In Remembrance

Dexter Smith

Trap shooting and shooting sports in general lost one of its biggest advocates with the passing of Dexter Smith of Sidney, Nebraska in 2019. Dexter was instrumental in the creation and operation of not one, but two trap clubs in western Nebraska. Dexter served as an officer of the Potter trap club in Potter, Nebraska, and helped run its league shoots for over two decades. He was also a founding and life member of the Sidney Shooting Park in Sidney, Nebraska, and assisted in its operation.

Dexter joined the ATA in 1992 and enjoyed patronizing local clubs in Alliance, Ogallala, Sidney, Cheyenne and Torrington, Wyoming, and Sterling, Colorado. Dexter fired at 7,100 singles, 7,500 handicap and 4,700 doubles targets in his career, breaking ten 100-straights in singles. Dexter attended the Nebraska State Trap Shoot twice, winning class AA 2nd Runner-up in the Singles Championship in 2011 and a yardage group trophy in Friday’s preliminary handicap in 2012.

Dexter had a passion for introducing young people to the shooting sports. He served as a Hunter Education instructor for over 40 years, and when his grandsons were old enough to joint the Sidney Sharpshooters 4-H trap shooting club, he and his wife DewAnn became certified 4-H shotgun instructors so that they could help coach the teams. Each year, Dexter would make sure that new Sidney Sharpshooter 4-H members were well prepared to pass their Hunter Safety test and get their Hunter Safety card so that they could compete at the Cornhusker Trap Shoot in Doniphan, NE.

Like many trap shooters in the Midwest, Fall and Winter meant it was time for deer, pheasant and waterfowl hunting. Dexter enjoyed sharing his hunting knowledge with youth by participating as a mentor in many Pheasants Forever youth mentor hunts.

Dexter was also an accomplished Black Powder Cartridge Rifle (BPCR) shooter. BPCR competitions are long-range rifle shoots with targets ranging from 250 yards to 1,000 yards which are shot with black powder rifles using open iron sights. Dexter started shooting BPCR in 1999, and as usual, his enthusiasm for shooting rubbed off on others, with his wife joining him as a competitor at BPCR meets. At the annual Quigley Match in Forsyth, Montana over Father’s Day weekend in 2017 attended by over 600 shooters, Dexter placed fourth among men, DewAnn placed first among women, and they finished first in the husband-and-wife division.

Dexter’s easy-going manner, patience, and joy for shooting enticed many young people to try trap shooting in western Nebraska.