TAHARA’S James Humphries got more than he bargained for last weekend, returning home with a national title at the Field and Game Australia ASF National Championship in Clunes.

The Coleraine Field and Game Club life member returned with three medals, along with a pin for a perfect 25-target round, capping off a strong three-day performance just north of Ballarat.

“The main one was finishing first in the A grade overall 150-target comp over two days. 100 on the first day and 50 on the second day,” he said.

“I finished in 24th place in overall handicap out of 670 shooters across all grades, then on Monday they ran a separate English Sporting all pairs for 100 targets and finished third.

“Saturday and Sunday was the national titles then Monday was the extra event.”

With some events limited to specific over-under or side-by-side guns, the national titles are open to both types.

“You can use any gun you choose,” Humphries said.

“I use a Beretta DT10 now and have been for the past 10 years.”

Preparing for the titles has been tough, with a group from the Coleraine club getting together once a week to hone their skills.

The 58-year-old said it was important to practice as much as possible in different conditions.

“I mainly used local shoots, I hadn’t had a lot of warm up practice, but we actually ran practice each Friday night through October,” he said.

“There was probably 10 of us that went down there for the titles.

“Conditions were extremely challenging, there was a huge wind on Saturday which made it difficult.

“It was probably the most technical and challenging national title course that I have shot in, which was rather pleasing.

“They said this year’s course was on average 10 targets harder than last year’s course.”

With Clunes a chance to host next year’s titles again, Humphries is already eyeing off another national title campaign, having started shooting when he was seven with a .22.