Who We Are

Our extreme gratitude goes out to this years three retiring Directors.  Bob McLendon, Jim Bradbury and Pat Manyon completed their terms of service on May 31, 2020 with the appointment of the three new Directors.  Normally, we would have the elections during our state shoot, but since we were forced to cancel the shoot, the Board unanimously decided to move forward with the appointments.  

Bob McLendon was key in ensuring our state shoot program event details were accurate which helped us run a smooth shoot each year.  Also, in his spare time, he engraved the yearly high average pins! Thank you Bob for all of your hard work and advice!!

Jim Bradbury served as Secretary, which is an extremely time consuming job.  Jim kept all the paperwork flowing, forms and letters straightened out, and the Washington clubs on track.  

His years of service are greatly appreciated. 

Pat Manyon graciously stepped in on a moments notice and served this past year, when fellow director, Doug Allington was forced to resign due to illness.  Pat's experience with Board business was greatly appreciated by everyone.

Thank you gentlemen for a job well done!

The WSPITA Board of Directors

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Dear WSPITA Members,

      The WSPITA Board of Directors met on May 31, 2020 to discuss the possibility of holding the 2020 Washington State Shoot. There were several factors that came into play when making this difficult decision: 

      The COVID-19 event is a very complicated situation, one that continues to change daily. Many of our shooters are in the “at-risk” group, gathering limits continue to fluctuate as things change, and the difficulty in monitoring the social distancing requirements are staggering.  As it is, we won’t even know if we will be in Phase 4 by July 8, which could allow us to proceed. 

      We greatly appreciate all of our shooters and their families’ support we’ve received this year, and look forward to the 2021 State Shoot in Evergreen next year. This is an unprecedented time for us all and as much as we would love to hold the annual shoot this year, the Board of Directors felt is was simply not worth the risk to the shooter’s health. 

      That said, the 2020 Washington State Shoot has been cancelled. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by the coronavirus.  Hopefully, things will soon be back to normal and we will all be back out shooting and having fun.

      If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at thodges3534@gmail.com or at (360) 225-2172.

Thank you,

Tim Hodges

WSPITA President

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  (Letter from Jennifer Carter, PITA President, posted on PITA website.)

Attention Shooters! The PITA Executive Committee has decided that, due to the lack of income and participants, we will not be awarding HOA pins for the Summer Multi-Plex Season. This is a difficult decision, and it may seem like a small expense, but we are in the unenviable position of cutting every expense we can. In addition, many clubs are unable to host a Multi-Plex due to local restrictions. This makes High Over All more like High over Some.

We hope that you continue to participate in and enjoy the Multi-Plex this summer and we hope that this is just a temporary change. 

Please check with your local club or visit www.shootpita.com for further details.  

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Dear Members,

The PITA Executive Committee has decided that we will not have a Grand Pacific in 2020.  As I have stated many times, the health and safety of our membership is our No. 1 priority and that was one of the factors that led us to this decision:

A significant percentage of our membership is in the “at-risk” age group for COVID-19

As shoots have been canceled, postponed and rescheduled, we see that our clubs are doing everything they can to recoup some of the losses they have experienced this year.  The Grand Pacific takes one whole week out of the shoot calendar and we don’t want to take up days that could be used, by clubs, for weekend shoots, and Multiplex.

The further we get into late summer and early fall, we have hunting seasons and (hopefully) the start of a new school year to contend with. This affects our junior shooters’ ability to attend and the club’s ability to obtain trap help.

Throwing a Grand Pacific this year, even an abbreviated version, would cost more than we are likely to bring in.  Any money we spend holding an event of this caliber, would have to be deducted from what we are able to spend to produce a Grand Pacific in 2021.

This is the first time, since 1945, that the PITA has not held a Grand Pacific and I want to assure you that your PITA Executive Committee did not make this historic decision without careful consideration.

Thank you for your understanding.  We all hope to see you out shooting again soon.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at daveandjencarter@hotmail.com or 503-931-4211.

Jennifer Carter, PITA President            

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Lynden Gun Club has rescheduled their shoot from June 27 to August 22!  

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The Wenatchee Gun Club Board recently voted to cancel the PITA shoot scheduled to be held on June 20- 21 at the Wenatchee Gun Club due to COVID-19.  

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Bellingham Gun Club's June 6th shoot has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 restrictions.  It will not be rescheduled.

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Black Diamond Gun Club's June 5 - 7 PITA shoot has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 restrictions.  It will not be rescheduled.

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  Please see the letter from the PITA Executive Committee:

Dear Members,

The PITA Executive committee met this past week and decided to change our Target Year back to November 1 through October 31.

As you may recall, a few years back, we changed the Target Year to September 1 through August 31.  The reason for that change was a request from one of our State Associations.  They were having difficulty getting a good date for their State Shoot and wanted to have more time in the late summer/early fall.  After much discussion, we made the change.

The change involved a significant amount of work for PITA staff to ensure that membership forms and shoot certificates were sent prior to the end of the new target year.  A time that also coincided with the Grand Pacific.  The change also moved our target year away from our fiscal year.  This also created more work for PITA staff and our Treasurer.  In the end, the state association who requested the change never made the move to another part of the year.

So, we're changing the Target Year back to November 1 through October 31.  Among the benefits, for the PITA, that I listed above this change will allow our members to have two additional paid months of membership in 2020 as your renewal will now be due on November 1.  This may also allow states and provinces to reschedule their 2020 championship events if restrictions are lifted and we're allowed to return to "regular" life.

This is just one of the issues upon which the PITA Executive Committee is working.  I will keep you updated as major decisions are made during this uncommon year.  

Jennifer Carter

PITA President

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During this down time, here's something constructive to do while watching those old Matlock reruns.

Keep in 'Shooting Shape'.  Now that your shotgun is all polished up, keep those arms toned up by practicing your gun lifts.  Practice lifting your gun about 50 times each session.  Before you know it, you'll be so strong! Then when you get back out on the line, you'll be ready for a marathon!!!

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 Here's something else to keep your spirits up.  There are trap shooting instructional videos that help fine tune your skills.  You can find links to several different videos produced by trap shooters and professionals  in your shooting magazines or on line.  Here's a few we found...

Here's a video by Leo Harrison III:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHxXZj9fPJk 

Here's a link for beginners:   http://gunblog.whittakerguns.com/how-to-train-your-trap-shooting-skills/ 

Shotgun Tips with Gil Ash is very helpful too:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOcxjSEDPmk