Nic Shively practices his aiming at the Kosko Shotgun Sports Complex. He hit 399 out of 400 targets at the U.S. Open back in June at a different venue. Photo by Nathan Pace.

By Nathan Pace
InkFreeNews

Nic Shively resides just outside of Etna Green but he has earned national recognition this year for his success in the work of skeet shooting. He won the U.S. Open for the National Skeet Shooting Association back in June and has risen to the top in the sport.

“There’s been a little more attention around me,” Shively said about winning the national competition.

In the U.S. Open, Shively hit 399 out of a possible 400 targets from the participating course in Saint Joe. He tied two people shooting from a course in Pennsylvania. The way the competition works is participants can shoot from a local course and the scores are calculated digitally across the nation. Shively had to shoot a tiebreaker round, called a “shoot-off,” where he made more targets before missing his first shot than his two opponents.

His farther, Kurt Shively, has supported his son’s skeet shooting efforts and was amazed by how other shooters appreciate his son.

“He has a lot of shooters come up to him when he’s shooting now,” Kurt Shively said. “They just introduce themselves to him and just see who he is because of the name. Because, hey, this kid from Indiana just won the U.S. Open, which doesn’t happen.”

A tradition in the skeet shooting community is fellow shooters will take a shot at winner’s hat or for getting a perfect score.

“So if you notice his hat, I mean it’s kind of tore up,” Kurt Shively said. “So the tradition is once you get your first 100 in a gauge, guys come out, they throw his hat and they all shoot it.”

Safety First

Nic Shively, 19, has been shooting for years. He had his first air rifle by the time he was 11 and said safety with a gun is the first aspect he learned.

“You’ll find that safety is No. one. It’s probably the safest place you’ll be,” Nic Shively said. “You’re not going to be here if you can’t handle a gun and the training is very well here. Ping pong has way more accidents than skeet shooting and that’s a fact.”

Nic Shively said the U.S. Open has roughly 4,500 participants with no injuries reported.

Training In Warsaw

Nic Shively one of the skeet shooting ranges at the Kosko Shotgun Sports Complex. Shively, at one point, practiced everyday of the week at the site. Photo by Nathan Pace.

Nic Shively conducts his training at the Kosko Shotgun Sports Complex, located at 2391 Fox Farm Road, Warsaw. Nic Shively said it’s one of only two quality sites in the state for skeet shooting.

“When I first started out, I was coming out here every single day. As I progressed, I’m shooting a little bit less and less but when I do shoot, I shoot a higher volume of targets,” Nic Shively said.

Nic Shively reuses shotgun shells due to the high volume he fires. He spends the time to reload the primer and powder into empty hulls to save money on ammunition expenses.

His coach, Tom Moore, helped guided Shively to skeet shooting and away from trap shooting.

“Skeet is a lot more fun because you actually get angled targets. They’re not just going away. I feel like there’s more variety of different angles and targets,” Nic Shively said.

Nic Shively made the switch to skeet shooting four years ago. He has had help from Moore, his parents, Kurt and Shawna, but also the late Jim Gast.

“One of my mentors recently just passed away, Jim Gast,” Nic Shively said. “He was a former president of the NSSA and a big part of our community here in the Warsaw Gun Club. That one kind of hurt. He worked every Wednesday at the desk to help out and I’d be out here talking with him. He helped me with a lot of stuff. He would give me hulls to reload, give me shells. Jim was very important to me.”

While Shively is pleased with how he has progressed in skeet shooting, he has big goals he is still diligently training for.

“My main goal, and has been since I started shooting, was to shoot at the Olympics,” Nic Shively said.