Tanner Becker has returned to his prominent position at the top of South Dakota trapshooting.

The Yankton man won the singles championship Saturday during the annual state shoot at the Aberdeen Gun Club. He also won the state title in 2021.

Becker nailed his first 100 targets to start the day and then finished off his next round by nailing 99 out of 100.

“There’s a lot of great shooters here,” Becker said following his opening round. “We’re just all here to compete and do our best.”

The 21-year-old, who has shot 200 straight before, said the key is develop a routine and not deviate from it.

“It’s extremely tough. You have to be 100 percent on every shot,” Becker said. “Everything has to be exactly the same, repeat it, you have to have your routine down to a tee if you want to be the best.”

Becker has developed a physical routine through rounds and rounds of practice, and training his muscle memory.

“Just lots and lots of practice,” Becker said. “You have to put in your work if you want to be big. You got to be obsessed with the game.”

That said, Becker said the mental aspect of shooting is just as crucial, focusing on the task at hand. He said it is possible to train mentally as well as physically and said that “discipline is huge.”

Becker said he knows exactly where he’s at in a round and how many targets he has hit and missed, but tries not to be consumed by it.

“I kind of know where I’m sitting and all that,” Becker said. “I try to put that in the back of my mind and not think about that and just focus on one target at a time, otherwise you get caught up in it and you can cause a missed target, so you really have to stay focused.”

While Becker has become proficient at the sport, he said there’s always room for improvement which makes shooting trap challenging and enjoyable.

“It’s repetitive, but it’s fun,” Becker said. “You’re always trying to do better.”

SHOOTING THROUGH THE HAZE

Competitors have had to deal with hazy conditions during the state shoot because of smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

While some said it makes the targets harder to spot, it’s just one of the many elements that can impact the sport such was wind, clouds, heat and humidity.

“It’s not bad, because the haze is not something that is really affecting around the trap; if you get enough wind it kind of blows it out,” said Gregory Stahl of Sioux Falls, “but it does affect the color of the target to certain people’s eyes, to certain people’s condition and what they will do is change lenses to correct for that.”

Each shooter is required to have ear plugs and eye protection to be on the shooting line. Stahl said competitors can alter the way targets look by changing the tints on their googles.

“The lighter the tint you have, the more light it lets into your lens to be able to see your target or be able to see your field,” Stahl said.

He carries four different colored tints with him to tournaments and will change depending on the conditions.

When asked if a tint could make the targets look bigger, Stahl responded, “No, that it cannot. They say if you see it better there’s pumpkins out there, but realistic-wise they’re still 4 1/4 inches round. That’s all they are.”

Stahl said he likes the background that the local gun club offers.

“This is outstanding,” he said. “This is excellent.”

Stahl said that each club offers a different background. He has participated in shoots with backgrounds ranging from a highway with moving traffic to one near an airport.

“When you’re pointing a gun and looking for a little 4 1/4 inch target and you see this big 747 jet out there, it’s a different way to shoot a target that’s for sure,” Stahl.

SAME FACILITY, DIFFERENT TOURNAMENT

The Aberdeen Gun Club is hosting its second state tournament in as many months. The facility is the annual location of the Junior Clay Target League state event in June, and every third year is the host of the adult state trapshooting tournament.

While the tourneys are at the same location, they are quite a bit different.

The high school event also includes skeet shooting, and the individuals shoot half as many targets as the adults.

The adult tourney also runs for five days compared to three for high school.

Not only that, but there is a major difference when it comes to hosting the events.

“The high school tournament is much easier for the club to do. The parents and the coaches from each team are helping the kids and then they provide their own scorers and everything,” said Jerry Brick, president of the Aberdeen Gun Club. “With this, these are all pretty much veteran shooters. They’ve all been here. They don’t provide any of their scorers or trapsetters or anything, so the club has to provide all of that for this.”

Brick was responsible for finding scorers and hit the jackpot with the Northern State football team.

“I was able to get some of the kids that shoot out here that are scoring for us. I also was really fortunate to talk to one of the coaches at Northern State,” Brick said, “and so I’ve got six of his football players that are out here. These guys are all doing a super job.”

FROM HITTING QUARTERBACKS TO HITTING TARGETS

One of the individuals keeping score at the state trapshoot is a familiar football figure.

Northern State’s Ian Marshall is one of a handful of Wolves who are helping out at the meet.

“Coach (Jake) Iery sent a text message out that Jerry (Brick) needed some help,” Marshall said, “and I was more than delighted to come out here and help.”

Marshall, who was the Northern Sun Intercollege Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season, is definitely taking his new role seriously.

“This being a new job for me, something I’m not super used to, I wouldn’t say it was a huge learning curve, but it definitely took me a minute just for the terminology,” Marshall said, “to make sure I’m focused on seeing it because even those little tiny pieces that come off (the target) are still kind of hard to see. So, definitely have to be focused.”

Marshall does have a bit of background in the sport, having shot targets a few times in the past.

The All-America defensive lineman set a new NSU record for quarterback sacks in a game (4) and in a season (14) last fall.

When asked which he enjoyed more, hitting quarterbacks or hitting targets, Marshall responded, “Honestly, hitting a target because I don’t get to do that very often, so if I can hit a target, that’s definitely going to be some more gratification.”

The state shoot concludes today.