On the weekend of April 30th- May 1st 2011, Melbourne Gun Club once again hosted their annual skeet shoot, the 2 Day Skeet Bonanza. 56 shooters from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia made their way to Melbourne to compete in one of the premier skeet shoots in the country. With the Skeet Nationals coming up in mid May, the Melbourne Gun Club Skeet Bonanza has become a “must attend” for many skeet shooters as a fantastic lead up to the skeet calendars’ biggest event. With the Melbourne weather predicted to be uncharacteristically good, everyone was abuzz with anticipation of the two days great shooting ahead.

The first event of the Saturday was a 50 target trophy. Conditions were perfect, and both Leigh Roberts and Eddy Elder took advantage, posting the first 50’s of the shoot. As there were no overalls, both took their respective grades. Trevor O’Connell and Peter Finn both shot 49’s in B grade, and after a brief shoot off, Trevor took out 1st. C grade went unopposed to Tom Laber with a fabulous 47.

With the first event concluded, more than one shooter took advantage of the massage tent that was set up for the competitors benefit. By this stage, after a number of explanations, everyone seemed to be mostly informed of how a Calcutta worked, and the shooters were happy to fork out their hard earned to buy some raffle tickets, in the hopes of drawing a shooter later in the evening!

Event 2 was another 50 target trophy. With the sunshine and little wind around, everyone was excited to get out there and smash some more targets. After everyone had shot the 2 rounds, Leigh Roberts, Lorraine Hughes, Blake Slater and Hayden Mountjoy had all shot possibles. As all four of these shooters are in AA, a shoot off was required. A few pairs later, Blake Slater came out on top to take AA. Danny Sajn shot a lovely 49 which gave him A grade, while Colin Finn followed in his Dad’s earlier footsteps to shoot a 49 and win B grade. Continuing with his earlier form, Don Badewitz shot a 46 to come out on top in C grade.

After a big days shooting, everyone headed into the clubrooms to enjoy a few beverages and the start of the Calcutta. With everyone now an expert on how it all worked, it wasn’t long before the drawing had began. After every shooter had an “owner”, (some people were luckier than others!) the Calcutta was put on hold and everyone enjoyed the amazing feast that was served.

With everyone fed and happy, the auctioning began. The bids were free flowing, (which I think we can attribute to the free flowing drinks!) and eventually everyone was bought. After a long day with great company, everyone was happy to head home and hope that  they had made a lucky purchase.

Sunday morning dawned a little cooler than the day before, but conditions were still great for smashing targets. The first event was the 50 target Calcutta, and while everyone was hoping to do well for themselves, they were also wishing their purchases the best of luck! Once the shooting was over, Leigh Roberts, Lorraine Hughes, Gil Farish, Blake Slater, Shane O’Brien, Simon Hewitt, Nigel Hughes, Brendon Pearson, David O’Sullivan, Jacqui Durham, Max Oakley and Linda Watson had all shot 50. The AA shooters on clean rounds formed a couple of squads, and it was obviously going to be an epic battle for the win.

After a massive shoot-off, Blake Slater came out on top with a 137/137 (much to his Dad’s delight!). A grade also required a shoot off, Max Oakley coming out the winner with a 61/61 (A very happy Rod Elder for his purchase of A grade). Linda Watson was the outright B grade winner with a beautiful 50/50 (Locky Irons had a big smile on his face after buying B grade), while C grade went to Nancy Badewitz with a 48/50 (Tracey Ashton could not have been happier with her purchase!).

With the excitement of the Calcutta over, the final event of the weekend began, the 50 target Doubles. There were no possibles shot in the doubles, but a number of 49’s went up on the board which meant more shoot offs. Gil Farish, Glenn Clarke and Mark Fanning all went one down, and after a quick shoot off, Gil Farish took AA with a 53/54. Eddy Elder also posted a fantastic 49 to take out A grade, while Andrew Daff and Trevor O’Connell both managed 48’s. After another shoot off, Andrew Daff came out on top with a 50/52 to win B grade. C grade went to Darryl Moss with a 47.

With all of the events over, it was time to decide the high-guns.

The overall high gun went unopposed to Leigh Roberts on the amazing score of 198/200. A huge congratulations goes to Leigh who continues to be a power house in Australian skeet shooting.

The AA grade high-gun needed to be decided with a shoot off. Both Gil Farish and Lorraine Hughes finished on 197/200, and after shooting three 14 target brackets in the high-gun shoot off, Gil Farish ended up on top with a score of ?/? (TBA). Gil was very consistent throughout the shoot and, as always, shot extremely well under pressure.

The A grade high-gun went to Eddy Elder on a score of 195/200. Eddy had a fantastic shoot and, as always, his doubles shooting was highly impressive.

The B grade high-gun was also decided by a shoot off. Andrew Daff and Trevor O’Connell both ended up on 190/200, and after 14 targets Andrew Daff finished ahead with a score of ?/?(TBA). Andrew continues to improve and put in a very solid performance over the weekend.

The C grade high-gun was won by Tom Laber with a 176/200. Tom started the first event with a 25 and it really paved the way for his weekend.

The Ladies high-gun went to Lorraine Hughes with a score of 197/200. As always, Lorraine had a phenomenal shoot and really proved she is a force to be reckoned with.

The Junior high-gun went to Christian Lagos with a 186/200. Christian’s progress in the last 6 months has been truly amazing, and he continues to improve with each shoot he attends.

The Veteran’s high-gun was taken by Bill Hine with a score of 181/200. Bill is always a consistent shooter and he once again showed a few of the younger shooters how it’s done!

High Gun Winners Eddy Elder, Gil Farish, Loraine Hughes, Bill Hine, Andrew Daff, Christian Lagos, Leigh roberts, Tom Laber

With the high-guns decided, that concluded the 2011 Melbourne Gun Club Skeet Bonanza.

And now our Thanks:

Firstly, I would like to send an enormous congratulations to all of the high-gun winners, and everyone else who won over the weekend. A massive thank-you must go to the Melbourne Gun Club and everyone who helped out, particularly Paul Johnston, Steve Pellagrino and John Mollica for once again putting on a fantastic shoot. Thank you must also go to Gabrielle Lagos, who ran the scoreboard, Jenny Porcellana for her tireless work in the office, Ivan Spiller for keeping our webpages up to date with programs and reports, the trappers, all the kitchen staff and everyone who worked behind the bar.

(Also, a sincere thank you to Jacqui Durham for this report without which the ASSA and MGC websites could not be updated with news of skeet events - ...webmaster).

Thanks also to all of the people who helped with putting on the feast Saturday night, particularly Leonie Johnston, Christine Durham, Stephanie Manley, Selina Briggs, Franca Francione, Christine Pethybridge and Pat Hine for the salads and nibblies, Frank Santoro and Jim Turner for cooking the roast and Darren White for the BBQ.

Without the help of Tayla Johnston, who spent both days selling raffle tickets, Trevor O’Connell for printing the tickets, Leonie and Paul Johnston, and Jacqui Durham the Calcutta could not have been such a success so a big thank you to them and anyone else who helped out.

As always, a massive thank you must go to the sponsors; Brendon Pearson, Mal Briggs, Justin Hayden, Fab Francione, Trevor O’Connell, Locky Irons, Paul and Leonie Johnston, The Elder Family, The Durham Family, Colin Sim, Bill Hine, Barry Moss, Eddie Dzelalagic and Eve St James. The extra sponsorship that has been put into this event is just amazing for not only the Bonanza but for skeet shooting in general, and it’s really fantastic to see so many people getting behind their sport.

Finally, the biggest thank you goes to all of the shooters, especially the travelers, for making the 2011 Melbourne Gun Club Skeet Bonanza a fantastic weekend and a huge success.

Click Here for Photo Gallery