Georgia Shooter Wins NWTF Sporting Clays Championship
National Wild Turkey Federation 08.23.12
Brandon Powell of Comer, Ga., took top honors at the NWTF’s 18th annual Turkey Shoot Aug. 17-19 at The Meadows National Gun Club.
Powell hit 191 targets – including 99 of 100 during Sunday’s final round – to rally from a five-shot deficit and win the main event, a two-day, 200-target competition. Keith Higgins of Mobile, Ala., finished second, breaking 189 sporting clays.
“It was awesome to win this,” said the 25-year-old Powell, after claiming his second Turkey Shoot main event title. “I had thought I could shoot 99 or 100 Sunday and still be out of it.”
On opening day, Powell also won the Browning 12-gauge preliminary competition, breaking 97 of 100 targets.
Kevin DeMichiel of Macon, Ga., won the 5-Stand division in a three-way shootoff Sunday after hitting 46 of 50 targets.
A field of 464 participants, including many of the nation’s top shooters, competed for $100,000 in cash and prizes. Plus, more than 100 guns were given away.
“The NWTF wants to thank The Meadows National Gun Club, the city of Forsyth and all the participants and sponsors,” said Danny Young, NWTF vice president of marketing. “The NWTF is proud to host such a premier national shooting event. The skills displayed this weekend on an especially difficult course were amazing.”
Sporting clays, which many describe as golf with a shotgun, is a form of shooting sports in which clay targets are thrown at different speeds, distances and trajectories to simulate a range of hunting scenarios.
Turkey Shoot proceeds benefit the NWTF’s Wheelin’ Sportsmen outreach program, which provides outdoor opportunities to people with disabilities.
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.
