Senior Known Pro SHOOTDOWN ｜ 2025 Delta McKenzie ASA Classic

Now we're going to bring out our archers and senior known pro. Our fifth place qualifier with a score of 418 and 14 bonus rings from Moselle, Mississippi, shooting for Hoyt, Stephen Hudson, and our fourth place qualifier with a score of 418 and 15 bonus rings from Dry Ridge, Kentucky, shooting for Darton, Kevin Beach. Our third place qualifier with a score of 418 and 16 bonus rings from Lowellville, Ohio, shooting for Matthews, Randy Morocco, and our second place qualifier with a score of 422 and 14 bonus rings from Bucyrus, Missouri, shooting for elite Douglas Kyle and our number one qualifier with a score of 438 and 21 bonus rings from Provo, Utah, shooting for Matthews, Tim Gillingham. All right, Nathan, now we can talk some distance because this is known distance here and before we talk, well, there's Tim using the range finder. Tell us what he's doing. So he's figuring out how far that target is so he can set his sight correctly and just make the shot. These guys obviously get to use that clicker and since they're in the senior known pro division, they're also using their glasses and their magnifying glasses and their lights and everything they can to set their sights, but yeah, this is known distance archery so even though they know how far it is, they still have to make the shot and so sometimes this can turn into a race because Tim has such a big lead, that's 16 points is a huge lead. This is really a race for second and third because obviously you can see three people at 418 and then Doug Kyle there at 422, but there's 14s in play. That's right. Now, knowing Tim, he's got a big lead. He's probably going to shoot for center 10s and 12s. There's no reason for him to risk a whole lot, but if he's pressured, I promise you, he has no problem centering up on a 14 and letting it go. So this is Steven Hudson and we can talk distances. So he's shooting at our HHA links, which is at 30 yards. He called the upper and he hit it. Tim Gillingham is shooting the Stan Javelina. It is 42 yards. He called the upper as well and he hit it. And we'll give you the other distances as we move along. So I would expect to see a lot of rings hitting here. Look at that. Tim, 12. Even with his big lead, he's still shooting at 12s. That's right. I mean, no one's surprised. So next up, we have Doug Kyle on the schwacker bedded buck. It is 34 yards. He gets 10. We're going to move over to Randy Morocco on the gas bowstrings howling wolf. And it is our farthest at 47 yards. Nathan looks pretty stinking good. Oh, just off the 12. And last Kevin Beach moving over to our bow doodled, bow doodle, big horn. 38 yards. That target is, I believe he did call the upper. So 426 for Kevin. We thank all of our target sponsors for helping us do what we do out here. Again, Stephen Hudson coming around to the HHA links. 12. He got it, called the upper and put it in there. So Stephen's got a big crowd up here. Yeah, that shot actually puts him in third place alone. So we have 450 for Tim Gillingham, 432 in second place is Doug Kyle, a 430 for Stephen Hudson, a 428 for Randy Morocco, and a 426 for Kevin Beach. All right. We had a little audio issue there, but that is figured out. We should mention here, we're at what's called St. Bernard's Abbey, and it's a St. Bernard's preparatory school. So this is a school that kids come and they stay at and live here. And what we're shooting on, Nathan, is, I mean, your basic high school field, football, soccer, they're playing, but it was built as a soccer stadium pitch, excuse me, soccer pitch for when the Olympics was in Atlanta. This was a practice facility. Really? So that's why this was built. Interesting. I was unaware of that. And I've been coming here a long time and I didn't know that, PJ. Look at that. I hope I didn't just make that up. Look at that drop of knowledge you just landed out there on me. I love it. That's going back to the 90s. I forget because I'm looking across and seeing Justin Hewish, who would have shot in those Olympics. That's right, in 96. Good look at Kevin Beach. See that little blue dot there on his string? That's a nose button. So he's using that as an anchor that's helping him understand his pressure that he's putting on the string and that he's centered up well. And, you know, all these little things that these guys do, you'll see just a huge difference from what Tim does to Kevin Beach and Randy. Every one of these archers has to make their equipment fit them. And that's the interesting part of this story to me. For sure. Because there's so much stuff out there that can make you a better archer. And these guys, they'll prove it. There's Tim Gillingham with the lead. Just shot a 14 on a schwacker bedded buck. Well, he's having fun. You know what? He probably heard me say he's probably just going to shoot center 10s and 12s and thought, you know what? Heck with him. Look at him. He's having fun. First one was a 10 for Steven Hudson. And now that one was a 10 for Doug Kyle on the gas bow strings howling wolf. Now we're coming around to Randy Morocco. The bow doodle. That looks like 12. Boy, it sure does. And it is. It is. 12 for Randy Morocco. So that moves him two points closer to Doug. And Kevin Beach, who we saw as you were talking about his nose button. Guess how that helped him line up. Perfect. 14. And he needed that after that 8 to start off with. So that's a good boost back up. Got him back to par. You know, Nathan, we think of 10 as par here. You know, for the known distance class, I would almost say. Anymore. 11. And that's not even a score. You got to shoot at 12s in this class. You just, you have to. At least 12s. For sure. All right. So Tim still has his big lead there. 464. It just got bigger. Doug Kyle, 442. And our final three still locked there at 440s. So my guess is now that I'm seeing what Tim is doing. Wait, hold on. I got to back up. Nobody gets inside Tim's head. You don't want to be there. What I would say he's doing is he's going to make sure that they don't shoot a sixth in the final target. So there's a good look at Tim right there. He's got bars going every different direction. You see that little wind check he's got on the front of his stabilizer. Stay to 10. Yep. Just off that upper 12, which is what he called. Yeah. Tim is such a dynamic, is what I'm going to say. A dynamic individual because he's never still. I'm not even sure he sleeps. You might be right on that. Kevin Beach is going to take a 10 on the Stan Javelina. That's a good shot. Regardless, even if you know the distance, because as you said before, and talking about all the little dots on that thing, it's so hard. I get lost, Nathan. I can see it perfectly in my binoculars. Uh-oh. Oh, the crowd wanted it. But Stephen Hudson takes an eight. The crowd was trying to win over the judges there. They were not swayed. So this is Gillingham's arrow on the wolf. Now, this is our longest target out here. Distance-wise. Yep. 47 yards on the gas bowstrings handling wolf. And he missed it by about an eighth of an inch. Yeah. Tim is definitely, you know, we like to have fun with him. But Tim works at this. Nobody outworks Tim. There are a lot of guys who work hard. Nobody outworks Tim. That's right. He loves this game. And he puts everything into it. That was a 10 for Doug Kyle, I believe. Yep. 10. Now we come to Randy Morocco. Got the 14. These guys are pouncing on that Lynx. The HHA Lynx, they want that 14. That bumps him up to second place also with that 14. Randy's a former shooter of the year in this class. Two or three years ago, he won shooter of the year in this class. He's had some success. Kind of had a softer year this year. But good to see him back in the mix here at the Classic. He's a well-rounded archer. Does well indoor Vegas, indoor nationals, all those tournaments. He's got a great shot. Real smooth. Understands the game really well. The breeze is picking up again just a little bit. I mean, not real bad, but enough that you can feel it. So Doug Kyle really needs, honestly, he really needs a 14 here. Yeah. Everybody else has hit that Lynx. So Tim gave some English. He went for that 14. I think he got it on the sheep. Doug Kyle, nope. He's under ever so low. Yeah. If Tim hit this 14, he's something else. So we should mention, Nathan, if no one is within 10 points of the leader, he wins it outright. There is no sixth arrow. Yeah, that's exactly right. That's what I said earlier. Now that I see what he's doing. Yeah, he wants to just end it. And right now, he's 20 points ahead. 20 points. That's two full targets. He could just sit back and take a break. Yeah. So you guys go ahead. I'm not going to sit this one out. You look at his 12 ring count. That's 23. So that's over half of the targets shot this weekend. He's hit 12s on it. Sounds like Stephen Hudson got a 12. Crowd says it. Here we go. Look at the forefletch. And he got it. 14. 14 for Tim. Wow. That's just awesome. You know, I'm just guessing, but that bow probably weighs 10 and a half pounds that he shoots. I mean, it's just a guess. Yeah, he said it took him a while to figure it out, but he says this thing is pounding. He told me today, he was like, I mean, look at the day and the year he had this year. What he said to me was watch out next year. He feels like he's got it dialed now and all cylinders. So that's something that the crowd at home watching this might not understand. So you get a new bow and everyone just thinks, oh, this new bow. But the thing about a new bow is, as a shooter, you don't know how that bow is going to work for you. So, I mean, obviously Matthews makes wonderful equipment, but the guy, the Indian out there shooting the bow, the guy shooting the bow is the most important part of that bow. Yeah. And you have to make it work for you. And not everyone has a certain technique that might fit a certain style of equipment. So you learn those things as a shooter. You go through stabilization struggles that you're trying to really make the bow aim well for you. Tim is a big, big man. So he needs to have an anchor that fits him just right because his life, oh my gosh, he just pounded that. And so there's a lot to that. There's a lot to it that people don't quite understand. But when you do figure it out, like he's figured it out. Yeah, like all these bows are great bows. Oh, absolutely. But none of them are bad. It's just getting it, as you mentioned, so that you can do what you need to do with it. Yes. And at this level, like if you were just going out to shoot a deer, you could probably make anything work, but this is a little more precise than that. Absolutely. I mean, you're watching 14 rings being shot here at distances out to 50 yards. That's not easy. And somebody just did it over there on 14. Randy Morocco on the schwacker bedded buck, 34 yards. Kevin Beach on the gas bow strings. Wolf, he took a 10. And then Steven Hudson went for this 14. This crowd's going to love it if he got it. I think he's a little bit left. Let's see if the crowd is close. Oh, just outside. Look at the hype. Sorry, crowd. Yep. And now here we go. And Mr. Gillingham, our senior known pro shooter of the year, came in with a huge lead. HHA Lynx hit his third 14. And so, Nathan, that's ballgame. That's it. He is our classic champ. We shoot no more targets. No one is within 10 points. And so, game over. What a round for Tim. Wow. I'll bet he would wish that he could dial that up whenever he wants to when he's behind to be able to shoot three 14s in the finals. That was impressive shooting. Super impressive. It is. Not just on the day, but knowing that you're 16 points ahead, I know that you might think that takes the pressure off. But did it look like it took the pressure off for Tim? He told me he wasn't really satisfied with how he shot this weekend, even though he had that lead. He said, I left a lot out there, which is just crazy to think of. He's going to fish his errors back. Tim, I'm sure we can find you some other errors. I think you know a guy. He's probably tired of fletching arrows. I know I get tired of that. All right. Here he comes over to our headset. He's going to put them on there. Our ASA classic champ. And there is Tim Gillingham coming in with that big lead. And you smashed three 14s in the finals. How does that feel to end the season? I felt really good. One of the first shoot-offs all year, I really felt like I could go in there and just smash them. I've been struggling a little bit all year, and I think I finally got this particular bow figured out quite well. So I'm going to shoot the same bow next weekend and hopefully add an IBO World Championship to it, too. Tim, I saw you were using a handheld release. That's a change for you, because I've noticed all you've pretty much used a wrist strap release. Tell me, why the change? Obviously, we can see what the results are. Well, I mean, not every bow, every system, every setup is going to shoot the same. I've won a lot of money over my career with a handheld release. I've won money with the same release I'm holding. I learned a lot of things over 42 years of shooting. And when something's not working, you've got to change. I mean, you've got to do something different. You've got to analyze why it's going wrong, and then you have to come up with solutions. It's kind of one of my fortes. It's been a rough year, but I mean, it's turned out pretty good. I'm really looking forward to next year. I think it's going to be a banner year with these titles. And everybody gets better and better with them when you get new bows coming out. And I'm looking forward to a little bit of time off, some hunting. Well, Tim, you pulled off the double win this weekend. You're our Classic Champ Shooter of the Year. Congratulations, Tim Gillingham. All right, thank you. Congrats, Tim. All right, folks, don't go anywhere. We will be back here in Cullman, Alabama at the ASA Classic. Our Women's Known Pro is up next.