Sitrin offers free shooting clinic

The Sitrin Success Through Adaptive Recreation and Sports program will be presenting their first adaptive shooting clinic on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Sitrin’s Community Center in New Hartford.

All participants must pre-register for the event by Friday with all instruction sessions offered at 9 and 11 a.m. as well as 1 p.m. with free admission.

National Rifle Association Instructor and Manager for Disabled Shooting Services Vanessa Warner will introduce individuals with disabilities to competitive shooting and provide an overview about air rifles. Topics will also include gun safety, equipment, fundamentals and shooting positions.

For more information or to register contact STARS director Marc DePerno at 737-2459.

Vernon hunter nabs $17,000 deer

Vernon native Stacy Stagner earned himself a $17,000 prize award after winning the Whitetail Trophy Hunt competition for the second time in the Lake of the Ozarks region of Missouri.

Stagner won the winning prize money after shooting a 160 5/8 inch, 11-point whitetail deer with a customized Brownings 300 Win Mag rifle.

The 41-year-old Vernon marksman has entered in the competition for the past 20 years and has become one of only two hunters to win the Whitetail Trophy Hunt on two occasions with the other being in 1994.

The Whitetail Trophy Hunt took place on Nov. 14-16 and has been held annually for 21 years to a maximum of 230 hunters in the Lake of the Ozarks region which offers over 30,000 acres of managed timberland to hunt in.