HAMLET — If practice makes perfect, then Nicholas Bryant has a shot at becoming the best in the country.
Blasting off over 25K practice rounds last year, the Raeford native has proven to be a pretty good shot as he journeys to become a world champion skeet shooter.
A Hoke County High School graduate, Bryant has lived in Richmond County the past six years. He credits a lifelong passion of hunting and his father Keith Bryant for introducing him to the world of competitive shooting.
“I grew up duck and bird hunting my whole life,” Bryant, 33, explained. “I’ve always been around the sport and my dad used to shoot skeet. So I definitely learned a lot from him.
“I kind of just stumbled upon competitive shooting,” he continued. “I used to work at the Pinehurst Gun Club and then I began shooting in tournaments in 2021.”
Since starting his career on the National Skeet Shooting Association tournament circuit, Bryant has quickly proven he’s an elite shooter.
He competes in the AA class, the second-highest level of shooters based on averages, and is currently ranked as the No. 35 shooter in the 18-39 triple-sub age concurrent.
A typical NSSA tournament consists of four rounds of 100 birds each for four different gauges — .410, 28, 20 and 12 — and a doubles round that features another 100 clay targets.
Skeet competitions are comprised of eight shooting stations positioned around a semicircle with high and low houses.
Last year alone, Bryant won 12 combined gun championships, which means he had the best high overall average (HOA) for all rounds in an event.
In his age concurrent bracket, Bryant brought home 30 championships in 2023. He also recorded 14 first-place wins in individual events.
Because of his performance last season, Bryant will shoot as a member of two NSSA All-American teams in the coming year — the AA class and triple-sub age concurrent teams.
“I’m a very competitive and driven person, and that’s good because skeet is a sport of perfection,” Bryant shared. “At the level I shoot, I can’t afford to miss a bird.
“I like the aspect of trying to be perfect on every shot I take. It’s very much a mental game and I like that challenge.”
Bryant perfects his craft at the John F. Lentz Hunter Education Complex in Ellerbe, which has become a second home for him during his yearlong preparation.
Thankful for the range officers there who “work with me to set the targets to a tournament level,” Bryant said shooting thousands of practice rounds is “what it takes to compete” on the national stage.
He keeps a log of each practice session, documenting his averages and performances. Bryant noted that even the smallest details, such as reloading his own shells to the proper weight, are crucial to being successful.
In a sport that’s sometimes determined by just one or two missed targets, Bryant said his ultimate goal is to hit every target in each competition.
Last month, Bryant announced he was joining Fabarm USA, a gun and clay target company based in Maryland, for the upcoming 2024 season. He said the offer came through his recent success with shooting and a large social media presence.
“Fabarm is a pretty big company in the sporting clay world,” Bryant explained. “Through them, I plan to show that their brand can compete and win world championships. I’m proud to represent this company in the realm of competitive skeet shooting.
“I know I’m a great shooter, but I’m still striving for more,” he added. “I’m very proud to represent this region and travel the United States. That’s why I give it 100% every time I compete. I take it very seriously because I want to represent my name, family and region the best I can.”
The skeet shooting season runs from February through October, culminating in the World Skeet Shooting Championship. This year it will be held in San Antonio, Texas, between Sept. 27 through Oct. 5.
Bryant will be busy during that time, competing twice a month all across the country. He will shoot in North Carolina and South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
This season, Bryant has set his expectations even higher than the clay targets his shoots out of the sky.
“This year I plan to place in the East Coast Zone Championship, the (Kolar) U.S. Open and the World Championship,” Bryant said. “I really want to win the World Championship.”
While he’s the one who pulls the trigger to bust up clays, Bryant knows there are several others who are responsible for his success.
“I’d like to thank my wife Kimber and our girls,” Bryant closed. “(Kimber) sacrifices a lot with my practice schedule and competitions and I couldn’t do this without her support.
“I also want to thank everyone who continues to support me, and Fabarm for letting me join their team.”
Bryant’s first competition of 2024 will be the Azalea Open in Palatka, Fla., which starts Feb. 16.
