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Betty Johnson

Betty Johnson got involved in ATA trapshooting in 1967 after her husband Jack became interested in the sport. A devoted hunter, he was looking for something to do outside of hunting season. Betty had never owned a shotgun and was “not excited at all” about going out on the trap field. However, she grew to love trapshooting, becoming one of the top lady shooters in the sport at the time.

Betty attended her first Grand American in 1982. She came away from the tournament with the women’s titles in two prelim events. Between 1988 and 1991, she won eight more trophies at the tournament, including the women’s crown in the 1988 Champion of Champions.

She captured nearly 35 trophies while competing at the Midwestern Grand (forerunner to the Southwestern Grand), including 14 women’s titles (six singles, four doubles and four all-around), and she and Jack won husband-wife honors six times.

In Spring Grand competition, Betty captured the ladies’ singles title twice and the doubles once.

Betty won the 1974 Texas state handicap crown over the field with 98. She secured the women’s singles tiara for the first time in 1971 and went on to collect it 17 more times, including a 13-year streak between 1981 and 1993. Her score of 199 in 1986 established a state record that was never repeated in the women’s category and has not been matched since the Lady I and Lady II categories have been in place.

While shooting in a 300-bird singles event in May 1975, Betty ran the last 200 to become the 10th woman to card a double-century in ATA competition. She finished the race with 296 to lead all shooters by 11 birds.

Later, during the 1991 Grand, she posted another 200 in the Singles Class Championship, ending with ladies’ third place.

In July 1977, while shooting at Jackson Hole Trap Club in Jackson Hole, WY, she broke 98 from the 26-yard line and etched her name in the record books as the 12th woman in the ATA to make it to the back fence.

Between 1975 and 1994, Betty earned All-American honors 17 times. In 1978 she and son Dayne both claimed spots, with Dayne being on the junior team.

She never expected to experience the success she did in the sport, and she credits a natural ability and good hand-eye coordination for getting her there, along with practice and consistency. She never went to a tournament to beat anybody else, but just to beat her own past scores, always working to improve.

Betty and Jack, who passed away in 2016, owned a sporting clays store and shooting range, Alpine Shooting Range. They had two sons, Dayne and Darren.

Betty shot her last ATA targets in 1993. Still at the top of her game, that year she had won the Texas state women’s singles title and the ladies’ singles, doubles and all-around championships at the Midwestern Grand.

When asked how trapshooting has shaped her life, Betty said it was the people who made a difference. She described every trapshoot as a family reunion filled with good times, laughs and catching up on each other’s lives.