← Trap Talk From The Back Fence
Trap Talk From The Back Fence
Trapshooting for Beginners: From Zero to Hero! 🏆 Trap Talk E112
01:05:03
Loading summary
Transcript302 lines
- [00:00]
Zach Denini
Welcome back to another episode of Trap Talk brought to you by Craig Off.
- [00:04]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Craig off the choice. Oh, I don't have a Craig off hat on.
- [00:08]
Zach Denini
Okay, go to the shirt down there.
- [00:10]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I have the Trap Talk hat on today. Craig off shirt, folks. Listen, get you a Craig off, call me.
- [00:16]
Zach Denini
It's a great gun. They've supported the show. There are, you know, our signature lead.
- [00:21]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Sponsor, Betty, Chrissy, Janine, everybody there at Craig Off. We really appreciate the support. You guys have taken care of us and, and listen, I'm there to take care of the shooters.
- [00:34]
Zach Denini
We're doing the best we can to let everybody know that they're the greatest guns out there. We love them. We're moving into 2020. But to talk about the episode, Rick, quick little highlight. What were we trying to do today?
- [00:46]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Well, Zach come up with his name zero to hero from starting to being at the top of the game. So we talked about a ride of things with trying to get there, going to different clubs, our experiences and such and it's a great episode. Listen, you know, join, you know, like share, subscribe, you guys will learn a lot.
- [01:07]
Zach Denini
Give it a listen. With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [01:35]
John
Welcome to season three of Trap talk.
- [01:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Brought to you by Craig off the choice of champions.
- [01:41]
Zach Denini
Welcome back to another episode of Trap Talk from the back fence. I'm your host Zach Denini and I'm here with my co host Richard Marshall Jr. It's a Saturday morning, we're both a little bit cold. It's, it's, it's a little gloomy outside. What do you think, Rick?
- [01:56]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, I mean we haven't got a lot of snow here in Nebraska, in Lincoln at least just a little dusting here and there. We were supposed to get that major snow last week but didn't get it. You guys did. I know. Kansas City, St. Louis, St. Charles, you guys got hammered.
- [02:12]
Zach Denini
We got smoked. St. Charles, Missouri got 13 inches in the last few days. So it's, it's a winter wonderland and nobody really knows how to drive. So that's always fun when they're sliding around all over the road and you're like, oh wow, this is great. You know.
- [02:27]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Is that why you're working at home?
- [02:30]
Zach Denini
Can't get much work done at home. I make it in the office. I got four wheel drive in that Explorer. So we're still good. But you know John, our great producer, shout out to him, shot co productions. He says that he's been getting some requests for some certain types of episodes from the fans and One of the episodes that they wanted us to do was basically he titled it zero to Hero. You know, how do you start in the game at the beginning and get all the way to the heights of the top, top tier, All Americans. Like, what's, you know, what's the process? What does it look like? You know, what type of training do you expect to do in the beginning? You know, you know, what type of investment does that take? And you know, you know, how quickly can you go on that path? Right. I mean, I think it's, it's different for everyone, obviously. But you know, we both have our stories and kind of how we integrated into where we get the checkbook out. Right. You know, if you're a kid and you got a sponsor as a parent.
- [03:27]
John
That'D be the best way to go, I would say.
- [03:29]
Zach Denini
But, but other than that, I mean, there are people that are picking up the gun for pretty much the first time or listening to our show for the first time and they're new and you know, how do they go from, you know, the, the don't know anything to, you know, one of the, one of the, the greats in the country.
- [03:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Well, a lot of dedication, you know, but really starting off, it's, you know, just maybe going out, finding a local gun club if you like to shoot, you know, if you, if you have a firearm, you know, shotgun, it could be anything, you know, it could be an old single shot. Make sure it's, you know, workable and, and working order. But you know, hunting gun, whatever. I mean, we all started with field grade guns, so it's not like we started shooting, you know, Craig Offs right out of the gate. You know, I think me and you.
- [04:23]
Zach Denini
Both started with a Remington 1100.
- [04:25]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, I broke my first 25 straight with my dad's field grade 1100. I wish I could get that back for him. He actually, if I remember right, I think he sold it back in the day when I was a kid because he wasn't using it and use that money so I could shoot.
- [04:43]
Zach Denini
Yeah, maybe you'll find it someday.
- [04:45]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I wish I could, honestly.
- [04:46]
Zach Denini
And I don't even know how guns, you sell them and they go all around and sometimes you find them again like I've had guns. Yeah, they come back.
- [04:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, it's weird. I've seen that. I mean, I just got chills thinking of that because I've seen that in, in a lot of friends and students that, you know, they had a gun in say 1985 and in 2000, you know, 10, the one year, I think it was 2010. And guys like, hey, that's my old gun. I sold that in 85. And a gun dealer had it on the other side of the country.
- [05:19]
Zach Denini
Well, that's the story. If you go back to Herbie Lewis's episode that we shot in Florida, he sold that gun that he shot, I think it was his TM1 or TMX that he had, I believe. And, you know, he lo. You know, got rid of it, got out of the game, came back all those years later and was able to purchase the same gun back and just went right into it like it was nothing. And I'm like, you know, how do you. How do you get so lucky to do that kind of stuff? But, you know.
- [05:45]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, no. And so really, though, getting back on track here is, you know, if you'd like to shoot clay targets, find a, you know, traps, keep sporting, doesn't matter. You know, a facility that, that offers any of those disciplines and show up, call, find out their hours, you know, show up, maybe see if they have any leagues when their practice times are, you know, and, and then just go out and, and trust me, you go to any gun club and you're gonna be welcomed.
- [06:16]
Zach Denini
Yeah.
- [06:16]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Open arms. As long as you're being safe. Now, if you're not being safe, you're not gonna be so welcomed. So that's number one is, Is gun safety. And I stress that a lot is, you know, being safe with the farm. But, you know, show up, shoot, and then ask questions, you know, with the great thing with, you know, the, our. Our phones, you know, and everything is the Internet.
- [06:43]
Zach Denini
Correct.
- [06:44]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You can get on and search and.
- [06:47]
Zach Denini
I think this, this episode is a culmination of all 105, six episodes that we've done. Basically, we've talked about a little bit of the things that we need to do to get there, but like, from, you know, start to finish, in my mind, I like joining the league. You know, I think there's some consistency in joining a league, a Wednesday night league, a Thursday night league, a local league at your gun club and getting some consistency and seeing how competitive you are. And then in California, this was a long time ago, they had another league that was kind of an intro to ata, and they called it South Bay and North Bay. I don't know if you've ever heard of the South Bay, North Bay leagues.
- [07:26]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah.
- [07:27]
Zach Denini
But used to shoot them. Yep, yep. Big deal. So the way South Bay and North Bay worked were. It was 50 singles, 50 doubles, and 50 handicap in the program. So it wasn't a 300 bird day. It was 150, all non registered, and there was one South Bay shoot a month. So every, you know, they had eight or 10 clubs and it rotated clubs and it would travel all around. But, you know, that was the first big thing for me getting into it because there was a ton of competitors, and at a South Bay shoot, it would draw 50 squads or 60 squads. Yeah, because they were only doing 50 targets. So they could do, you know, those, those mega numbers.
- [08:08]
Richard Marshall Jr.
50, 50, 50. Each day.
- [08:10]
Zach Denini
Yes. Yeah. One day. One day. One day. So it was a Saturday or a Sunday shoot, I think it was Saturdays and, and 50 singles, 50 handicap, 50 doubles. And so it was a 150 program. And, you know, the high overalls on those, you know, Dave Kelly was, you know, that was when he was in prime. He was always trying to shoot a 150 out of 150.
- [08:30]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah.
- [08:31]
Zach Denini
But, you know, you'd win them from anywhere from 140 to 150, depending on, you know, the weather of the day.
- [08:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
The club.
- [08:38]
Zach Denini
Yeah, the club, the conditions and all.
- [08:40]
Richard Marshall Jr.
That stuff, you know, did Martinez had it, didn't it, or.
- [08:43]
Zach Denini
No, Martinez was North Bay, so. So then Sunnyvale was South Bay. So there was just a different kind of league of, of, of which ones you go to, and they never.
- [08:51]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Sunnyvale is a great club. You should go back sometime.
- [08:54]
Zach Denini
I love, I love it there. I think, you know, step one, Ricky's talked a lot about training. I mean, I can remember back in the day when I didn't have the talent, it was three to five hundred rounds a week. I mean, of, of training at least. And I think, you know, Rick, talk about shortening a learning curve, like for these listeners, you know, when you, when you get started, you know, what does it take to be like, okay, if you got a guy that's doing 50 shots a week, that's just starting, versus a guy that does 500 or a thousand, you know, when he's really learning and figuring out, what do you think about shortening that learning curve?
- [09:35]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Well, you know, when I was growing up, I mean, it was, you know, 500, a thousand a week, you know, or even a couple times a week doing that, you know, and it was a lot of shooting in the summer and even the fall, whatever, all year long. But with today's technology now with the Pat Traps, the Canterbury, you know, you can go out, set a target, you know, you're struggling, set a target, shoot 25 to 50, and you're getting so much more out of that than When I was a kid and had to go out and I was struggling with a left angle and stand on post.
- [10:07]
Zach Denini
One, I might shoot one out of five.
- [10:09]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. I might shoot 500 to get the same amount that now. I mean, your learning curve now is instead of being an all day training, you could do it in an hour, couple hours.
- [10:21]
Zach Denini
All right, folks, we got to take.
- [10:22]
John
A quick second and give a huge shout out to our title sponsor, Craig Off. Me and Ricky both shoot them. We both love them.
- [10:28]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yep. Best gun in the industry. I shoot them, I sell them. Nothing better. Folks, get yourself a Craig up. Your scores will increase.
- [10:36]
John
Yeah, I mean, Ricky's got hundreds and hundreds of hundreds with his. I mean, I've got a few hundreds, but. But I'm always working to get a little bit better and they definitely help me, that's for sure. So on top of that, we also got to thank winning. I'm wearing the shirt today.
- [10:47]
Zach Denini
Love this shirt.
- [10:48]
John
If you're down at the grand, pick one up.
- [10:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, winning. Like I said, Zach, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds with my winning stock. You know, get ahold of Bobby, Luke, Bill, get an appointment set up. They will make you a better shooter with that winning stock.
- [11:03]
John
Of course. Yeah, the Grand's the great place to do it. Give them a call, get on their book. It's worth your time.
- [11:07]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Just remember, winners shoot winnings.
- [11:09]
John
With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [11:11]
Zach Denini
It also has to do with how flexible your gun club is to allowing you to make those adjustments. Right. Like, you know, I'm very blessed that I'm at a gun club where I can go and I can maneuver the traps and, you know, make adjustments. I know some gun clubs, they don't.
- [11:25]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And, and not to get jumping on, Zach, but speaking of that, folks, really, you know, be in, in, in the know with your club, you know, be respectful of your gun club. Talk to the people, you know that run it if, if you can't do it, that, trust me, managers, you know, general managers, board of directors will be more than happy to set a trap up for most people and set a target a certain way. 100% that ability to do it.
- [11:54]
Zach Denini
100%. Yeah. Now, there are some clubs that don't have the capacity to cater, you know, you know, there's some, two trap clubs that I know that are open to the public where, you know, they've got people waiting in line to shoot all day, so they can't really, you know, set a specific field during public hours. But if you can join a club where they have enough traps and they, you know, you know, the managers and you can kind of work on that stuff. I would say, you know, at the beginning, you know, good practice, I think shorten the learning curve with, with multiple practice sessions and, and shooting enough. I mean, and if you don't have the budget to do that, I would say you overwork the gun mounts in the household. Like we talked about, where we're, we're mounting the gun and we're, we're being consistent, we're building the muscles right off the bat. Those are the things that right off the bat are going to shoot you up. Because for me, I mean, I'm looking at your average. I've looked at it before, looking at my average. There's years where, you know, you're kind of where you are, and then there's boom, there's an explosion and there's a takeoff because my, my average was somewhere in the 80s. And then a couple years, a year or two went and boom, it was like 94. And then it went from 94 to 97. And then it just kind of always, you know, went up. And I think those are those explosive areas of learning where something just naturally clicked. And unfortunately, I don't think you could fake that learning. You have to, like, it has to click and it has to happen in your own head.
- [13:21]
Richard Marshall Jr.
There's no faking anything when you're doing hand eye coordination. And that's what shooting is. You know, there's other things to do. You know, growing up, I mean, I played pool, billiards, very competitive at a very high level at that, and darts and, and, you know, anything. Eye coordination I love to do. I always said I had a misspent youth. I spent a lot of time in, in the, the bars and pool halls, you know, around the United States and all the shoots I went to. But you really, you know, you could shorten the learning curve by really the determination and the consistency and you, you have to put in the work. I mean, it doesn't come easy. And that's where, you know, starting off, you know, join a league, you, you know, join a gun club, join multiple gun clubs. You know, without these gun clubs, we don't have the sport, you know, and we've talked about this a little bit before about getting back to the, the smaller clubs and, and stuff. I really think we need to do that as a shooter.
- [14:22]
Zach Denini
Smaller clubs are where we build the competitive shooters, period. You have to have the small clubs train. I love going to Florida every year. I love going to Tucson I love going to Vernal. I love going all these places, but guess what? I live in St. Charles, Missouri, and if I can't go 25 or 30 minutes and practice, practice, it's going to be really hard for me to keep myself at a level where I can compete. So you have to support your local clubs. You have to keep them going. I think, you know, once you've, you know, we've talked about, you know, journaling, setting expectations, setting goals at the beginning, you know, no, really, really clear crystal vision in your mind. Where do you want to go and how fast do you want to get there? And I would set incremental goals such as the first 25, the first 50, the first 75, the first 100. I mean, you need to be tracking what you've done.
- [15:14]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yes.
- [15:14]
Zach Denini
Pushing that envelope to get to that next level of. Okay. You know, because if you want to get all the way to the top of the All American team and whatever it is, you're gonna need to be able to, you know, run a 200 straight and singles, run 100 doubles, get to the 27 yard line. Obviously you're gonna have to go at the highest level. Correct.
- [15:32]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Going there. But to get there. And, and let's not just go from the bottom right to the top. It's, you know, the determination and the wherewithal you, you know, and, and the financial ability to do these things too. Because let's, let's face it, you know, shooting is not a cheap sport.
- [15:49]
Zach Denini
No, and I, and, and I, I agree with you. I think for.
- [15:53]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You need to, here's the one thing is you need to start and, and set the goals like Zach said. And, and that's one of the major and main things is set your goals and you accomplish a goal. Check it off. Set a new goal. Always when you accomplish a goal, set a new one immediately. Get something on there, write it down in your head, whatever it is. But, you know, we started at the, at the clubs and, and going back to that is with the gun clubs is, you know, you have Gateway Gun Club. Yeah. You shoot at a lot.
- [16:22]
Zach Denini
You know, Daniel Boone Gun Club, Gateway Gun are my two major places that I train and practice and, and they're both fantastic.
- [16:30]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. So I, I've been a member at Lincoln, Travis Ski, Lincoln, Nebraska, since 1987. 88. You know, my dad and I. And I'm fortunate that I could go out there, I could teach anytime. I could go out, practice anytime. You know, I've got keys, I've got cards for the, the Long range system and, and such. And, and then we have a sporting course out there too, and do the same thing. But, and that's the ability is, is, you know, you shoot long enough, you get to know so many people. But I could go out and if I want to go and change the targets, I change the targets. I work on with students, I do that and put it at a right angle. We shoot 10, 15 targets and they're like, oh, okay, move on. It. Literally, it shortens everything. So, you know, join your leagues now. Go and really, you know, support your local clubs, your local shoots if you.
- [17:19]
Zach Denini
Can, the weekend ATA shoots. And I think that's where step one, after you've kind of walked through that area, is getting that first ATA weekend shoot under your belt locally. I mean, and, and, and I think you have to win in the small pond before you go to the big pond. Like, you know, and, and this is something that Dave Kelly told me a long time ago. He said, agree with that.
- [17:41]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I disagree because you're setting yourself up. You, you just need to, you need to go compete and enjoy shooting. Don't, don't. Now here's the deal. There's a difference between the mentality, what Dave Kelly's telling you to, what you were trying to do is make the All American team and you're trying to win and all that. Where some of these shooters, they want to come and enjoy the sport and they want to shoot. So I always say, listen, shoot all the shoots you can. And if you can, if you got the chance to go to a big shoot, then go and experience it. Because experience is better than waiting till, oh, oh, now I'm good enough. You, you put a negative in your head because, oh, I'm not good enough to go to that. No, everybody's good enough. This is one of the greatest things about trap shooting or skeet shooting or sporting clays is I can go out as a brand new shooter and stand there next to, you know, Leo Harlan, Ray Stafford, Dan Venillas, Brett Robinson, you know, Daryl Handy, I mean, just the, the list goes on and on and on. Bob Munson, you know, Eric Munson, Sean Holly, yada yada, Joey Chart, whoever you want to talk about, and stand right next to them and shoot.
- [18:59]
Zach Denini
I, I do think there's something to be said about that experience. Like you said, Rick, where experience, no matter what, if you're going to those big shoots or not, you know, that's helpful. But you know what I was focused on when I was picking up the gun is I'm like, okay, I won at my league level, and then I won at my South Bay level, and then I won an ATA level, and then I started winning at the state level. And then once I was at that level, it was like, okay, nationally, I know I can compete. And I think there's so many shooters in my mind that are great shooters. An example we just did. I mean, we did. We did an episode with Kelly, but we did an episode with John Mullins, and Mullins is a great shot. Now, Mullins, I think, has only made the All American team one time, but.
- [19:44]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I think he's made it more than that. I thought.
- [19:46]
Zach Denini
I think he was All Star team a lot of times.
- [19:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
P I T A But.
- [19:52]
Zach Denini
But what I'm. What I'm trying to articulate is I think there's people that are big competitors locally, but they can't necessarily always make the time to go to all these places for whatever reason. Work, family, you know, this, that, and the other thing, you know. But I think it's a good indicator on if you can compete if you're one of the big dogs in. In these other, you know, area. Right.
- [20:16]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Wanting to do correct. Yes.
- [20:19]
Zach Denini
I think today we're talking about competing, not having fun. We're talking about getting to the top, right?
- [20:24]
Richard Marshall Jr.
It doesn't matter. You, number one, if you're competing, you got to have fun no matter what. If you're not going to have fun, there's no. I mean, here's the thing that is true. There's only a certain percentage of the shooters that get to be the top 1%. It's like in all. All sports, okay? But the difference in shooting sports is anybody can do it. You can't go play basketball with Michael Jordan, LeBron.
- [20:47]
Zach Denini
I know I can't. Me and you aren't going to play any soccer anytime soon. All right, folks, we got to take.
- [20:53]
John
A real quick break and acknowledge official target of the ata White Flyer. They've been sponsoring us since the beginning.
- [21:00]
Zach Denini
And they make a great target.
- [21:01]
John
What do you think, Rick?
- [21:02]
Richard Marshall Jr.
It's the best target in the ata. Shout out to everybody there, all the reps. You know, Bill Daniels, Josh Taylor, Nick Arnold, Robert Crow, everything they do for the sport and all the shoots. Really appreciate it.
- [21:14]
Zach Denini
They're always there.
- [21:15]
John
They're always trying to make a better target, and they're always supporting the game that we love so much. With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [21:27]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I'll go play soccer. I grew up playing soccer. I'll do it. We can't do it at with those people, though. You could come shoot. That's the greatest thing about shooting sports is anybody can do it. And. And I really promote that is like, come have fun. Come enjoy the big shoots. Don't just stick around at your little club and shoot there and then go, well, yeah, I think I'm good enough to go compete. Well, everybody's good enough to go compete because guess what? When it's your day, it's your day. That's why. That's true. I love the shoots like the grand American. I really believe the grand American should go back to shooting off the doubles every night.
- [22:04]
Zach Denini
I think that would be a great thing. I think you get a lot. You get, you know, handicaps and doubles. Every night would be a lot of entertainment, for sure. I understand why they don't shoot off singles every night, you know, but.
- [22:16]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But still, it's the world championships. It's the. Each event is each event. It's not this event goes into this event. No, it's that you only get a trophy for that event. So, you know, we used to shoot off the doubles in the handicap every night, and then they. They switched. But, you know, so going back, you know, shoot, join your clubs, go to the little shoots, you know, try to get to a state shoot, your own state shoot if you can. If you think.
- [22:43]
Zach Denini
Do you think it's better for people to try to go to the bigger national shoots before they even attend their state shoot?
- [22:48]
Richard Marshall Jr.
No, I think go. No, I think go and enjoy your state shoot if you can. You know, I mean, I love shooting Nebraska state shoot when I can, but, you know, my business and with all my sponsors just like you do, there's certain shoots I got to go to.
- [23:02]
Zach Denini
Yeah.
- [23:04]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And then with all the clinics and stuff I do, and that's my main business. If I miss shoots, I miss shoots. It's just, you know, you got to do what you got to do. But I think going to your state shoots and then, you know, trying to hit a satellite grand, you know, if you can. I mean, that's the greatest thing about the wintertime. You know, we're in right now here. Coming up February, we got the spring grant in Tucson. The weather's, you know, usually decent. We've had some weird years.
- [23:36]
Zach Denini
It can be okay.
- [23:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Well, now they've moved it right at the end of February, the beginning of March, so maybe that'll help better. So, you know, come down to Tucson, shoot the spring grant. That's one of the greatest clubs too, as far as be able to practice that They've got what, like 16 practice fields?
- [23:53]
Zach Denini
Yeah, they've got a ton of area to practice over there.
- [23:56]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Four doubles, four handicap, four singles. You know, it's an enjoyable shoot. And then you have Florida in March.
- [24:03]
Zach Denini
You know, when we're going through this right now, it makes me go back to the episode we did with K. And, you know, K talked about, you know, the 50,000 targets a year that he was basically shooting to soften the learning curve. I mean, I think there's. There's something to be said about practice and the really gamey people, the ones that really want to win. I've seen it is, you know, if they go out there and they feel like they did something wrong, they're off to the practice trap and they're trying to correct it or they're figuring it out. And I can remember. I mean, it's not that way anymore, but I can remember when I was moving back, if I got yardage and then I shot bad on that yardage, I would go to the practice trap after that handicap and shoot a couple, you know, shoot 57,500, whatever it was, till I felt comfortable. And sometimes that's mental, sometimes that's physical, but at the end of the day, you have to, like, get your head ready and get your mind right to say, I can do this. And.
- [24:58]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And that's true. And that's just like, you know, our podcast, what we do, you know, we have shortened the learning curve for a lot of people. You know, I've gotten just here recently, and I got to respond back to a lot of them. I've gotten a lot of text messages and emails from people that, you know, are watching the show and they're learning a lot, and, you know, this has really helped them, and that's why we're doing this, you know, and it is. It's crazy that, you know, to think that, you know, you can shorten the learning curve just by listening and getting a few tips and thinking, oh, well, yeah, let me try that. Let me.
- [25:30]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I think any. Any. Anytime you can keep your mind on the sport in any way, shape or form, whether it's talking to your friend about it, whether it's watching the podcast, whether it's reading a book on it, whether it's watching Leo's dvd, whether it's. Whatever it might be to help get insight and shorten that learning curve so that you're not having to go and figure it all out for the first time on your own. Now, even with all that, I still believe that until you feel it. You, you don't. You're not going to know like until you've been there. We could talk about running 100 straight. We could talk about, you know, breaking a grand slam. But until you've been in that zone and pushed through that and, and I would say failed a few times, it's hard to, to just, you know, you.
- [26:17]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You, you talk about that and that, that brings up a good point is, you know, you don't learn a lot by winning, losing, learned by failure.
- [26:28]
Zach Denini
Yeah, that's a fact.
- [26:30]
John
All right, Trap talk listeners, let's take a couple seconds and thank a couple more sponsors. First of all, Remington's been with us since day one. I've been shooting these shells since 2007. I shoot the Nitro 27 from 27 yard line, ounce and eight, seven and a half and STS, ounce and eighth eights for singles and doubles. They've worked great for me as they do a lot of top shooters all around the country. Give them a try. Don't forget the gun club line when you're practicing and you're wanting to save a little bit of money.
- [26:57]
Richard Marshall Jr.
We'd also like to thank another sponsor, Outlaw engineering. Randy Freston, R2. I've known Randy since 1988. They do engineering, survey and drafting, GIS, civil structural, land development, wetland permitting. They do.
- [27:14]
John
And their friends at trap shooters, I mean their trap shooting family, they've been in the ATA forever. His dad's been involved. They're involved, they're beautiful family. They're great people. And we just love that they listen to the show and we love that they support trap talk.
- [27:26]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. His dad was past president 1989. So I really want to thank those guys for the support and really appreciate it here at trap.
- [27:34]
John
With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [27:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And so failure is not a bad thing at all. Trust me. I've, I've lost, well, more shoot offs than I've been in. But the ones that I've won, I've won because I've felt fell back on situations I've been in and came forward and gained out of those situations. I mean, it's one of those things. I mean, I've been in a lot of shoot offs as you have, Zach. And you learn by your, you don't learn by your wins.
- [28:08]
Zach Denini
No, you learn by messing up and you have to mess up.
- [28:11]
Richard Marshall Jr.
What are you doing when you're winning? It's all like, yeah, okay, boom. And then you're having a good time, going to dinner, have a Few drinks, do whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah.
- [28:19]
Zach Denini
Yeah, it's all good, baby.
- [28:21]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. When you fail, that's when this kicks in a little bit and you start thinking like, okay, what do I need to do?
- [28:29]
Zach Denini
What was I not doing? Or what do I need to adjust? Or what do I, what was I thinking about all those things? And you're so right, Rick, because I mean, the greatest learnings that I've ever had were when I messed up something that was so big and so painful, it hurt so bad that you didn't forget. You know, I remember the first time I messed up my hundred straight from the 27. I remember exactly what I did. And it's like, okay, you know, don't do that again. And, and you know, and then, and then I remember another time I was about to basically win the California State Handicap.
- [29:05]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I had to. There you go.
- [29:08]
Zach Denini
About to about.
- [29:10]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I had it in my hand, I.
- [29:12]
Zach Denini
Had it, I could touch it, you know, and it was one of those situations where I had too much information going into the event. You know, I just, I knew too much. I knew what was high on the board. I knew I was the last squad I knew, you know.
- [29:24]
Richard Marshall Jr.
So this is in the event you were shooting, you weren't in a shoot off for it?
- [29:27]
Zach Denini
No, no, no. I actually shot off for the, for the event still and got second. But I went into the last post with a 99 and I'm like, I knew, I mean, I pretty much knew that a 99 was going to win because nothing had been on the board and I was the very last squad and, and I broke, I ended up missing the 98th bird because I'm like, all right, you know, just, you know, I was, I was counting it before.
- [29:53]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I had it instead of.
- [29:56]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I was in, I was in, I was in winning mode and like, okay, I got this mode versus working on it. And I ended up breaking a 98. I ended up getting in a 12 way tie for the, for the, for the, for the whole thing. Right. So it would have been a loner, right? It was. And this was back when there was a little bit more money in that California handicap. I mean, this was a, this was a good one, but, but it is what it is, you know, you can't.
- [30:20]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And that's. You learn from that.
- [30:22]
Zach Denini
And I remember that as much as I remember anything. And I mean, and I think it was the next year or two years later I had a, I had a shoot off with Dave Kelly.
- [30:35]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And when you beat him in.
- [30:37]
Zach Denini
No, that was the one he beat Me in. I broke 100 straight from the 27 in the. In Wednesday's handicap at the state shoot. And he did, too. I said, I was walking back to the. To the area where the campers are.
- [30:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah.
- [30:50]
Zach Denini
And I was. I just broke 100 from the 27. This is like. I was. I was strutting like a peacock. You know, I was. I was full strut.
- [31:00]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Rooster walk.
- [31:01]
Zach Denini
I had the rooster walk going. You know, at the time, I was feeling really good. And this was. This was no later than 10 days after I broke my first one at Vernal. So I broke the one at Vernal and then 10, you know, basically, the next shoot was California. I broke one. And I. I said to myself, the only person here that could probably tie me today is gonna be Kelly. It's gonna be Kelly. I said. I said. I said. I said it, and I said it walking by. I said it to Bob Graves. I said, you know, yeah, I shot those good. But as good as those targets were, I said, kelly was on our same bank. I said, I was bank. It was bank C. I said. I said, he'll probably run 100 on those. And I shouldn't have said that. But I. You know, I got done. And, you know, we get to the. You know, in front of the scoreboards or whatever, and I look over Kelly, what'd you shoot? I broke them. I said, ah, you know, Chop chopped up pretty good. And that night, he beat me. He had a 25. So he went 125 out of 125, and I had a 23, and he beat me. And he said, you know, it's unfair that somebody should lose with a hundred straight. But you know what? I wasn't gonna lose. So there. So there you go.
- [32:17]
Richard Marshall Jr.
He said some great stuff to you. And then he then even, hey, I got my little back stretch. Then he said, pulled it.
- [32:24]
Zach Denini
So he. He. He crushed me, right? But he was so focused. I was focused on being in the shoot off with Dave Kelly.
- [32:32]
Richard Marshall Jr.
He like, okay, I'm in the shoot off with Dave versus I'm gonna shoot my correct correct.
- [32:39]
Zach Denini
So. So, you know, fast forward. I'm with the first shoot off. And this was, I think, a gift from God, honestly, because I was in the shoot off with Dave, and all I thought was, I'm in a shoot off with Dave, and I miss birds. Well, two days later, it's the doubles championship on Friday. I run a hundred, Dave runs 100, and I think we're the only two hundreds. I mean, maybe there's one more guy. But if there's one more guy. He went out in the first round after 20, but I just had the shoot off with him on Wednesday. And the last thing in my head was, I'm shooting off with Dave Kelly. I just basically said, okay, you already lost on Wednesday because you were thinking about beating Dave, because all you want to do is beat Dave because he's. He's the best in California right now.
- [33:22]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Dave who? Dave who?
- [33:23]
Zach Denini
Yeah, so. So I was like, you know what? Screw him. I said, he ain't even here. I'm just. I'm just shooting my targets. And I was like, I'm going to break a pair at a time period of time. Pair at a time period of time. So we both break the first 20, and I go out and he misses, like, number 16 on the second one, and, like, thank God it wasn't number four, because I would have squirted about six out. But at number 16. At number 16, I'm like, okay, maybe that's Dave Kelly over there, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'm not sure.
- [33:55]
John
But.
- [33:56]
Zach Denini
But let me just keep focusing on breaking them just the way I break them. And I went back down in the last pair. I can. I remember it, and it's almost like I can go back to where I was in my mind and see the way the gun looked as I was calling pull for that pair. But I just remember everything was super still. And I told myself, don't move until you see the target and look at, you know, just hold still. See the target. I was still. And when I called pull and I seen that bird, I made my move. Instead of calling pulling, kind of, you know, making that reaction. You're so. You're wanting to get it over so fast. I seen it. I went pop. Looked over at the second one, popped, and I won the event. I would not have won the doubles. There's no way I'd have won the doubles if I didn't get you. Yeah, if he didn't beat me on that couple days before. And so we got another spot.
- [34:41]
John
You got to thank Shotguns West.
- [34:44]
Zach Denini
The Pelas, baby.
- [34:45]
John
Check out these wins things. You, Ricky don't got these. He ain't that stylish, folks.
- [34:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Listen, Zach tries to wear these driving down the road doing podcasts. It's okay.
- [34:55]
John
We still love you when you look good. You don't have to apologize.
- [34:58]
Zach Denini
Remember that not only can you hit more targets, but you could look good doing it.
- [35:02]
John
Give Ryan a call.
- [35:03]
Richard Marshall Jr.
That's right.
- [35:03]
John
With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [35:06]
Zach Denini
That's where I think people like you said that that failure is your biggest educator in, in anything. And, and there's going to be times when you're up there against a guy and you are a little bit intimidated. I mean, I can't, I can't tell you how intimidated I was the first time I was shooting off with Dave Kelly, Leo Harrison, Richard Marshall Jr. Sean Hawley. I mean you, you're gonna get intimidated those first few times and now not so much. But it is what it is. You know, just.
- [35:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I could get the thunderstruck back into you.
- [35:39]
Zach Denini
Oh, baby. Yeah, you scare me.
- [35:41]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Listen, you're right about that. And, and, and I've got, I mean, hundreds and hundreds of stories of situations of the same thing. I mean, you know, I missed my last target in the Nebraska state shoot one year on Thursday's handicap. I think it was maybe it's Fridays for 99. And I was like, what the heck? And I walked off. There was three of us tied with 99s and a gentleman made a comment, you know, and okay, I went on the shoot off and I mean I corn rolled 25 and 1. And I was like, I won't be doing that again. And I've missed the last. I've shoot offs. I mean, well, the year Lauren Mueller and I shot off for the all.
- [36:31]
Zach Denini
I remember that I missed my last.
- [36:32]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Target because guess what? This was thinking about going back. She broke her 40. I was thinking about going, getting another box of shells to shoot again. And it, and it all, you know, it was just so quick. I missed and I went, what the heck? And that's what helped me. That was 2013 in August. Well, less than 15 days later. Yeah, about 15 days later, the 400 grand at Utah Vernal. And I was straight in Bartholow's down one. And I'm like, I ain't missing getting a shoot off. And so my mind, I was in focus mode on breaking targets. But you just. Everything had to come together. But I had that. And, and I always say that fall back on your success. And that happened to me in that event. You know, I got 15 to go and I'm trying to, you know, here I got the old Fioki shell sitting here. I'm trying to put the shell in the gun like this.
- [37:28]
Zach Denini
You can't find the hole resting.
- [37:30]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I'm like, oh crap. And I, so I finally, I settled down and I said, listen, you broke a hundred. I broke 100 on Thursday's handicap there. I said, you Broke a hundred. You know how to do this.
- [37:43]
Zach Denini
Yeah.
- [37:44]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And my, my, I just kind of calmed down and broke those five. Went to the next post, broke those five.
- [37:51]
Zach Denini
It's amazing how you could talk to yourself and settle yourself down.
- [37:55]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Self talk. That's what you have to have. You have to have your conscious mind, you know, overturning your subconscious because your subconscious is the devil.
- [38:05]
Zach Denini
He's trying to get you every time.
- [38:07]
John
Also we've got Mid State Precious Metals. Ron Prescott, he's a great guy for all your gold and silver needs. Ricky, tell them about our friend.
- [38:15]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, Ron, he graciously donated a 10 ounce silver bar to our live in Person podcast in Tucson. And you know, he, he has everything. I bought a bunch of silver from him. You know, we got our silver and gold for the, the fun day at, at the Nevada State shoot on Monday this year. You know, John got all the silver and gold for the Nevada State shoot. So look him up for your silver and gold needs. He'll give you the best price out there.
- [38:42]
John
He really is. And, and he's a friend of the trap shooters. I mean he's looking to get gold and silver to these gun clubs for their shoots at the lowest price across the country. He's doing him a service and helping grow the sport. So, you know, thank you so much for that, Ron.
- [38:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, thank you, Ron. We appreciate it.
- [38:56]
John
With that being said, let's get to the show.
- [38:58]
Zach Denini
As important as all this stuff we're talking about with learning, we're talking about going to the top of the team, moving yourself up, you have to really think of yourself. Your mind is going to sabotage you on the way up because you're like.
- [39:10]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Okay, it's not Bullard. You know, we're shooting together. We're not sabotaging each other. We're at, we're enjoying it. We're laughing and joking. But at the end of the day, we want everybody to shoot well. So I, I never, I believe in the karma folks. So, you know, now Justin Debris, he don't believe in karma. He's always feeling sack. Oh, you crap down your leg. Oh, don't miss that target. And I'm like, you know, you know, I learned that a long time ago from one of our, our great, you know, long, my, one of my great, long time shooting buddies, Dana Dobson. You know, God rest his soul, he's passed away several years now. But Dana used to, he'd tap the mics, we'd screw around and one time he did that and a guy missed the target and Leo was on the squad, and he was doing it to all of us. And Leo, we were all doing it. And, you know, and I said, I'm not in this. I'm out. And Leo's like, yeah, I'm not messing with that. Well, guess what? Dana kept doing it. And then one of the guys on the squad tapped the mic, you know, and it threw a target. Dana missed. And he got so mad and pissed off at everybody, we said, hey, you were doing it. And he's like, well, that's different. No, it's not different. You know, it's that karma. So what I always say is, you know what? Have fun. Shoot your targets when you're done. Look. Oh, this is what I broke. If you have a bad event, bad trap, you know, don't. Like. My famous saying is, don't make a bad post turn into a bad trap. A bad trap turn into a bad event. A bad event turn into a bad day, and a bad day into a bad shoot.
- [40:46]
Zach Denini
Because shoot turn into a bad year.
- [40:49]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, exactly.
- [40:51]
Zach Denini
Oh, baby, we're gonna sweep that one under the rug.
- [40:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But in all reality, folks, you know, go to some shoots, okay? But have a budget. You know, get your ammo. You can get that from a distributor at the local clubs, you know, whatever, you know, set out. Like, okay, here's the shoots I'm gonna go to here, or here's the shoots I want to go to. How much does it cost? Check hotels. And that's one thing that, you know, Zach and I are trying to do here with the podcast, too, a little bit, is, Excuse me. Get some info out to people on shoots. So anybody out there, if you got some questions about shoots, send them in. Trust me, there probably isn't a shoot or a state that we haven't been to. I mean, I've been.
- [41:38]
Zach Denini
We've been almost all of them for.
- [41:39]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Alaska, those two states. I've shot clay targets in every other state, at least one, you know, teaching and stuff or stopping at a club on the way to a shoot or something. But the one thing is, is, you know, ask questions. We'll help you.
- [41:54]
Zach Denini
I think it's so important to ask questions. I think it's so important to establish a budget. I think it's so important to establish what your goals are. I think, you know. You know, there's some people that believe in an average. There's some people that don't. I think knowing where you're at and tracking and getting better, I think is important, regardless of, you know, the average. I think I. I personally, on the way up kept an average card. And after every single event, I wrote it in and did the math on it, and I was trying to raise my average every time I shot. Now, that didn't always happen, and I wasn't shooting for average. I didn't go to shoots that were only easy. But I was always trying to say, okay, if I can raise my average and be more consistent, if I can be more consistent with my scores and be more consistent with the way I shoot, then that's going to help me win consistently. And I know, you know, I know Rick doesn't shoot for an average, but, you know, he has one of the highest averages in the country because he's always trying to hit every single target that he's shooting at and.
- [42:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And to go a little deeper on that. So one of my goals as a K that I had in was I, Frank copy, of course, is my coaching mentor. And Frank made me keep an average card, and I did. And I still got him somewhere in all my junk of stuff, my wife says of everything. But I would have goals. And one of my goals was to shoot better than my average.
- [43:22]
Zach Denini
That's a great goal.
- [43:23]
Richard Marshall Jr.
If you can shoot better than your average, you're doing well. Okay, so set that, you know, say.
- [43:33]
Zach Denini
Your average is 85, push for 86 or better. And if you keep pushing that envelope and you keep pushing that number up, you're going to get better. You're good. You have to get better.
- [43:42]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yep, yep.
- [43:43]
Zach Denini
So that's more consistent. All right, folks, we got to take.
- [43:47]
John
Another quick break and thank one of our show sponsors, 73 Pointers Ranch Jonesburg, Missouri. Rick and Carla Burke. Best place in the area to go shoot chuckers and pheasants and have a great time. Rick, we got to get you down there.
- [43:58]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, I need to come in. Hopefully I can do some hunting with you guys and come to your the annual clay shoot in August right after the grand.
- [44:06]
John
It's a lot of fun. It's the optimist club charity shoot. They throw a charity shoot, they put it on, and it's wonderful. I think last year they had over 100, 100 entries into it, and it's.
- [44:16]
Zach Denini
Just a good time.
- [44:17]
John
With that being said.
- [44:18]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Said, let's get back to the show. That's the one thing that I've seen out of this game the last, God, 15, 20 years is the consistency has risen.
- [44:30]
Zach Denini
A lot more consistent. Yeah, a lot more. I think. I think that has to do with the quality shells, the quality guns, stock fit, the things that you brought Up Rick. I mean those are all consistency issues that, that then if you have all that stuff really tight, I mean Pat traps, canterberries, you know, high quality, everything. Yeah. And even the white flyers, the quality of the target in the air. I mean there's a lot of stuff that goes into it, but. But I think if they're trying to maneuver and get to that, you know, okay, I want to make the All America team for the first time. I think you have to set a schedule and you have to figure out if you, you know, what, what places do you plan on going to now? Sometimes it doesn't work that way because I remember the first time, the first time I made the men's team ever, I went to the. It was Covid year. I went to vernal and I got a decent amount of points with, with. I just brought the gun. Didn't really practice went and I got like 190 or 200 points. Then I just said, okay, that's kind of cool. I started training a little bit and then I said, I'm going to do the grand for two weeks. And then I did the grand for two weeks and I had my state shoot under the belt, but I had a really good grand because it was at Missouri and I shot like that was my best ground that I ever had. And I got almost like a thousand points or something. It was like crazy. And you told me, you said, you have an opportunity to make the team, but you got to go up to the heartland grand. And I said, so that was, that was not a. That was.
- [46:01]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Do you know how you were able to go? You don't know, do you?
- [46:05]
Zach Denini
I remember everything, but we're not getting.
- [46:07]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Your father in law came to me and said, hey, does he really? I said, oh, yeah. He goes, I got Beth. So. And guess what? You showed up at the Heartland and you made the team.
- [46:18]
Zach Denini
Yes.
- [46:19]
Richard Marshall Jr.
The dedication in that.
- [46:20]
Zach Denini
That was not a plan deal though. No, that was kind of rolling with the punches deal. So sometimes, sometimes you're planning it all out and you're like, this is exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it because I've been years. And then sometimes, sometimes you're just going with the flow.
- [46:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
That's right.
- [46:37]
Zach Denini
Sometimes you shoot one good shoot, you hit some options, you make some money, and then boom, you shoot another shoot, you hit some options, you make some money. I remember if I wasn't having good shoots back in the day, I wasn't going to as many shoots as if I was shooting good. I mean, that was just kind of how it worked. And.
- [46:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And here's the thing, too, Zach. And getting back on track with, you know, getting to the top and such, you know, let's talk for a second on the options. So I get this question a lot from people, you know, like, what, What. What should I play? Here's my. This is my opinion. I don't pick and choose at shoots. I go to a shoot, I'm gonna play the money. Okay? Now, what I do tell people is set a budget set, okay? And. And that's the one thing where, you know, we can help as far as, like, okay, you know, where do you stay? You know, blah, blah, set a budget. You know, what you're gonna spend in food. You got a motorhome. You know, it saves a lot, you know?
- [47:38]
John
Yeah.
- [47:38]
Zach Denini
Or split a hotel with a buddy if you can find a traveling buddy. I mean, I know we always did that to cut down on expenses, but if you find a good friend, you get two queens. You split the room, you split a rental car, you know, you're. It makes it easier, and it helps everybody get to another shoot.
- [47:54]
Richard Marshall Jr.
All right, folks, we need to take a quick second and get to a new show sponsor, Big Red Motorsports. Big Red, they're personal friends of mine, Jason and George Lee, and they're also a personal sponsor of mine.
- [48:05]
John
Now, I'll say this, Ricky looked great driving around in that side by side. I got some free rides down at Tucson, the Autumn Grand. I think it's awesome that they deliver all across the country. And obviously they love trap traffic shooters. They love trap shooting, and they're doing a great job.
- [48:18]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Listen, they got Can Am, Kawasaki CF Moto Triton trailers. Hit them up. We'll take care of you guys. With that being said, let's get to the show. The one thing you want to do with the options is go look at the program and say, okay, this is what I'm play. Now, I'm not a big fan of, okay, I'm gonna play the money today, and then I'm not gonna play tomorrow. I'm not gonna play today. I'm gonna be. Yeah, either do it or don't. Because this is where the mental game pops in is. Oh, am I good enough today? You're always good enough. Okay, you're always good enough. But just decide if you're gonna play it, play it. If you're not, don't.
- [49:02]
Zach Denini
Yeah. And I think when Ricky's saying, if you're gonna play, play it. If you're not, you're not. He's not necessarily saying you got to play every single option all the time. If you play the Lewis's, you always play the Lewis's. If you play the 50 options, you always play the 50 options.
- [49:17]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Your best bet is to, you know, you play. Like I always say, one of the best purses that was ever invented was a Great Eastern purse. And Aiden Kaufman came up with that, you know, from Great Eastern Gun Club, God rest his soul. You know, Aiden was a great shooter and, and ran a great club there in Ohio and a very good friend of, of Joey Charter goes and also my, my wife's. So the one thing is, is that Great Eastern purse is the sixth place purse, you know, 25, 15, 10. 25, 15, 10. And so it pays six places. You got an opportunity, you don't always have to win. But a person like that, the Lewis and stuff like that play those don't get wrapped up. You know, listen, if you don't want to play that, I, I'm, and personally I, I'm not a fan of high gun purses because it's a one place purse. That's it. Yeah, I've never had been a fan of it. I just am not.
- [50:08]
Zach Denini
It's a long shot. When you hit it you're happy obviously, but to play it, it's, it's almost more in my mind of a sucker's bet because the odds of you hitting it on a high gun, it's a lot lower. I think, I think if, if you're gonna get your toes in the water with playing the money. I think if you always played the Lewis every single time you shot and maybe you always played the gray at Eastern or the six way every time it was available because it's not available everywhere. I think those are really good options to start because. And now the other one I think is a great option if you're, you're moving up the classes is if they have your class option and you're a C class shooter or D class shooter or B class shooter and you have a class singles option, class doubles option. I mean you're competing with only the people in your zone. So it's not like you're chopping money with, with other folks. You're, you're competing against those other guys. The problem I have with those options is lately there hasn't been as many people playing them. So they're kind of diluted. You know, if you only have 10 people and five of them play it well, it's not really, you know, worth it. But I think, I think if everybody that shows up to the shoot can just say, okay, there's 10 events this week. The options for the Lewis are $20 an event. It's going to cost me $200 to play all the Lewis's this week. No matter how good or how bad you're shooting, I think everybody should make that commitment because it's gonna put money at the top for the people that are shooting at the top. And it's also going to put money all the way through the line for all these other people.
- [51:42]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You got an opportunity no matter how you shoot.
- [51:44]
Zach Denini
Yeah. And. And you can. And, and to shoot a whole week and to not hit any Lewis's is really kind of hard to do.
- [51:52]
John
Yeah.
- [51:53]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You know, that's the thing. So just so you know, the main thing, Set your budget, okay? Get a budget. Set it. This is my shooting budget, okay. This is my budget for guns, for ammo, hotels, you know, flights, our rv, whatever it might be. But, you know, know what, what your, your costs are.
- [52:14]
Zach Denini
Yes.
- [52:14]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You know, and then, you know, pick if you can, you know, depends on how much vacation you have. You know, go to, you know, the, the little clubs, you know, the, the lower shoots, if you can. The. The state shoots, your zone shoots, your satellite shoots, and then ultimately try to get to the Grand American, you know, Trust me, it's one of the best shoots of the year.
- [52:36]
Zach Denini
It really is.
- [52:36]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You've got a building there. You can see.
- [52:38]
Zach Denini
Come see us, Come say hi.
- [52:41]
Richard Marshall Jr.
See the studio. You know, hopefully, you know, we're gonna have some new swag coming out too.
- [52:46]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I want to make sure. I think we need shooter's towels.
- [52:50]
Richard Marshall Jr.
We're gonna have some shirts. It's gonna have the me see target, Me shoot target. That's Zach shirt.
- [52:58]
Zach Denini
Yeah, you. We need a koozie or two something. I mean, there's stuff we just. We don't know what we'll have, but we'll have a bunch.
- [53:04]
Richard Marshall Jr.
We're gonna have an array of stuff.
- [53:06]
John
Hey, Trop Talk listeners, let's take a quick second to thank a couple more amazing sponsors. Sos, Clay's Shoot Management. They're doing a fantastic job. I love the app. I love being able to see everything on my phone instantaneously. It's freaking awesome. Rick, what do you think?
- [53:19]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah, Greg Pink and his group over there, I mean, they've got majority of the satellite grants, majority the state shoots. I think it's 40 plus state shoots they're doing. But the app, honestly, we were doing a little beta testing with that at the spring grand it's awesome. You can see your squad if they paid, you know, you can see your options, your payouts, the whole works at your fingertips. Great deal. They're just.
- [53:41]
John
Ricky, how much money he made before he even got off the line, he was like, hey, I'm buying lunch. I'm like, yeah, good job.
- [53:46]
Zach Denini
We're good to go.
- [53:49]
John
We also got gun and trophy insurance. I mean, they're the best in the business. I, I know they're, they're great price. Ricky, you're familiar with them, right?
- [53:57]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. Cole, Larry Cushman. Been long time supporters of myself and, and I've been a supporter of them and you know, especially with my college team, you know, we require insurance. It's so fast and easy to sign up and get your insurance. And literally 10 minutes you can have your guns insured. And they're just great. They're great to deal with. Like I said, you can do your trophies also, you know, your, your wildlife, animals and that such, and your guns.
- [54:24]
Zach Denini
It's just a great, it's always good.
- [54:26]
John
When you're traveling around to have that peace of mind and know that you don't have to worry about losing your stuff forever. And these are expensive things, especially when.
- [54:33]
Zach Denini
You got those Craig offs.
- [54:33]
John
You got to keep them insured, so.
- [54:35]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Oh, exactly.
- [54:36]
John
With that being said, let's get back.
- [54:37]
Richard Marshall Jr.
To the show at the end of the day, folks. Have fun. That's what we want to see. We love shooting. I mean, listen, I, I'm ready to go shoot now. You know, a little cold outside.
- [54:49]
Zach Denini
He's all charged up. One episode and he's ready to go shoot.
- [54:53]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I'm gonna go, I'm gonna be. Yep, I'll be partaking in some shooting here soon and, and I'll be at the spring grand. So hopefully this episode gets out for the spring grand, because I think this.
- [55:03]
Zach Denini
Will get out before the spring grand. But yeah, I think, I think, you know, another little plug. You know, if you're wondering what's going on and you haven't, go to shootata.com and they'll show you what the satellite grands are, where they are, where they're located. You know, you can look up local shoots, you can run your average there. I mean, obviously, you know, with the SOS app now, you can track your average very easily. So that's kind of cool.
- [55:29]
Richard Marshall Jr.
You got that out now, the whole membership. You know, Greg Pink over there at sos I mean, we can't thank him enough.
- [55:36]
Zach Denini
No, they're killing it. They're doing a great job and they're making it more, more fun and more easy to.
- [55:41]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yes.
- [55:41]
Zach Denini
Know where everybody's at, Know the information. But, but, yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's a fun process, but it can also be an overwhelming process because I remember when I started, it was like, I get the trap and field, and I'd go right back to the shoots, and I'd have a highlighter, and I'd highlight all the shoots that were close to me and all the dates, and I'm like, okay, which one can I go to? Because my thing was I wanted to go as many as I could. I wanted to try a bunch of different clubs because that taught me every time I went to a new club, I learned something about the terrain, the background, the whatever. So I was like, I want to go to as many different clubs as possible because that's going to make me a better shooter instead of just being like, oh, well, I always shoot good at Kingsburg, so I only want to go to Kingsburg. Well, screw that. I was like.
- [56:24]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And that's the problem is you get the. Some shooters get stuck in their zones.
- [56:29]
Zach Denini
We call that home cooking.
- [56:31]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. And personally, I think you should travel. And that's one of the greatest things that I've, I've been able to do is being able to go coast to coast and shoot. I've shot in every satellite grand that we have. So I've been fortunate that I think I've won championships at every one but one of them.
- [56:51]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I, I, I'd have to look and see how many I've been to. I've been. I think I've been to all of them or maybe missed one of them. But the problem is you haven't been.
- [57:01]
Richard Marshall Jr.
To every satellite grand.
- [57:02]
Zach Denini
I went to the Dixie, the Southern, the Autumn.
- [57:06]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Okay.
- [57:06]
Zach Denini
The Northeastern, the Empire. Oh, yeah. Back, back, back.
- [57:13]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Northeastern.
- [57:14]
Zach Denini
You didn't go back.
- [57:15]
Richard Marshall Jr.
I didn't think you went to the Empire.
- [57:17]
Zach Denini
Back when I was a junior, I went once in Cicero or whatever in New York. Yeah, I went up there.
- [57:22]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Empire and the Northeastern, too.
- [57:24]
Zach Denini
Yep. Yep. I now, I never went to the Dixie when it was in this new place, but I went to the Dixie when it was in Florida because I used to go.
- [57:32]
Richard Marshall Jr.
It was Florida before then that, huh? It used to be in Savannah, so.
- [57:38]
Zach Denini
Yeah, so. So I went to the Dixie when it was in Florida. I went to the Southwestern. Now it's in Texas and in San Antonio. I've been to the Western at Utah, which was Salt Lake Gun Club at the time. And then it Went to Vernal. I. Yeah. Which ones am I missing?
- [57:56]
Richard Marshall Jr.
No, that's all of them.
- [57:59]
Zach Denini
No.
- [57:59]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Well, technically, no. You didn't go the Midwestern Grand. You weren't sure.
- [58:03]
Zach Denini
They didn't have that when I was alive.
- [58:06]
Richard Marshall Jr.
So that. When I was alive, Midwestern started in El Reno, Oklahoma. Okay. And then it moved to San Antonio.
- [58:14]
Zach Denini
I've heard of this shoot.
- [58:15]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Yeah. Now it. Now it's in Kansas. Kansas is not Southwestern. It should just be the Midwestern grand again. They should rename it.
- [58:23]
Zach Denini
I'd love it if they did rename it because it'd be cool. Bring back the nostalgia of that Midwest. It's really not. I mean, it ain't nowhere near Southwest.
- [58:33]
Richard Marshall Jr.
No. So it's kind of. Yeah. But you have the Northeast, you know, and the Empire, which is in Cicero. The Dixie Grant started in Savannah. I shot it there one year and then shot it in. In Florida, and now it's in North Carolina.
- [58:50]
Zach Denini
I see.
- [58:51]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Okay. And then the western, you know, the western originally was at old Salt Lake Gun Club, Mitchell's Club in Salt Lake. That's where it originated out of. And then it went to the Lee K Center for a few years, and then it went to Spokane. And it was in Spokane.
- [59:12]
Zach Denini
I shot it there.
- [59:13]
Richard Marshall Jr.
And then now it's in Vernal and it's.
- [59:15]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I shot it at the Salt Lake Gun Club. It was the last year they had it. They had it at Mitchell because they.
- [59:21]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Told me, hey, you didn't shoot it at Mitchell's Club because it was closed. You shot it at Lee K Center. Yes, that was when Brent Epperson was running.
- [59:31]
Zach Denini
Yes, Brent was. Brent.
- [59:32]
John
Yes.
- [59:32]
Zach Denini
That's where I shot it. And they said, this is the last year they're going to have it here and it's going to move and you need to check it out. And. And I shot with Pete Martin and. And that group. And. And I went up and shot that shoot. It was. It was a great shoot and. Oh, yeah, a lot of fun.
- [59:47]
Richard Marshall Jr.
A lot of fun. And that's one thing is, you know, get out and shoot those satellite Grant. Go to different ones, you know, try to go different places. That's right. You know. Did you go the Great Lakes Grand?
- [59:57]
Zach Denini
Yeah, I. That's where I got in that shoot off with Leo. So that was my 18th birthday. I shot up there. Yeah. He crushed me. But you know what? There I. I went as hard and as long as I could, and I. I had a great time doing it. I'll never forget it. It's probably one of my Greatest memories Core Memory Trap shooting.
- [60:17]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Now K is one championships at every satellite Grant. I think he's won every championship.
- [60:22]
Zach Denini
He's won every single one.
- [60:24]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But one championship, I think it is.
- [60:27]
Zach Denini
I think he said something about the Western Grand Singles or something like that. I mean, that might have been the one he said in the podcast. Yeah, one. Every single one.
- [60:36]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But. And the, the Southwestern. I'm just trying to think because, yeah, I didn't win, I didn't win a championship at the Empire, but otherwise every other satellite Grant, I think I've won all the championships at. Yeah, except for the Northeastern. Northeastern. I won the singles one year and then I think I won the got them all.
- [61:00]
Zach Denini
I mean, I, I, if he's missing one, he's missing one.
- [61:02]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But I mean, pretty awesome to be able to go to, you know, every satellite granted and do that. And that's the one cool thing, though. But listen, go out, support your local clubs. If you guys got any questions on, you know, and that's another episode we could do is, you know, with people sending the questions, of course, as we do, but, you know, all American questions, especially for the parents out there, for the, their kids that are just starting, like, you know, what do we think what shoots go? You know, I'm a big advocate of going to the big shoots and competing against the best, because that's how you get better.
- [61:33]
Zach Denini
Correct. I think there's something to be said about, you know, rising to the occasion. Right. You know, and going to the biggest, best places with the highest comp factors, with the highest competition, and you can, you know, see what you're made of and go from there.
- [61:46]
Richard Marshall Jr.
But enjoy the Cardinals center, folks. You know, we'll be talking a little bit about some, some events at the Cardinal center, too. You know, it's a great facility.
- [61:56]
Zach Denini
All right, folks, we got to take.
- [61:57]
John
A quick second and give a shout out to the Cardinal center in Marengo, Ohio. They hold the Cardinal Classic and they.
- [62:03]
Zach Denini
Also hold the Ohio State shoot, which.
- [62:05]
John
Is home of the first back fence shootout. Ricky, what do you think about Ohio?
- [62:09]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Listen, I love the Cardinals Center. I actually broke the first hundred from the 27 there at their very first shoot ever. Great place. Jake Spangler and their whole clan there. They do an awesome job at running the shoots. The Ohio State Shoots ran by the Ohio State association, the Cardinal Class classics right after the Grand. So if you're looking for some, some more points right after the grand, hit that up so you can get a little more points than old Zach here. But listen, it's a great Shoot. Great facility.
- [62:37]
Zach Denini
It really is. I, I personally love the RVs.
- [62:40]
John
They've got great camping there. They've got a great time. Good shoot, good target presentation. Go check it out. It's worth putting on your list. With that being said, let's get back to the show.
- [62:50]
Zach Denini
Yeah, it really is a great facility. They throw a good target and there's a lot to do there, which is really nice. I mean, it's not like it's, you know, some of these big shoots, I've noticed, I mean, you get to some of them and they're like, well, what's there to do other than shoot? Right? Which is why I really liked San Antonio, because I like the town of San Antonio. I just didn't like getting broken into the car all the time, you know, but, but other than that, it was.
- [63:12]
Richard Marshall Jr.
One of those victim of that and.
- [63:14]
Zach Denini
It'S, yeah, it's, it's like, you know, you, you, you want to go places where there's some activities. That's why I've been partial to going to certain clubs.
- [63:24]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Florida, we're going to the Southern 100. There's so much stuff to do there. You know, I take the, you know, the kids and, and you will. Trey doesn't come anymore because he's got to work, you know, but somebody's got. This year we're going to come down, we're going to go to a Yankee spring training game. You know, there's all kinds of things to do there. The beaches, you know, I mean, you can drive around. Check.
- [63:46]
Zach Denini
Yeah. Good food, good people, good everything.
- [63:48]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Absolutely.
- [63:48]
Zach Denini
You know, I think, I think, you know, we'll, we got a lot more good content coming in 2025. We appreciate you guys tuning in and listening. You know, hopefully we got you a good, you know, good episode on, you know, starting to finishing and getting where you need to go. And if, and if there's things that we talked about in this episode that you want us to, to embellish on. Send a follow up question and, and we'll try to get it shot in the future episodes. But you know, with that being said, it's been great having you guys tune in on, on, on this Friday even though it's Saturday, but we're airing on Friday and I hope you guys enjoy it and we'll see at the shoot soon.
- [64:21]
Richard Marshall Jr.
So like share, subscribe, hit us up with the shoots. Enjoy. I hope everybody's staying warm. We'll see you next Friday.
- [64:30]
Zach Denini
See you next time.
- [64:31]
Richard Marshall Jr.
Good luck.
- [64:32]
John
And the Trap Talk podcast is brought to you in part by RM shooting clinics. Have Ricky take your game to the next level.
- [64:40]
Zach Denini
If you want to shoot hundreds of.
- [64:41]
John
Of hundreds of hundreds, give Ricky a call today. Zach Nini Financial we believe in putting people first.