Abilene Clay Sports

10/09/2026

Taking a break from the bright lights of Hollywood, actress Joan Hackett enjoys a day on the shooting fields at the Golden Valley Gun Club in Pacoima, California, just outside Los Angeles.

Hackett was a familiar face on both the big screen and Broadway, earning recognition for her performances in The Group (1966), Will Penny (1968), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Last of Sheila (1973), and Only When I Laugh (1981). Her acting career brought numerous honors, including Golden Globe recognition and an Academy Award nomination. But away from the cameras and movie sets, Hackett enjoyed a pastime that was surprisingly popular among Hollywood’s biggest names: clay target shooting.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Golden Valley Gun Club became something of a Hollywood gathering place, where movie stars, television personalities, studio executives, and everyday shooting enthusiasts shared the same s***t and trap fields.

Its proximity to the major studios made it a convenient escape from the entertainment business. On a busy weekend, hundreds of shooters might visit the club, and it wasn’t unusual to find a familiar face from television or the movies standing at the next shooting station.

Hackett was among the Hollywood personalities associated with Golden Valley, along with Robert Stack, Bing Crosby, William Shatner, and Burt Reynolds. Many received instruction from the club’s well-known shooting professional, Ben DiIorio, whose reputation as a clay target instructor attracted both celebrities and serious competitors.

Part of Golden Valley’s appeal was its remarkably casual atmosphere. The clubhouse and public restaurant provided a gathering place where shooters could enjoy a meal, discuss their scores, and exchange stories after a day on the fields. Celebrity status mattered considerably less when everyone was trying to break the same elusive clay targets. A weekend shooter might find himself at the next table from a famous actor, discussing sh****ns, missed targets, and the day’s shooting.

Born in East Harlem, New York, Hackett built a respected acting career distinguished by her versatility and memorable character performances. Her final years, however, were marked by a battle with ovarian cancer. Despite her declining health, she attended the 1982 Academy Awards ceremony in a wheelchair, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Only When I Laugh.

Joan Hackett passed away on October 8, 1983, at just 49 years of age

Steve Ellinger

10/08/2026

10/08/2026

This man has attended 82 Grand Americans! Join Phil and Steve on October 14 as they visit with Clay Target Legend Dave Berlet!

Steve Ellinger

10/07/2026

On the field and ready to call for her target is Ann Staacke, a competitive Texas s***t shooter whose name appeared on prominent shooting teams and honor rolls during the sport’s mid-century era.

Staacke came from a Texas family with strong ties to competitive clay target shooting. She took up s***t during a period when the sport flourished at private gun and country clubs throughout Texas, particularly around major shooting centers such as Houston and Fort Worth. Her family connections included Fred Staacke Jr., an accomplished Texas shooter who competed at a high level during the late 1940s and 1950s.

Ann developed into a competitive shooter in her own right, earning recognition alongside some of the notable names of the period. Her participation also reflects an era when a growing number of women were establishing themselves in organized s***t competition, both in Texas and nationally.

She later married Dr. Joseph “Joe” Abell Jr., a prominent orthopedic surgeon. In the years that followed, Ann turned much of her attention to her family’s business interests and land holdings. In 1999, she established the Ann Staacke Rivers Family Limited Partnership, associated with substantial real-estate holdings in the Houston, Waller County, and Harris County areas.

Steve Ellinger

10/06/2026

Please register on scorechaser so we have a lunch headcount.

10/06/2026

My latest article in Trap and Field Magazine!

10/05/2026

Checking over his s***t guns before the next registered shoot is Les Simpson, one of the standout American competitors of the late 1960s and early 1970s—a period when the margins between the best s***t shooters in the country could be measured by a single missed target.

Simpson reached the pinnacle of the sport at the 1968 NSSA World S***t Shooting Championships, where he captured a World title against some of the finest shooters of the era. His success was hardly limited to one championship. He was a formidable competitor throughout the Southern s***t circuit and won the prestigious Tom Lause Dixie S***t Championship in both 1968 and 1970.

He was equally accomplished as a team shooter. In 1967, Simpson joined Ken Pendergras to break a perfect 200x200, tying the record and capturing the 12-Gauge Two-Man Team Trophy. It was an impressive accomplishment during an era populated by such celebrated competitors as Jim Prall and Hal duPont.

Simpson developed his skills on the highly competitive regional s***t circuit, particularly in Florida, where civilian champions frequently found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with exceptionally talented military shooters. Those tournaments provided an unforgiving proving ground: long programs, strong fields and very little room for error.

Becoming a world-class NSSA competitor also required far more than mastering the 12 gauge. The best all-around shooters learned to move comfortably among the 12, 20 and 28 gauges and the .410 bore, where increasingly smaller shot charges made consistency progressively more difficult. Simpson devoted himself to that complete game, developing the versatility that helped carry him from regional competition to national prominence.

Perhaps most impressive was his ability to remain composed when a championship went beyond the regular program. During an era when major titles were frequently decided by lengthy shoot-offs, Simpson earned a reputation as a competitor who could simply keep breaking targets. He faced accomplished military shooters, wealthy sportsmen and some of the biggest names in American s***t—and looked perfectly at home among them.

By the time Simpson stepped away from serious competition during the 1970s, he had left behind a record that captured what s***t shooting demanded during its highly competitive postwar years: versatility, concentration and the ability to break one more target when it mattered most.

10/04/2026

In 1913, a group of women began shooting regularly at the DuPont Gun Club in Wilmington, Delaware, forming what became known as the Nemours Trapshooting Club.

The organization reportedly began as a “school for women shooters” with eleven members before developing into a formal club with a constitution and elected officers. The Nemours name reflected the French heritage of the DuPont family and was already closely associated with the family and the Wilmington area.

The club is particularly noteworthy because it is believed to have been the first gun club in the United States organized exclusively for women. At a time when organized trapshooting was still largely dominated by men, Nemours provided women with their own organization and regular opportunities to participate in the sport.

Period photographs also provide an interesting look at the social customs surrounding trapshooting in the early 20th century. Members often shot while wearing the fashionable clothing of the period, including long dresses and large hats. Their appearance reflected the fact that organized shooting, particularly around established clubs, often had a strong social component.

Nemours shoots combined competition with social activities. Members gathered regularly at the shooting grounds, and after shooting they reportedly met at the pavilion for tea and conversation. In this respect, the club reflected the broader country-club culture that surrounded many recreational sports during the period.

The club was also significant in the development of women’s participation in shooting sports. Photographs and newspaper coverage brought attention to women participating in organized trapshooting and demonstrated that women were becoming increasingly involved in a sport that had previously been associated primarily with male competitors.

The Nemours Trapshooting Club appears to have had a relatively brief existence and was closely connected with the DuPont Gun Club. The DuPont grounds themselves eventually ceased shooting operations following concerns associated with the club’s activities, including complaints about night shooting after electric lighting was introduced.

Although short-lived, the Nemours Trapshooting Club provides an interesting example of women’s growing participation in organized clay-target shooting during the early 20th century. Its combination of regular competition, formal club organization, and the social customs of the period makes it an important part of early American trapshooting history.

Steve Ellinger