largest big blasts of the year, every year. If you want to have fun shooting great targets, eating great food, talking to interesting people and walking around a large vendor row, the 2021 Gator Cup is a must for you!
The club in Okeechobee Florida sits on a large piece of property with plenty of open areas to throw big targets, but also expect the really tricky, shorter targets as well. Master target setters, Doug Vine and Joe Scull will be in charge of the prelim and main event targets while Joe Fanizzi (17 Years Old) will be setting the 5-stand targets.
Listen to the podcast to hear what will be going on this year and what will be different. Also, find out how you can win 1 of 30 guns that will be given away, which includes a custom Cole Gunsmithing Beretta DT11.
Mike’s life passion has always been sporting clays. At the young age of 14, he started working at Pintail Point on Maryland’s eastern shore. This is where Mike found his love for the sporting clays industry. Mike started competing, making the Junior All American team, in almost every category in his first year of competing. Mike continued to compete in college and soon after he landed a course manager position at the prestigious Shooting Academy at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. This is where Mike found his next passion – teaching! Five years later, Mike found himself at Quail Creek Plantation, Florida’s premier sporting clay facility. Mike helped facilitate the Gator Cup as well as running outside operations in day to day business. He also coached the Young Guns National Champions with several students winning National Championships. Mike is also very well known for his targets setting abilities for all levels. When he can find the time, he still enjoys competing at the highest levels and is committed to all aspects of shooting sports. Mike is now the General Manager at Rocky Creek Sporting Clays.
On this episode we had two full time college students that are very determined to be the best they can be at shooting.
Reanna Frauens attends the University of Florida and is a member of the shooting team. She started shooting under Mike Luongo at Quail Creek Plantation with their Young Guns program and has progressed through the SCTP and NSCA ranks very quickly. Reanna shoots multiple NSCA tournaments every year and her goal is to be on Team USA. Her short shooting career has won her multiple awards by hard work, practice and dedication.
Madison Sharpe attends Clemson University and is a name you will continuously see at the top of the leaderboard at every tournament she registers for. Her hard work and dedication in the sport over the years has earned her multiple SCTP and NSCA titles. She has her goals set high and with talent like she has, it will not be hard for her to reach them fairly quickly.
The tournament began 28 years ago as a promotion for Seminole Gunworks at a small shooting club in Florida. For the first 22 years, the shoot was operated by Randy Mitchell, father-in-law of Sea Island’s Director of Outdoor Pursuits, Jon Kent. So you could say it’s a bit of a family affair. Sea Island is proud and honored to host this championship event for the seventh time.
See how you match up against the pros, enjoy the serene beauty of Broadfield Sporting Club. And have a good time. It’s time for another great shoot in March 2021.
Fiocchi was founded in 1876 in Italy and has been producing high quality ammunition ever since. In the 1950s, Fiocchi began importing ammunition into the United States and by the 1980s the demand had grown and a facility was built in Ozark Missouri.
Fiocchi Currently employs nearly 200 hardworking Americans to produce some of the highest quality shotshell and centerfire ammunition available. Nearly 80% of Fiocchi brand products that are sold in the US market are loaded in Ozark Missouri or in the new facility near Little Rock Arkansas.
On the show we have Bryan Bornes from Fiocchi to talk about the company, give us some stats on ammunition in the US, the ammunition shortage and discuss their current acquisition, B&P.
In this episode we talk about the effects of Covid in the UK and how it has affected shooting sports. We also discuss what you can do while you are not shooting and how you can at times come back better than before after a long break. We dive into e-sports and the strong possibility of having clay target competitions remotely…….that would be weird, but it's possible.