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Speaker 2: in this episode, I have a guy from eastman, georgia
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on with me that is a top 10 finisher at the recent world
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Sporting Place Championship.
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He's been shooting a while now and in the past few years it's
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common to see his name at the top of most shoots he's
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attending.
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I'm glad to have him on with me here.
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He is Wyatt Hargrove.
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Wyatt, welcome to the show, man .
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Speaker 3: Thank you for having me, Justin.
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Speaker 2: Is this the first podcast you've ever done?
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Speaker 3: Yes, sir, it is.
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Speaker 2: Did you ever think old Georgia boy from down in the
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country be on a podcast about shooting a shotgun?
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I guess you would, but in this situation maybe not no, not, not
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really.
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Speaker 3: Uh, I wouldn't expect this day to come well, the
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day's here right so yes, sir, it is all right.
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Speaker 2: So, uh, for those of you who don't know why, why just
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tell everybody who you are.
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You know where you live, and, and we'll go from there all
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right.
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Speaker 3: Well, uh, my name is Wyatt Hargrove, I am from
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Eastman Georgia, which is in central Georgia.
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Uh, I've been shooting for about 14 years, uh,
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competitively 10.
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Uh, you know, I'm about to be 25 years old and just I like to
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shoot, and so far we're turning it into a more of a productive
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sport than just a hobby sport.
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Speaker 2: So I didn't realize you've been shooting that that
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long yes, sir, yep wow, well, it showed all right.
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So, uh, I messaged you the other day.
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I said, hey, we need to do a podcast why it finished m3 in
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the world world championship up at m&m and I kind of want to get
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a story.
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You know, I mean m3 at the.
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Basically, that's what is that?
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That's six overall, is that right?
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Speaker 3: Yes, sir, is the top six.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so six overall.
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He got to experience a super final Um, and I just kind of
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want to get to the point to where he is now.
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I mean, it's it's, it's pretty, it's pretty cool to me.
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You know, I I kind of remember you from several years back and
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you were just a shooter and it seems here recently that you're
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up at the top a lot.
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When did you really start getting into it?
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Speaker 3: The past three or four years maybe, with NSCA.
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Well, I've really gotten truly hard to decor with NSCA.
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When I got about 19, 20 years old, so roughly five years ago
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I've always shot SCTP and 4.8 growing up and whenever it
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started getting time to looking, you know, does this end here or
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does you know can I continue it on?
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And I found NSCA and started just going to a couple of state
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shoots, some, you know, just small registered shoots here and
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there.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, you shot.
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For what college you go to?
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Speaker 3: I went to a manual college, which is now manual
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university, but while I was there there it was a manual
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college up in north georgia they didn't get big time turned into
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a university yes, sir, they did .
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Uh, they kind of made me wish I can go back and uh change my
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diploma so how, how?
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Speaker 2: when you went to school, did you go to school and
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knew and know you were going to be a?
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You wanted to shoot sporting clays, trap and skeet, and all
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that for college.
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Did you know that?
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Speaker 3: no, sir.
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So, like I said, you know, whenever it got to the time of
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wondering, okay, is there shooting beyond this, beyond
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sctp and 4-8, um, my mom, actually you know she said, okay
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, do you, do you want to play football in college or do you
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want to see if there's any colleges that might have a
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shooting team?
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I said, well, it won't hurt to go out there and look.
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And so we looked on the Internet and the first thing
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that popped up was a male college's clay target team.
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And we reached out to John Sheelyely, who is still the
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director of the program nice, so you shot there, for I guess you
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got a four-year degree right yes, sir, I did.
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Yep, yeah, I shot there for four years and it was a blessing.
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And I, if I had to go back, you know people ask me do you wish
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you can go back to Georgia Southern?
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Or, you know, would you stay with Emanuel College?
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I said, well, I made a name for myself at Emanuel College, and
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so I still, to this day, pick Emanuel College over Georgia
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Southern.
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Speaker 2: All right.
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So let's talk about that for a second, because there's a lot of
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kids that are in the sport, a lot of kids coming up and want
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to do kind of what you did.
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What?
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What uh advantages do you see in shooting college and what
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would you?
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What kind of path, I guess you'd say, would you recommend
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somebody that wants to shoot in college to go down?
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Speaker 3: So, um, whenever I took this path, Georgia Southern
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at the time didn't have a team, so Emanuel was kind of the only
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one in the state of Georgia that or let me rephrase that
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Emanuel College was the only scholarship team in Georgia.
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Uga and ABAC down in Tifton they all had club teams.
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But the difference between a scholarship team and a club team
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is that the scholarship you know you have, a scholarship
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that helps pay for your funding for shooting Club team is all
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out of pocket.
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So that was one direction I went in.
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Now I don't know if any colleges have changed.
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If you know, georgia Southern may have a scholarship team.
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Now I have no clue.
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But also I would tell kids to really consider yes, shooting is
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great and all, but really consider what degree and what
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path you want, because some colleges don't have the program
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that you might want to go into or they might not offer what you
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really want.
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Don't settle for less.
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Get your degree first, because, as I was shooting, school was
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always first.
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That was my first job.
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Shooting was just a luxury part of it.
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Yeah, um, yeah.
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So, other than that, that's what I would advise people that
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want to go into further shooting , into collegiate.
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They need to put that in consideration as well.
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Speaker 2: There's several and you'll have to name them because
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I don't know them, but I know they went there.
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Several uh people that went to emmanuel that's actually doing
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pretty well now which what shooters are they that that went
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there?
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Speaker 3: you have uh, aaron copeland, uh graham eubanks,
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eric brown, uh john dean, daniels colton evans, um the the
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list goes on and on and on.
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Ambus, powell all those guys.
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I've shot with them and they're fantastic shots.
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Some of them aren't shooting as heavily as I am some of them
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just decided to focus more on work but all of them are great
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shots.
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You can always look them up.
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You know they're well known, especially when it came to you
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shooting um so, but some of them are still out there shooting
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still yeah, okay, so let's let's talk about.
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Speaker 2: I'm gonna put you on the spot with this question.
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It's not a hard question, but you probably aren't ready for
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this.
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What?
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What shoots have you finished well at in the past two years?
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Speaker 3: past two years I have done successfully well the most
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recent one here at the world um .
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Before that I I finished a couple side events at gator cup,
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seminole Cup, southeast Regional.
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I've done well all their five stand and super sporting events
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and feet ass.
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But a major one that some people have noticed.
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I don't know if anybody really has noticed but uh, was the
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South Carolina State back in 22 or, yes, 22.
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It was at Morey's.
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I took home the South Carolina State title so it was pretty
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great.
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That was the underdog story, if you know it was.
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It was a battle for that one.
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Speaker 2: Well, tell it.
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Speaker 3: That's what we're here for.
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Well, we're so.
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Morey's was my first time ever being there and I thought they
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were running both main events on the same day, but everybody
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shot the same course on Saturday and the same course on Sunday.
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Well, eric Dorsey set the Saturday main and I thought it
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was great targets, don't get me wrong, but I thought they were a
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little bit on the easier side.
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Speaker 2: Eric, is that easy targets, Surprisingly, I know.
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Speaker 3: So I shot a 90.
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There was Richard Cheek ahead of me with a 92.
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Turner Parcell ahead of me with a 94.
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Brandon Powell, rick Hemingway, mike Longo and several others
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were leading it by 95.
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So from the leader, I was five targets behind.
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So we go into the Sunday main.
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So from the leader, I was five targets behind, so we go into
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the Sunday main.
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I was shooting the 12 o'clock rotation on Sunday.
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Everybody that was ahead of me was shooting the three o'clock.
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Well, I was just enjoying my day.
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The first rotation went out there and shot.
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I didn't go on score chaser, but everybody else was.
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They were keeping track of it.
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Well, Kyle Millwood, he shot the 9 o'clock rotation on Sunday
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and he was the leader for his rotation, know his rotation, and
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he shot a low, low, 80, high, 70 and everyone else below him
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were in the 60s, 50s and below.
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But I had no clue about, I wasn't looking on score chaser.
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So then I go out there first First station.
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I lost dead.
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I said great, great start.
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So then my gun breaks.
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The top latch on my K80 was locked and I couldn't get it to
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open.
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So I was shooting with a fellow that had a K80 Parkour 34-inch
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barrel and he said hey, real, real quick, there's some targets
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out there in the grass, just drill two shots and see if you
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line up.
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Perfect, so I take it.
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Boom, boom, looks good.
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I had one of my buddies come up and he said hey, I can take
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your gun to Mike and granny if you wish.
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I said yes, please, I would feel more comfortable about it.
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So he hauls butt up there to Mike and Granny.
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Well, I shoot the next two stations with this gentleman's
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gun and I hadn't dropped a target.
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These targets to me at the time they didn't seem like they were
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high difficulty, but they they really were.
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I get two or three stations down the road, I see my gun
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coming back and I look at this station.
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It's two tower shots that were probably 55 yards away and I
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said, ooh, what do I need to do?
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So I finally decided to go back to my gun.
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Nothing changed.
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Ran the station, I said perfect .
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To go back to my gun.
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Nothing changed.
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Ran the station.
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I said perfect, we're back in business.
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So we're going along.
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Get to about station two or three and there's a Rabu
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Shondell and a standard Shondell across the pond.
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They were landing about 45-, 50 yards.
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It was a two-pair station.
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I only hit one target so I dropped three targets there.
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Last two stations I dropped another target had a 95.
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So I thought at the time I was like man Brandon and Mike Longa
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and Rick Hemingway and Turner they're all going to shoot this.
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Very well, they still got a five target lead on me.
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They can shoot a good 93, 92 and still win.
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I had nothing for the rest of the day.
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I hang out with Mike and Granny and tell them thank you for
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fixing my gun.
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About five o'clock rolls around and the first person to come
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and congratulate me was Brandon Powell.
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He got out of uh Chip Welch's buggy and he came and shook my
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hand.
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He said congratulations, you're the new South Carolina state
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champion.
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I kind of looked at him dumbfounded.
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I said what do you mean?
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You pull my leg?
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And he said no, you just want it.
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And he shot a 89 on that course , putting me one target ahead of
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him.
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Speaker 2: So Brandon can be beat?
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Oh, he shot an 88.
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Speaker 3: My bad, yes, sir, he can.
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He can be beat.
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I'm just making sure.
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Yes, sir, he is human, but uh well good mike will long go.
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He shot low 80s, turner shot uh uh 88 as well, I think, and
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rick henway shot at 89.
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So I got to take home the title , not in state but out of state,
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but really I took it all yeah, well, good for you.
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Speaker 2: I didn't even know that story.
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I don't even know you won that yes, sir, that's what I'm saying
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.
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Speaker 3: It was a real underdog story, and that was
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also the year that braxton oliver had that bad wreck.
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Um, he didn't get to compete yeah, yeah, I didn't know that.
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Speaker 2: Talk about targets.
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You brought up targets just as an example.
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You said that some targets sat you, somebody sat, you thought a
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little, were a little easy, and then you said these are really
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difficult.
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What is your take on how targets should be set at a
00:16:00
tournament?
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What do you think?
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How do you think they should be set?
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Do you think they should be set one easy course, one hard
00:16:06
course, both hard courses, two easy courses?
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What do you feel is fair?
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Because there's a lot of conversation and a lot of talk
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going on about targets?
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How do you feel about that?
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Speaker 3: my take on that is the target setter has a job.
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He can either set it completely hard for your top 5% of shooters
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that are here to prove a point and see who's the best, or they
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can set it a little bit softer for the rest of your crowd than
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the ones that are really coming just to enjoy the event and just
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to shoot and be a part of the event.
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But my take on it is they still have a job, but I do believe
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that they do need to have it where it still has a difficulty
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for us that are in the top 5% to 10% but still doable for the
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rest of your competitors, because if you do set it just
00:17:12
for us, then you're gonna lose your money base with the rest.
00:17:16
If you set it too soft, then some of us we kind of get I
00:17:22
wouldn't say discouraged but we get kind of get I wouldn't say
00:17:25
discouraged, but we get kind of conflicted and we're not
00:17:29
satisfied and we kind of get bored and we don't tend to shoot
00:17:33
our best.
00:17:33
Yeah, but I've heard this many times from many people the easy
00:17:39
targets count just as much as the hard targets, which is a
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hundred percent correct.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Um, so to me the best way it's like a two day main or
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a three day main.
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Let's have, you know, one course being your softer course,
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maybe a couple of hard targets or a couple of hard stations on
00:18:00
it, kind of build your way up.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen to this.
00:18:04
What scares you most as far as a target is concerned?
00:18:07
A very slow rabbit or a very fast Shondell?
00:18:11
Which one scares you the most?
00:18:14
Speaker 3: Well, I'm just going to throw this out there for all
00:18:17
the target setters.
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If you just want to beat me that desperately, throw all
00:18:23
Shondells, because Sh Bells are my worst weakness really I
00:18:28
thought you was going to say the rabbit.
00:18:29
Speaker 2: I thought you would say the rabbit no sir, I
00:18:31
actually enjoy the rabbit.
00:18:33
It's something different every time all right, let's try it
00:18:35
again, because I wanted the other answer.
00:18:36
All right, so a very slow Rick Hemingway flopper or a fast
00:18:42
crosser which is harder to hit for you, the flopper, I'm
00:18:50
telling you that's kind of the quote when I asked you about the
00:18:53
rabbit If it's slow and it's barely moving, oh my God, you
00:18:58
can get.
00:18:58
There's no telling how many people you can beat with that.
00:19:01
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:19:01
You know, those slow, just barely moving targets.
00:19:08
I'm sure you're going to get into this later in this podcast,
00:19:13
but I'm more of a maintained lead shooter than I am any other
00:19:18
technique.
00:19:19
But I have been known to figure out that on the slower ones I
00:19:28
need to do a swing through and come from behind.
00:19:30
And this is the slower ones.
00:19:31
They get me every time.
00:19:32
If you give me a 40-yard full spring crosser, I'm your man,
00:19:37
I'm going to get it.
00:19:37
But if it comes to slow targets , loopers, you got me.
00:19:44
Speaker 2: It's a wrap, all right.
00:19:47
So let's talk about the World Championship Now.
00:19:50
Listen, wyatt.
00:19:50
Okay, it's a wrap, alright.
00:19:51
So let's talk about the world championship Now.
00:19:52
Listen, wyatt.
00:19:52
Okay, I think you're probably going to be the first person to
00:19:53
talk about these targets On.
00:19:55
Everybody's seen Nick Barry's videos and videos and Whoever's
00:20:00
posted videos wherever, but I don't know that anybody's talked
00:20:03
about it yet.
00:20:03
So you're going to be the first person, so you need to do a
00:20:05
good job, okay, alright, so let's start out with your week.
00:20:10
World Championship was last week.
00:20:13
All right, yes, sir, how was the event?
00:20:16
Let's just talk about that.
00:20:17
How was the event?
00:20:20
Speaker 3: Well, I am kind of limited on talking about some of
00:20:24
these targets because I only got to shoot the tower challenge
00:20:28
, the feet, ass and the main.
00:20:32
I did hear that the Castellani pre limb and the super sporting
00:20:38
were good targets, but I never got to see him.
00:20:41
I'm sure later on this week I'll take some time and look at
00:20:44
Nick Barry's videos on them.
00:20:46
Um, but for as when it came to the targets, I did get to see.
00:20:53
Tower challenge was something that I thought would be cool and
00:20:58
it absolutely was.
00:21:00
Speaker 2: Um how was that?
00:21:01
How was that?
00:21:02
Yeah, that's the first time I've seen that.
00:21:04
Uh, how was it?
00:21:06
Speaker 3: He, he had seven kind of make sure I'm yep.
00:21:11
He had seven targets thrown out towers and lifts and fire
00:21:15
trucks.
00:21:15
Um, I didn't.
00:21:19
When I saw it I thought it was going to be kind of like a
00:21:21
sporting event, but he had it set up as five stand style.
00:21:26
Um, it was really fun.
00:21:29
I enjoyed it.
00:21:30
Um, I only shot a 34 out of 50 but it was.
00:21:36
It was fun because I don't get to shoot towers that much and I
00:21:41
thought that it was a pretty unique event and my whole squad
00:21:46
you know they were laughing with me, we were laughing the entire
00:21:49
time.
00:21:49
You know there were shots that in pairs that would just seemed
00:21:54
wow, how can I pick up on that bird before it hits 100 yards
00:21:59
away?
00:21:59
You know, yeah, so it was.
00:22:02
It was challenging.
00:22:03
But I think we need to see more of those kind of events because
00:22:06
not everybody gets to see a tower shot.
00:22:08
You know, not everybody gets to see towers it seems like in
00:22:14
georgia.
00:22:15
Speaker 2: Correct me, other than a couple.
00:22:16
Uh, I don't know where do you see towers at in georgia.
00:22:20
Speaker 3: I guess forest city maybe forest city, meadows, old
00:22:26
hudson and big red oak.
00:22:27
All right, so all of them.
00:22:28
So I guess I just hadn't seen any of them.
00:22:29
Speaker 2: Meadows, old Hudson and Big Red Oak so I guess I
00:22:31
just haven't seen any of them well, I wouldn't say all of them
00:22:34
.
00:22:35
Speaker 3: Down here at Gator Creek we have like a 25 foot
00:22:39
tower, but it ain't no lift or anything like that.
00:22:42
Elberton, up there in Elberton County they're quarries, so
00:22:49
they're quite opposite.
00:22:49
You're shooting downward instead of upward.
00:22:51
Um, you know, there there's a couple other gun clubs here in
00:22:56
Georgia that don't you know Cherokee Rose.
00:22:58
They have a couple of 20 foot tall towers.
00:23:01
They don't have no lifts.
00:23:02
Yeah, yeah, you know not, not every gun club has them, but
00:23:06
yeah, that that I'm.
00:23:09
Speaker 2: I guess it's just the background.
00:23:10
Maybe when you're shooting up at something, the line, if a
00:23:13
target's going up, I don't know what it is with me.
00:23:15
I have a hard time with towers.
00:23:16
A lot of people do.
00:23:20
Speaker 3: The best advice I can give for that is act like
00:23:23
you're in a dove field.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess, so that's where they're at.
00:23:30
Speaker 3: They're flying above you right.
00:23:31
Yes, sir all right.
00:23:32
Speaker 2: So, anyway, you shoot the tower challenge.
00:23:33
I'm looking at scores right now zach shot 34.
00:23:36
I mean nick barry shot 34, you shot 34.
00:23:39
Cory crew shot 35.
00:23:41
So you're right there with I mean those, all of them guys
00:23:44
right there, they know how to shoot, you know.
00:23:45
So, um, so you shoot the tower challenge, then you shoot the
00:23:48
tower challenge, then you shoot the main.
00:23:50
Let's talk, let's talk about the main, because that's what
00:23:52
that's, you know, that's what everybody's talking about,
00:23:55
that's what wins it.
00:23:56
So what about the main?
00:23:57
Speaker 3: yes, sir.
00:23:58
So first day main I shoot the dt11 course.
00:24:03
The dt11 was preferred as, like , the medium course.
00:24:10
Okay To me.
00:24:13
I wouldn't say that.
00:24:14
The only reason why I say that is because I saw a lot of
00:24:19
repetitive targets on there.
00:24:20
I saw a lot of trap shots.
00:24:22
I saw, you know, just a lot of loopers, you know.
00:24:27
It seemed there was a lot of teals.
00:24:31
You know I saw the same target, maybe different background,
00:24:34
maybe a different position, but eventually I saw the same target
00:24:38
repetitively on that course somewhere on there, um, not just
00:24:43
at different gun clubs but at anthony's.
00:24:46
It was the same thing over and over.
00:24:47
So I shot it well, don't get me wrong.
00:24:51
Uh, I shot it very well.
00:24:53
But I, you know, I've been struggling with first day main
00:24:57
event, you know, keeping my head in the game and I really was
00:25:01
focused on doing well, and so that helped me get through that
00:25:06
repetitive state yeah, and I'm looking at the scores.
00:25:09
Speaker 2: You shot it the best.
00:25:10
So, uh, you shot dt11 the first day, um then I shot the sl2
00:25:18
second day okay, how was it?
00:25:21
Speaker 3: sl2.
00:25:22
Um, to the crowd it seemed to be the easiest to me.
00:25:27
It had a little bit more technicality in it.
00:25:29
There were different style of targets.
00:25:33
It did have me interested but what got me was I Guess I never
00:25:43
looked on score chaser, at scores.
00:25:44
But you know you're gonna hear people talk about oh I shot this
00:25:49
or so and so shot this.
00:25:51
So when I went into sl2 I went into a careful, kind of you know
00:25:57
, cautious state instead of being aggressive like I like to
00:26:00
be, and I started shooting other people's games.
00:26:04
I wasn't shooting wyatt's game.
00:26:06
There were targets that I normally would shoot either off
00:26:10
the arm or I would let it develop a little bit more and
00:26:15
you know I would just do quite opposite of what I would have
00:26:17
done.
00:26:17
And after I missed that target on the first or second pair,
00:26:21
I'll, you know, shoot it the way you post to and I run the rest
00:26:26
and I run the rest.
00:26:26
Other than that, those targets, they were a little bit more
00:26:32
interesting to me and had a little bit more technicality to
00:26:35
it than DT11.
00:26:36
Speaker 2: All right, so 694 is last, I guess, for you, and that
00:26:39
was your worst score.
00:26:41
Yes, sir.
00:26:43
Speaker 3: How was it.
00:26:43
Well, the reason why and I think that everyone else would agree
00:26:47
when I say this it was the bigger targets, it was the
00:26:53
divider state of course.
00:26:55
Um, there those targets were.
00:26:59
They were really good targets I had.
00:27:03
Joe Skoll did a very well good job setting targets.
00:27:07
I enjoyed that course the most and people are probably going to
00:27:13
be like why you shot that course the worst, you're not
00:27:17
going to like that, why should you like that course?
00:27:20
But heck, no, that leaves more room for me to perfect it than
00:27:25
the easier courses.
00:27:26
You know and I enjoy bigger and harder, more difficult, more
00:27:32
difficult targets than most.
00:27:36
So the Team USA representatives they got to shoot the 694 the
00:27:42
first day and you know I'm friends with Brandon Powell and
00:27:47
he comes up to me and said how did you shoot today?
00:27:49
And I told him I shot DT11 and shot a 60.
00:27:52
He said, well, I shot a 61 on 694, and boy, those were some
00:27:56
targets.
00:27:56
I said, well, if you say those were some targets and you shot
00:28:00
that, then you should really do great on the DT11 because it
00:28:05
wasn't technically that hard.
00:28:08
He said, okay, great.
00:28:10
And that was the only time I heard scores.
00:28:11
You know, heard everybody else say, oh, I shot this, I shot
00:28:16
that.
00:28:16
So I kind of put myself in that range.
00:28:19
Second day, like I said, got careful.
00:28:22
But after the second day, on Saturday, I did not hear not a
00:28:27
single thing about scores and I kept to my word that I wasn't
00:28:30
going to look on score chaser.
00:28:31
So I had no clue what position I was in.
00:28:35
So going into 694, I just shot.
00:28:41
I went in there and I ran my first six stations and they were
00:28:48
not, you know, no gimme targets .
00:28:51
They were big lead, big gap targets, um, very challenging to
00:28:58
most of your common shooters yeah then I drop one, run the
00:29:04
next couple, I get station two where everyone kept talking
00:29:08
about, oh, oh, george Digweed.
00:29:09
George Digweed zeroed that station.
00:29:11
Speaker 2: Well, I was going to ask that next.
00:29:12
But yeah, go ahead and talk about that.
00:29:15
Speaker 3: Well, I can see why he zeroed it, but I luckily got
00:29:21
out of there with a four, but of course it had a Shondell on it,
00:29:25
so I was faking in my boots.
00:29:30
Speaker 2: What were the targets doing?
00:29:33
Speaker 3: It was a quartering left to the right Machine was
00:29:40
probably, I don't know, 25, 30 yards full spring going down the
00:29:45
tree line.
00:29:46
Spring going down the tree line .
00:29:56
second bird was a fundale almost almost full edge, like it was
00:29:58
going directly away from you, yep, and it was going.
00:30:00
It was going about 40 feet in the air, um, but I don't know
00:30:04
why I do it, but every time I see a target like that I just
00:30:08
shoot 10 miles in front of it but I go in there.
00:30:11
I dead loss.
00:30:12
I said all you shot in front, the dead paired and then the
00:30:17
last pair lost dead.
00:30:19
So I just didn't get on the line for the quartering target,
00:30:23
um, but you know, that was a very rough station and I mean
00:30:30
George probably should have shot , you know, maybe four or five
00:30:35
out of six.
00:30:35
But you know, going into station two, I didn't think that
00:30:39
was the station that he zeroed because I looked at it and I
00:30:41
said, nah, this can't be the one .
00:30:44
Station three was a power station.
00:30:48
Station three was a power station.
00:30:50
It had a MIDI on report 110 international target.
00:30:54
And that was when I looked.
00:30:55
Everybody said, oh, this is the station George zero, it's got
00:30:58
to be.
00:30:59
And I looked at the numbers oh, this is station three.
00:31:02
He's zero.
00:31:02
Two, yeah, but yeah.
00:31:15
I enjoy harder targets, and Joe did a very good job with that
00:31:18
court.
00:31:18
I enjoyed it the most.
00:31:18
Speaker 2: It was something different every time.
00:31:20
He did so good he got a new logo Did you see that?
00:31:24
Speaker 3: No, I didn't.
00:31:25
Speaker 2: Joe's got a logo now, Joe Skull.
00:31:28
Speaker 3: Heck yeah, I like Joe Every time I see now Joe skull
00:31:29
Heck.
00:31:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, joe, I like Joe .
00:31:30
Every time I see him he's, he's fun to talk to.
00:31:32
I'm glad he did good.
00:31:34
And you know the targets.
00:31:36
I mean you got to think when you're setting three main event
00:31:37
courses, you know.
00:31:39
I mean there's only so many targets you can throw.
00:31:42
You know what I'm saying.
00:31:44
I mean it's.
00:31:44
I can understand where maybe some repetitiveness happens.
00:31:49
You know that's, that's that's cool.
00:31:51
I mean so uh interesting.
00:31:54
You shot 60.
00:31:56
You talked about the DT 11, um, and Brandon shot 59.
00:32:03
So yes, it sounds like you did pretty good on that one.
00:32:05
But anyway, you finished master , master, third, m3 and uh, then
00:32:10
you got to go to the super final and I mean, I know you
00:32:14
fairly well enough that you're just a, you're one of them, good
00:32:18
old boys.
00:32:19
Speaker 3: You know how did it feel to know that you're about
00:32:22
to go to a super final world championship well, um, to be
00:32:30
honest with you, justin, um, I had a couple people come watch
00:32:33
me shoot the last couple stations on the 694 course, yeah
00:32:39
, and I noticed that they were watching me.
00:32:42
We had a long wait on my last station and I went up to them
00:32:48
and I think they were on score chaser and they were all
00:32:52
whispering, talking about the score and I walked over and they
00:32:56
all kind of just got quiet.
00:32:57
I said what is it?
00:32:58
They said we're just, we're just talking.
00:33:00
I said you're talking about something.
00:33:02
And y'all looking nervous.
00:33:03
They said well, why you're?
00:33:04
You're at where you need to be.
00:33:06
And I said well, hey, this is my last station.
00:33:09
I looked, it was Chip Welch.
00:33:11
I said Chip, where am I at?
00:33:13
He said I want to tell you, but then I don't.
00:33:16
I said well, I kind of need you to tell me.
00:33:18
And he said Wyatt, if you run this station, you're in.
00:33:24
If you drop one, you're still in.
00:33:26
If you drop one, you're still in.
00:33:26
If you drop all three, you have to go in a shoot off to get in.
00:33:31
And I looked down.
00:33:33
I said, well, no problem, I'm just gonna go run the station.
00:33:36
I ended up shooting two out of three.
00:33:38
So after I got off the station they were all you know, they
00:33:42
were all tearing that.
00:33:43
I got in and that's what I knew right then.
00:33:45
And there I was, in um, my dad.
00:33:49
He was a nervous wreck.
00:33:50
He smokes Marlboro Gold and I could tell he was looking at
00:33:58
scores because he's back there pacing back and forth and I
00:34:01
think he smoked two whole packs right then and there on one
00:34:03
station.
00:34:05
Speaker 2: But he didn't have no beer with him, did he?
00:34:08
Speaker 3: No God.
00:34:08
No he was, he was shooting.
00:34:09
I told him leave the alcohol in the truck I didn't know he was
00:34:14
shooting with you yep, he.
00:34:17
He said he wanted to participate and so we got him in.
00:34:22
But uh, yeah, I I could tell things were tight whenever I
00:34:28
look over and he's over there pacing back and forth and
00:34:31
smoking two whole packs of cigarettes.
00:34:32
That's funny.
00:34:33
I think he was more excited than anyone about it.
00:34:41
He was definitely more excited than I was because, like I said,
00:34:45
if you would have told me a week ago that why would you see
00:34:48
yourself in the super final, I would have said if you would
00:34:49
have told me a week ago that why would you see yourself in the
00:34:50
super final, I would have said, heck, no, I don't see that day
00:34:53
coming for a while.
00:34:57
But going into the shoot-off though I guess a lot of people
00:35:06
know me a little bit better through make-or-break shoot-offs
00:35:09
.
00:35:09
I guess a lot of people know me a little bit better through
00:35:10
make a break shoot offs.
00:35:11
Um, I am a make a break fanatic .
00:35:13
I love doing it, it's fun, um, but the super final shoot off
00:35:18
was definitely a different beast than a make a break shoot off.
00:35:24
Speaker 2: They were throwing all sevens, weren't they?
00:35:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, they, they were seven birds, all right.
00:35:32
Speaker 2: I tried to watch nick's video and you could see
00:35:33
some.
00:35:34
It's like you know, it's so hard to video that kind of stuff
00:35:36
, especially with the way nick does it, but he does a good job
00:35:39
with what he's got.
00:35:39
But you couldn't see most of them.
00:35:42
So what were they?
00:35:44
Just big, far targets ahead of me.
00:35:48
Speaker 3: Yep, there were some On the first stand.
00:35:52
We had probably a 50-yard kind of just out there.
00:36:01
It was a 90 maybe.
00:36:03
No, it was a standard.
00:36:05
The first one was a standard, it was about 50 yards.
00:36:08
It was just slow rising target.
00:36:12
And then the second bird was overhead tower.
00:36:15
That was on full spring.
00:36:17
So of course I get the further target and I hit all of it and
00:36:24
it took me to my last pair to finally figure out the lead that
00:36:28
it took for that overhead tower .
00:36:31
Um, I just kept letting the bird beat me and I never get enough
00:36:34
lead yeah so the second stand had a 90 millimeter going
00:36:41
straight up in the air and then falling right back down, 60
00:36:45
yards away most likely, and then it was forgot.
00:36:53
The other target on that stand.
00:36:55
But I struggled with the 90.
00:36:57
I kept trying to shoot it while it was still rising and when I
00:37:01
pulled the trigger it was still going past my shot.
00:37:03
So my last pair I said let it drop and let it fall, and I hit
00:37:09
it.
00:37:09
Then the last stand this is where I threw it all away.
00:37:15
Speaker 2: All right so if you'd have ran this last stand, where
00:37:17
would you have finished?
00:37:20
Speaker 3: If I would have ran the last one, I would have
00:37:24
finished.
00:37:24
I'm trying to do the math real quick.
00:37:28
Make sure I say this correctly there was nine shots.
00:37:33
On the last one I had a 13.
00:37:34
I would have gotten um.
00:37:37
I would have gotten second overall.
00:37:43
Speaker 2: Okay, All right.
00:37:44
So you know that, going into this, I'm sure at this at this
00:37:47
time, Yep, so well, I didn sure at this time, yep.
00:37:50
Speaker 3: Well, I didn't know necessarily, I would get second
00:37:52
overall.
00:37:52
I just knew that I would get a podium position if I did really
00:37:58
well on this stand.
00:37:59
Okay, and the first target was a Rabu Shondell, shondell, yep,
00:38:07
we get full use of the gun, so I wasn't necessarily as nervous.
00:38:11
Um then, the next uh pair that we had was a full spring right
00:38:18
to left uh crosser, dialed in, kept shooting in front of the
00:38:23
Sean Bell and I once I missed it twice back to back.
00:38:39
I kind of just something didn't go through my head and I ended
00:38:44
up losing both of the last two pairs and it dropped me down to
00:38:49
the last spot, which was master third.
00:38:53
Wow, and that's the one on the video that Brandon got up there
00:38:57
and shot a hundred miles an hour yes, sir, he, uh, when he gets
00:39:05
to going and he has a crowd that you know, that can vibe with
00:39:10
him, that can get on his level of energy.
00:39:12
I think it was like at first it started with one guy and then
00:39:17
all of a sudden, after like the second pair, when he, he was
00:39:20
loading the gun and he, and before he even closed it, he, he
00:39:23
was calling pull and you know they just said, yeah, brandon,
00:39:26
keep going.
00:39:28
Speaker 2: I heard that he just kept speeding up.
00:39:31
Speaker 3: Yep, and once he was on he was on and you know I'm
00:39:36
proud of him.
00:39:37
You know he's done it all, I believe, except for go win it
00:39:40
overseas.
00:39:41
But yeah, he turned it on and I wish I was there on that same
00:39:50
level he was, but I think he was on a mission.
00:39:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah it's.
00:39:54
Uh, I'm proud.
00:39:56
All y'all at the top.
00:39:57
I mean you know david.
00:39:59
I mean you don't see david at many shoots anymore.
00:40:02
I saw him more this year than I have you know finished runner
00:40:05
up and Turner.
00:40:06
I mean I said this a while back that Turner was going to be a
00:40:10
problem.
00:40:12
And here he is, and you know you got Jasper and and, and you,
00:40:16
and I mean Christopher Keller, I mean you got a bunch of guys up
00:40:19
there that are.
00:40:19
You know I'm just proud of everybody that that finished and
00:40:22
and and did well, so it's, and I know you're, you're proud of
00:40:25
yourself.
00:40:26
Speaker 3: I mean that's, that's , that's saying something right
00:40:29
there, why you know that yes, sir, yes sir, I think I'm just
00:40:34
really proud that the majority of us were from the southeast
00:40:39
region of the united states, you know yeah, I always said that
00:40:42
the southeast region of the united states was your best.
00:40:44
Yeah, I always said that the Southeast reason in the United
00:40:45
States was your best region to have competition.
00:40:47
Speaker 2: So we'll take, we'll take.
00:40:48
Let's see the tops.
00:40:49
Uh, let's take from uh, HOA down that master to M five.
00:40:54
Okay, so you got.
00:40:56
You got Brandon, Southeast, Turner, Southeast Jasper,
00:40:59
Southeast you, Southeast, Zach and Wendell, both Southeast.
00:41:02
So one, two, so six, six of you are from Tennessee, southeast
00:41:09
All right, chris, chris Keller.
00:41:10
So that's seven.
00:41:11
So David's the only one in that whole group that's from the
00:41:15
North.
00:41:17
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
00:41:17
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
00:41:18
I didn't even think about that when you said that.
00:41:22
Speaker 3: I, we were really proud.
00:41:23
Hey, I'm.
00:41:25
I'm proud that.
00:41:26
I'm proud that three out of well, technically you got
00:41:30
Wendell.
00:41:30
He's down in gay Georgia, but Zach me, Jasper Brandon, we're
00:41:37
all Georgia.
00:41:38
I was proud of that as well.
00:41:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty neat.
00:41:43
Out of 1 shooters.
00:41:44
I was proud of that as well.
00:41:45
Yeah, yeah, that's, that's pretty neat, you know, out of uh
00:41:46
, 1 shooters.
00:41:47
I mean it's saying something you know as far as, as far as
00:41:53
the shoots concerned and overall , I mean it was, I'm sure it was
00:41:55
ran right.
00:41:56
You know you're up in Eminem.
00:41:59
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, I will say they did run the world.
00:42:04
That was my first world, by the way.
00:42:05
They ran it really well that many shooters, some gun clubs,
00:42:12
wouldn't even have the thought of running that size of a
00:42:17
tournament, but they ran it really well.
00:42:21
I didn't hear no problems when it came to you know traffic or
00:42:28
you know parking or whatsoever Hospitality was great.
00:42:33
I always enjoyed the Italian food up there in that area.
00:42:36
So you know me and you, we're big guys.
00:42:41
So our main objective sometimes is food.
00:42:44
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and I'm going to tell you something.
00:42:46
If you want me to shoot, good, put a steak at the end of it.
00:42:49
Yes, sir, you got that 100% correct, I'm either going to
00:42:53
shoot good or fast and shoot bad , one of the two.
00:42:55
I'm going to get to that steak.
00:42:56
You know what I mean.
00:42:58
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
00:43:01
Speaker 2: So you're back.
00:43:01
What's next for you?
00:43:03
What are you planning on going?
00:43:04
Where are you going next?
00:43:05
Shoot once, that's a good question.
00:43:11
Speaker 3: I recently had to drop a couple of events.
00:43:14
These next couple weeks have work come up?
00:43:18
You know, I would love, you know, to focus more on shooting,
00:43:23
but you know, sometimes we got to pay the bills and so I have
00:43:28
work and where do you work?
00:43:30
But I think I work with Craig Graham with AgriMed
00:43:35
International.
00:43:36
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, good, Didn't he?
00:43:40
He was some sort of sponsor up there.
00:43:42
I think he sponsored some.
00:43:43
I saw his name.
00:43:44
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, he uh, he was a water sponsor for the
00:43:48
water hospitality.
00:43:51
Speaker 2: Hey, sometimes that's all you can get.
00:43:53
You know, I tried to.
00:43:54
I tried to call one time on a sponsorship for a company and
00:43:57
they said you can have the shuttle cart.
00:43:58
So well, okay, get what you can get.
00:44:02
So you're going to US Open, though I know that you got to be
00:44:07
.
00:44:09
Speaker 3: The plan is to go to US Open.
00:44:11
Yes, sir, good, I've actually been to Northbrook once.
00:44:14
It's a beautiful gun club.
00:44:16
Speaker 2: It is.
00:44:19
Speaker 3: So it's pretty unique .
00:44:19
I like the rolling hills they have.
00:44:21
Speaker 2: You know, and I say this, people that listen to this
00:44:24
show will know this, but I've been shooting for a minute, been
00:44:30
podcasting for a minute.
00:44:31
I've never been to Eminem.
00:44:35
Really yeah, I keep saying I'm going to go, that's the only
00:44:37
place I really want to go.
00:44:38
You know I don't know that there's another place that I
00:44:44
really want to go.
00:44:45
I'd like to go to EJ overseas, but I really want to go to them.
00:44:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe we can go to World next year at EJ, me
00:44:50
and you.
00:44:50
Well, I will say this Anthony does have a beautiful gun club.
00:44:53
He has a course for every terrain.
00:44:58
Really, to be honest with you, I think my most favorite course
00:45:03
is a course that you know they're not even throwing no
00:45:06
targets, except for the practice course.
00:45:08
The practice course is over the marsh with all the ducks.
00:45:12
Speaker 2: So you had a good time.
00:45:13
Sum it all up you had a good time, I guess.
00:45:16
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, that was my second time being at M&M and he
00:45:21
hadn't disappointed.
00:45:22
You know there can always be.
00:45:23
You know you can always try to go towards perfection, you can
00:45:27
always try to get better, but he's about got it wrapped up.
00:45:33
He's as good as he can get.
00:45:34
Yeah, he's got it, he's almost got it there.
00:45:39
Speaker 2: Well, good, I'm glad you did.
00:45:40
Well, you know I know your dad, your mom's proud, and Trey and
00:45:45
all them.
00:45:45
You know I'm glad you did.
00:45:48
Well, I know your dad, your mom's proud, and Trey and all
00:45:51
them.
00:45:51
I'm glad, shells, he does help me out with that.
00:46:07
Speaker 3: I've been Shooting BMP, f2, mops, 1300 feet per
00:46:11
second.
00:46:11
I don't have a preference on 7.5 or 8.
00:46:15
You know that part don't bother me, but I have been shooting
00:46:19
them for a while.
00:46:20
But you know who can go wrong with a good old Winchester
00:46:25
double a.
00:46:26
Speaker 2: You know, super handy yeah that's right yeah that's
00:46:29
right, but you know, I didn't know, I didn't know what.
00:46:32
Uh, I've never even asked you that.
00:46:35
Speaker 3: So that if I this is kind of a gray area for me,
00:46:42
cause you know I, I say I prefer a area for me because you know
00:46:44
I, I say I prefer a certain shell, you know.
00:46:46
But I really, to be honest with you, no matter if you give me a
00:46:51
certain shell, I will say it does take me a couple practice
00:46:55
shots or heck, even sometimes it takes me a month to make sure
00:46:58
that I know that I'm in rhythm with the shell.
00:47:02
Because, you know, some people say, oh, I can't tell a
00:47:05
difference between the 1300 feet per second to a 1250 or a 1235,
00:47:10
whatever you name.
00:47:11
But really your body reacts with it different and it does
00:47:17
adjust.
00:47:18
Speaker 2: Yeah Well, I guess you're good at adjusting, yes
00:47:24
sir.
00:47:25
Speaker 3: But other than that, though, I shoot a K80.
00:47:29
A long time ago I was shooting Browning Satoris, but whenever
00:47:36
my shooting game increased I needed a more reliable gun
00:47:44
because I was constantly putting in parts and fixing my Satoris
00:47:49
and as many rounds as I was putting through because that's
00:47:53
when I was going through collegiate and going through
00:47:55
NSCA and just my shooting increased like 100% percent and
00:48:06
so, um, I was kind of pushed towards the k80 and ever since I
00:48:08
got it I've been happy.
00:48:08
Ever since I've my students definitely increased ever since
00:48:10
I got it well, good, what.
00:48:14
Speaker 2: This is where we wrap it up.
00:48:15
Big dog, I could do a whole nother episode with you and ask
00:48:18
you questions that you haven't, we haven't even talked about,
00:48:21
but I wanted to.
00:48:22
I wanted to go over what we went over.
00:48:25
I mean, you know the world championship you're doing as
00:48:28
well as you have.
00:48:29
I appreciate you taking some time with me and talking about
00:48:33
these things.
00:48:33
Congratulations on as well as you did.
00:48:36
It's not stopping here.
00:48:40
I mean, you know that.
00:48:41
So anybody you want to thank, I really enjoyed it Good.
00:48:45
Speaker 3: I really just want to thank for my family and Trey
00:48:52
and everybody that's helped me and supported me along the way.
00:48:55
I'm not like everybody else, having a buttload of sponsors to
00:49:00
help me get there.
00:49:01
So me and my family and Trey, you know they're the ones that
00:49:06
helped me get to where I am, so I all the credit goes to them
00:49:09
and you know and I, other than that, I just enjoyed you know
00:49:15
shooting and I always will, and hopefully we can continue going
00:49:19
up from here.
00:49:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right.
00:49:21
Well, going up from here?
00:49:24
Yeah, that's right, all right, thank you, buddy.
00:49:25
I'll see you at the next one.
00:49:26
I don't know which one that'll be.
00:49:27
I'm sure I'll be at one that you're at.
00:49:28
So, uh, come holler at me will do justin.
00:49:30
Thank you, all right, buddy, we'll see you.
00:49:43
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.