With steady hands and keen eyes once again working in his favour, Bob LaRue made his mark in the world of skeet shooting.
Through a demanding nine days of competition and some 2,000 rounds fired, the 60-year-old marksmen from Kelowna returned home this week with some champion’s hardware from the World Skeet Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
LaRue topped all shooters in the Doubles (‘A’ class) competition, scoring 99 out of 100 targets.
Doubles requires competitors to fire at two targets, in quick succession, 50 times.
In addition to winning his class, LaRue cracked the top 10 overall in the world in the open category.
“That’s probably about as good as it gets for me,” LaRue said. “Out of the best 900 shooters in the world, I finished eighth. I feel like that’s pretty good for a 60-year-old.”
LaRue stacked up even better against senior competitors from around the world, finishing second overall by just one, single target.
It was LaRue’s second trip to the world championships and, based on the financial, mental and physical demands, he said it will mostly likely be his last.
“They were 12 hour days and were pretty exhausting,” said LaRue. “I’m 60 and don’t know if I’m going to be able to beat 25 year olds any more. It was a very and expensive and time-consuming event and I may not go back.
“I’m happy just being the second best senior in the world.”
With numerous provincial and national titles and awards to his credit, commitment to his craft has had a lot to do with LaRue’s success. He shoots close to 30,000 rounds of shot gun shells per year and practises no fewer than three times a week.
In addition to hard work, LaRue said bloodlines have also been a factor in his ability to hit targets with the world’s best.
“My dad was fighter pilot and he had fabulous vision…I have very good vision too,” he said. “He just knows where the bullets are going to go and I guess I got it from him, too.”
LaRue is the current Canadian skeet champion in doubles, the high overall and high all-around.
He plans to return to Ontario next year to try and defend all three titles.
