-
Oglethorpe County 4-H shotgun team member Jaden Hayes takes aim, alongside coach Dean Langford during practice on May 7. 4-H shotgun coaches are required to renew their coaching certification each year. (Jack Keys/The Oglethorpe Echo) -
Oglethorpe County 4-H shotgun team member Henry Throne takes aim, alongside coach Gavin Hokanson during practice on May 7. 4-H shotgun coaches are required to renew their coaching certification each year. (Jack Keys/The Oglethorpe Echo) -
Coach Dean Langford with Jaden Hayes. (Jack Keys/The Oglethorpe Echo)
Twice a week, the piercing sounds of fired ammunition echo through the fields surrounding the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office.
A few hundred yards behind the building, a dirt road leads to the practice site for the Oglethorpe County’s 4-H senior shotgun team.
The team is ramping up preparation for this year’s state match on Saturday at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton. Expectations are high following last year’s stellar individual and team performance.
“We had the No. 1 senior shooter in the state last year. We had the No. 3 senior team in the state last year, and I’m pretty sure we can repeat that,” said Dean Langford, one of the shotgun team’s four coaches.
Oglethorpe County’s Nick Elder won the state competition last year. Because of this accomplishment, Elder is no longer eligible to participate as a member of Oglethorpe County’s team, according to 4-H rules.
Tenth-grader Nolan Holloman will be relied on to fill the hole of Elder’s absence. Holloman finished third in the state qualifying competition for the senior team.
“It’s really unexplainable,” team member Jacob Norman said with a smirk when asked about what makes Holloman such a prolific shooter. “He just likes to come out here, and every time he puts them on the clay (targets).”
In 2023, the state match featured over 1,000 contestants from over 40 counties, head volunteer Stephanie Langford said. Such a vast field of competition calls for a timely uptick in preparation.
“We do one practice in October, one in November and one in December,” Stephanie Langford said. “We’ll bring the kids out and let them shoot as much as they want. We don’t start doing two practices (per week) until closer to qualifications.”
This year, Oglethorpe County will send two senior teams and three junior competitors, who qualified to compete as individuals, to the state match. Thirteen team members total will travel to Eatonton to compete.
The state match is one of two competitions the shotgun team participates in. A state qualifier represents the other half of the team’s competition schedule.
“We call it ‘shotgun family,’ ” said Dean Langford, who has been coaching the team for over a decade. “We have moms and dads out here. We have grandparents out here. It’s good for the kids. It's good for adults. It’s just a good time.”
And even from the perspective of a competitor, the shotgun team’s familial, relaxed atmosphere trumps a bad day on the range.
“I make a lot of friends out here,” said Norman, an 11th grader at Oglethorpe County High School. “If I don’t shoot well, it's still fun to come out here.”