David Radulovich about the 2018 North Central Regional & American Grand Prix August 20, 2018

"I can't think of enough good things to say about the #2018NCRegional at Northbrook Sports Club this week! I want to first congratulate all the target setters and people working the event! Unbelievable targets! I really think these are what championship courses should be made of!

All across the board, every event was really challenging, completely fair, and never let up -- but not a single bird was over the top. I haven't been this worn out after a shoot for a long time! That was hard work, and it was fun! I've always said that if you could set a match where a 91 to 93 would fill the podium, that would be perfect -- and that's exactly what this was.

There were some fantastic scores out there both days. I don't think I managed to get every one that I should have, but I was able to put in two good numbers over two days, and honestly the only reason I was able to do that was because I just enjoyed shooting those courses so much! Hats off to Brett Seibert and Niederer (David)! You're making me want to move out here!

A couple of things that I noticed this week:

(1) These #Promatic machines coupled with some double springs can throw unbelievable birds! Honestly unmatched with almost anything we shoot over here. When you have to put the gun so far in front of the target to hit it that you can't see the gun anymore, it's a little unnerving!

(2) Despite the really challenging targets, I haven't heard a single person here complaining about the difficulty of any of the presentations -- which I think is really unique and speaks volumes to the niche shooting atmosphere that Brett and everybody else has cultivated around this area. In addition to that, the local members who shoot here often are extremely talented shooters! It was both exciting and humbling to watch these guys walk up and hammer pairs, then go up myself and let a few hit the ground unbroken.

I'm not sure if the style of targets they throw here has attracted a lot of good shooters, or over time it's developed the local guys into great shots (probably a little of both), but it's great for our sport and I think shows what can happen if you dial up the difficulty and just let people go out with the expectation that they aren't going to be thrown "feel good" targets, but are instead going to have to play a three hour chess match with the gun and the bird. Awesome! So much more fun and engaging than shooting on auto pilot where you can't miss.
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The quality of this ammo is fantastic, and I was thrilled to see so many empty boxes in the trash bins at every station while I was shooting this week, despite there not even being a Gamebore US vendor here!

I'll just leave it at that, and close with saying how much fun this week was shooting here in Chicago! After the long shooting season and months on the road, I was starting to feel a little flat and mentally worn out, but this weekend has reinvigorated my shooting. Not because of the unexpected win, but because of the really enjoyable experience and the week long grueling test of shooting a shotgun.

Congratulations to all the competitors who made the podium! This was a great shoot, my favorite that I've been at in a long time, and I'm really excited for the #WorldChampionship here next year! You're not going to want to miss it!"