Conover Wins Two NWTF World Shooting Championships

Steve Conover’s victories at the 19th annual NWTF World Still Target Championships may not seem special considering he’s tied for the career record with 11 world titles.

But the Jamestown, Ky., marksman said he had his most enjoyable weekend ever at the Oct. 5-7 event at NWTF Headquarters in Edgefield, S.C.

Conover won the 12 Gauge Open and 20 Gauge Open divisions and fell only one pellet short of forcing a playoff with Brian Sloan, who also has 11 career titles, in the Black Powder division.

“I felt the best this year that I’ve felt in a long time,” said Conover, who owns four world titles in both the 12 Gauge Open and 20 Gauge Open divisions and three in the 12 Gauge Hunter division.

“Usually I don’t sleep for three or four days before the competition and during the competition.

This year, I was relaxed. Maybe I’ve done it so many times the experience is kicking in,” he said.

Champions won shotguns. Conover received a Browning BPS 12 gauge and a Mossberg 500 Grand Slam 20 gauge.

From 40 yards out, Conover put 27 pellets in the 3-inch circular target in each of his rounds in the 12 Gauge finals. He scored 20 and 26 in the 20 Gauge finals, but scored 33 in a preliminary round. Conover said he faced stiff competition in both of his victories, noting that the 12 Gauge division featured some preliminary round scores in the 30s.

“The competition at this event is so strong that I was never able to take anything for granted,” Conover said.

Sloan also won the 12 Gauge Hunter title. Mother and son Amanda and Alex Fox, teammates of Sloan’s from Statesville, N.C., won the Ladies 20 Gauge and 20 Gauge JAKES (Youth) divisions, respectively.

Conover used a Remington 870 Super Mag with 3″ Hevi-13 1 1/4 oz. No. 6 shot ammunition and an Indian Creek .665 choke in the 12 Gauge Open. He fired a Gun Works Pro Stock Ithaca with 3″ Hevi-13 1 1/4 oz. No. 6 shot and a .562 choke in the 20 Gauge Open.

National Wild Turkey Federation

The National Wild Turkey Federation is the leader in upland wildlife habitat conservation in North America. The NWTF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.

Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations throughout North America, spending more than $331 million to conserve nearly 16 million acres of habitat. Wild turkeys and hundreds of other species of upland wildlife, including quail, deer, grouse, pheasant and songbirds, benefit from this improved habitat.

The NWTF also brings new conservationists and hunters into the fold through outdoor education events and its Women in the Outdoors, Wheelin' Sportsmen, JAKES and Xtreme JAKES youth outreach programs. Our dedicated NWTF volunteers introduce about 100,000 people to the outdoors through these programs every year.

Founded in 1973, the NWTF is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C., and has local chapters in every state and Canada. According to many state and federal agencies, the restoration of the wild turkey is arguably the greatest conservation success story in North America's wildlife history.