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The July issue of Clay Target Nation is packed full of tips and tactics that will help you find more success and have more fun on the sporting clays course or the skeet field this season. Plus, we’ve got plenty of event coverage as the shooting gets hot this summer.

In our Training Tips columns, you’ll find some helpful insight from Todd Bender about letting complacency sneak into your skeet game, and Anthony Matarese Jr. explores why consistency seems so elusive for some shooters.

Spring and summer have been packed with events, and we have coverage of the Krieghoff Masters, the Armed Services Skeet Championships, the Northeast Regional, the Briley Blue Goose and the Texas State Skeet Championships.

Instructor Peyton Higgison has some advice about connecting with the target in his article about letting “the other guy” shoot, while Dr. Richard Colo spells out what you should tell (and ask) your eye doctor at your next appointment to make sure your vision is optimized for shooting. John Shima explores the gap between your performance and your potential in his “Close Your Capability Gap” article. And don’t miss our article about distractions, where top sporting clays shooters share how they deal with distractions in the game — especially relevant as media coverage and competitive pressure continue to grow around the Pro Squad shooters at the National Championship.

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2021 World Skeet Championships HOA winners, left to right: Steven Wood, third; Houston Deshotels, champion; and Taylor Nicosia, runner-up

The NSSA congratulates Houston Deshotels, who won both HOA and HAA at the 2021 World Skeet Championships, held October 4-8 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.

Deshotels was perfect going into Friday’s .410 bore event, where he dropped only one target to finish the World Skeet Championships with a score of 449. Taylor Nicosia, who had dropped a target earlier in the week in the 28-gauge event, shot 100 straight in the .410 to tie Deshotels at 449 for HOA. Deshotels was the victor in the shoot-off, giving him his first HOA World Skeet Championship. He was also Triple-Sub Champion. Nicosia finished as HOA runner-up and Lady Champion. She also won Lady Champion in the Wayne Mayes Championship event, Lady runner-up in the 20-gauge and the .410, and Lady third in the 28-gauge and doubles.

Steven Wood, Cooper Oliver and Dessislav Ivanov battled it out in a shoot-off of 447s for the third spot on the HOA podium; Ivanov went out first and finished AAA1. Oliver went out next, finishing AA1, which left Wood as HOA third. Other class winners were Katie Hunt, A1; Tim Robinson, B1; Katie Lackey, C1; Michael Rykaczewski Sr., D1; and Steve Scales, E1. Katherine Adams was Lady runner-up, and Lauren Burge was Lady third.

With a score of 549, Deshotels was also HAA Champion, with Nicosia runner-up (547) and Ivanov third (546).

Also winning World Championships were Josh Poole, doubles and .410 bore; Robert Hicklin, 12-gauge; Michael Schmidt, 20-gauge; and Ryan Smithart, 28-gauge.

The previous weekend, at the Mini World, HOA winners included Alessandro Vitale, champion; Mike Woolard, runner-up; and Riley Chaddock, third. Vitale was also HAA Champion. Taylor Nicosia won doubles, Edward Smith won the 12-gauge, Michael Rykaczewski Jr. won the 20-gauge, and Josh Poole won the .410 bore. Wayne Mayes Championship winners were Ivanov, champion; Paul Newman, runner-up; and Nicosia, third.

This Month In Clay Target Nation

Houston Deshotels Wins HOA at 2021 World Skeet Championships

Target Talk

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Sporting Clays

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