Lamont’s quest for rings endures

Patrick Lamont finds himself in some pretty exclusive company at the largest trap-shooting event in the world.

The Brandonite, who turns 41 on the weekend, now has 12 rings at the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships, which is being held for the 127th time this summer in Sparta, Ill., from July 29 to Aug. 8

That has him in a four-way tie for fourth all time, behind Leo Harrison with 26 between 1969 and 1996, Joe Hiestand with 20 between 1935 and 1961 and Ray Stafford with 15 after 1968. It’s pretty rarified company.

“Leo Harrison is the best shooter in history,” Lamont said. “That’s a stretch goal of mine, to get that many rings, but that’s shooting great well into your fifties. As you get older, it gets a lot more difficult. When you look at the young talent coming up, a lot of the championships are won by the younger guys. The reality is that it’s going to get more difficult but I have the drive to compete, the drive to catch up to those guys.”

The competition hands out rings every year to its champions in the singles, doubles, handicap, all-around and high-over-all categories, and Lamont is one of just two shooters since 1900 to win all five.

Lamont, who first attended the event in 2002, said his immediate sights are breaking away from the three guys he’s tied with, Ned Lilly, Harlan Campbell and Frank Troeh.

“I would love to get one more to get ahead of Harlan, because Harlan was the best when I was growing up or in the conversation,” Lamont said. “To get ahead of him would be a huge honour.”

Lamont missed the COVID years of 2020 and 2021, which he considers unfortunate because he said he was shooting his best around that time.

The president of the Brandon Gun Club in Canada has won dozens upon dozens of national and provincial championships, but it’s clear he has a reverence for the Grand National, where he shot his career-best high over-all, a 991 that is among the highest ever at the event.

“When you drive down the main line into the club with all the state flags and provincial flags, you get butterflies just driving in there,” Lamont said, comparing it to the iconic entrance to Augusta National and the Masters golf tournament. “It’s kind of like a trapshooter’s Magnolia Lane.”

The club has 121 trap fields running for three-and-a half miles along a single firing line in Sparta, which is located southeast of St. Louis.

He likes to think back to his first trips to the event, which now pulls in more than 5,000 shooters every year.

“It’s funny to think back to that and look around,” Lamont said. “The first time you’re down there, it’s like a carnival. There are just so many people.

“The guys you read about, the guys you’ve heard about over the years, the guys you idolize as a young trapshooter. To slowly build your game and your skills to compete with them and eventually beat them, it’s a pretty surreal feeling.”

The biggest thing that’s changed over the years is his intent.

When he first attended, his goal was just to take part in it. Success has changed that.

“Now you go down with the intent to shoot well and compete and try to win,” Lamont said. “It’s a different reality now.”

The most mind-bending part of that equation for Lamont is that he is now one of the guys that young shooters look up to, just like he did with his heroes 30 years ago. When asked, the unfailingly humble trapshooter takes a moment to think before responding.

“It’s certainly flattering,” Lamont said. “It’s a pretty cool feeling. I’m aware of it, having been there. I don’t want to forget that feeling. Me, just like any other shooter, I’m just a shooter. You’ve done it for longer and had more success but everyone is doing the same thing.

“To stay grounded is very important. You have to give back to the young shooters, give them the time and have a conversation with them because it wasn’t that long ago that I was there.”

It’s those youngsters who may stand in his way in the hunt for more rings, however.

The prime for a trapshooter used to be about 35 to 50. But during Lamont’s career, he’s seen that become dramatically younger as a new generation has entered the sport through high school programs in the U.S.

For example, Minnesota alone has 8,000 kids in its trapshooting program.

The best shooter in the world right now in Lamont’s estimation is 24-year-old Nebraska product Dagen Voigtman, who Lamont knows well. The two shot off in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago.

“There are a lot of kids coming up who have proper coaching, they have proper guns, they know how to do it,” Lamont said. “They’re really starting to excel. What we see with younger kids is they’re maybe not as consistent but when they get hot, they can certainly compete.”

He now puts the prime age for the sport from 25 to 40.

SPONSORSHIP

Two years ago, Lamont was picked up by Remington, one of the big three shell manufacturers.

He had to switch shells — “I would never switch guns” — and wears branded clothing and serves as an ambassador. Basically, he gets all his shells for the year in return.

“With the price of everything going up, it is nice,” Lamont said. “I think that’s the biggest challenge in our sport right now, is just the price of everything. The price of fuel affects freight, so now your targets are up, your shells are up, your travel is up.

“To shoot 100 targets in Tucson costs $50 US, so between that and the shells, it’s a dollar a target in Canadian. That shoot is 1,700 targets, so you have to try to win some money while you’re down there to pay it back.”

Lamont admits that life sometimes get in the way of practice, but he tries to prioritize his shooting and is out at the Brandon Gun Club south of the city every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at a minimum, and more if there’s a nice day.

He also teaches the junior shotgun program with his father Rob.

Once the season starts in late June, the pair can be gone five or six days a week, come back and work, and then hit the road again until the Grand is over. The shoots range from three to five days, which means he doesn’t get much practice once the season begins.

One problem is they aren’t exactly driving to Carberry or Virden for the major competitions. He can head deep into the United States with his father so the pair spend endless hours together driving.

“It’s nice that we share a common interest,” Lamont said. “To be able to talk trapshooting, to be able to share the experiences, it is pretty special. It’s a bond between us. I guess there better be with the time we spend together. We better be able to get along.”

They try to arrive early enough that they aren’t road weary, but when they make their annual February trip to Tucson, Ariz. — a jaunt of about 2,900 kilometres one way — it’s a long haul.

“You’re tired when you get there and that first day can be a little sluggish,” Lamont said. “It’s getting tougher as I get a little older. It never used to bother me. We try to plan ahead enough that you get a little bit of rest.”

The Lamonts head down to the Grand a couple days before it starts with prelim days on the weekend. The Grand week goes from Monday to Saturday.

They also attended nationals in Edmonton earlier this month, and Lamont won doubles, and was up in high over-all before they had to cancel the handicap because water got into the trap houses after heavy rain.

Rob Lamont won singles for the first time.

Their next chance at national titles will come a lot closer to home.The Brandon Club will host the event again next summer from June 23 to 27.

Provincials are in Winnipeg in late August, and there is an Olympic-style shoot in Winnipeg in September that Lamont may attend just to give it a try.

Olympic targets go 80 yards compared to 50 in trap, and they have wider angles and vary in height, but you get two shots at each target.

Lamont said only three or four clubs in Canada cater to Olympic shooting.

“It’s way less shooters and it’s way less popular,” Lamont said. “You can’t even do it in Brandon.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com