Baltes family finds trap shooting success together

Trap shooting success is a family affair for the Balteses.
Earlier this year, Ray Baltes and his son, Tommy, qualified for the Iowa Games trap shooting championships.
At the qualifying round on June 22, held at the Stockdale Gun Club in Ackley, Ray placed first in the singles, handicap and doubles competitions for his division. The top three in each category, in each age group, qualify for the state competition. Tommy missed the cut for the singles and handicap categories but with one last shot to advance to the main event at the Izaak Walton League in Ankeny on Aug. 17, Ray said Tommy went back to his early shooting days. Tommy once placed third place in the national trap shooting championship competition but in pursuit of two bachelor’s degree and a career in law enforcement in Cedar Falls, had dialed back on the amount of recreational shooting he was able to do.
“I bought him his first shotgun when he started when he was 16 or 17, which was an old Remington 870 pump shotgun and he always hated it,” Ray said. “He didn’t qualify for singles or handicap so he said ‘I’m going to get my pump shotgun out and do doubles with that.’
“Nobody does doubles with that,” Ray added. “But he ended up qualifying and got a silver.”
Ray was able to participate in the Iowa Games championships on Aug. 17 and found success, claiming a gold in singles and doubles and a silver in the handicap competition. Not bad, Ray said, for someone who had only shot in one other competition prior to the qualifying round.
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