PROUD MOMENT: Neil Pratt (left) is pictured with son Mike Pratt following his selection in the New Zealand team. PHOTO SUPPLIED
TE Kūiti trap shooter Mike Pratt made a good fist of his first New Zealand Skeet Nationals in several years. Pratt who returned to the sport this year following a 15-year hiatus produced an outstanding showing to take the B grade high gun and qualify for the 12-person New Zealand Open team. The champs in Hamilton saw the shooters compete in horrendous conditions, which saw 150 shooters competing for crowns. This year the tournament even hosted world champions from the United States and Australia to take part. “I think the conditions really levelled the playing field. They were shocking to shoot in, but I thought I did pretty well in them considering. “To take out the B grade high gun was a pretty cool achievement. I had no expectations going there. I was just giving the skeet a bit of a nudge and to go that well was a nice surprise.” He began shooting at 11 and continued until he was 18, before taking an extended break as life took over. “I was curious about how I would go if I got back into it. I went to a shoot with dad at the end of last year and that got me hooked again. Now I am back shooting I want to do as well as possible.” COACHING DAD Since the championships were on the backdoor step Pratt thought he’d give them a stab thanks to some coaching from his dad Neil. “I have shot skeet a handful of times when younger, but given the Skeet National Championships were on the back doorstep thought I would chance my arm. He said he had invested in a couple of hours of practice the weekend before at Te Kuiti Gun Club. New Zealand selection wasn’t even on Pratt’s radar. “I had no intention of making the New Zealand side. I was just going there to give the skeet a bit of a crack as we’re more of a trap shooting family, so to go into a shootout for the New Zealand team and then to make it and score the joint third highest score the following day was pretty special.” He racked up 48 out of 50 targets in what was an outstanding showing. His New Zealand selection saw him join dad Neil and great grandfather Murray Pratt as New Zealand representatives. “My great grandfather is part of the New Zealand Shooting Hall of Fame and dad just got inducted to it earlier this year and that’s now my long-term goal. It’s a decade or so away but I want to be part of it like them, that would be a special family moment.” Overall Pratt was sixth in the New Zealand Skeet Handicap Championship, third in the B grade 100 target skeet championship, which earned him his B grade high gun crown. EVENTS Moving forward he’s got a couple of events on the agenda. “I am excited for the trap season to kick off with big tournaments approaching starting with the Waikato District Championships held locally at the Te Kūiti Gun club on the 7th and 8th of January, followed by the North Island Championships in Wellington in late January and then the National Trap Championships in Hamilton in early March.” “It’s great to be back shooting and nice to go to the gun club and have a shoot as a bit of down time.”
