Wisconsin State Titles
20 Gauge (1 times) – 2006
28 Gauge (3 times) – 2003, 2008, 2012
Doubles (2 times) – 2008, 2013
HOA (1 times) – 2010
Zone Titles
20 Gauge – 2000
28 Gauge – 2009, 2010
Before skeet, bowling was his game. At one time Jim bowled seven leagues a week, but a Brown County club member (“Tiny”) talked him into trying a “man’s game.” After one session he was hooked and bought a Remington 1100, but picking up the empties was not to his liking. A Browning 12 gauge served him for two years, but soon he had the urge to get a tube set and bought a Beretta from Faskell’s gun shop. Thus began a great skeet shooting career.
Jim won many events over the past decade not only in Wisconsin but also on the road competing against the best. For example, he broke a 398 at Detroit’s Motor State and repeated this score at the Mini World in 2002 and then added a 546 in the main event. At the World Shoot in 2005 and 2006 he broke hundreds in doubles both years to win back to back AA-1. Shooting with the best must have helped build consistent scores because between 2001 and 2010 he broke 390 or better fifty-eight times in the HOA event. In 2004 he had a string of eleven consecutive shoots at which he broke 390 or better in the HOA event.
Over the years Jim racked up eight Wisconsin and Zone 5 championships including the State 28 Gauge twice and the Zone 28 gauge twice. His registered target total has now passed the 50,000 mark and counting. Jim received Wisconsin All State First Team honors on numerous occasions and was awarded Captain twice. For all his glittering records, Jim has occasionally been bitten by the skeet demons. Recently at the 3-I shoot in Peoria an eye dominance problem developed. He broke an 82 in the twelve gauge event. In desperation he went to a local chiropractor who performed an “adjustment” to his sternum. Of course, this produced no improvement in his shooting. But Jim persevered, made some of his own “adjustments” and is again breaking hundreds and winning gun titles.
Jim’s skeet shooting prowess is apparent from the records, but he also deserves recognition as a major promoter of the sport. For many years he has hosted the Dragon Lady, the premier added money shoot in the state. He also has served as president of the Brown County Sportsmen’s Club and he and Judy have served on the Wisconsin Skeet Shooting Association’s Board of Directors for a number of years.
A good shooter and a good citizen of the sport make Jim Decker a highly deserving member of the WSSA Hall of Fame.
Wisconsin Skeet Shooting Association 