By: Charlee Blackwell
Bang! Crack! Zing! As a town in southern Illinois, Flora has many students with interests in hunting and marksmanship.
Students Mekenzie Wheeler, Daniel Lewis, Clay Warren, and Carson Welty are members of the Blaze Orange Shooting Team. Shooting fanatics from neighboring towns meet to practice every Tuesday at The County Line Rod and Gun Club in Noble, Illinois.
The team originally started in May of 2014 as a part of the Southern Illinois Youth Shooting Sports Association, or (SIYSSA). They have clay pigeon shooting competitions with other teams in the association. The team receives their funding from raffles and grants throughout the year.
Last October, Wheeler won Highest Overall Shooter out of 150 competitors with her best score of 98 out of 100. May 5th of this year Daniel Lewis won highest Overall Shooter with a score of 99 out of 100. There are few restrictions, so any young marksmen, grades 5 through 12, are welcome to join.
Lewis and Wheeler say they like being apart of the team because they, “enjoy meeting new people with similar interests, and the competition hunting doesn’t have.”