Annual Stag Shoot Brings in the Big Guns

Clay pigeons bit the dust Wednesday at the 552 Club’s 10th Annual Stag Shoot at Coto de Caza’s scenic Hunt Club. From drizzly dawn until chilly dusk, 138 local marksmen gathered at the private club, participating in a ritual airing of the manly arts--hefting shotguns, busting pottery birds, shooting the bull.

Entry fees were a wallet-walloping $225. Combined with proceeds from an auction and extra fees to shoot in a “Schwarzkopf Sortie,” the benefit raised an estimated $25,000 for Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.

The Drill

The sportsmen--allied in five-man teams--began arriving at 7 a.m. After checking in (and warming themselves with coffee), they launched their tours of the trap- and skeet-shooting stations--Duck Tower, Crazy Quail, Trap Doubles, Sporting Clays, Continental and the optional, timed “Schwarzkopf Sortie.”

While shotguns popped and shooters yelled “ Pull! “ the grassy parking area filled with shiny Jags and Benzes and Beemers side by side with rusty four-wheel-drive monster cars and mud-spattered pickups. Unifying the vehicular plurality were the many images of flags affixed to bumpers and rear windows and the dozens of decals for the National Rifle Assn.

Breakfast Danishes gave way to hamburger lunches. When the shooting was done, a cash bar opened for business, barbecue steak and chicken dinners were served, and awards handed out to the day’s champs.

Shoot Your Gun, Not Your Mouth

Real men don’t brag--or so you might conclude from the modest comments made by the competitors.

“It wasn’t pretty,” concluded George Argyros Jr., leaning against the open trunk of his BMW, a mobile phone in his hand. Argyros had just finished the trap doubles station with teammates Tim Unger, Sonny Geary, Bill Holzwarth and Ted Moore.

Jay Braccini, who teaches shooting at a club in Corona, looked all business in his yellow-tinted goggles and shooting vest.

“I guess I’ve won a few belt buckles,” Braccini said sheepishly, reloading between clay-shattering shots. (Overhearing, his buddy and teammate Russ Frerer chimed in: “This guy’s a killer! This is the guy who shot Bambi!”)

Roman Yanez--a 552 Club member who dressed as Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf for the day--allowed as how he used to hunt big game. Shot caribou and bear in Alaska, he said, elk and deer “all over the place.”

“But the killing--how can I say this?” mused Yanez, a Vietnam vet. “The killing just became not so much fun anymore.” Now he only aims at birds--feathered and clay.

Who’s Who

The benefit was co-chaired by Andy Carey and David Martyn, an orthopedic surgeon at Hoag.

Dell De Revere and Bob McDaniel were scorekeepers, tallying the shooters’ progress on a huge scoreboard posted near the check-in desk. Among committee members were Ralph Berke, Ed Griffen, Don Renner, Paul Coulter, Doug McCrea, Joe Walker, Bob Bordwell and Michael Tenerelli. Among volunteers were Drs. Gerald Wilks, Paul Anselmo and Nick Yaru.

Quote

Tyler Mimm, Bart Bean, Mike Roy and Rick Willis--four of the five-man team that also included Roy’s dad, Lyle--jocularly posed for a picture with their guns cracked open and wisecracks flying.

Question: Who’s the best shot?

Answer (a collective shout): “ Me! “