Black powder competition right on target

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on August 2, 2022.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Fort Whoop-Up Black Powder Club vice president Terry Sutton takes a shot at a flying target during the Alberta Black Powder Association Provincials event over the weekend.

Fort Whoop-Up Black Powder Club was the site for the 45th annual Alberta Black Powder Association provincial competition over the long weekend.

The competition attracted shooters from all over Alberta and one from Saskatchewan.

“We’re really noticing the gas is affecting all of our shoots all over Alberta this year,” said Phil Faubion, Alberta Black Powder Association president.

“People just can’t travel.”

The provincial meet, like the other meets that are held around Alberta throughout the year, gives the shooters a chance to meet and compete against other marksmen who are unfamiliar with one another.

“And just bragging rights to see who’s the best of the best,” said Faubion.

Shooters try to hit five different targets which includes a 25-yard pistol, 25 -yard rifle,50-yard rifle, 100-yard rifle and a 100-yard rifle cross sticks.

“We take the total of all of those,” he said.

“We shoot five shots at each one, score them up and see who’s got the best score.”

The heat effected the scores a bit.

“We’ve a little trouble with the heat,” he said.

“Some people got tired at the end of the day and the last score kind of dropped off and I think it’s just because everybody was so hot and we’re all drinking water to stay alive. It was 35 degrees or something here yesterday afternoon. So other than that, the scores are pretty good.”

Shoots that were carried out on the weekend included a muzzle-loading shotgun and cartridge-loading shot-gun, a special shoot for a memorial trophy, a fun shoot, knives and tomahawks were thrown and primitive archery was done.

Lethbridge is one of two places that shooters come to for an event like this.

“It’s set up just perfect for what we have to do for our competitions,” he said.

“Lot of other competitions we shoot throughout the year, we have what’s called a trail walk. So we shoot at steel gongs in a coulee in a treed area, so it’s not on paper. So it’s harder to get a true idea of how good you’re really shooting.”

The limited category was won by Helmut Kokemor, Sandy Lougheed won the seniors and ladies categories and 90-year-old George Andrix was the unlimited category champion.