By David Stahler Jr. ’90

The first thing that catches your attention is the sound—a sporadic series of loud pops echoing against the hill that serves as the backdrop to the Northeast Kingdom Skeet Club, a tidy facility nestled in Burke Hollow. It’s a warmish, sunny day in early May and a group of Lyndon Institute students have gathered with three coaches to learn firearms safety, develop good technique, and just have fun blasting small fluorescent orange clay disks to smithereens.

Founded eight years ago by then-LI trustees David Stahler Sr.’65 and Paul Brouha and first coached by Stahler, Brouha, and LI teachers Christopher Raymond and Dan Camber ‘90, the LI Shooting Club gives students a chance to challenge themselves while learning firearms safety. Raymond has since retired, but the club now includes coaches Zachary Willson ‘17, Nigel Waring ‘17, Bob Sattelburger, Bud Santo, and Gianna Santo. 

Stahler started the club with fellow trustee Brouha back in 2015. “We wanted to give young people an opportunity to take up the sport and thought creating a club at LI might encourage them to get engaged in something that can become a life-long hobby.”  

“I enjoy the challenge of the sport,” Stahler said. “It’s a game of concentration, but it’s also one of relaxation.” Focusing on the flying orange discs becomes its own form of meditation according to Stahler. “It’s also a very social sport,” he added, one that gives fellow students, family members, and friends an opportunity to spend quality time together in an environment that is as supportive as it is competitive. 

Financially, the club is self-sustaining. Though students are charged a nominal membership fee (with scholarships available if needed) and the Northeast Kingdom Skeet Club donates the use of the facility and the clay pigeons, the bulk of the cost—from transportation to boxes and boxes of shells to hearing and eye protection to the firearms themselves—is paid for through an endowed grant.

“When the club was formed in 2015, Paul [Brouha], Chris [Raymond], Dan [Camber], and myself held raffles and solicited donations from local businesses,” Stahler said. “The money was placed in an account managed by the Midway USA Foundation, an organization that sponsors youth shooting sports around the country. They matched our contribution on a two to one basis to establish a lifetime endowment account. Each year, we receive a grant that covers all our club costs so there is no cost to Lyndon Institute.”

While the club is based at LI, its formal name—NEK Clay Shooters—reflects the fact that it is open to high school students from around the region, whether they attend LI or not. “Anyone of high school age can join,” Stahler said, noting they’ve had members from St. J Academy and Danville High School participate over the years.

While fun is the name of the game, safety is the number one priority on the range.

“Everything is about safety,” current club advisor and shooting coach Dan Camber—who also teaches Auto Tech in the CTE department at LI—emphasized. All coaches—including Camber, Stahler, and Brouha—have gone through extensive training to receive NRA certification and student members receive regular safety instruction.

“We discuss it every time we shoot—in the classroom on campus, on the bus ride up to the skeet club, during the shoot. We’re constantly reviewing protocols, with muzzle control the number one priority.”

Control is key. When a student positions themselves at a station to shoot, a coach is standing right beside them, ready to not only offer guidance and instruction but to also maintain physical control of the shotgun if needed. Coaches control the ammunition, as well, dispensing shells one or two at a time. Students are provided with and required to wear both ear and eye protection at all times.

“Shooting sports actually have the best safety record of any high school sport in America,” Camber said.

Students pay a $25 fee to join the club, which covers everything from transportation to supplies to the use of the club’s facilities, including a chance to try their hand at every variant the club offers, from traditional skeet to trap to sporting clays to five-stand. 

“What I love most about it is the educational aspect,” Camber said. “Some students come to us having shot before, sometimes with bad habits that we work hard to eliminate. Some have never even touched a firearm let alone shot one.”

Camber particularly enjoys working with LI’s residential dorm students, many of whom come from countries where firearm access is restricted or forbidden altogether. 

“It’s a remarkably inclusive sport. Students of different ages, as well as both boys and girls, can compete on even ground. It doesn’t require particular levels of strength or agility—anyone can do it, and anyone can get good at it with a little practice.”

Camber said it usually takes three to four sessions to get proficient, though it can take a lot longer to excel. 

Camber’s students agree. But watching the kids shoot, it’s impressive how many clays they take down. Every blasted target brings a cry of joy—not just from the shooter but from his or her peers and coaches, as well.

For Mack Pierce ‘23, it’s a chance to get better at something he loves. “I’ve been shooting since I was a kid, but I’m still learning.” Pierce first heard about the club when he was in 8th grade after his older sister joined. 

I asked him what he liked best about it. “I’m mostly glad we can come out and get experience with safety and learn how guns work.” He said that shooting with the club is even better than doing it on his own. “You make more memories this way. You only have a short amount of time in high school to do something like this.”

Jason Vance ‘25 started shooting last year and is excited about how far he’s advanced. “I really like it. It’s challenging.” Asked if he feels safe doing it, he nodded. “Once you know the rules, it’s one of the safest things you can do.”

Bella Simonds ‘26 isn’t a stranger to firearms. “I shoot at my house. My mom says I’m a good shot.” But shooting skeet is new to her. “It’s fun being able to learn new things and seeing how you match up against other people.” I asked her how it felt being a girl in the club. “It’s fine. I was raised on it. I don’t believe in those stereotypes. People should get into things that give them joy—that’s all that matters.”

The club currently has a dozen students registered, though not all come every week. But with Camber, Stahler, and Brouha there to supervise and coach, and the other coaches available as needed, the club can accommodate numerous small groups at the facility.

The opportunity for a high school student to engage in a sport like this is rare.

“Only one other high school—Lamoille, I believe—has a club like this in Vermont,” said Camber. “And only one post-secondary school—UVM—has a club in Vermont. A big contrast to other places in the country. Wisconsin, for example, has 40,000 members who belong to shooting clubs affiliated with the SCTP [Scholastic Clay Target Program].”

Moving forward, the club hopes to continue to gain members and broaden the range of students interested in the sport. In the meantime, Stahler, Brouha, and Camber will continue to help teen shooters sharpen their skills and develop comfort with firearms in the safe environment of the Northeast Kingdom Skeet Club.