Hitch wins NSCA Nationals. Seeing targets under lights.

Todd Hitch arrived at the last station of the NSCA Nationals with a five-target lead. He broke them all.

Also this week: rising metal costs change the ammunition choices for waterfowl hunters, and The Craft takes up a problem I've struggled with myself: seeing targets under lights. Plus, a youth-team funding source and a new option for licensed firearms businesses screening employees.

Todd Hitch won his first NSCA National Sporting Clays Championship Main Event with 289/300, finishing seven targets ahead of Olympian Derrick Mein in San Antonio.

According to Shooting Sports USA, five shooters began Sunday's final course separated by only a few targets. Hitch reached the last station with a five-target advantage and ran it clean, extending his winning margin to seven.

A year earlier, one bad station had cost him a chance at the title. This time, he concentrated on seeing the targets and executing each shot rather than watching the scoreboard.

The win adds a first Nationals Main Event title to his second consecutive U.S. Open Main Event championship, won in August. Across the four 75-target courses at Nationals, he shot 74 twice.

Read the championship account →

Rising tungsten and bismuth costs are changing which waterfowl loads manufacturers can afford to make.

In Outdoor Life's Season of Steel, Natalie Krebs reports that manufacturers have curtailed premium non-toxic offerings and put more emphasis on steel. Some Remington and Hevi bismuth loads have been discontinued. Blends stretch smaller quantities of expensive shot with steel, while Boss offers copper as another alternative.

The responses differ. Apex says it is still producing loads made entirely with tungsten super shot (TSS), along with tungsten-steel blends. Its challenge is material cost. Other manufacturers have scaled back. Steel costs have risen, too, but it remains more affordable than the denser alternatives.

For waterfowl hunters, a familiar load on the shelf may be remaining inventory that won't be replenished. Check availability before counting on it for the season.

Read “Season of Steel” →

Under lights, my eyes can get drawn to the bead. The target becomes a streak, I rush the shot and end up shooting short.

That problem comes up in this week's Trap Talk listener Q&A with Richard Marshall Jr. and Zach Nannini.

Nannini describes how the bead can appear much larger under certain lights, pulling attention toward the gun. He has to make a deliberate effort to look beyond it and keep his eyes on the target. He also finds that the streak behind a nighttime target can draw him toward its back edge.

Give your eyes something specific to follow. Marshall concentrates on the front or top edge of the target and emphasizes being slightly more deliberate under lights. He also pays attention to keeping the gun still before the target appears, rather than moving on the call.

A hat and blinders may help control glare and stray light. Lenses take more experimenting. Marshall uses clear or pink lenses; Nannini likes a very lightly tinted orange lens and also uses clears. Neither personally favors yellow, though they acknowledge that it works for other shooters.

The aim is to let in plenty of light while managing glare and keeping the target visible. I've tried a lighter lens, including Decot Gold 10, and haven't entirely solved the problem yet.

Their most useful recommendation is to get under the lights at your home club, if you can. Work through the visual routine and lens choices there before a tournament shoot-off is your first nighttime practice.

Listen to Trap Talk → Night shooting discussion: 41:00-49:20.

Whitetails Unlimited helps pay for youth trap. The conservation organization reports granting $292,815 to more than 100 youth trapshooting organizations during its last fiscal year. Much of it went to 4-H and high school teams, helping cover ammunition, targets and some competition travel. WTU accepts online grant requests from eligible organizations and lists deadlines on the first and fifteenth of each month.

Read the announcement →

Check application requirements →

Licensed firearms businesses gain an employee-screening option. A DOJ/FBI final rule effective November 27 allows federal firearms licensees to voluntarily use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, for eligible current or prospective employees. The checks require informed written consent and apply to qualifying roles involving access to firearms, ammunition or manufacturing materials and equipment. Certain contractors and agents also qualify. Participation is voluntary; the rule creates no universal employer-screening requirement.

Read the final rule →

What has helped you see targets under lights? Hit reply with the adjustment, lens or lesson that made a difference.

Know someone who struggles when the lights come on? Send this issue their way.

See you next Sunday,

— Dean