Support for Olympian and Hunter Corey Cogdell

USA Shooting Olympic Trap Shooter Corey Cogdell has been the subject of anti-hunting attacks, including threats, during this first week of the Olympics over images from an African hunt that she posted to a social media account.  I first learned of this while browsing the VSSA Twitter account on my commute home on Wednesday, with various groups or individuals that VSSA follows on the social media site voicing support for Miss Cogdell.  On Tuesday, Bitter at the blog Shall Not Be Questioned, shared one report that noted the threats have gotten so bad that Cogdell had to take down her Facebook fan page.  The attacks have been particularly vicious on Twitter.

It is nothing new that the anti-hunting, anti-rights, crowd target their subjects with personal attacks.  Attacking someone who has spent a good portion of her life training to represent her country on the world stage makes their attacks even worse.  The shooting sports community is rallying around Corey.  The latest to come to her defense is the President of Safari Club International:

"As President of Safari Club International (SCI) I would like to express SCI's support for Olympic Trap Shooter and SCI Member, Corey Cogdell, who will represent the U.S. Shooting team tomorrow in London. While the anti-hunting community has recently scrutinized, and even threatened, Ms. Cogdell over images from an African hunt that she posted to a social media account, the images are a true depiction of how she continues to represent hunters across the globe, promoting species conservation in local communities, such as Africa. Ms. Cogdell is a positive role model for all American hunters and, again, SCI wishes her all the best in bringing home an Olympic medal."

VSSA shares SCI's opinion of Corey Cogdell and we wish her the best of luck as she competes along with Kim Rhode tomorrow in the Women's Trap Competition.  You will be able to watch the Trap Finals live at 9:55 AM EDT on the Internet. We hope to see both Kim Rhode and Corey Cogdell make the Finals.

Hat tip to the Shooting Wire.

Another Historic Day for U.S. Skeet Shooters

Earlier today, Vincent Hancock made Olympic history by becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back gold medals in skeet.  He also set an Olympic record by hitting 148 out of 150 targets, making a perfect run through the finals, and becomes only the 10th shooter to repeat gold.  Hancock is a Sergeant in the U.S. Army and a member of the Army Marksmenship Unit.  Congratulations to Sgt. Hancock on some fine shooting and for taking home the gold.

You can watch the finals and the Medal Ceremony here.