Shooting
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WAGGA'S reputation for being the centre of shooting in the country has been enhanced after hosting the "best" National Trap Championships at the National Shooting Ground last week.
Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) executive officer Tony Turner was thrilled with how the nine-day event was perceived by the competitors which numbered over 500.
"It was a fantastic event actually and probably our best actually," Turner said.
"The whole setup of the ground worked at treat so are very pleased."
The Riverina's shooters also enjoyed success at the titles with Wagga Gun Club member Ted Hutcheon claiming national handicap honours.
The Coolamon man successfully hit all of his 115 targets to claim the title from Townsville's Ben Beazley.
Deniliquin's Arthur Willett finished fourth after missing his 94th target.
Coleambally youngster Andrew Evans enjoyed success in the sub-junior category winning the double barrel national championship and finished second in the single barrel and double rise.
Hay's Brian Doyle won the national double rise title with Young's Kate Schiller won the ladies single barrel and double rise titles.
Wagga has secured the next three national championships and the world championships in 2018 and Turner believes further developments will be made to the facility off Tasman Road in the coming years.
When the ACTA first bought the grounds in 2000 there were four traps and now competitors can utilise 18 traps with the association looking to develop a new five-year plan to develop the grounds and the sport further.
Rain throughout the week wasn't enough to dampen the experience of the competitors - even though the wet weather made life more difficult for the hundreds of people camping at the grounds.
"Inclement weather was a bit of an issue as far as camping goes but the event itself went off fantastically and we are very pleased," Turner said.
"It is an outdoor sport and they are used to those sort of conditions and they get to shoot in adverse conditions quite a lot and it didn't really affect them and we still ended up with near record entries."
There were over 3000 entries in the six events throughout the week with more in the pre-nationals event.
One of the highlights was the double barrel event with Broken Hill's Daryn Nicholls needing to hit 1031 targets to see off Echuca's Stephen Atkins.
Young guns Mitchell Iles and Adam Bylsma were also in good form throughout the end with Bylsma shooting an Australian record in the double rise hitting 95 targets.