Shooter just misses
You wouldn’t want to be a clay target when farmer Isaac Billington is around with a shotgun.
The Putaruru 18- year- old took out second place in the New Zealand Young Farmers Gun City Clay Target shooting final held in Christchurch.
He said he was pipped of first place by two points to fellow Waikato shooter Jeff Bensen.
The inaugural event was a hit with six different regions sending shooters down to the grand final.
But Billington said the leadup was just as good with the regional Waikato/Bay of Plenty competition hosted by the Putaruru Gun Club on June 7.
The event was open to all young farmer members.
Billington put on an impressive display on his home turf, taking out first place in front of Bensen.
He said he has been shooting targets for about four years.
‘‘I first started duck shooting with my Dad and he said, ‘if you want to hit some ducks you might as well get good’. It just ran away from there.’’
He said both him and his sister showed natural talent and so when the young farmers opportunity came along he grabbed at it.
President Royce Nola, who trains alongside Billington, said there were about 38 entries in the regional heats, a pretty impressive effort for the debuting hosts.
Clay target shooting will now be an annual event at both the regional and national levels and Nola hopes Putaruru will once again host the area competition.
He said the Putaruru Gun Club, with its great facilities and great location in the heart of the region, is the ideal spot.