Steve Atkins would be the first to admit he had a rotten time behind the iron sights leading up to the 2024 National Trap Championships.
That's why the Tongala crack shot’s swag of accolades is all the more impressive.
“I’m now 61 and I was shooting the worst I’ve shot since I was about 15,” Atkins said.
“I’d really been in a slump. I hadn’t been shooting well at all and I just thought I’d have to have a bit of a crack here.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised (at the results) because I’ve won a lot of the things there over the journey, but at my age it only gets harder.
“I’m about 20 years past my best, so that doesn’t help.”
All that apprehension was tossed aside when Atkins took his mark.
He returned from the championships, which ran from March 12 to 17 in Wagga, with a fourth place in the National High Gun category, considered the top prize at the target event.
Atkins also came third in the Champion of Champions event and was awarded the Double Rise Long Break for 2023, recognising the highest-scoring shot for the year in Double Rise, which was 87 straight.
Add all the above to his team's success with the Echuca outfit, which landed the Allan Brown Club Teams Match Trophy, and it was far from a stray showing by the Tongala native.
But while Atkins is 20 years past his best, according to himself, another shooter from the wider Goulburn Valley region was trigger-happy in the best sense.
Yarrawonga’s James Willett topped the podium in the National High Gun, making it the latest achievement in a glittered career for the Olympic representative.
Willett and Atkins were named in the Australian Mackintosh team and the All-Australian team, acknowledging the top 10 shooters at the championships.
However, the pair will have vastly different trajectories from now on.
“He (Willett) will prepare himself now to try and get in the Olympics and me, I’ll just keep plodding along,” Atkins said.
“He’s absolutely world-class; a couple of years ago, he was ranked number one in the world.
“I’m not sure what he is now, but he would definitely be in the top four or five I would think. If he gets a gig for Paris, he’s a big chance.”