Harvey Sporting Clays hosted 60 keen clay shooters for a two day tournament, with participants aiming to win

Gunshots echoed across Harvey recently as keen clay target shooters turned up in droves to compete at a two-day tournament. Hosted by Harvey Sporting Clays, 60 participants turned out to try their luck at the event’s 150 targets. Harvey club vice-president Brian Backhouse said they would have liked a few more people but light rain on the Sunday kept many away. “We were hoping to get 70 to 80 people, but 60 is still solid,” he said. Star shooters were able to get their hands on a number of prizes, including shooting supplies, ammunition and camping gear. “We gave out more than $2500 worth of prizes so it was great to have people there for that,” Mr Backhouse said. The Harvey-based shooting club is part of Sporting Clays Australia and is recognised internationally. Mr Backhouse said this was a big drawcard that encouraged people to take part. “In the Harvey club we’ve got about 60 members roughly and across the State in WA there’s about 400 and nearly 5000 in Sporting Clays Australia,” he said. “There’s lots of people who want to get out and try it, but it is reasonably expensive to get involved in I guess, but it’s no different to golf, that’s the way I look at it.” The results of the tournament saw a near perfect score for some of the shooters and ages ranged from 13-years-old to 84-years-old. High Gun - Michael (Macca) McDonald 145/150 AA Grade - 1st - Luke Tuner 128/150; 2nd - Mick Thomas Snr 117/150 A Grade - 1st - Craig Ellis 120/150; 2nd - Steve Tunnicliffe 120/150; 3rd Ryan “Bruce” McPherson 118/150 B Grade - 1st - Mark Hidebrandt 120/150; Arthur Page 113/150; 3rd - Marco Ponta 109/150 C Grade - 1st - Mick Thomas Jnr 94/150; John Walton 79/150; David Stephens 72/150 Seniors - 1st - Chris Brown 111/150; Rob Pond 86/150; Clem Bertini 80/150 Ladies - Sharon Merritt 74/150; Jo Backhouse 70/150; Pauline Scott 63/150 Juniors - Danish Khan91/150; Jackson Butcher 85/150; Liam Thomas 72/150. Harvey Shooting Clays hosts monthly events from February to November.