St. Joe Parish, Ost, hosting skeet shooting demonstration on Oct. 15

Marvin Huffman can’t recall how long St. Joseph Parish in Ost has been hosting a turkey shoot. But the 62-year-old remembers taking part in turkey shoot activities when he was a boy.

“Many parishes in Sedgwick and Reno counties had turkey shoots in the old days and you would actually win turkeys,” he said.
The culture has shifted over the decades and interest in turkey shoots has diminished, Huffman said. “We’ve noticed over the years that people coming to shoot are getting up there in age.”

Sport shooting growing

Interest in eating turkey has never waned but the declining interest in shooting is changing. There is a growing interest in sport shooting among youth, he said.

Huffman has invited the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Trap Shooting Club to demonstrate their skills at the upcoming turkey shoot scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15.

“Maybe it will inspire some of the kids watching to pick up the sport and hopefully we will do something to preserve a tradition,” he said. “None of us want to be the generation where we don’t have turkey shoots anymore.”

In addition to the turkey and skeet shooting, the parish will host card games and children’s activities that day.

Breaking out chef’s hats

Huffman is president of the parish’s Holy Name Society men’s group which is not only hosting the shooting events, they are also planning to don chef’s hats. On the menu will be the traditional sausage sandwiches and pie – and “perhaps some new traditions the Holy Name men come up with,” he said.

The event begins at 1 p.m. and closes with a raffle drawing at 7 p.m.

Mark Esfeld, the coach of the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Trap Shooting Club, said members of the club will take part in the event.
This year’s team has nearly 50 members. Thirty-one are returning from last year and 18 are new members.

“We’re getting so many because the team is doing really well,” he said, adding that this year’s team will be one of the largest in the state.

Esfeld also attributes parental support, the student’s financial commitment, and team camaraderie to the increase in participation.

The team is focused on winning state and national titles, he said. Included in the shooting training is honing their sighting skills and improving their mental “toughness” in competition.

Shooting for heaven

Each member of the team buys a team shooting vest that has their name across the back, Esfeld said. “But the most important thing to me is right below their name – a cross. We have those embroidered onto the vest so that everybody out at that shoot park knows that that kid is a Christian and that more than likely that kid is with Bishop Carroll. They wear that proudly on their back underneath their name.”

The parish is located two miles east of Cheney Reservoir at 13015 E. Maple Grove Rd.

Skeet is an Olympic sport. The men and women representing the United States won gold medals in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.