Deal

Brandon Deal has many achievements in the sport of trap shooting and he recently added another one to that list.

The Fairview resident won the handicap championship at the Pennsylvania State Shoot, hitting 99 out of 100 targets June 21 in Elysburg.

Deal was firing from 27 yards.

“The weather was beautiful, wind was coming from behind us, which pushes the targets down. That's what I prefer,” said Deal, whose only miss came on his 87th attempt. “At the state shoot, everything's more amped up. It's a different environment.”

The state shoot lasted several days. Prior to his handicap-win, Deal competed in the singles and doubles competitions and admits he did not perform as he had hoped.

“I was a little off my game in both of those, shot in the low-90s (out of 100) in doubles,” he said. “I've shot a perfect score in doubles before and am usually between 94-98. I just didn't shoot as well as I could have.”

Needless to say, Deal has very high standards for himself. It stems from his lofty accomplishments in the sport.

He won the singles title (from 16 yards) in Elysburg in 2018 and competed at the Grand American the same year in Illinois, hitting 99 out of 100 targets, which lowered his average to 99.17.

He has also been crowned champion at the World Trapshooting Championship, among other trophies and achievements.

His mental approach helps him in competition and certainly played a role in his recent win in Elysburg after coming up short in singles and doubles.

“You're not going to get every (target) and you can't let yourself get down. Just keeping shooting.”

Deal does just that. He has been a member of the Butler County Trap League for over 20 years and estimates he scores a perfect score of 50 “about 75 percent of the time” in weekly meets. He also often travels on weekends with his father, Alan “Spike” Deal, to compete in Amateur Trapshooting Association events in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.

“The only requirement to compete at the state shoot is that you have to take part in so many ATA events,” Brandon said. “That's not a problem for me because I get to about 20 every year.”

With his scores from ATA events, Deal has the highest average score out of 100 from across the state over the last four years with a 99.10.

“I've had a lot of practice over the years. Learning from my mistakes, that's the biggest reason for my success,” he said.

Currently, however, time for leisurely shooting is difficult to find.

“Between work and spending money on ammunition, I don't get out to practice much,” said Deal. “I basically look at the competitions I'm in as my practice time.”

Deal had been involved in trapshooting through the Butler County league for several years when he took a course when he was 14.

“That taught me when to focus,” he said. “When it's your time to shoot, you focus. Otherwise, you can let your mind wander.”

With that in mind, Deal has found a unique way to pass the downtime at competitions.

“I read fantasy and SCI-FI novels, gotten quite a reputation for it at shoots,” he said. “It kills two birds with one stone. I get to cross books off my reading list and it relaxes me.”