Plains woman takes top trap honors

It's best not to get Helen Durgin angry, she's proven she can shoot straight and a moving target is no problem.

Durgin became the top trap shooter at the 124th Montana State Trap Shoot in Great Falls July 11-15 in the Singles Lady 1 class by hitting 100 birds out of 100 shots, a personal best for the Plains resident. She was one of a dozen women in the category and was one of nearly 10 Plains Trap Club members to participate in the overall competition.

"It was so cool because I did my personal best at a state competition. I still can't believe I did it," said the 55-year-old Durgin, who's been shooting trap for only four years. But on July 13, everything was going right for Durgin, who shot with a 12-gauge Perazzi MX14 that she received as a birthday present.

"I just felt like I was moving my body well through the target and executing my swing through the target. Everything just went right," said Durgin. She has collected a dozen trophies in the last four years, obtaining first place in the New Shooter Championship at the Tom Kunzer Memorial Trap Shoot at the Plains Trap Club in 2014. She competed at state in 2014 and 2015, but didn't place. She finished in the top 10 the following year, but didn't participate in the state contest in 2017. However, she did take first place at the Butte Super Handicap ATA Shoot last year in the singles short yardage class. It was at Butte that Durgin had performed her then personal best, receiving the over 50 hit patch.

Nearly 240 shooters took part in the state championships in July, including about 40 women competitors, according to Jim Burman, Great Falls Trap Club secretary. He said they're getting more and more women shooters in the competition. The state championships rotate between Great Falls, Helena, Billings, and Missoula. Burman said they had competitors from Canada east to Pennsylvania and as far south as Texas. He said there was one shooter from New Zealand this year.

Marv Rehbein of the Plains Trap Club captured the Montana State Handicap Championship, said Cookie Kunzer, the primary competition coordinator at the Plains Trap Club. Member Jackie Garrigus took first in the Lady 11 competition by hitting 96 of 100 birds. A.J. Jermyn, 16, of Plains, nabbed first place in the junior championships in three out of five shoots, said James, his father, who competed but didn't place. Club member Chris Vassar, a Polson resident, was the Singles B champion with 95 hits. Durgin said several men in the competition shot 100 of 100 birds, but that she was the only woman to do so.

It was Durgin's boy friend, Plains resident Barry Gilpin, who has won countless trap shooting awards, who got her interested in the sport. "I just fell in love with it right away," said Durgin, who practices twice a week for about two hours at a time at the Plains Trap Club. She said she fires more than 100 shells each time, practicing from 16-20 yards.

She competes in six to 10 trap shoots a year, mostly in Montana, but sometimes she travels to Utah and Washington. During the state contest at Great Falls, she participated in two events a day for three days, shooting about 200 shells a day. Her time at the line during her 100/100 shoot lasted about 30 minutes in 98-degree weather. She didn't think about a perfect score until she completed 75, but she told herself to try not thinking about it.

"The last four targets got really real to me," said Durgin, manager of Clark Fork Valley Hospital's Family Medicine Network. "I had to slow my breathing down and let my mind just think about hitting the target." When she did it, words were tough to define how she felt. "I was so glad. I'm happy that I did my personal best there. It really builds my confidence that I could shoot 100 straight," added Durgin, who received a leather shell pouch and a special patch to document her feat. "Now I know I can do it. I hope I can do it again."

Durgin will be competing in the Bruce Frye Memorial Shoot at the Plains Trap Club scheduled for Aug. 4-5.