SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The territory's best shots were out in full force over the weekend.

Mitch Dube ejects a spent shell from his rifle during the small bore silhouette rifle competition at the NWT Federation of Shooting Sports Territorial Championships at the Yk Shooting Range on June 20. - James McCarthy/NNSL photo

The NWT Federation of Shooting Sports held its territorial championships at the Yk Shooting Range on June 19 and 20 – in which a small, yet vibrant, group of shooters looking to claim a spot at the 2011 national championships.

The event featured events in the small bore and high power divisions and Scott Cairns was the big winner in the small bore division after the two days of competition. He said was great to finally win.

"It's usually very tight among a number of us, so it feels good to get it this year," he said.

The small bore division saw the shooters aiming at targets made up of chickens, pigs, turkeys and rams from a pre-determined distance. Events in the division included silhouette, hunter and cowboy rifle classes, as well as handguns, and featured two matches per day. Each shooter had a spotter to mark down any target hit on a score sheet, with one felled target being worth one point. Each of the animals had a total of 10 targets, meaning a perfect score of 40 was possible in each match, although it wasn't achieved.

Cairns, who managed a score of 88 over the two days of competition, said his specialty was in the hunter rifle class.

Mitch Dube was the runner-up in the small bore division with a score of 75, thanks in part to his beating Brent Rausch in a shoot-off on day two. He said it's a different dynamic knowing it's down to just one shot to win.

"There's a lot more pressure," said Dube. "You can really see your heart beating in the scope when that happens." Dube, who has only been shooting long guns for a year, said he was hoping to be near the top when all was said and done.

"There were some shooters from Inuvik and they shot very, very well," he said. "It was pretty close. Most of the scores were within one point and when it comes down to a shoot-off, you know just how close it really is."

In the high power division, Dube won the cowboy rifle competition with a score of 88, while Rausch took the title in the revolver event, scoring 79.

Sunday's rain delayed the start of action by 90 minutes, but Cairns said the weather cleared up nicely enough to allow for a good competition.

"I caught a break because I got to shoot all of the small, close animals when there was no wind," he said. "For me, that's ideal."

The top three in each division all received invites to the 2011 nationals, the location of which has yet to be determined.  

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