DU Ducks in the Desert National Shoot set for Las Vegas Target Setter

2629 Views 28 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Stuck-N-Kali, 3 mo ago

MartyFischer

I am pleased to announce that I will be setting the targets for the 2023 Ducks Unlimited Ducks in the Desert Western Continental Shoot at the Clark County Shooting Park in Las Vegas March 1-5. After setting many hundreds, if not thousands of targets at major shoots over the years, I had gotten away from tournament target setting to concentrate on my clay course design and shooting instruction business across the country. DU called and said they wanted me to set the Prelim, Main Event and Super Sporting targets for the event. I actually designed the two courses at Clark County so I am very familiar with the terrain and shooting station backgrounds there. Shooters can expect fun but challenging targets that will be sneaky technical. I guess they had some sun and target visibility issues at the shoot last year. That won't happen in 2023. Right now the entry is around 200 shooters and the event usually attracts around 500 shooters. Registration is open on ScoreChaser. Hope to see you guys in Las Vegas.... It will be FUN!

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JacksBack

· #9 · 5 mo ago

Been to this shoot a couple times. My two biggest issues were the uncertainty of weather -- we shot in the snow a few years back and it was heavy enough it challenged target visibility pretty significantly and then the next year it was brutal windy and cold; and then the cost of the host hotel was absurdly high for a sporting clay shoot at $240/nt IIRC. Add to that the cost of the shoot itself being high due to it being a fundraiser, and for me it got "too expensive for the high probability of bad weather."

That said, it's a great facility and if it weren't for the above I would already be registered just to shoot Marty's targets! So now I'm watching the weather and will wait to decide until it's just a few weeks out. Fingers crossed

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JacksBack

· #12 · 5 mo ago

MartyFischer said:
Planning bring some of my South Georgia weather to Vegas for the DU Shoot.... fingers crossed. Have spoken with multiple folks at Clark County and the plan is to have both orange and black targets to maximize target visibility on birds thrown close to the ground as well as those thrown against a sky background. No green or pink targets. With some luck maybe the weather will cooperate this year. We'll give shooters some fun stuff to shoot at. Don't worry guys, the targets will not all be fluffy and there will be enough good ones to keep you challenged and entertained.

I'm watching the weather Marty

I would like to ask what you anticipate setting the course HOA score to be, assuming several M class shooters are present? (I do understand you need to keep it fun for the duck hunters, and I know this combination of clay shooters creates the worst situation for professional target setters...)

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JacksBack

· #14 · 5 mo ago

Thanks for answering Marty. I get all your disclaimers and feel 95-98 is probably the ideal target for that shoot, offering something for everyone. I am a lowly old mid-level Master so have no expectations about winning it, but wanted to confirm it wasn't going to be skeet in the desert. Like I said above, I will be watching the weather.

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JacksBack

· #19 · 3 mo ago

https://app.scorechaser.com/tournament-OJG0JNNMT0KXF3

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JacksBack

· #24 · 3 mo ago

Bdog nailed it. Would have enjoyed shooting Marty’s targets. But like him I’ve been burned by bad weather twice so am cautious. If it were two weeks later like it used to be several years back, weather was almost always better. Weather is what kept me away this year. I won’t go this time of year now unless the 10-day is promising, and do not like the payment/cancellation policy, which combined means I’m going to take the chance on registering last minute. Fortunately I can book my hotel well in advance and cancel that easily.

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JacksBack

· #28 · 3 mo ago

Gunsite Guy said:
After typing above, I recalled that the DU 2024 is immediately after the Western regional in March.

Might have to reconsider...

s/f Steve

IIRC, this is the week they USED to throw it, and it was MUCH better timing weather wise. I suspect they've learned their lesson trying the earlier date and having relatively miserable shooting weather the past 3 of 4 years... Also makes it a nice tag-on shoot for those of us that feel like hanging around a few extra days and hitting both

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