Nathan remains on target

The Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) National championships consist of six main events all scored or shot in different ways. 

Nathan was one of only five people to shoot a perfect score of 300 out of 300 in the National Trap Champion event and he said he is still buzzed by the remarkable score.

“For me to shoot the perfect score was a significant achievement because it means I shot the full 100 target event only using the first shot from the gun. So for me to shoot the perfect score of 300/300 meant shooting every target with my first shot,” he said. 

”For me winning this event was quite a surprise and way above my set targets for the shoot, I went into the event aiming to win the sectional side for the third time but to become the overall winner of the full event is the best I could have achieved. 

“I'm proud of myself because I have worked on making higher levels of achievement each year I attend the nationals and to have finally hit the win it really feels like a big achievement.”

Nathan said the achievement only came after some serious training.

“For me, training is a hard thing to do,” he said.

“The nearest shooting grounds are 45 minutes away and juggling full-time work is tough, so when I get shooting practice I aim to fix mistakes as I come across them, rather than have a set regime.”

Nathan said changes to the structure of the event could have had him psyched out before a shot was fired.

“On the day of the event the clay shooting association had a few changes happening,” he said.

“Those changes made the event different from previous years.

“So I was still not 100 percent familiar with the structure of how the event was going to be shot and I did have that in the back of my mind, so whether I was going to do something wrong was always there,” he said.

Far from resting on his laurels now that he is the national champion Nathan has set higher goals for 2018.

“My goal is to aim as high as I can in this discipline before moving onto a more challenging discipline,” he said.

“My next step and goal I am aiming for is a world title which is to be held in Wagga at the Australian national grounds in 2018. 

“I am confident after shooting at this event that I will have the perfect opportunity to aim for the world championship, especially with the comfort of shooting at my home ground.”