Shooter selected for NZ team
Eltham man Craig Short has been selected for the MacIntosh New Zealand Veteran Clay Target Shooting Team.
The team is competing against nine other countries in a postal shoot and Craig was picked at the New Zealand Clay Target Nationals at the start of March in Christchurch.
Clay target shooting, also known as clay pigeon shooting, is the sport of shooting a firearm at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay targets.
The wider MacIntosh team is also made up of junior, super veterans and ladies sections.
Craig says once all of the competitors from each on the nine countries have done their shoots, the results will be sent to a local body and tallied to see who comes where. During the nationals, each person had to shoot 100 targets and Craig scored 100. It is his second year in a row to be in the team and he was also selected for the Open MacIntosh team 11 years ago.
“This year was pretty special because I got 100 whereas the other times I have got 99 out of
100,” Craig says.
Craig has been shooting since
1980 but had 16 years off after getting married and having kids. He got back into it around 2000 and is part of the Whanganui Clay Target Club.
“I like the challenge of not missing because they are pretty easy to miss.”
Craig says it is a popular sport but probably less so than it was 30 years ago. There are a lot of young shooters coming through, however, and an interschool competition encourages young people into the sport as coaching is available. Craig says lots of gear is needed for the sport — including safety glasses and a trap gun which can cost between $5000 and $100,000 to buy.
“It’s a really great sport to be part of and a good challenge.”