Top shot … Danial Cauchi, 16, from Caroline Springs won Junior Championship at the Werribee Victorian Clay Target Club last month. By Adrian Ceddia
NOT many 16-year-olds would be confident of hitting a moving clay target at over 70km/h with a double barrel shot gun.
But Caroline Springs shooter Danial Cauchi is as comfortable on the clay target shooting range as he is hunting for ducks, rabbits and quail in the rice fields of regional Victoria.
Danial has been part of the Cauchi family’s traditional shooting trips since he was five years old, though he was not old enough to handle his own gun until he was 12.
The family has been on hunting trips as far as New South Wales and including Lismore, Hamilton and Deniliquin, mainly from March to mid June each year.
The Cauchis are also part of the Field and Game Council of New South Wales, an organisation that encourages shooting while conserving the environment. The council has monthly meetings and offer training sessions highlighting safe methods of shooting.
As well as shooting for sport, Danial and his family have volunteered their services to help farmers rid rice fields of ducks, which have become a nuisance.
This year, with the shooting seasons in recess, Danial decided to keep his senses sharp by training at Werribee Gun Club.
What he instantly found was a natural talent for clay shooting, spawned from years of experience shooting with his family.
“It was just something different while the seasons are closed,” he said. “I thought I might as well keep practicing.”
In his first three tries in practice, Danial missed only a handful of targets.
In almost no time he was entering into – and winning – tournaments in Werribee and Frankston as part of the Australian Clay Target Association.
Last month he won the Junior Championship at the Werribee Victorian Clay Target Club in the down the line format, and he has since scored two first place finishes in open age tournaments.
Danial shoots targets flying about 75km/h, at the lower end of the scale, a similar speed to a flying duck.
He has only been in competition mode for the past few months, but has already developed a strong mental capacity required to be successful in the sport.
“Your concentration levels have to be up and you have to be able to handle stress,” he said.
“Shooting ducks helped me with my accuracy and agility.”
Danial has also been helped by Olympic shooters Russell and Lauren Mark, residents of Werribee who train at the same gun club.
“Russell set up my gun and I speak to him whenever I go there. He is willing to help young shooters that want to get into the sport,” Danial said.
“I’ve had a lot of support from them, and I think they enjoy it as well.”
In between his year 10 studies at Mowbray College in Caroline Springs, Danial visits the Werribee Gun Club with his father Ray and grandfather Charlie for training up to three times a week.
And while the family shooting trips are still on the agenda, Danial will be on his own hunt for trophies on the clay target range.
“My parents and grandparents have played a major part in supporting me. It’s not a cheap sport,” he said.
“I want to get somewhere with shooting. When you start shooting competitions you get a bit more serious and you enjoy it more.”
