Sean Hawley

For Sean Hawley, shooting consistently well over time is a higher goal than wins. At age 45, he’s already had a successful career—having fired at his first targets at the age of 10 and registering his first birds when he was 11—and his focus is on continuing that for many years to come.

Sean holds the doubles average record of .9967, missing just six of 1,800 targets in the 2003 season. He has been the men’s doubles average leader six times between 1992 and 2007. During the 2008 target year, he set the doubles long run record of 1,130. According to T&F records, he’s carded 196 career twin-bird perfect centuries.

Sean was ATA singles average leader in 2002. He’s had a handicap average of at least 95% 18 times, with four of those above 96%. Hawley has broken 32 100s in handicap, 31 of them from the 27-yard line. He completed his ATA Grand Slam in 1992 and achieved his Grand American Grand Slam in 2009.

Hawley has been on the All-American team 19 times, starting in 1984 when he was sub-junior captain. He earned spots on the junior team three times (captain once) and has been on the men’s team 15 times. He has 20 Trap & Field All-Around Average Awards to his credit, including one sub-junior and two junior.

Sean attended his first Grand American in 1983 at the age of 14, and he won the sub-junior Doubles, All-Around and HOA titles. The next year he earned the junior Clay Target crown, and in 1985 he claimed the junior Champion of Champions title. Since entering men’s ranks he has captured more than 60 Grand trophies, including top ones in the Grand Week Thursday handicap, 2600 HOA and both prelim HOAs last year. Among his many trophies at Satellite Grands are six Autumn Grand championships; three Southern; three Southwestern; eight Spring, including four age-group; and three Western.

Sean says his involvement and success in the sport would not have been possible without the unconditional support he’s received from two women—mom Charline and wife Stacy. As a single mom, Charline sacrificed and did everything she could to make sure Sean could shoot. Since being married, he says Stacy has been 100% supportive of his trapshooting. Shortly before his mom passed away in 2005, Sean was taking part in the California State Shoot and traveling between the club and the hospital. He decided that he wasn’t going to finish the tournament because he wanted to be at Charline’s side. She insisted that he keep shooting and told him to go win the doubles championship. He broke 100 and captured the title after seven extra rounds. He went on to win the all-around and HOA as well.

His career California ATA championships include six more all-arounds, two more doubles, two handicap, one singles and two category singles. He has seven ATA Western Zone titles: one singles, one handicap, four doubles and one all-around.

In January 2007 Sean moved to Utah to manage Vernal Gun Club. In 2013 he was Utah’s all-around champion.