Multiple medals for Hedland

Hedland's Deadeye Dicks aimed truly to claim a bag of medals from the Sporting Shooting Association WA's State Championships in Perth earlier this year.

Nesbit Anderson led the way for Hedland's five shooters as he won a bronze in the Perth event's highest level rifle calibre competition.

David Briggs picked up a bronze in the rifle calibre B-grade class, while Ron Wynn climbed a few steps higher on the podium when he won gold in the B-grade pistol calibre class.

Peter Nicholls also mounted to the top step as he won gold in both the A-grade rifle and small-bore categories, while his wife, Di, also competed in the championships.

For Nicholls, the wins are a reward for more than 40 years in the sport.

He first took up shooting as a 16-year-old when his grandfather passed on the family shotgun. Yet unlike the Dirty Harry image in which some people view the sport, Nicholls embraced shooting because he sees the range as a place of peace and calm - although not quite one of solitude when the bang of the big calibre rifles echo out.

"I had a stressful job at the time, and I found that going down to the range and having to calm myself down on the firing line worked beautifully to keep myself sane," he said.

He said one of the best things about the State championships was learning from the other shooters.

"That was great to meet all those shooters and see their techniques - how they calm themselves down on the line," he said.

And after 40 years in the sport, he said there were still plenty of new challenges to master.

"I'm still improving, still learning - I recently changed the sights on my rifle and had to start over with practising with that," he said.

The fact Nicholls is still learning after four decades might sound like a daunting prospect to Wynn, who has only been in the sport for 16 months, but instead he said it excites him.

"I actually thought shooting would be boring," he said.

"But it is a challenge and there are a lot of elements you have to take into account, which make it far more exciting when you do well."