Newsletter - Spring 2026
Salem Trap & Skeet Club
Home of Mid-Valley Clays & Shooting School
The objective of the Club shall be to further the common good and general welfare of the community by providing well maintained facilities where individuals have the opportunity to learn about the safe use of firearms and to develop skills in the shotgun sports.
https://www.salemtrapandskeet.org
welcome to the quarterly newsletter!
Show your club pride with high-quality shirts, hoodies and jackets with the STSC logo!
Take a look at all the options on GearUp
President’s Message
Dear Members,
It is with much excitement that I write this Spring 2026 newsletter message to you, the members of Salem Trap and Skeet Club! My last communication highlighted the progress, improvements, and accomplishments made by your board last year. Since that time, we have completed and are finalizing major capital improvements and upgrades to the club’s facilities. If you’ve visited the club in recent weeks, you’ll see a new sign at the entrance. It’s “eye-catching” and displays the new redesigned logo and branding for STSC! In addition, repairs were made to the clubhouse, which is being painted to coordinate with the skeet houses and support structures. Finally, some roof work on the oldest Skeet houses is almost complete.
But wait, there’s more! We are extremely excited to announce is that we received a grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to upgrade and add to the covered Sporting Clays stations! In addition, all of the fences between the Skeet fields will be replaced. The target date for completion of all facility work is in the early-to-mid-September timeframe. Huge thanks to board members and all those behind the scenes for helping get the work done.
I want to personally thank each of you members who completed and submitted feedback on our member survey. Your input, observations, suggestions, and constructive criticism are invaluable in helping the board shape the Club’s near and long-term future. If you haven’t completed the survey, I urge you to do so. We will recap the survey results in the Summer Newsletter.
In closing, please mark your calendars for our Member Appreciation event on Sunday, August 23rd . The keyword here is “EVENT”. We are in the process of planning some exciting things for that day, you don’t want to miss it!
“Break em’ all”,
William Turner
STSC Board President, William Turner, at the Holland and Holland Shooting Grounds.
Save the Date!
2026 Member Appreciation EVENT
Sunday, August 23rd, 2026
2026 Oregon State Shoot
July 16-19, 2026
Main events at Tri-County Gun Club, subgauge events at MVC/STSC.
Membership Survey Update
We recently sent out a survey to our members, asking for input on various elements of the club. We’ve received over 115 responses (thank you!), and would love to hear from more of our membership. May 31st will be the last day the survey is open. If you have not already responded, please take a few minutes to provide us with your thoughts.
Make your voice heard here.
Here are some of the most frequently mentioned topics:
Requests to improve the trap and 5-Stand facilities, and the clubhouse interior
Positive feedback about recent facilities updates (skeet houses and club house)
Questions about target costs
After the survey closes, we will tabulate the results and respond comprehensively to the members over the summer.
Around The Club
Work continues on several fronts! The new sign on Concomly Road conveys the actual name of the Club for the first time in quite some time. Thanks to Board Member, Brook Douglas, for organizing that effort. Skeet house roof repairs are completed on the oldest buildings. We still use these houses and they will likely see increased usage as the Club continues to grow and develop. The clubhouse exterior, faded to four different colors depending on which side you looked at, was long overdue for a refresh. It is looking sharp now and complements the auxiliary structures painted last summer. There are still a few “beautification” projects to undertake as the summer progresses. We will keep everyone posted.
Interested in volunteering? Please fill our interest form! All skills welcome.
Clay Crusher News
The Clay Crushers are off to a roaring start to 2026. Their spring tournament on May 2 and 3 hosted over 200 young athletes. We are proud to have them train at the Club as our “home” team along with several other youth teams from some of the surrounding schools. It fits perfectly with one of the Club’s priorities - to foster fun youth involvement and skill development in the shotgun sports.
The Clay Crushers will be “showing the flag” when they are on the road.
Interested in having your business become a corporate member? Learn more and find our application form here.
Shooting tip
minimize those nuisance decisions
By Michael Sullivan
You get enough exercise. You are in decent shape. You got a good nights sleep. Then why, with four or five stations to go on the sporting clays course, are you starting to feel worn out, finding it more difficult to stay focused through four pairs? That is because it takes a lot of mental effort to shoot fifteen stations to the best of your ability.
Think about it (no pun intended). At a minimum, we have to make a plan. That includes: the method you are going to use to break each target; a breakpoint, hold point, and “look” point for target one; a transition to target two with visual pickup point and a second breakpoint. Pheww. Now if that is not enough, many shooters then make an analysis of the optimum choke to use - more thinking. In addition, they look at their collection of shells to determine whether they need 7 1/2s, 8’s, even 9’s! No wonder we can wear ourselves down.
There are a couple things you can do to give yourself an edge. Number one, pare back the choke and shell decisions. Next time you practice, try using a skeet or improved cylinder choke for the entire course. Combine this with number 8’s and find out for yourself if there really are targets that will not reliably break with that combination. There may be a few that really call for a modified choke, or maybe 7 1/2’s, but not that many. This will help streamline the decisions in competition.
Second, practice making a plan on every target you shoot. Making a plan is a skill that needs to be practiced until it becomes a superpower! When you practice planning, you get a double benefit. You get better and faster at it, and you also build mental stamina. It really does become a superpower. You can ask some other shooters how they approach the planning, there are dozens of books, or any of the instructors at Mid-Valley Clays and Shooting School can coach you. However you go about it, practice will make you better, faster, and stronger!
Club Dog Corner
Every newsletter, we’ll feature dogs at the club and their doings!
Spring 2026: Levi
by Jerry Richardson
Levi is a 4-year old Boykin Spaniel.
Boykin Spaniels originated in South Carolina and is also the state dog of SC. The story goes that at the turn of the 20th century, Whitaker Boykin, an avid hunter and dog trainer acquired a stray little brown dog. That dog proved to be a great hunter and from that dog he developed the Boykin Spaniel, likely breeding with water spaniels, field spaniels and possibly Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Male Boykins range between 35-40 lbs, while females are slightly smaller.
Levi is an upland flusher and waterfowl retriever. He is a constant companion and a great hunter with a strong prey drive. It is said that Boykins have a mischievous streak that is a mile wide, fortunately it is only an inch deep.
Have a fantastic spring, and we hope to see you around the club!
