Johnathon King, 17, has recently returned home after spending five years attending Otago Boy’s High School where clay target shooting was a weekly activity for him.
"Coming back home is nice after being in the city for five years," King said.
In addition to starting a butchery apprenticeship with New World, he is also continuing to focus closely on one of his favourite sports.
"I just want to keep going with my shooting" he said.
He started off the national competition by shooting for the South Island team against the North Island.
He was then able to qualify for New Zealand junior team where he was to compete against the Australian junior team.
King’s achievements were made more notable as he is one Wānaka Gun Club’s only junior members.
As the son of one of the club’s most involved members, Greg King, clay target shooting has been part of his life for a long time.
"I’ve been brought up around guns, so I’ve always enjoyed shooting ... It’s good discipline" he said.
However, he admitted that shooting was not a particularly popular sport within his age group and certainly not in Wānaka.
King said that young people in Wānaka often tend to go for other sports like football, rugby or snow sports.
He also added that there seemed to be a lot of fear and negativity around the idea of guns among young people.
"A lot of people when they hear about shooting, they get scared but it’s safe."
He explained that being able to shoot guns in a contained environment helped educate him about gun safety.
Mr King along with other members of the Wānaka Gun Club were keen to involve the younger generation in an overshadowed and often misrepresented sport.
