Florida Is Going BIG! | Silver, Pig Roast & CF5 Push – Trap Talk E164

Summary

Trap Talk From The Back Fence — Episode E164

Title: Florida Is Going BIG! | Silver, Pig Roast & CF5 Push
Hosts: Zach Nannini & Richard Marshall Jr.
Guest: Thomas Harrington (President, Florida Trapshooting Association)
Date: February 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode brings on Thomas Harrington, President of the Florida Trapshooting Association, to discuss the upcoming Florida State Trapshoot (March 17–22, 2026), held at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club in Odessa, FL. The conversation dives into innovations at the shoot, emphasis on shooter experience, trophy packages (including big silver prizes), and fostering community through food, inclusivity, and creativity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Florida State Shoot Preview & Innovations

[01:13, 04:18, 15:16, 23:44, 26:43, 27:53]

• Dates & Venue: Florida State Trapshoot from March 17–22, 2026 at Silver Dollar Shooters Club, following directly after the Southern Grand.
• Trophy Enhancements:
  • Expanded premium trophies, including Montana Silversmiths' buckles and customized leather bags.
  • Close to $60,000 in total trophies and prizes, including an estimated 200oz of silver (purchased at favorable market rates).
  • "Super HOA" (High Over All) buckles, now with separate categories for women.
• Event Schedule:
  • Tuesday: 300 targets; subsequent days: 200 targets/day (1,300 total for HOA).
  • Introduction of "walk up doubles” — practice doubles events with ammo trophies from Winchester, separate from main championship scoring.
• Inclusivity & Value:
  • All shooters (resident and non-resident) vie equally for trophies.
  • Efforts to improve value for entry fees by leveraging sponsorships and expanding non-shooting activities/events.

2. Leadership & Modernization

[04:18, 05:32, 06:22, 09:03]

• Association Leadership:
  • Thomas Harrington, in his second year as President, emphasizes bringing younger perspectives and technology into the sport.
  • Increased engagement and openness to change—favorites are raffles, dinners, and creative trophy ideas to keep shooters invested and excited.
• Presenter's Background:
  • Thomas began shooting at 14, took a break during early adulthood, and returned; now highly active in both the sport and the association.
  • Passion for shooter experience, shared with his wife (a former All-American).

Notable Quote:
"You have a different thought process, possibly on stuff…to grow this sport and to keep it hyped…if there's cool stuff to win, then people show up." – Richard Marshall Jr. [05:00]

3. Making Florida a Trapshooting Destination

[10:27, 11:21, 13:26, 14:37, 31:01, 32:23]

• Location Appeal:
  • Silver Dollar Shooters Club is praised for its lush facility, amenities (including two restaurants, golf courses, golf carts), and nearby Tampa attractions (theme parks, beaches, fishing, and restaurants).
  • The climate advantage: "it's going to be 75 or 80 in Florida" while much of the Midwest is cold in March.
• Family Activities & Dining:
  • Multiple off-day and evening entertainment options (Yankees Spring Training, seafood at Rusty Bellies, Sponge Docks, Greek dining at Hellas, Tarpon Turtle restaurant, and Three Brothers Pizza delivery to the club).
  • On-site amenities mean shooters and families can enjoy their stay without leaving the venue, but local dining recommendations abound.

Notable Quote:
"If you're on vacation, why not eat something you wouldn't get somewhere else?" – Thomas Harrington [34:55]
"For everyone that wants to come shoot, even if you don't, there's 27 holes of golf on the complex." – Richard [14:36]

4. Event Management: Smooth Operations & Proactive Club-Association Partnership

[18:05, 38:16, 41:08, 43:59]

• Club & Association:
  • Silver Dollar runs the logistics: hiring staff, setting targets, managing cashiers.
  • The association focuses on overall tournament administration, trophies, and shooter experience.
  • Efficient division allows the Florida Trapshooting Association to prioritize creative enhancements.
• Noise Ordinance:
  • Shooting allowed only 9 AM-8 PM; scheduling is tight, and weather can extend shoot-offs into the next day.

Notable Quote:
"I kind of like the idea that the Silver Dollar is just like…this is what we want to do, and it's executed." – Zach [43:58]

5. Shooter Experience & Continuous Improvement

[07:49, 23:05, 29:03, 45:23, 46:17, 47:01]

• Adapting & Innovating:
  • The association actively solicits donations/sponsorships (tripled in two years).
  • New events:
    • Pig roast dinner on Thursday for shooters and guests.
    • Silver shootout sponsored by Royal Sporting Arms and Midstate Precious Metals.
    • "Missing out" event with $1,000 guaranteed.
    • "Long run front" (best consecutive hits from the start) option in the singles championship.
  • Responsive to feedback: Will pivot on offerings year to year depending on what works.

Notable Quotes:
"If you give somebody a chance based on a lucky draw or a raffle…you're going to keep people coming back." – Thomas [22:05]
"We're not afraid to change…if you're not trying things, how are you gonna figure out what people like and what people don't like?" – Zach [47:01]

6. Growth, Competition Factor Push, and All-American Points

[41:41, 49:41, 49:56, 50:35]

• Competition Factor Goal:
  • Florida State Shoot aiming for Competition Factor 5 (CF5), which increases its value for All-American team points—last year, just under 100 entries away.
  • The drive is to get 34 more entries per championship event (singles, doubles, handicap).
• Equal Opportunity:
  • Prize eligibility "equal across the board"—non-residents not excluded.
• Encouraging Early Registration:
  • Pre-squad is open (via presquad.com), and early sign-up is highly recommended due to high turnout.

Notable Quote:
"You’re only a few squads away [from CF5]…that’s easy to get." – Zach [49:56]

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 04:44 | Richard | "We need the younger people…Even the 30s, to get involved because you have a different thought process…to grow this sport and to keep it hyped." | | 22:05 | Thomas | "If you give somebody a chance based on a lucky draw or on a raffle…then you're gonna keep people coming back." | | 26:43 | Thomas | "This year we're on Thursday evening, we have a catered pig roast dinner…open to all the shooters and their guests." | | 27:53 | Thomas | "We're giving away almost 200 ounces of silver…The value that the shooters are going to get is huge." | | 29:03 | Zach | "That's being forward…not being reactive, but being proactive." | | 34:55 | Thomas | "If you're on vacation, why not eat something you wouldn't get somewhere else?" | | 43:58 | Zach | "I kind of like the idea that…the Silver Dollar is just like, you guys could say, 'Hey, this is what we want to do,' and it's executed…It's done." | | 47:01 | Zach | "If you're not trying things, how are you gonna figure out what people like and what people don't like?" |

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Timestamps for Critical Segments

• 01:13 – Introduction of guest Thomas Harrington; Florida State Shoot dates.
• 04:18 – Thomas’s background; leadership philosophy.
• 10:27, 31:01 – Tampa area attractions, foodie tips.
• 15:16 – Event schedule and walk-up doubles explained.
• 23:44, 26:43, 27:53 – Trophy packages, sponsorships, pig roast, silver bars.
• 38:16 – Club vs. association structure/logistics.
• 45:23, 46:17, 47:01 – New event options, willingness to change.
• 49:41, 49:56, 50:35 – Competition factor push (CF5), All-American points.

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Closing Thoughts

The episode paints a vivid, enticing picture of the Florida State Trapshoot as a can't-miss event: innovative, welcoming, and rewarding for shooters of all backgrounds. The combination of competitive enhancements, major prize value (notably the silver bars), inclusive hospitality (pig roast and dinners), and a proactive leadership structure under Thomas Harrington sets the tone for a major step forward for Florida trapshooting.

Hosts close by urging everyone to lock in pre-squad spots and enjoy both the excellent shooting and the sunshine.

"We're not going to stop trying to innovate and make it fun for everybody." — Thomas Harrington [50:35]

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to season four of Trap Talk,

[B]

brought to you by Craig off the choice of champions.

[A]

Hey folks, if you're wondering where you can get your merch, head on down to shop Trap Talk podcast dot com.

[B]

Yes folks, you can get hats, T shirts, sweatshirts. They even have a ladies tank, shooters, towels. We might have some new stuff coming out for the 2026 year. Who knows?

[A]

We got all the swag. Head on down to the website. Thank you so much for being Trap Talk supportive.

[B]

Thanks everyone.

[A]

Hello Trap Talk listeners. I'm your host, Zach Nini. I'm here with my co host, Richard Marshall Jr. We're having, we're having another good day. We're doing more podcasts, we're learning stuff and we're having fun and it's, it's cold out here. It might not be cold by the time you're listening to this episode, but right now it's cold.

[B]

It's frigid weather in the Midwest, not in Florida where Thomas is though.

[A]

Yeah. The good news is we, we figured we'd go. We go down to Florida, we check out some warmer weather with our friend Thomas Harrington. He. He's the man and he's going to tell us all about Florida. And we're excited to have you on the show today, Tom.

[B]

Yep. Yep.

[C]

Yeah, thanks for having me guys. I'm excited to be here and look forward to generating some hype for our state shoot March 17th through 22nd at the Silver Dollar Shooters Club in Odessa, Florida.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

We. All we do around here is hype. Shameless plugs and hype is.

[B]

Yeah. Everything. Yeah. And I, I wish we could attend. Well, well, Zach might attend. I will not be able to attend the Florida State shoot this year because the ACUI Collegiate Nationals starts on Monday right after the Southern. So Tyler and I are actually flying to Florida for the Southern and then we fly out. I think it's at, I think I gotta look. I think it's at 4:20 on Sunday afternoon. So literally as soon as we're done shooting, we're heading to the airport because he starts competing on Monday for the, for Lindenwood.

[A]

So.

[C]

Okay. It's a shame you guys aren't going to be there because this is going to be a Florida State shoot like we haven't had.

[B]

I know.

[C]

Very, very long time.

[B]

I've seen the, I've seen the, the leather bag.

[C]

That

[B]

was it. Diamond 8.

[C]

Diamond 8. Randall, he hooked us up. We. We gave him creative permission to. Just to do his thing. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I'm definitely considering staying now because Ricky's not going, so there's a lot more reason to be there. This is what he just. I. I get Ricky's calendar and I say, where's Ricky not gonna be? And that's where I go. I say, I. I'll go there. It'll be. It'll be fun. But no, no, really, I. I stayed last year, my first time, going to the Silver Dollar for the Florida State shoot. I always go to the Southern, but last year was the first time that I stayed for both weeks and shot the Florida State shoot. And I was so pleasantly surprised with how well it ran and also with the trophy package. I was. I was lucky enough to win something, which I never win anything. Won the. The trophy. It was a champion trophy. Can you believe it? It was.

[C]

It was a nice one.

[A]

They gave this buckle for all the doubles for the week. They had, like, four or 500 doubles. And I didn't even know that the trophy existed until I get to the last day, and they're like, you got this trophy? And I go and I look at it, and it's this really, really nice buckle. And it was a. I guess it was a super doubles event or something like that. It was kind of like, yeah, Nevada.

[B]

Nevada started that a couple years ago with doing the. The total on the doubles, the total on the singles, the total on the handicap, which is cool because we did that years ago with the Martin Lewis, when Bill started that at, like, Tucson and. But there was no trophy. It was just cash, you know, So

[A]

I think we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. I want to back up, you know. Thomas, welcome to the show. What we want to know before we get into the Florida State shoot and the association and everything is. It's my understanding that you are the president of the association, is that correct?

[C]

I'm the president. This is my second full year. I've been on the board of directors for. For many, many years. And there was an opening, and I thought I could help promote the organization and drive up some attendance. So I decided to. To take the leap. And here we are, which is what we need.

[B]

This is what we need in shooting is because. Thomas, how old are you?

[C]

39.

[B]

39. So you're. You're younger than me? I'm 51. Zach's 34. 35 now, right? Zach got your kid 34. You look older than that.

[A]

Hey, you know what? Rough years, bud.

[C]

Years.

[B]

But no, we need the. The younger people. And. And I'll say this, the. The under 40s, even the 30s, to get involved because you, you have a different thought process, possibly on stuff or, or whatnot, but to grow this sport and to keep it a hype in it, kind of like you're doing, I mean, I know you're, you're doing some, some silver stuff. You're, you're doing this bag deal which we'll talk about, you know, and, and that's the cool stuff. Because if there's cool stuff to win, then people show up.

[C]

Well, yeah, and part of my thought process with it was that, you know, it's obviously an expensive sport.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You put the travel, the, the entry fees, the ammunition, the firearms into it. It's not cheap. Right. And what was happening, at least down here, what we saw was a lot of our tournaments. I want to, I want to say it was like status quo. Right. It's. It's the same thing year after year. And the value you were getting back was diminishing greatly.

[A]

Lower and lower and lower every year.

[C]

Right. And so one of the things we really wanted to try to do was increase that value. And if we couldn't do it directly through trophies, we wanted to add on dinners and add on other events and, you know, bring the fun back to it was really the goal.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Yeah. Because a lot of people, I mean, if you think about competitive trap shooting coast to coast, a lot of people, first of all, don't have an opportunity to go to a satellite grand or the grand. Right. So the biggest, the biggest tournament for them, for most people is the state shoot. So it's the, it's the pinnacle of their, of their shooting in their state. You know, I know many people that have never shot another state shoot other than the state that they live in. And that's kind of their end all, be all, and that's, that's fantastic. I think, you know, me and Ricky have said this 100 times. Supporting your state shoot, supporting the ground. Those are like kind of the, the two things that we, you know, you try to do as much as you can in trap shooting. For some people, it doesn't work out based on dates or, you know, I know for Ricky, with the all American team and with the other big shoots that he has to attend, you know, he's not always able to attend his state shoot. But you, but, but that's, you know, that's different for everyone at every level. I love the fact that you, you got involved as a young person and to jump and piggyback on what Ricky said about new thoughts and ideas. I think a lot of it is just technology. Driven. I mean, the things that the people know under 40, technology wise now that they're bringing to the table. And trap is far more advanced than the systems and the, the processes that we've been using for the last 30 years of trap shooting. I mean, yes, it's, you know, I, I've seen some clubs that are still figuring out Lewis's longhand. Like they're, you know, they're drawing clubs

[B]

that are using the old DOS system.

[A]

So. Yeah, man, you know that the good news is you don't have to worry about Russia hacking that system. Right. I mean, you can't hack that. No, that thing is, it's bulletproof.

[B]

Right. So there ain't no pennies missing there.

[A]

Yeah, nothing, Nothing getting skimmed on that deal. But. So Tom, to circle back, what is your connection to trap shooting? When did you get involved in shooting yourself? And then when did you decide, hey, I need to make a shift from a shooter to a helper. Helper shooter.

[C]

Yeah. So I was exposed to trap shooting with my father. Like, like a bunch of us are. And it was probably, probably about the age of 14, I actually started shooting trap and a few years later got into registered and I probably shot until I was probably about 20 years old. Right. You get to that point where life hits.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And it gets too expensive for you to do as a young adult trying to make your way through life. And then took a couple years off and was fortunate enough to, to find my way back to it.

[B]

And

[C]

about six years ago, I was delegate for a couple of years and. And then after that just stayed on the board and stayed very active. And my wife, she's been kind of, it was just shooting trap the same way. Started with her dad. She did the all American thing for a couple of years and that's actually how we met about 25 years ago. Was through shooting and then, you know, helps to have that, that connection and that hobby and well together.

[A]

Right. You're sharing it together. You're doing it together. I mean, that means a lot because it takes a lot. And in the, in the, in the couple's world, if you're going to be a trap shooter and you're gone a lot, I mean, it's nice to go with someone that actually wants to do it with you, you know, wants to be around, wants to, to experience it and can spend the, the week at the shoot because unfortunately, I mean, as much fun as trap shooting is sometimes there's, there's, there's a lot of, you know, downtime where if you're in Ackley, Iowa. It's like Florida's a whole nother story. We can talk about the times that I've taken Ricky down and we've had seafood at the sponge docks and introduced a new cuisine. I mean, that's a lot of fun. But there's a lot of places that you go to in the country where you don't have all this extra activity available to you like you would at the Silver Dollar.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. The Tampa. The Tampa area is incredible. You've got everything. You've got theme parks, you've got the water, beaches, fishing, you name it, it's here.

[B]

Good liquor stores.

[C]

There you go. Ricky.

[A]

Ricky's. You know, five years ago, Ricky didn't even know what bourbon was. And now he's an aficionado that has every liquor store in the country mapped out for. I mean, he's got these guys on first basis when it comes to bottles.

[B]

I have been. I met some great people that actually first is it first avenue liquor down in St. Petersburg South. It's like an hour from the silver dollar, I think or 45 minutes. But they have a little speakeasy in the back. And I sat, met some great people and people that were actually shot clay targets but didn't compete. They just did it for fun. There's another gun club down there somewhere.

[C]

Tampa Bay Clays.

[B]

Yeah. Well, there was nothing they didn't shoot.

[C]

Skyway sky that one.

[B]

But then there's another. It must be a private deal. The guy said they had a couple trap fields and he's like, we'll go there tomorrow. I said, well, I'm teaching so I wouldn't be able to, but it was really cool. And that's the one thing about the. The whole Tampa area. I mean, I'm a New York Yankees fan. I've been a Yankees fan since I was a little kid. So every year during the southern grand or state shoot, when I would stay down, we would always go to spring training games.

[A]

You know, Rick, the only thing looks better than these hats we're wearing right now is a bunch of gold and silver from Ron Prescott at mid state precious metal. Show them the goods.

[B]

Listen, all I got silver right now, I won't bring the gold out for

[A]

Zach, but you know, I always want to get that.

[B]

Gold shotgun shells, 10 ounce bars. Folks, he could do anything for you. For all your shoot needs, give Ron Prescott a call midstatepreciousmetals.com.

[A]

he's a great guy. Support him. He supports all the shoots. He supports trap talk. If you're thinking gold or silver, you need to be thinking Ron Prescott at midstate precious metals. Thank you, Ron.

[B]

That's right. Thanks for all the support.

[A]

You know, Rick, when you're riding around your air conditioning and your nice can am and I'm walking, I'm thinking to myself, where do I get one of these things?

[B]

At Big red motorsports, that's where you get one. George or Jason Lee, they'll take care of you, Zach.

[A]

I mean, I need one. I'm tired of riding on the back of that cooler. I want to sit inside that cab and roll around in style. I mean, my face is on the back, but help me out.

[B]

Listen, I'm gonna base to the bumper is where it's going to get moved for the new one. Okay? All you need is a little quiche and we can take care of you. But listen, Big RedMotorsports.com thanks Jason and George Lee and big red motorsports for all the support. They'll take care of you folks. And it's free delivery. And I've had. I've taken Trey and Tyler when Trey was able to travel with me before, you know, he graduated high school and moved out. But even like when we go down, Tyler and I, I know there's a game. I think it's. I have to relook, but I think it's Tuesday night. It's like six o'.

[C]

Clock.

[B]

And I'll get tickets for that game because it's just cool to go do other stuff rather than just shoot, shoot, shoot.

[C]

Especially if you're there for the full two weeks doing both tournaments. Yeah, there's plenty of stuff to. To get your mind off of it for a little bit and reset.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And one thing about the silver dollar, I've been going the silver dollar since I was 21, so I'm 51, so almost about 30 years that I've been going down there and shooting. And my first time ever being there was I actually went with Lucky Nightingale and.

[C]

Oh, wow.

[B]

And Quentin was his real name, but Lucky was president of the ata and he lived over in the eagles that first year. I stayed with Lucky and his wife at the time, Bev, in their house at the eagles. And it was cool. So I got to see two sides of it, you know, with the eagles and then the dollar and then it was like, oh, there's golf courses here. So every time we go down, I try to go out and play at least nine holes of golf if I can, you know. But I always, you know, my buddy, which, you know, JT Spangler, you know, lives down there and JT golfs all the time and you know, he's always talking about it's, it's a great place to actually come because you don't have to shoot all the time. There's 27 holes of golf on the complex.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

So for everybody that wants to come down and shoot the southern and stay for the state shoot. Even though. When does state shoot start? On Wednesday or Tuesday. Tuesday.

[C]

So there's a, there's an off day. Monday. We do open registration and classification at noon usually on Monday for the state shoot. Yeah, but. But you do get an off day.

[B]

Yeah. So there's time, you know, go with the family, do something or for everybody that's coming in, say they're just going to come in for the state shoot. Just come in and maybe come in on Saturday, go do family stuff. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, start shooting Tuesday on, you know. Now are you shooting at the state shoot? Is it 200 targets a day?

[C]

Are you shooting? So the first day, Tuesday is going to be 300 targets and then it's 200 targets a day after that. Our HOA is 1300 targets total. Okay. Something, something interesting we're doing this year. You know, you have those guys that want to shoot doubles every day.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And when you're shooting 200 targets a day, don't always have that option. Yeah. So we're running separate concurrent events that are, that we're calling them walk up doubles. They're sponsored by Winchester. They're providing ammunition as the trophies and you sign up and when you have extra time, you just go walk up to the, to the practice traps where we're throwing it. You shoot your registered targets and at the end of the day that's when we'll divvy out trophies for it.

[B]

Interesting. So is that not included in the overall then?

[C]

Those, those two events, it's, it's 5A and 7A, which would be on Wednesday and Thursday. Those two would not be included in the HOA or our Super HOAs.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

They're just standalone little registered doubles events just for people.

[A]

You get more targets in.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

You get more targets and get an opportunity at some trophies and have some fun. And, and, and I know a lot of people, you know, the constraint. For the folks that haven't been to the Silver Dollar, this is a fabulous.

[B]

You're missing out. What?

[A]

Oh, missing out. I thought you're missing out. I thought you said I was kind of.

[B]

Oh, damn.

[A]

I gotta check the Canada connection. So if you haven't been you are missing out because the reality is you've got a fabulous lush facility. Two sides, two gun clubs. One side's the shooter side, one side's the golf side. One side you basically have a clubhouse, traps. The other side you have a clubhouse, but you also have golf in front of you, which, which depending on the day, you know, can be a little distracting, especially if they're wearing their orange polos out there while they're.

[C]

Oh, yeah, I'm going to tell you,

[B]

just like I tell JT Spangler. Why are you looking at them for look at the target.

[A]

I, I honestly don't, but I know a lot of people that it's affected and I'm, you know, sharing the story. But the reality is this is a great gun club. They've got a lot of amenities there. They've got great lunch and breakfast on the facility all day long on both sides.

[C]

Both sides have a restaurant.

[A]

You can get a meal anytime you want. It's golf cart friendly, obviously, because there's a lot of golfers, so it's easy to get a golf cart and be able to go from one side to the other and they throw a great target. Weather permitting. Right. I mean, the thing that's different about that place is, you know, you might have a lot of wind one day and you might have, you know, rainstorm come in. But I think the hardest thing to deal with, in my opinion is just the, the time constraints because, correct me if I'm wrong, Tom, there's a window of time that you guys are allowed to shoot because of the residents or because of the code. What's that?

[C]

There's a noise ordinance, local noise ordinance. So we have to be done by 8 o'. Clock. We, we can't shoot till 9 and we have to be done by 8 o'. Clock, so.

[A]

And yeah, that's why you can only throw so many birds in a day, because with shoot offs and everything permitted, it has to end at 8pm and so I know at the Southern grand at least a few times, I know those shoot offs have carried over till Monday because, you know, you just can't fit them in that night before, you know, and that's.

[B]

Last year was a prime example.

[C]

Well, we had some bad weather on Sunday and it, it delayed the handicap event and yeah, I had to get finished up on Monday morning.

[B]

Yeah. Because our. Well, in our doubles we couldn't shoot off till Monday.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And it was windy as heck on Monday.

[C]

Yeah, that's one of those things where it's just unavoidable. You know, you have a.

[A]

You can't do anything about the weather. No, you can't do anything about the weather. But. But at the end of the day, sitting here in Missouri right now when it's cold as heck, and I'm like, man, I wish I was in Florida right now. I mean, at some level, because you. You can get a little bit of sunshine and break away from, you know, this winter gloom that we're in right now and go get some fun in. And. And. And I guess I have seen a positive change just in the little things that you guys said if you're doing, such as the super overall buckles, the, you know, like you said, the bag, which I want to learn more about today. I mean, and if you have pictures of this, if you can email them to me so we can put them up on the show and like, show the listeners kind of what they've got. But. But tell me about the creativity between, like, these super high overall buckles and the. The bags. Like, walk us. Walk us through what you guys are doing and why. You know, Rick, I just love having the peace of mind and knowing that if I'm traveling or I'm flying, something happens, I can get my winig and my krag off replaced quickly and easily without costing me a bunch of money.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. The gun and trophy insurance, it's the best out there to ensure your guns, sure. Your trophy, animals, everything.

[A]

Thank you to the whole Cushman family for supporting the show and everything they do for trap shooting.

[B]

Absolutely. Get a hold of Cole Cushman and he'll get you set up.

[A]

You know, Ricky, I know you use it on your barrels, but do you even know what RGS stands for?

[B]

No, Zach, what does it stand for?

[A]

Really good.

[B]

Well, that is true. It is good stuff, folks. I use it to clean my barrels, and it does make them shine.

[A]

Only problem is I wear white T shirts when I clean my barrels and I get them all messy, so I got to be better at that. But it gets. Gets all the plastic, all the gunk out. Give them a try, folks. They're great.

[B]

That's right. Give RGS a try. We appreciate all the support.

[A]

You know, Rick, I. I know you had a lot of involvement with them since the beginning, since they started. But I really love the way that the shot tracker, you know, catches the doubles from shot to shot with the looping. You know, tell the folks what they need to know about that system.

[B]

It's the best system out there. It's like having A coach on the end of your barrel, like we say. But going especially in doubles, from first shot to second shot. You can see. Can see it on the graph. You can see it on video.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, if you talk about that J hook with Sean, Holly and all them, I mean, it'll literally show that loop, and I think that's really powerful if you're doing it. They've supported the show since the beginning. They love trap shooting. They're great people. Give them a shot, folks. They make a great product.

[B]

Take Game technologies.

[A]

Hey, Rick, we got to take a second. We got to thank Outlaw Engineering and the Freston family for supporting trap shooting and supporting Trap Talk podcast. They've been here for us. They're great people. You know, you know him real well, Rick.

[B]

Yeah, I. I've known Randy since 1988. R2 and. And the family, they're great supporter of the show. Coup just won the Autumn Grand Handicap Championship with a 97.

[A]

I know, I was there. I got to interview him. It was great. I was so proud of him. He's doing a great job. Hashtag, where's Coop? He's somewhere with that big buckle. He's having fun.

[B]

So that's.

[A]

So you need anything engineering related, get a hold of Outlaw. They'll take great care of you.

[B]

Great folks.

[A]

Thanks.

[B]

Thanks for all the support.

[A]

Outlaw.

[C]

Yeah, so we're just trying to, you know, find new ways to keep people engaged. You know, not. Not everybody is gonna win a trophy.

[A]

Right.

[C]

But if you give somebody a chance based on a lucky draw or on a raffle or, you know, stuff like that, you know, then you're gonna keep people coming back. And that's kind of the idea. Spread the wealth out a little bit, I guess would be the best way to say it. And like, so this year, the, the super hoas we did last year, they were such a success, we've actually added a separate category for just ladies. So there's going to be three ladies Super HOA buckles up for grabs as well. Yeah, they're Montana silversmith buckles. So they're nice, beautiful buckles.

[A]

And it's a gorgeous buckle.

[C]

Yeah. And. And, you know, so we're just. We're always. Yeah, we're always just trying to think of ideas to, To. To give value back to the, to the shooters. You know, they're spending their hard earned money with us, so let's do what we can to make them have fun.

[B]

Yeah, well, that's what we need in the sport is people want to win stuff. And you Know, it's one of those things is the, the state shoots, you know, to be successful, have to have attendance of shooters. And not just in state shooters either. You know, out of state shooters is what makes up and makes for a great state shoot. You know, and it is, you do have a, a hook of. It's in March and most places in March in the Midwest the weather is not, I mean it, it can be horrible or it can be 40 or 50, but it's going to be 75 or 80 in Florida. Right.

[C]

Well and we're fortunate to back up against the Southern grand because we do get a lot of folks that come for the whole two week period.

[B]

Yep.

[C]

And I think last year our, our non resident to resident ratio was about 60 non residents and 40% residents. So one of the things we did too is we equal everything up. So if there's a trophy for a resident, the non residents getting that trophy as well. Well, so it's equal across the board.

[B]

Yeah. See is them doing that. Because I do, I have been to some shoots where it's resident champ and then non resident. It's not a non resident. It's open.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And that's where you'll lose shooters. And I understand and I've had discussions with directors and they're like, well, you got to shoot better. That is true. But if you're making it all for your in state, then fine, just have an in state only shoot. You know, I mean, well, it's just hard.

[A]

It's hard because at the end of the day if you're going to try to build your shoot and get the comp factors up, you need people from other states. So like a lot of states, there's some states, an example like you know, Ohio. Okay, well they have a lot of in state shooters in Ohio. Well, not everyone can have primarily like California. California is primarily a shoot where it's more in state than it is out of state because of the location and because of the time of the year and this, that and the other thing. But a lot of states it's 50, 50, 60, 40, 70, 30 out of state shooters that are coming in to represent. And I'll take my hat off to you on those, you know, super high overall buckles. I thought that they were only for in state shooters and when I won it and they said no, it's for everybody. I'm like, that's really cool because you know, it gives someone from out of state a chance to come in and win something that's open, you know, the same way that if you go to the Nevada State shoot, that silver is open to everyone, regardless of in state, out of state, whatever's going on, you're drawing everyone in because everyone has an equal opportunity and an equal shot at the title or the trophy or, you know, the prestige. And, and, and you said it best, Thomas. People just want a chance. It's not like they're going to win all the time, but, but the opportunity to win and the opportunity to have a chance, I think that keeps people coming back more and more.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And you know, we're. One of the big things we did when I took over as president is we really started hitting up people for sponsorships and donations and you know, we found that the majority of people will give you something if you ask. Now you're going to get a lot of no's. You can't be afraid to hear the word no. But we essentially in two years have tripled the amount of sponsorships we were able to obtain. And that allows us to give that much more to the shooters. Like this year we're on Thursday evening, we have a catered pig roast dinner coming in open to all the shooters and they're in their guests.

[A]

Fantastic.

[B]

So Zach's there. He's gonna have a plus one. It'll be himself.

[A]

Hey, I never turned down a free.

[B]

I know that.

[A]

I never turned down no free pig roast.

[B]

See? Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. So we're doing that Wednesday evening. We're doing a missing out, guaranteeing a thousand dollars in it and then, you know, champion will get 402nd place, 300 and so forth. Thursday night we're doing our own variation of a silver shootout.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Big shout out to Royal Sporting Arms. They're, they're who sponsored it. And Ron Prescott with Midsate Precious Metals hooked us up with, with the 10 ounce silver bars and the 5 ounce silver bar.

[B]

Nice. And Ron's a great guy. Ron is, you know, shameless plug for Mid State Precious Metals in this time of silver and gold prices going through the roof. I don't know if you've seen that lately, Zach.

[A]

Oh, I have. I've been paying attention.

[B]

Yeah. Silver's at like 114 right now. Gold's at like 5150 or it's doesn't hurt.

[A]

Doesn't hurt my feelings.

[C]

Yeah, we, we're giving away, during our tournament, we're going to give away almost 200 ounces of silver. And if I dollar cost averaged it, we did really good buy in this year. We're probably around the $40 an ounce

[B]

mark oh, for you.

[C]

So. So the value that the shooters are going to get this year is huge. Is going to be unlike anything we've ever done. We're up to $60,000, essentially, is what cash trophies, prizes with it.

[B]

With the influx of the silver fracture.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is good. I mean, hey, that's what, you know, I bought a bunch of silver from Ron, you know, last year, and mine was in the 20s.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. So I actually, earlier this year, I got. Well, I guess it would have been 20, 25. Yeah, yeah. Silver had dropped temporarily and gone down under $30 an ounce, and we hadn't purchased any silver yet. And I called our board and I said, hey, we need to buy our. Our silver now. And so, you know, we bought the silver and then, like, three weeks later, it started climbing.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So it really, It. It benefited us in that big time. We got in early, and now

[A]

that's being forward. That's thinking forward and setting yourself up and not. Not being reactive, but being proactive. And, you know, I. I've spoken with you a couple times about it, Thomas, and you've seemed very passionate. You've. You've messaged us and talked about, you know, talking about it on the show and got ahead of it and said, you know, hey, how can we do this? My hat's off to you. You're one of the people that is the cat, the catalyst to do that. We have this, you know, the show. We. We do this. And, you know, we didn't. We didn't ask for anything from you guys other than just your time. And you'd be surprised how many people don't even ask. And like you said, if you ask for the donation, you get it. And, you know, for us, we're just like, of course, like, why wouldn't we talk about it? But you'd be surprised that there's a lot of associations that unfortunately, they're just sitting on their hands and they're just like status quo, like, the same old thing. They. They, you know, they change the year in the program and they hit factory reset, and boom, the same trophies show up and that, you know, the same thing.

[B]

And it's like, same option.

[A]

There's.

[B]

It's.

[A]

There's nothing exciting about doing it the same way for 10, 15, 20 years. And people get bored of it. I mean, at the end of the day, it's entertainment dollars and it's time, and if people are bored, they're gonna go do something else That's. That's a little bit better. And, And I like I like what you're telling me about the missing out. I like what you're telling me about the pig roast. I like that you've got a ton of silver to shoot for that you guys got at a good value. So it's going to be a big value back to the shooters. And, and, and just I like the idea of getting some sun in March when it's gloomy in the Midwest. I mean, that's, that's the biggest.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So I, I do want to ask you a question. I know primarily, you know, people can stay there at the Gun Club and eat most of their meals. And you guys got a lot of stuff going on, but you being there a lot. Do you have any favorite restaurants or recommendations that you would give to our listeners that are local to the Gun Club if they want to hit a place up one night away from the gun club?

[C]

Yeah, there's a, there's a couple that come to mind. There's one, it's called the Florida Cracker Fish Company and it's right on Ehrlich off a gun highway.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And it used to be called Ballyhoos, but that went out of business and then. Yeah, yeah. So Florida Cracker Fish Company moved in there and it's really awesome. They have live music in the evenings out on the deck and just good Florida food, you know, a lot, a lot of fried stuff, but a lot of it's good. And then the other place I'd recommend is down in the Sponge Docks. Rusty bellies. Yeah, the best seafood you'll ever have.

[A]

Yeah, I love Rusty Bellies. And we go there every year and I always get the seafood combo, which is. It's like a seared piece of Atlantic or with salmon. And then they do it with the scallops and the shrimp and they serve it with fingerling potatoes and some asparagus and a nice little sauce. And I mean, it is really good food. You do have to get there early, folks, because it is one of the places on that it fills up. But I think they have call ahead. They don't do reservations, but they do call ahead, check in, I believe, or show up and check in type of situation. But for, for those of you that don't know, the Sponge Docs is a pretty famous little area down there. They call it Greek Town where they've got all of these amazing Greek restaurants

[B]

and they've little shout out to Hellas.

[A]

Yep, they. And we took Ricky down there and Justin, a few others and, And I remember my first time going the Martin family invited myself and a bunch of other shooters to go down there and eat at Hellas for the first time. And. And they obviously caught dinner because that's what they do. But. But I'd never experienced anything like that. That was so fresh and so close to the water other than, like California. But California is different because it's. It's cold there. Like, you don't like, go eat on the beach. Like San Francisco's, right. Like cold in Florida beach water and the docks is a whole other experience. And, and the food is fantastic. I mean, that grouper down there, when you guys get it and season the redfish, that's. That's the good stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Hard to beat. Hard to be.

[A]

Yeah, the.

[B]

The hellos restaurant. I. I mean, I come down and teach, you know, in December, which you were in that, you know, and we always go, you know, Michael Brian, my good old buddy from up north, and he. We always get a group with Dr. Kurt and his wife and. And we go to Hellas and we have the same waiter, it seems like every year. And. And it's just a great. If you like Greek food, which I do, it's great. And there. But also the Keystone corner for sandwiches.

[C]

Yeah, I got sandwiches on the.

[B]

I think it was the next day in the class, and I was like, I don't want to go home now. So. But there. And then the tarpon turtle.

[C]

I like the tarp and turtle's fantastic.

[B]

Have you been there? To the tarpon turtle?

[A]

I think you took me to the charpent.

[B]

Yeah, it was me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Who else went? Was it Justin?

[A]

I don't remember. But I remember you taking me, telling me there was some damn turtle we were going to eat at. And I said, what you know about turtle restaurants? And then we rolled up in there and I had the food and I'm like, damn, Ricky, you, You, You. You kicked in this time. I mean, normally I will say this. Ricky doesn't go out of the lines. Cuisine wise. He's more of a meat and potatoes American eater. But every once in a while he takes me to a place that's a little bit out of the lines, and I'm like, this is good. Like, because I'm. I'm the opposite of that. I'm not a. I'm not a burger guy or a steak. I mean, I don't mind a steak, obviously, but for me, I love, you know, authentic cuisine, whether it's Indian, Mediterranean, you know, seafood. Like, give me some stuff that's out of the box because I'm tired of the same old, you know, cracker barrel routine for me, but.

[C]

Well, if you're on vacation, why not eat something you wouldn't get somewhere else?

[A]

Well, yeah, I'm not a big one

[B]

Thing I will say about Florida. So one year when Trey and Tyler were with me down there, we were there for two weeks and for the state shoot also. And we ate, I think it was 12 nights of like 15. And we never went to a chain restaurant. We ate all mom and pop. And we'd pick around and, you know, and they were like, what are we doing, dad? I'm like, we're gonna go. And they're like, what is good? I don't know. Let's just. And it was. We never had a bad meal, but, like, you guys have, like, another sandwich shop is the. The Lucky Dill Pickle sandwich shop on 19. And it.

[C]

Zach, I haven't been to that one.

[B]

You haven't been to that?

[C]

No, I haven't been to that one.

[B]

It's. It's literally. It's south on 19. I'm trying to think close. I think it's north of Nebraska Avenue, because I'm Nebraska, but I know it's north of there, but it is a sandwich shop where you can get like a. A pastrami sandwich. And it's literally like this big. It's. It's so thick.

[A]

We're getting into food tonight. I mean, this episode just got taken over. I feel like I'm on diners driving dives now. I mean, we're talking about.

[B]

Right. We need to talk about this stuff. It shoots for people. We get them, we entice them. There's some little food out there.

[A]

I, I now I will give you a shameless. A shameless plug. I don't know what the name of it. And you probably know the name of it because it's in your guys's program.

[B]

You can't give a shameless plug if you don't know the name. You.

[A]

He'll know. There's a pizza place that I. That is in the program that delivers to the Gun Club. Delicious.

[C]

Probably Three Brothers Pizza.

[A]

That's it.

[C]

Three Brothers.

[A]

That. That's it?

[C]

Yeah. It's phenomenal.

[A]

I was there with Wyatt the last year, and he was hungry. He's like, I'm hungry. And I'm like, I'm hungry too. We ordered a pizza to the Gun Club one day, and that Three Brothers, I mean, they're little. They have the authentic pepperonis, you know, not the big ones with the little ones that like cup up when you bake it. I'm like, this is some, this is some New York energy I've got in this pizza. I didn't think I'd find a pie like that down there in Florida. But they're, they're producing, they're producing the goods for sure. So I'm, I'm really excited. I love the, the silver. I love the trophy packages that you guys are doing. You know, you set a great target. You know, weather depending. Obviously you can only do so much if you're dealing with a windy day or, you know, it's starting to rain on everybody. But all in all, that's about as good a target as you're going to find in March anywhere in the country. Right there at the Silver Dollar. And if you, you pay attention in the wind, they're definitely very, very breakable.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

And it's, it's usually a consistent win, so, so that makes it a little easier. But you know, March, if you're there for the full two weeks, yeah, you're probably gonna have a day where, you know, it's gonna be sporty, but, you know. Yeah. But for the most part, Silver. Silver Dollar does a fantastic job. Diane is the manager. Diane Foster, she's the manager of Silver Dollar now. And she's bringing a lot of new energy to the gun club as well.

[B]

Yeah, she does.

[C]

Oh, yeah. She's working her tail off and she's, she's putting in similar type work to what we're doing. And so it makes working with them super easy. We obviously know they can run a good tournament.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And it all. Everybody's getting along and trying to give the shooter the best experience they can have.

[A]

So I do want some clarity on that. You guys are the association. And then Silver Dollar, did they pretty much like give all the, the facility and the help and the scores and all that, or do you guys have to source that for that shoot? Like, how does that work for the state shoot? I just love the way they're covering all the shoots across the country. The content, the pictures, what they're doing online, what they're doing on Facebook, Instagram. What do you think?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Traption usa, it's a great magazine. They are the official magazine of our podcast and we are the official podcast of Traption usa. So we really appreciate it.

[A]

That's really cool. And what they got is a deal right now. If you put Trap Talk P in for the print version and Trap Talk D for the digital version, it's 1999 for the print and 9.99 for the digital for one year. You're not going to find a better deal. So subscribe today. You won't regret it.

[B]

Absolutely. Thank you for all the support.

[A]

You know Rick, I was at the Autumn grand and the Nevada State shoot and I was just really impressed with how I could see where my squad was when I was up. Just the technology, the ability to be able to see what options I've played if the event's paid or not. I mean, what's your experience with, with the app?

[B]

Listen, SOS Clay's app, it's the best thing out there, folks. You can see everything. It's great. You see your option payouts, you can see when you're up, you can see who's paid on your squad. Sometimes Zach doesn't pay on time, but

[A]

it's I get out there. But what I really think is, is for gun clubs it's free. Call Greg, get a hold of him, he'll set you up, he'll get you running. Right. And if you pay the premium once a year you get free pre squatting and all the shoots and that's the best value in trap shoot.

[B]

Absolutely. SOS clays.com Rick, I really think that

[A]

Gunfit is probably the most important part of shooting big scores. Would you agree with that?

[B]

Absolutely. I think Gunfit is the most important thing.

[A]

I mean most of the top all Americans are shooting custom stocks. I know when I got my custom stock, my scores went up. I broke 100 straight from the 27 within seven days. I mean I'm sure your experience has been similar.

[B]

Yeah, I've been shooting a custom gun stock for 20 years. Winig, if you want to win championships, get a win of gun stock.

[A]

Yeah, call Bobby, call Luke. I mean we got the stock whisperer over there, Bill. Give them a shot. They're great and they know what they're doing.

[B]

Absolutely. Winig.com Check them out. Hey Zach, have you been out to 73 Pointers Ranch lately?

[A]

You know I have. Rick and Carla Burke have been great. I normally hunt pheasants and chucker down there but now they got a brand new sporting clays facility and it is top notch. I shot it the other day, absolutely loved it. And if you guys haven't, you need to go give it a check out.

[B]

Well, I'll have to come out and do a little hunting and we'll shoot

[A]

some sporty clays in 45 minutes from St. Louis Airport. Come see it if you haven't. Guys, check them out.

[C]

So. So they Handle the labor, the target setting, the cashiering. We essentially administer over the tournament. You know, they're. They're a for profit company. We just take. Yeah, yeah, so. So, you know, they're a for profit company, so they take what they need to run, and then, you know, we get a small percentage, and that's what we use to buy trophies and, you know, run the rest of the tournament with, so.

[A]

Absolutely.

[C]

It's definitely a unique situation. A little weird for us. You know, real estate's too expensive in Florida for us to ever have grounds in reality, but we're fortunate to have that facility and be able to utilize it.

[B]

Yeah, no, it's a great one.

[A]

I mean, it's. It's one of the famous gun clubs in the country that if you haven't been to it, you got to put it on your. On your bucket list.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

I mean, there are certain places, you know, we talk about these gun clubs, and there's some gun clubs where you're like, okay, I'm there. And it's just another gun club. And there's nothing special about it. By no means. Silver Dollar is very special. It's. It's a very unique place. I don't know if I've ever been anywhere like the Silver Dollar.

[B]

No, not. It's not a shooters club that. That has everything like it does, and it's been around, I don't remember what years, but I got pictures, actually, of the club, I think when it was just on one side because Bill Jacobs

[C]

was the original side.

[B]

Yeah, Bill Jacobson built it and, you know, his idea was to have other things in the golf. You know, start with nine holes, then went to 18, then to 27. That's why there's three, nine old courses. What are they? The Gator, Bobcat, and. I can't remember the other one.

[A]

Gator Box, the Ricky course. I don't know.

[B]

Yeah, but they're all animals of Florida. But it is an awesome place.

[A]

The Tortoise.

[B]

No, it's not. Here goes Zach. You're gonna call it.

[A]

I don't. So.

[B]

Yeah, I know. Zach cannot hit a golf ball. Neither can Rich Bullard.

[C]

Me neither.

[B]

We'll talk about that. I. I got some free golf balls from Rich Bowler down in Florida one year.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it, I think. You know, you guys, you know, Tom, you're obviously leading the charge as the president, and you're. You're doing proactive things. You're letting the shooters Know, hey, this is what we've got. This is what we're giving. This is the presentation, you know, and. And the Silver dollar runs a good shoot. So you. That's one less thing. And I think, you know, that's a pro and a con in some places because sometimes the state association wants to run their shoot completely and they do a good job and sometimes they screw it up. I kind of like the idea that the Silver dollar is just like, you guys could say, hey, this is what we want to do. And it's executed like, it's just. It's done.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

And you don't have to like be in the mix of it because you know, the one thing I was on the board of. Of the Missouri Trap sh. Association and as a director, it was hands on. And what I mean by that is the directors were setting the targets, the directors were cashiering, the directors were. I mean, so it was all volunteer basis, but it's like, right. You got people that are all there trying to shoot the state shoot and it's their big event. And then I'm, you know, I'm setting a field, working your tail and then I'm. And then I'm going to shoot and you know, Marvin Buhner's cashiering and then he's running off to go, you know, to go shoot. And it's just, it's hard. And I see the value for the association to save the money so that we could have a, you know, actual home grounds, which Missouri is very thankful to have a home grounds that we have control over, which is awesome. But for the youth.

[B]

The youth owns the Missouri home grounds. The youth association. Correct. Correct.

[A]

Yeah. But I mean it. It's a situation where that facility is in perpetuity and it benefits the association to do the work versus to, you know, hire it out, if you will. But. But as a. As someone that. That's been on both sides of it, I love that you guys can focus on the creative and focus on the trophies and focus on the stuff that brings the shooters in and let the. The gun club run the gun club.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a big benefit to us and our board, they're great. They're very engaged. And our secretary treasurer, Scarlett, she's. She's fantastic when it comes to running the day to day, you know, scheduling all the other shoots and handling all the business side of the association. And vice president Scott, he. Scott Lauderback, he comes up with a ton of great ideas. And one of them is actually he did. He wanted to put in what's called the long run option on the singles championship.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And it's. It's a high dollar option. It's about, I think, 50 bucks is what we have it in there for. And literally, the shooter that has the longest continuous run of dead birds wins the entire pot. And if there's a tie, it's going to continue into the handicap championship as a carryover.

[A]

That's.

[B]

Now, is that. Is that long run front or reverse?

[C]

That's front. So from. From Target 1 listed in there. It's front. Yeah. Longest continuous. Yeah, longest continuous could be reversed.

[B]

So I would say long run front. Just make it easy for everybody, because someone will come up and Zach will be that guy. He'll be there. I know him. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, you're right. You're right. That's a trap shooter thing.

[A]

Miss my first one out around the 199, baby. I'm in.

[C]

There you go. So, yeah, so, you know, Scott comes up with a lot of ideas like that, and, you know, we're gonna see how well they're received, and if they work, we'll do it again next year. And if it doesn't work, we'll pivot and do something different. We're not afraid to change.

[A]

But I like that. It's. It's pivoting and changing because so many gun clubs are like, okay, well, what can we do to fix it? And then they're like, okay, I don't want to change anything. So, like, at the end of the day, if you're in a position where it's stagnant or it's declining, we have to agree that change is necessary, right? So then you start changing stuff. Now, there might be some changes that you make, and they're like, oh, no, that was a really bad change. Like, you. You touch the fire and it burns your hand. You're like, ah, that wasn't a good idea. But if you're not trying things, how are you gonna figure out what people like and what people don't like? And I think that's where you got to get creative and make your own state shoot. Your own state shoot. Because you can't just mirror the same state shoot at every place and do the same thing. And then it. Because then it loses its uniqueness, right? It. It has to be unique to you guys. And I think, like, the pig roast, like, you're not going to do a pig roast in, you know, in Missouri, but it makes sense to think luau theme pig roast in Florida. I mean, that's that's just smart. I mean, it's fun.

[C]

So utilize our kind of.

[A]

Our theme correct, is is there other important topics or important things that you think the listeners need to know about the, the Silver Dollar or the Florida State shoot or anything?

[C]

I would say if you're interested in coming, get pre squatted as early as you can. Pre squad turnout has already been really big. Our busiest day is Tuesday, obviously, because we're doing 300 brothers and you know, we do have a maximum amount of squads we can run through in a day. So, you know, we're going to do everything we can to accommodate everybody. We want everybody to come and have a good time and. But yeah, if, if you get on pre squad and, and get your spot locked in, do you guys Pre squad

[A]

through Presquad.com or where do you guys do it?

[C]

Presquad.com I'm not sure the exact date, but I think, I think it's the, maybe the Sunday before the shoot. Pre squad will lock and then from that point on, if you want to squad, you'll have to use the Shoot Pro cloud app to lock in your position.

[A]

Is it currently open or is it not open yet?

[B]

It's open.

[C]

It's open. Pre squad is open.

[A]

Pre squad is open for the Florida State shoot. You heard it here first, folks. So, you know, Tom, I. It's been a pleasure having you on. We're excited to come to the Florida State shoot and to see it, and I'm excited to see how it works out. Let's get some pictures of your guys's trophy packages and put it up for the listeners to see and, and go from there. Ricky, is there anything we're missing today? Is there anything else?

[B]

No, I don't think so. I think we're good, honestly.

[C]

Yeah. I'd just like to add last year we were less than a hundred entries away from breaking that, that mold and getting into competition factor 5. So that's really our big push this year.

[B]

We want to make you right there on the edge.

[C]

We're right there.

[B]

That's.

[A]

That's really reasonable and easy. And when people hear that, just so that you know, some clarification, the way the All American team counts entries is they count entries per championship event in the singles, the doubles, and the handicap. So when you say we're 100 entries away, really you're 34 entries away in the singles, 34 entries away in the doubles, and 34 entries away in the handicap to making that a realistic goal because it's, it's A multiplier of those three events. So, you know, that's only a few squads. So if you, if, yeah, that's easy to get.

[C]

That's what we're hoping. And you know, at some point we're hoping it kind of becomes self sustaining, but we're not going to stop trying to innovate and, you know, make it fun for everybody.

[A]

I mean, that would, if it, if it became a five, I think it would be that much more reason for people to stay for the both weeks, especially if they're all American shooters. Yeah, they're going to say, well, I can't miss this because it's a five and it's a great shoot. And it's in the Florida state shoot. I'm already here. I mean, a lot of the cost in the travel is getting wherever you're going, whether it's the plane tickets or the driver, whatever. So. And a lot of the times when you're booking these Airbnbs, they give you a much better rate if you're booking for two weeks versus one. So, I mean, there's a lot of benefits to staying down there. And, and it seems like you guys have got a good situation. You're investing into the shooters, you're investing into your program, you're giving back as much as possible and you're promoting so, so well. Tom, it's been a pleasure having you on the show today. I appreciate your insight, I appreciate the hard work you do as the president, the association, and, and I'm really looking forward to seeing you out there and, and, and having fun at this shoot coming up in March. So for all the listeners today, like, Share, subscribe, wear your trap Talk merch Proud Ricky's got the OG hat on. You won't see him without that hat on, folks. That's his, that's his hat. He's rolling. And everyone, thank you for tuning in every Friday, supporting us and doing what we do and making this fun and making it worth, worth, worth the time. So we appreciate you and we'll see you soon.

[B]

See everyone. Good luck.

[C]

Thanks, guys.