Kya Funkhouser from Hobart, Oklahoma joins Rick and Zach. Kya has been shooting since 2018, with five 200s in singles, four 100s in doubles and spots on five-plus Oklahoma state teams.

It started with a water bottle at 12 to 15 feet and a 20 gauge H&R by flashlight. She shot a 14 at her first shoot and thought she'd suck, then drove back for the trophy. A 96 in handicap at the 2018 state shoot moved her back to the 19 and a half. In 2019, her sub junior year, she shot about 25,000 registered targets, still her most in a single year.

From there she made seven straight ATA All-American teams, 2020 through 2026, across five categories. Then her game: a one-eyed shooter whose arm is always up, how her stance changes for high and low targets, where her belly button points on posts 3, 4 and 5, the Zoli factory chokes she shoots for doubles and singles, and Rick's advice on setting the gun up at handicap and learning to shoot it in singles.

The back half is the mental game: taking notes, watching videos and reading the books, what she tells herself right before she shoots, why scooping ice cream at Lanny's between events helps her training, her goals for the 2027 target year, and her advice for new shooters: get a gun that fits you and get some professional help. Plus her favorite shoots: the Grand, and the Kansas State Shoot.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:24 Kya's story, first targets and the state shoot
21:58 Her game: stance, chokes and gun setup
47:41 The mental game, goals and advice

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Ron Bliss from El Reno, Oklahoma joins Rick and Zach. Ron has been shooting since 1976, has shot more than 427,000 registered targets, and is the vet world singles and doubles champion. This year he won the Kinsley Doubles Marathon, taking out his traveling buddy Pat Stacy.

Ron keeps the game simple. See it, read it, then move the gun, and if you get that out of order it's a lost target. He talks about the switch Harlan says flips when you cross the 27-yard line, his student Shelby's "break the next target", what to focus on when you're nervous, and how about 380,000 of his 430,000 targets were shot one post away from Pat Stacy.

Then the fundamentals: why he holds a low gun, how Harlan's advice on his eyes turned his handicap around, his hold points, the light full choke he only takes out to clean, and the time he broke a hundred with a modified and hated it. Plus doubles titles, coin flips, and how to shoot your way out of a slump.

The back half is the mental game. "If it is to be, it's up to me," the people who helped him along the way, climbing from 94s and 95s to gaining two or three targets a thousand, and why you look forward instead of back.

Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:53 Ron's story, Pat Stacy, and see it, read it, move the gun

24:19 Low gun, chokes and handling slumps

48:06 Mentors, the mental game and what's next

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Part 2 of the Listener Extravaganza, our listener Q&A special. Jon reads more of the questions you sent in on Facebook and by email, and Rick and Zach answer them.

Brenden Mowen starts it off: is there really a quality difference between a Browning and a premium gun? Zach puts a Rolex next to a Seiko and says the biggest difference is the trigger, the same pull weight every time. Rick will hit 500,000 registered targets this year, about 300,000 of them with a K80. For him the difference is longevity, and the right gun comes down to your budget and how many targets you want to shoot. Marlin Stutzman asks why Rick shoots Fiocchi Shooting Dynamics 1165 8s instead of White Rhino. Rick likes it for singles and the first shot of doubles, and calls it the best singles shell out there.

Then seeing the target and moving the gun. George Lee asks if gun speed changes between singles and handicap. Rick says his doesn't: he matches the speed of the target. Dennis Quimper asks about swing through lead, and that turns into a talk about chronic gun stoppers. Rick's advice: stop overthinking it, because smooth is fast.

Clayton Gross loses the bird in the glare under the lights at the 27. Rick looks at the front edge and top edge of the target, Zach explains why the bead looks like a golf ball at night, and they compare the lenses they wear. Zac Brody asks what causes a flinch and what helps besides lighter loads or a release trigger. Curt Corey wants the best way to learn a double release trigger. Ron Seeley Jr. asks how many practice targets they shoot a year, and Zach passes on what Dave Kelly told him a practice trap is for.

Got a question for the guys? Send it to askus@traptalkpodcast.com. Missed Part 1? It's Special Episode 10.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:42 Premium guns and Rick's Fiocchi shells
23:17 Gun speed, lead and swing through
41:00 Night shooting, flinching, release triggers and practice

Interested in sponsoring Trap Talk? Email jon@traptalkpodcast.com

New episodes every Friday. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

#TrapTalk #Trapshooting #TrapshootingTips #ATA #ListenerQuestions #RichardMarshallJr #ZachNannini

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