Chris Wegs & the Quivering Clays: Junior Trap League celebrates 25th anniversary

QUINCY — Shots start to fire bright and early on Saturday mornings down at the North Side Boat Club, as kids of all ages gather to compete in the Quincy Quivering Clays Junior Trap League.

December through March, clay targets are launched into the sky over the Mississippi River and shot at by some of the best youth shooters in the nation. The league started in 2001, when Chris Wegs decided to start one with the help of his mom, Nancy. She did the bookkeeping, and he did the coaching. They started with 26 kids.  This year the Quincy Quivering Clays are celebrating their 25^th anniversary with 195 kids enrolled in the program.

The gun shots from the boat club can be heard from where I live. It’s become part of my comforting sounds-of-home soundtrack, along with the fan and the working appliances. As the shotgun bangs echo and roll off the bluff, it has me questioning the why. Why would someone be out in this cold shooting at clay pigeons? Luckily, it’s Quincy and the connectivity of everyone is like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. My friend, Brandon Wegs heard my cry for why and told me his uncle, Chris Wegs, was the one who started the youth league and would set me up with an interview.

I met Chris on a Friday for lunch at State Street Bar and Grill to get the story and a sandwich, because every good story should start with food. He walked in sporting a North Side Boat Club hat and Junior league sweatshirt along with aviator eyeglasses that have a slight yellow tint to them, for shooting. 

His nephew said that he’s worn those same glasses for as long as they can remember. “It’s a lifestyle. He’s always ready.”

 In his hands, Chris carried a trophy from his youth trap shooting days and a small blue Mead notebook with stats from the first year of the Quincy Quivering Clays. He held on to his trophy that he won in 1972 at the age of 10 as he reminisced his childhood at the North Side Boat Club. 

The North Side Boat Club trap league started in 1964. Chris’s father, Don, joined in 1965, often holding the position of president. Chris spent most of his weekends down at the boat club running around and taking part in a junior class they had in the league. 

“I was seven the first time I pulled a trigger.” 

Not being the most gun savvy person, the first question I asked him was how is it safe to shoot toward the bridge? Do a lot of people ask you that? He laughed, and said he doesn’t get that question too often but one time a man came marching into the boat club after riding his bike across Memorial Bridge (back when there were bike paths on each side) and claimed he had particles from the shot hit him. Chris had the man stand at station 5, closest to the bridge with a gun and took his friend, Terry Dedert, up to the bike path much closer to where the man said he had been hit and told the man, “Shoot at me.”

It was a very John Wayne answer to my question, but Chris seems like a very John Wayne kind of guy. A straight shooter.  He said what the guy most likely felt on the bridge was the grain dust from the factory right below and that shotgun pellets don’t travel very far after leaving the gun. They lose most of their momentum after about 50 yards. Chris has been in the firearms business since 1988, working for Williams Shooter Supply and now from home for MGE Wholesale out of South Bend, Indiana. 

When asked why he started the league for kids, he explained that he didn’t play sports, and this was his sport. “I shot trap on Sunday mornings. I got done on Sunday, and all I could think about all week was shooting again on Sunday.”

Chris pulled out a picture of his son, Jordan Wegs and made it clear that he was the biggest reason for starting a new youth trap league. He loved coaching his son’s t-ball team, and once he realized Jordan wasn’t interested in playing sports at the high school level, he wanted him to have something to compete in. He was full of pride when talking about his son’s skills and how it’s something that Jordan will be passing down to his son. 

Chris shared his love of the sport with the women in his life as well.  His wife, Debbie used to shoot and shared many dates with Chris at the North Side Boat Club. His daughters, Katie (Wegs) and Hannah (Campbell) started shooting at ages 10 and 9, respectively. 

 Trap shooting at a young age instills responsibility and gives kids a sense of pride. These were the feelings Chris felt on those Sundays growing up in the boat club. These were the feelings he wanted to pass on to the kids in the community with the Quincy Quivering Clays program.

 Chris’s league has expanded and evolved to take part in different travel teams and tournaments under the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and the Amateur Trap Shooting Association (ATA). The SCTP is the second largest clay program in the country with just under 15,000 participants. It is split into three divisions, rookie which is 5^th grade and younger, junior which serves 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade and then senior which includes 9^th through 12^th grade. Since starting in 2001, the senior level has taken 1st in State multiple times and won 3^rd in the nation in 2006.

He glowed when speaking of the league’s accomplishments, as a good coach should. But another thing Chris really took pride in was the kind of people that make up the trap shooting community. 

“People respect other peoples’ stuff. You can leave a $10,000 shotgun (unloaded) out and no one will touch it.” 

We finished our food and continued to talk more about the six degrees of Quincy and all our connections with each other. Chris invited me to experience a youth trap shoot the next day, bright and early on a Saturday morning.

The next day, the weather was warming up from a cold snap, and everyone down at the North Side Boat Club seemed to be feeling good. I started my day feeling great enjoying one of the best Bloody Mary’s I have ever tasted. The bartender put a lot of effort into it and added her own zang and zing to the drink. I’m not sure if it was the perfect whip of the Worcestershire bottle or if she Salt Bey’d the celery salt into my glass, but it sure was a damn good Bloody Mary.

The vibe was a lot like Chris had described it. There was a strong sense of community and respect. Kids of all ages were running around the club having fun. There were guns being assembled on tables and lined up against the walls. When writing this and putting this into words… I understand now why Chris just invited me to see it for myself.  It had that old-Quincy vibe that you feel a few places in town these days.  A feeling like, despite a hundred guns everyone was perfectly safe.  Like you could let your kid run off without a second thought.  And did I mention the Bloody Mary?

The first rule of this gun club and any gun club is safety. The hunter safety course is encouraged in this league but not required. The Quincy Quivering Clays program will teach you the basics and even provide you with a gun to use, if necessary. 

Jessica Wiegmann was in the corner calling out names for the lineups, keeping records, and getting everyone registered.  

This was the job that Chris’s mom, Nancy worked when the league started. Nancy was a 4’10″ tall and loud woman who always had a PBR in her hand. The records she kept were immaculate, even if I her handwritten cursive “W” made me feel like I couldn’t read. She is greatly missed by her family as they reminisced through a photograph album she put together of the first year. The tiny but mighty, Nancy Wegs created some “big” shoes to fill as the original “gun club mom.”  And Jessica Wiegmann is the perfect fit.

Jessica is the wife of Skylar Wiegmann who is one of the first-year shooters. All their children have been through or are currently involved in youth trap program. Skyler was part of the first team that Chris coached. Wiegmann’s accomplishments included a couple of trips to state and many memories. He said that his greatest accomplishment has been becoming a coach himself in the program that he grew up loving so much. 

During my time at the boat club that morning, I was invited to a couple of “rare to me” opportunities. 

Chris and the Wiegmann’s son, Reid took me down to the trap house located underneath the deck where they line up. Reid was the trap boy for the afternoon which means he was responsible for loading up all the clay birds. Chris explained that Reid’s job was much easier from when he was a kid. The trap boy used to have to load the clays up one at a time. Now there are machines that load by the row and the launcher is operated by a small hand remote that is operated by a volunteer above. The North Side Boat Club is one of the only places in the nation where the clays are shot out from underneath you. The clay birds are shot out into the Mississippi river with high hopes that is it is met with a blast and shattered. Regardless, the birds used are biodegradable and become one with the mud.

The second opportunity for me was when Chris and Skylar gave me the opportunity to shoot one of those clay birds myself. Now the last time I shot a gun was at Practical Tactical with Ashley and Randy on road trip so needless to say, I needed some brushing up and they both were happy to do it. And patient too! Guns still make me nervous as I don’t handle them often. And when I do have one in my hand, I feel like I don’t know my right from my left, but these guys were excellent teachers. Terry (shoot at me) Dedert was there too coaching me on. Now I can say I understand firsthand, truly how lucky some of these youths are to have these guys as instructors and why they have successful shooters placing their way in state titles.

I eventually made my way out to the deck to give it my best shot.

As the sun sets on the Quivering Clays’ 25^th season at the North Side Boat Club, one thing is clear – what started as a father’s wish to coach his son became a legacy that shaped a lot of young local’s lives. For Chris Wegs, it was never just about hitting targets; it was about helping young people find their focus, their passion, and their potential. And as long as there are eager young shooters ready to learn, his impact will continue – one pull at a time.

The Quincy Quivering Clays start their season with a meeting the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. 

This is the weekend between the two deer seasons. “It’s a lifestyle. He’s always ready.” Then they typically start shooting the week after that for 12-14 weeks depending on holidays. After the winter season ends and boating season starts again, Chris moves his youth trap shooters over to the Quincy Gun Club, located in West Quincy. That season is now starting towards the end of May, as trap shooting has now become a school sport, and their season usually lasts until then. Summer season lasts 8-10 weeks. If you are interested in joining the Quincy Quivering Clays, contact them on their Facebook or give Chris Wegs a call at 217-430-2539.