State-Wide Women's Trap Leagues
2023 MT STATE WOMEN'S TRAP LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
2023 Class A Champion-Sherry Stearns
I have been shooting for 7 years now. My husband’s best friend shot so we would go up to the trap club and watch him shoot. My husband then started shooting and I eventually joined in. It looked like fun. So, I started with Great Falls 1st Ladies League and won Class D. I was hooked.
My home club is the Great Falls Trap and Skeet Club but I started shooting ATA in 2020 and have traveled to several different clubs over the last few years.
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Not only does my husband Tom shoot but both of my daughters shoot as well. They both have small children and have been waiting for them to get a little bit older so they can return to shooting and I am hoping they will both shoot with me in 2024 and shoot with me.
I was one of the first MTSWTL Captains when the league started in 2021, and since then I have to say that meeting new friends is the best! I love all the friendships I have found during the Women’s League. I love introducing new shooters to the sport. This year I had one of my best friends’ daughter get her 1st 25 and I was so excited for her. It’s times like this that I love this sport so much.
Last year, Sherry was tied with Class A Champion Tressa Doughty, and they were in the very first shoot off in the history of the MTSWTL. It was the first time that most of the women at the season end shoot had ever witnessed a shoot-off. It was quiet as the shooters continued taking turns crushing clays one by one and as the first bird was dropped you could hear the soft gasps across the crowd as the participants let out the breath they had been holding. We are certain the participants won’t forget this moment, and the hugs they witnessed between the two shooters after.
For the 2023 season, Sherry shot a 197 out of 200 targets to win the Class A Championship, no shoot-off was necessary as she swept the class this year.
Notably Sherry as the Great Falls Captain hosted the largest women’s league in the state of Montana with 72 shooters!
2023 Class B Champion-Aspen Goss
Hi my name is Aspen, and I have been shooting the women’s league at the Great Falls Club for about two years!
My husband and his family introduced me to shooting, and I have enjoyed it ever since. I love traveling to different clubs and shooting the ATA shoots and seeing all the familiar faces. I shoot a lot with my mother-in-law at these shoots.
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Aspen shoots a Syren Tempio Sporting. She shot a 183 out of 200 clays! She is no stranger to 25 straights and is driven to get her first 100 straight!
My favorite part about shooting the women’s league is seeing all the new faces and watching everyone achieve their goals!
Aspen tied for Class C in 2022 and participated in one of the very first shoot-offs hosted by the MTSWTL, she lost that shoot-off by one bird to Brooklyn Lorenz but came back strong in 2023 taking the Class B title!
Congratulations, Aspen!
2023 Class C Champion- Bonnie Cook
I am a pretty new shooter, my good friend Amy Washtak wrangled me into joining her at a trap clinic in Butte. I then joined Amy and we hit the road each week driving an hour one way to participate in Butte’s first women’s league in June 2022.
Amy and I attended the MTSTL season-end event and I fell in love with shooting and the rest is history. Amy and I, along with Peggy Mason, approached our local club, the Logan Trap Club about starting a women’s league there.
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The club supported us and we were so happy to have a total of 22 women join us. We can’t wait to see what new friends we make this year and anyone wanting to join us can message us on our Facebook Page Logan Ladies Trap League!
I also attended two ATA shoots this year, it was fun, and I hope to participate in more again this year!
I really enjoy shooting with my sister Pam, and daughter Carlie, and the shooting community as a whole! I am excited for the 2024 shooting season!
We want to thank Bonnie for her efforts in helping women find a place to shoot in her community but also for supporting the women’s league this year as a sponsor! #simply_the_best
2023 Class D Champion-Tahnee Szymanski
2023 was my first year shooting trap, starting with Helena Trap Club’s spring league as my partner and I were asked to round out a squad. Then, I decided to join the women’s summer league. It was a blast! I loved the sense of community! Everyone was so supportive and helpful! I look forward to the day my daughter can start shooting with me!
I haven’t shot at any other clubs yet except the season-end shoot at the Xcel Club but who knows what 2024 will bring! Attending the season end shoot as a first time attendee to any sort of shooting event…
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I will say, the bar was set impossibly high for all future events! Thank you, Tracy and everyone involved with putting on this weekend’s shoot. We had so much fun! It was a really special weekend to spend it shooting with such a tremendous group of women! Thank you!!!
It was really nice to meet Tahnee this year, and we want to congratulate her on her Class D Championship! We look forward to next year!
2023 New Shooter Champion-Mason Baseley
Hi! My name is Mason, I’ve been shooting in Montana for the past 4 years, just for fun, out in the hills with a hand thrower.
My Dad got me into shooting. Every weekend growing up, my sister, dad and grandpa would go shoot ducks. Fun fact, I have an identical twin sister! We’ve always been close, so we’ve always done the same activities together. I am right handed but left eye dominant (shooting left handed) and she’s right handed right eye dominant (shooting right handed). It’s a blast to shoot with her, my family and friends!
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Being able to make friends was my favorite thing about the women’s league! I moved up to Great Falls to live with my fiancé, missing my family. I wanted to continue shooting my shotgun so I joined the women’s league not knowing much about women who enjoy the activities I do. Being able to shoot with a bunch of passionate women was a blast! I am so happy I joined the league and can’t wait for next season!
Mason is a Great Falls Trap Club shooter!
2023 Junior Lady Champion- Savanah Lucas
This young lady is not new when it comes to winning trophies! Savanah is the second time Junior Lady Champion for the MTSWTL. She won this year’s trophy by participating in a shoot-off against her Great Falls peer, the amazing Brooklyn Lorenz (2022 Class C Champion)! It was exciting to watch these gals battle out on the range, shell by shell!
Savanah’s home base is the Libby Gun Club, where she has participated in the Scholastic Clay Target Program. You will see Savanah, wielding her mighty Syren Elevate as she steps on the line to crush those clays intent on winning the event!
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When you watch Savanah walk off the range smiling ear to ear you know that she is in form! It is likely just just won another of the shotgun games played at the season end shoot! We love this gal and the spirit she brings to the league!
2023 Senior Lady Champion- Leanne Schillinger
My first experience with shooting trap was with my Dad around 1978, I would handset targets and my “pay” was to shoot a few rounds. In 1994, I started shooting trap regularly after watching a friend compete in the Montana State Shoot.
I’ve always loved shooting – I shot competitive indoor 22 from the 5th grade through high school and moving on to trap was natural progression. I also loved playing Asteroids and Pinball as a kid – it’s all about leading a target so trap came naturally to me.
I mostly shoot at my home club in Great Falls, but growing up, we shot at the Circle Rifle Club. As a registered shooter, I have shot at many clubs. At these shoots I have shot 17400 singles, 17500 Handicap and 9400 doubles since 1999.
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My favorite part of participating as a shooter in the women’s trap league is the camaraderie and watching women get excited as they hone their skills and improve. Watching someone get their first 25,50, 75 or 100 makes it all worthwhile.
Congratulations to Leanne for being the first woman to win the Senior Lady Class for the Montana State Women’s Trap League! We look forward to seeing what you do next year! #do_it_again
2023 Mother/Daughter Team Champions- Jen and Brooklyn Lorenz
Jen (mom) and Brooklyn Lorenz, are a treat to be around! And, after watching this mother daughter duo at the 2022 Season-End Shoot, and how much they loved shooting together inspired the Mother/Daughter Class.
There is nothing like the pride of a mother watching her daughter shoot. Brooklyn has participated in two shoot-offs now, and Jen was right on the sidelines, smiling ear to ear!
It didn’t matter if Brooklyn won or lost that particular event, the response was the same, the warm love of a mother, the hug, the positive words of affirmation. And, then, when mom shot, the same look of love and pride on Brooklyn’s face!
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Eleven sets of mothers and daughters competed in 2023, and we have heard the inspiration has spread to other mother daughter sets to join the league this year and spend time together enjoying a little ammo therapy.
This team has been shooting trap for less than five years, but have created a lifetime of memories.
This duo took the Mother/Daughter Class Championship by crushing 344 out of 400 birds!
2023 Club Flurry Championship-Team Outlaw in Kalispell
Each year, all clubs in Montana will have three women represent them in a Club Flurry Shoot-off.
These women will shoot at 25 five clays thrown as fast as the trap machine will allow, and the team that hits the most wins!
This year, Cameray Scharber, Kaia VanNatta, and Kim Curry represented Team Outlaw in Kalipsell and won the championship by crushing 18 clays!
This annual event closes each year’s shooting season for the Montana State Women’s Shooting League!
We look forward to seeing which club will win next year!
These gals shoot at the Home of Passionate Outlaws!
2022 MT STATE WOMEN'S TRAP LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
2022 Class A Champion-Tressa Doughty
Tressa has been shooting for 18 years total now, beginning as a skeet shooter and switched over to trap shooting after three years.
She is a third-generation trap shooter so you could say it’s a family business but mostly she sticks with it because she gets to shoot with her dad. Tressa shares the greatest memories in her life growing up. She recalls all the good times they had traveling across central Montana from meat shoot to meat shoot, spending some good quality time together.
Tress shot 196 out of 200 birds for the Women’s League and has been FOUR time Montana ATA State Ladies Champion.
We asked Tressa if she had anything she would like to share with fellow shooters. She says, “Stick with it! It takes practice, practice, practice to become confident in the sport. You will get an overwhelming amount of advice. Find out what works for you and stick with it. Don’t be intimidated just because you are a woman in a “man’s” sport. Most of all just have fun and enjoy the game!”
2022 Class B Champion- Boo Leveque
Boo’s home club is the Great Falls Trap and Skeet Club! But, it wasn’t where she started!
She shares that she was first introduced to firearms at the age of 6 and shotguns at 14. She use to shoot clays at the ranch for fun.
When she went to college is where she shot at her first club in Powell, Wyoming. Upon graduation is when she found her club home in Great Falls.
Up to now she has participated in one ATA shoot but shares she is ready to start competing on a more regular basis!
Boo really enjoys shooting with her mom and sister and the gals at the club.
We asked Boo if she had a tip to share and this is what she had to say!
“Ya, just have to jump in and be willing to accept help and new friends. Because it is a guarantee you’ll end up with both!”
2022 Class C Champion- Brooklyn Lorenz
To secure Class C Champion, Brooklyn shot 151 out of 200 birds with an average of 18.9.
She is a member of the Great Falls Trap and Skeet Club and shoots women’s league with her mom Jen! These gals are a dynamic duo and both are as sweet as can be!
She started shooting trap with her Club Captain, Sherry Stearns, and her dad a mere three years ago.
Since then she has taken home a Class C Ladies Trophy and while shooting for AIM she was the sub-junior champion for the state of Montana!
Brooklyn also qualified for the 1&5 pot and was selected by her teammates to represent the club in the Club Flurry Competition.
She shares that what she enjoys the most about the shooting is meeting new people in her great community while having a blast with her family!
2022 Class D Champion-Celia Ison
Celia won Class D with 118 out of 200 clays.
Her home club is in Helena! She was first taken trap shooting by her husband, the day after they met…this was about 5 1/2 years ago. A year later she started shooting in a trap league and has enjoyed shooting with her husband, sister and brother-in-law, and stepson.
This year in the women’s league her niece joined her along with her sister-in-law!
Even though her husband introduced her to trap shooting, she was first introduced to firearms by her father shooting cans with rifles and revolvers. She owns that first rifle she shot as a child a bolt action 22 along with a 22 revolver that her father carved the grips of many years ago before he passed.
Celia shares how proud her father was of his girls and how well they shot. She shared a story about a time during her childhood when her dad used to have her sister (a teen at the time) sight in rifles before his group of friends came over.
Shooting is a family sport and fondly remembers her mom who had won a black powder shooting competition during a family reunion.
She looks forward to leagues at her club it is a great time for her family!
2022 New Shooter Champion-Jenna Reitz
The new shooter award is for a woman who has never participated in any sort of trap league or ATA shoot before.
Jenna shot 152 out of 200 hundred birds with a 19-bird average. A great start for just joining a league!
Her home club is the Helena Trap Club and she just started shooting league this year. Her friend Dr. Katy Wessel invited her to attend a shooting clinic at the local trap club that was put on by Tracy Kienitz. She says, “It was a really educational clinic and she discovered that she wasn’t necessarily shooting bad but that the gun that was gifted to her for her birthday a few years before simply didn’t fit her and was holding her back.” After shooting a demo gun and seeing the difference in how she shot, it made the sport fun and exciting and with her newfound confidence, she joined the women’s league.
Jenna’s message to all the gals considering this sport. “Just go for it! You feel silly and like you’re not going to know what to do but it is totally worth it. I feel like shooting Trap, Especially in a league, it’s a way to be competitive with yourself and it’s not just about competing. It’s about becoming better and learning how to be better. No one cares how poorly you may do, and they always support you, even if you feel like you shot badly. That is so impressive to me. I’m very thankful that I got involved with this, and I appreciate everyone who has helped me and pushed me along the way.”
2022 Junior Lady Champion- Savanah Lucas
The junior lady shooter award was for shooters under the age of 18 as of August 31st.
Savanah is a much-loved member of the Libby Gun Club and just started shooting in December 2021 when a friend invited her. She instantly fell in love with the sport!
She has participated in both the AIM Program and ATA shoots. She shoots a Syren and shot her first 25 straight at the Montana State ATA Shoot in July 2022.
She shot 162 out of 200 targets with a 20.3 average. She also qualified for the 1 & 5 and 25 straight pot, taking home some extra cash!
Savanah is working hard on getting her mom to join her in the sport and, we say, “YES! Ali give it a try!”
Don’t get frustrated when you miss, and focus on having fun versus scores is Savanah’s tip for success!
2022 Club Flurry Championship-Team Xcel in Kalispell
Each year all clubs in the state of Montana will get to have three women represent them in a Club Flurry Shoot-off.
These women will shoot at 25 five clays thrown as fast at the trap machine will allow and the team that shoots the most wins!
This year Cameray Scharber, Kaia VanNatta, and Alysha Basso represented Team Xcel in Kalipsell and won the championship by crushing 18 clays!
This will be an annual event that will close each years shooting season for the Montana State Women’s Shooting League!
We look forward to seeing which club wins the traveling trophy next year!
Be a Sponsor
We couldn’t host this league without our sponsors. Our shoot-off was fully funded by sponsors and paid for awards, food, ammo, clays, door prizes, and photography. If you would like to support the Women’s State Trap League so that we can continue to inspire women to participate in shooting sports please send us an email to learn about sponsorship opportunities!
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