Record Breaking Performance at NWTF Still Target Championships
National Wild Turkey Federation 10.10.14
National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) staff and event shooters watched the 12-gauge Hunter Division record get broken three times this past weekend at the 21st annual NWTF World Still Target Championships. By the end of competition on Saturday, Bobby Sears had shot a 54 in qualifying rounds to set the new world record and also won the division finals.
Sears, who won the 12-gauge Hunter Division in 2011, used Winchester Longbeard XR ammunition and JEB’S Custom Chokes for the record-breaking shot.
“The weather conditions were not ideal and I had not shot the Winchester Longbeard XR shells until a week prior to the event,” said Sears. “However, we knew the possibility to break records existed shooting the Winchester shells. It’s still pretty unreal to now hold the title.”
Scott Kirsh, the winner of the 12-gauge Open Division, also used Winchester’s new shells. Kirsh used an Indian Creek choke to win his title.
The Still Target Championships began as a way for hunters and the turkey hunting industry to showcase new technology and define best practices for patterning a shotgun and achieving ethical turkey hunting conditions.
“While titles are given in six divisions, the entire turkey hunting community benefits from the results of the shoot,” said George Thornton, NWTF CEO. “New and experienced hunters can take what was learned and are then more likely to have quick, clean kills in the field.”
Contact
Pete Muller at (803) 637-7698.
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.
