South West shooters on target once again

South West rifle shooters continue to set the bar across regional WA on the back of more success at a recent major event.
The WARA Queens Prize Shoot, a meeting which pits the best shooters in the State against each other, had 10 members from the region participate.
Across the event, all participants competed in the Duke of Edinburgh (lead-in shoot) Memorial and the Queens Prize Memorial, while nine shooters from across WA also took part in a separate shoot dubbed “the champion of champions” for F-Standard class.
Leading the way from Busselton-Bunbury were Graham Oates, George Wittorff and Rick Palandri, while Manjimup duo Brett Morgan and Nathanial Griffiths also performed strongly.
Oates, who has set countless club-based records over his career, came third in the Queens, which, coupled with his lead-in result, secured a second-placed grand aggregate finish.
Wittorff, who also finished inside the top 10 across all categories, claimed the “champion of champions” shoot after being selected to represent the South West region.
While humbled with his individual and teammates’ success, Wittorff was equally upbeat about the increased profile of the sporter/hunter discipline.
“This category is actually drawing new people to the sport,” he said.
“On Sundays when we hold club shoots, we would have typically around 30-35 people on the range, and about half of those are sporter/hunter shooters.
“And they are younger shooters, so it means the future of the sport — which 10 years ago was looking a little bit shaky in terms of membership levels — is now looking a lot more rosy.”
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