Copper State Open
(registration by mail with deposit)
About
The Copper State Open has become known as one of the top shoots held in Arizona (NSSA top 100 list five years running) and a great way to start the skeet shooting season while much of the weather in the country isn't at it's best. Usually held late in February, the Copper State is the first of of the three largest shoots in the Southwest, followed immediately the next week by the Old Pueblo in Tucson and later in early April by the Comstock in Nevada at the Clark County Shooting Complex.
Held annually for 17 years at the Ben Avery Clay Target Facility in Phoenix, Arizona, the Copper State is the successor to the Kachina Open, well known by many long-time skeet shooters and what originally put skeet shooting in Arizona on the map. The Copper State is developing a reputation of its own, fielding participants from all over the country as well as visitors from Canada, and the UK. This year we returned the to the Buffet Luncheon in the Pavilion Saturday and Sunday along with the daily Breakfast Table. The Buffet was a huge hit and a welcome return of what's becoming a great tradition.
The 2023 Copper State Open hosted 120 participants in the Main event. Entrants in the Main were mostly 4-gun shooters, with many familiar faces along with some newcomers. The new start time of 9:15 AM was just late enough to allow the shooter to actually see their first high 1 target! We were blessed with a break in the weather, starting out unseasonally cool on Wednesday and improving daily with some breezes early in the morning (mostly in the mid-week) and with an excellent field and great targets thanks to the dedicated AZGFD personnel, some outstanding scores were posted. You can view all the results by clicking on the appropriate buttons but we'd like to acknowledge the Champions here for their excellent shooting:
Mid-Week Event
HOA Champion John Lyman 393
HOA Runner-Up Victor Guerriero 389
HOA 3rd Mike Gerschick 385
Doubles Champion Tanner Bissell 97
12 Gauge Champion Robert Rick 100
20 Gauge Champion Tanner Bissell 100
28 Gauge Champion Tanner Bissell 100
410 Bore Champion Victoria Stellato 98
HOA Champion Victor Guerriero 394
HOA Runner-Up Victoria Stellato 391
HOA Third Tanner Bissell 391
HAA Champion Victor Guerriero 489
The Copper State Open is a "Community Event, with 23 local and national sponsors in 2022 supporting the shoot with advertising in the shoot program and field sponsorship, along with a remarkable number of volunteers (over 50 again in 2023!!!) helping with every facet of the five-day event.
Our goal is to provide the best possible skeet shooting experience at the most reasonable cost we can each year, and it's the sponsors and our volunteers that make that possible! Thanks to those whon joined us in 2023 and we hope to see you all next year!