Story of the First annual? Adopt a skeet shooter weekend…
Stuart Fairbank has shot his way to a lot of records in his long and prosperous carrier, too many awards and titles to list here…literally. But, I'm hoping he will be remembered for a different contribution…The Stu Fairbank, adopt a skeet shooter weekend! I had the privilege of being on the receiving end of what I hope will come to be an annual event.
As you might be aware this started when Stu posted here on Shotgun World, that he was looking for some brave shooters to be on his squad for the Toni Ann Rogers shoot in San Antonio. A couple of us jumped at the offer…MRPower, Bust'em and me…Bel_dad were first in line and boy, was that our lucky day. When I signed up to shoot with Stu, I had no idea what I was getting into. As far as I knew I was just gonn'a shoot with a couple of fellas' from Shotgun World for the weekend…WRONG. I had the privilege of shooting with some first rate skeeters, and for my money, some world class people, people I have stood on the sidelines to watch shoot, I found myself standing in a squad line with, and what an education.
Stuart took us in like long lost cousins, sharing his knowledge of the game, his friends, and his sense of humor! This is a truly funny man, who knows how to enjoy life as well as he knows how to shoot skeet. I spent the entire weekend soaking up as much as I could, of both the "tricks" of the game, and of the philosophy of the "skeet warrior."
The line up looked like this…Lead off was Stuart Fairbank, and a smoother shooter you will seldom see.
Number two, Bob. If you have ever been to New England, you know someone just like Bob… Funny, smart, and a very aggressive skeet shooter, knows every great restraunt from Main to Burbank…
Number three…I'm so glad MRPower was along…Here is a guy who is dedicated to skeet, and who will I'm sure, be setting records of his own in the very near future.
Me, Bel_dad shooting in the fourth slot.
Bust'em was our tail gunner, and the guy we all cheered for.
I wasn't able to be there Friday, for doubles, but finally managed to show for Saturday's 12g. Stu shot 100…Bob was right behind him with another 100. MR uncharisticly dropped one or two…Me…Hmmm what can I say…sun was on my barrel??? No…it was cloudy well … anyway, I didn't shoot all that badly for the first 3 boxes, but in the 4th began a slide that would see me pass Mexico before I found bottom somewhere past the dark regions of the 28guage. First a little miss…then another, and another, like a snowball rolling down hill…a very large hill I might add. Before it was over, I managed to miss High 1's H2's, L2….you get the picture, even managed to miss L7's, H7's…oh and to be a equal opportunity fumbler…H8 and L8…. If there had been a H/L 9, I think I would have missed those too, thank you Mss. Hurrlbutt!
By the end of the day I was able to get my bruised, scraped chin up off the pavement long enough to watch Stuart come up just short in his quest for 12 gauge champ.
Bust'em was the mirror image of me…started off cold and got better and better and better, leaving me as the only one on the field who might have scored higher if I had loaded my shells with sand.
Sunday…How do you head back on the field with some of the best in the game today when you are shooting like a…swamp rat??? Well, Stuart and Bob had given me some tips, and MR managed to raise my sagging spirits, Bust'em plied me with liquor… so when Sunday dawned… back I went, bearing "gifts" from all my squad mates…well fed, well plied with liquor and holding in my head, "secret tips known only by a few rare shooters", least that's what Stuart and Bob told me…so off I went to do battle with the "demons who live at center field."
I don't know if it was the new confidence from MR, the "secret tips" from Stuart and Bob, or the liquor from Bust'em…but something clicked, and I began to hit. Nothing to write home about, still throwing my gun at L6 and H2 might have earned me a couple more birds, but at least I was out of the nuclear waste of a very, very bad day, and words can not convey how relieved I was to be out of that dark pit.
Later that evening, back on the center fields, I had the privilege of watching MR and Stuart compete in the 20g finals. A thrill I will remember for a long, long time.
So now what…. I hope Stuart has started something… People like me, in the lower ranks, the D, E, F, G, Z … class shooter in their wildest dreams would never get a chance to shoot with the top shooters because the vast majority, if not all, have been on squads with the same folks for 10-20 or more years…. There is no room for new people on their squads…I truly hope Stuart has started something… a kind of, "adopt a shooter" thing.
We all are looking for new shooters to take up our addiction…but when they get there, unless they have unlimited talent like…MR... they stay on the fringes of skeet, shooting small shoots, or if they ever dare to shoot a big shoot, they would only see the likes of the top shooters at the shoot off at the end of the day, that is, if the beer didn't run out, and they stayed around long enough.
Stuart took a chance, invited people, fellow shooters he had never even met before, to join him on the "inside" of skeet. I think it worked out great! We all got along very well…no one, even me, managed to disrupt the squad… I hope this can continue, I hope other top level shooters will take a chance… pick a shoot, one in the beginning of the year, or one in the end of the year when you are not going to be where you hoped you would be, and invite some new shooters into your squad. You will be giving more than you would ever suspect. I can honestly say, shooting with Stuart, Bob, MR, Bust'em, will be a memory I will cherish for a long, long time.
Best to all,
Bel_dad
Stuart Fairbank has shot his way to a lot of records in his long and prosperous carrier, too many awards and titles to list here…literally. But, I'm hoping he will be remembered for a different contribution…The Stu Fairbank, adopt a skeet shooter weekend! I had the privilege of being on the receiving end of what I hope will come to be an annual event.
As you might be aware this started when Stu posted here on Shotgun World, that he was looking for some brave shooters to be on his squad for the Toni Ann Rogers shoot in San Antonio. A couple of us jumped at the offer…MRPower, Bust'em and me…Bel_dad were first in line and boy, was that our lucky day. When I signed up to shoot with Stu, I had no idea what I was getting into. As far as I knew I was just gonn'a shoot with a couple of fellas' from Shotgun World for the weekend…WRONG. I had the privilege of shooting with some first rate skeeters, and for my money, some world class people, people I have stood on the sidelines to watch shoot, I found myself standing in a squad line with, and what an education.
Stuart took us in like long lost cousins, sharing his knowledge of the game, his friends, and his sense of humor! This is a truly funny man, who knows how to enjoy life as well as he knows how to shoot skeet. I spent the entire weekend soaking up as much as I could, of both the "tricks" of the game, and of the philosophy of the "skeet warrior."
The line up looked like this…Lead off was Stuart Fairbank, and a smoother shooter you will seldom see.
Number two, Bob. If you have ever been to New England, you know someone just like Bob… Funny, smart, and a very aggressive skeet shooter, knows every great restraunt from Main to Burbank…
Number three…I'm so glad MRPower was along…Here is a guy who is dedicated to skeet, and who will I'm sure, be setting records of his own in the very near future.
Me, Bel_dad shooting in the fourth slot.
Bust'em was our tail gunner, and the guy we all cheered for.
I wasn't able to be there Friday, for doubles, but finally managed to show for Saturday's 12g. Stu shot 100…Bob was right behind him with another 100. MR uncharisticly dropped one or two…Me…Hmmm what can I say…sun was on my barrel??? No…it was cloudy well … anyway, I didn't shoot all that badly for the first 3 boxes, but in the 4th began a slide that would see me pass Mexico before I found bottom somewhere past the dark regions of the 28guage. First a little miss…then another, and another, like a snowball rolling down hill…a very large hill I might add. Before it was over, I managed to miss High 1's H2's, L2….you get the picture, even managed to miss L7's, H7's…oh and to be a equal opportunity fumbler…H8 and L8…. If there had been a H/L 9, I think I would have missed those too, thank you Mss. Hurrlbutt!
By the end of the day I was able to get my bruised, scraped chin up off the pavement long enough to watch Stuart come up just short in his quest for 12 gauge champ.
Bust'em was the mirror image of me…started off cold and got better and better and better, leaving me as the only one on the field who might have scored higher if I had loaded my shells with sand.
Sunday…How do you head back on the field with some of the best in the game today when you are shooting like a…swamp rat??? Well, Stuart and Bob had given me some tips, and MR managed to raise my sagging spirits, Bust'em plied me with liquor… so when Sunday dawned… back I went, bearing "gifts" from all my squad mates…well fed, well plied with liquor and holding in my head, "secret tips known only by a few rare shooters", least that's what Stuart and Bob told me…so off I went to do battle with the "demons who live at center field."
I don't know if it was the new confidence from MR, the "secret tips" from Stuart and Bob, or the liquor from Bust'em…but something clicked, and I began to hit. Nothing to write home about, still throwing my gun at L6 and H2 might have earned me a couple more birds, but at least I was out of the nuclear waste of a very, very bad day, and words can not convey how relieved I was to be out of that dark pit.
Later that evening, back on the center fields, I had the privilege of watching MR and Stuart compete in the 20g finals. A thrill I will remember for a long, long time.
So now what…. I hope Stuart has started something… People like me, in the lower ranks, the D, E, F, G, Z … class shooter in their wildest dreams would never get a chance to shoot with the top shooters because the vast majority, if not all, have been on squads with the same folks for 10-20 or more years…. There is no room for new people on their squads…I truly hope Stuart has started something… a kind of, "adopt a shooter" thing.
We all are looking for new shooters to take up our addiction…but when they get there, unless they have unlimited talent like…MR... they stay on the fringes of skeet, shooting small shoots, or if they ever dare to shoot a big shoot, they would only see the likes of the top shooters at the shoot off at the end of the day, that is, if the beer didn't run out, and they stayed around long enough.
Stuart took a chance, invited people, fellow shooters he had never even met before, to join him on the "inside" of skeet. I think it worked out great! We all got along very well…no one, even me, managed to disrupt the squad… I hope this can continue, I hope other top level shooters will take a chance… pick a shoot, one in the beginning of the year, or one in the end of the year when you are not going to be where you hoped you would be, and invite some new shooters into your squad. You will be giving more than you would ever suspect. I can honestly say, shooting with Stuart, Bob, MR, Bust'em, will be a memory I will cherish for a long, long time.
Best to all,
Bel_dad