USA’s first Central Illinois Sporting Clays Shoot a success

The inaugural Central Illinois Sporting Clays Shoot hosted on May 3 at the Oak Ridge Sportsman's Club in Mackinaw, Illinois, exceeded expectations for the Union Sportsman’s Alliance. The USA hopes for at least 50 participants for new shoots, but the Central Illinois shoot had 70.

 “With a turnout like this, there is a lot of potential for this shoot moving forward. This will become an annual event,” said Chris Piltz, USA events manager. “This is at a great number starting off. In the next couple of years, we can get this to 100 participants, which is the average successful shoot number.”

Members of Local 60, Local 158 (Peoria, Illinois) and Boilermaker staff competed in the shoot with fellow union brothers and sisters from the central Illinois area. The Boilermakers won the B class, with Boilermakers International Team-B achieving 2nd place and the Boilermakers Local 60 winning 1st place.

“We all love supporting such a great organization that hosts events to raise money for projects and gets volunteers to help with the work. They also work to get the younger generations involved in conservation and outdoor activities. It's just a great organization,” said L-60 President Rex McMorris III.

Making the new event’s success even better, Local 60 member Rich Rentsch, a Boilermaker for over 25 years, operates the Oak Ridge Sportsman's Club. The Club’s land has been used for trap shooting for 30 years. When Rentsch and his partners bought it in 2024, they overhauled the sportsman’s club with much-needed upgrades. After many landscaping changes and replacing manually operated target throwers with automated ones, Oak Ridge opened in October of 2024.

“We want to continue to improve it every year,” said Rentsch. His vision for the next five years of Oak Ridge includes expanding the shoot courses, adding projects and skill-testing games, teaching youth hunters’ safety and hosting the USA Sporting Clays Shoot annually.