The History of KCTA
The KCTA opened at our current Smithville Lake, MO, location after the closure of the old Elliott’s Shooting Park in Raytown in 1986. However, the association’s roots date all the way back to 1887 when the three Elliott brothers—Robert, Jim (JAR), and Dave—opened their shooting park in Kansas City, MO.
Dave soon left to go to work for Winchester, and Jim left to tour the world, becoming one of history’s finest live pigeon shooters. So, the shooting park was left under the guidance of Robert, AKA “Uncle Bob." Under his leadership, the Elliott name quickly became synonymous with target and pigeon shooting not only in Kansas City but nationwide. In 1903, the final live pigeon national championship in history, the Grand American, was hosted at Robert Elliott’s Blue River Park located at 7500 Independence Avenue, Kansas City, MO.
On November 27th, 1921, Russ Elliott (Uncle Bob’s son) and a handful of local shooters organized the KCTA as an official shooting association supported by a board of directors and distinct from the management and ownership of the shooting facility. Soon, Russell assumed total management of the shooting park and, in 1934, moved the Blue River Park to the newly constructed, ultra-modern Elliott’s Shooting Park at 9500 East 75th Street in Raytown, MO. This new park featured a spacious clubhouse with lockers and lunchrooms and, of course, trap, skeet, and live pigeon shooting. Countless shooters came from all over the nation to compete at Elliott’s, where Russ Elliott continued innovating and introducing shooting “firsts.” Elliott’s even hosted trapshooting’s first-ever “car shoot,” the “Mo-Kan” in the 1950s.
The KCTA’s original intent was to promote local trapshooting by administering weekly “club” competitions. Emphasizing 16-yard shooting in classes, the events of handicap, sliding handicap, and doubles were added to strengthen the year-round program and cover all shooting disciplines. In addition to weekly winners, trophies were awarded for annual and bi-monthly champions. With the management and ownership of the shooting park controlled by the Elliotts, KCTA’s concerns were concentrated on the maintenance of annual and weekly shooting records, the determination of trophy winners, and, of course, the menu and site of the annual banquet.
Unfortunately, in 1984, private ownership of Elliott’s Shooting Park ended in foreclosure—seven years after the Elliotts sold the club. After several months in receivership, more than 100 shooters lined up at Elliott’s on November 17th, 1985, to close a trapshooting tradition with a shot at a final “wooden” target. This was an echo of the ceremonious final shot fired at the Blue River Park back in 1934.
With no home base and the looming possibility of losing a nearly 100-year trapshooting tradition, the KCTA board of directors was faced with either giving up or tracking down a new location. After many frustrating months, an exhaustive search throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area ended at Smithville Lake in Clay County. Thanks to donated funds and labor, the first targets were thrown at the new KCTA Public Shooting Park in Smithville Lake in August 1986. These new facilities featured nine trap fields, two skeet fields, and a 4,800-square-foot clubhouse. Trap houses were built “walk-in” style, and the new clubhouse included a snack bar, manager’s residence, workshop, and target storage space.
Located in the middle of the Smithville Lake Park (20 minutes east of KC International Airport and 30 minutes north of downtown Kansas City), the KCTA Public Shooting Park enjoys eastern, western, and southern views of the 7,200-acre lake that is within walking distance of our trap line. Administered by Clay County’s Department of Parks, this lake features more than 175 miles of shoreline abounding in wildlife. Lake fishing game species include crappie, largemouth bass, catfish, muskie, bluegill, and walleye. Additionally, there are more than 7,000 acres of public hunting in the Smithville wildlife management area. Local game includes turkey, deer, ducks, geese, and quail (sometimes visible from the trap line). Other recreational facilities within the park include camping sites, a golf course, swimming beaches, two marinas, picnic areas, sailboat facilities, ball fields, and miles upon miles of one of the nation’s finest networks of paved walking and biking trails.
Beginning in 1995, the KCTA has hosted monthly NSSA-registered skeet tournaments every year. In 1996, the club was honored as the NSSA two-field club of the year, and by 1997, we had become the second-largest registered trapshooting facility in the state. Hundreds of trapshooters from throughout the Midwest compete during more than 30 days of ATA-registered tournaments throughout the year. In addition to these national tournaments, KCTA also hosts several trap leagues throughout the year. Since 1996, we have also hosted the annual Kansas City Corporate Challenge Trapshooting Championships. Held each spring, this event draws over 100 competitors representing businesses throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. Many of these competitors are novice shooters who are new to both the sport and the Smithville Lake area.