Darrel Murray – “The Legend”

I met with Darrel Murray during the 2024 Buckeye Shoot to gather information and talk about his shooting career for this interview.
I’ve found, there’s no need to introduce Darrel to anyone. In fact, when asked where I’m from by fellow shooters, and reply West Virginia, they immediately respond, do you know Darrel Murray? My response is “everybody knows Darrel Murray”.
From the time he began his trapshooting career in 1981, Darrel has been a force in West Virginia Trapshooting history. Some of his accomplishments are: numerous West Virginia Championships, West Virginia Hall of Fame induction in 1994, three time ATA – All American Sr. Veteran in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Darrel’s addiction to hunting (he calls it “meat on the table”) led to his clay target career and he has been formidable at both. Around the mid 70’s he would go to Jack Gandee’s trap range to shoot a few clay targets before hunting season. He also shot a few protectors and buddy shoots but not many.

About 1975, Darrel bought a bird dog from Mel Hotsinpiller. Mel talked him into going with a group to shoot protectors. He only had a Remington 1100, his grouse gun, with which he had been very successful. He wore a belt buckle that his step brother made for him, actually, he made two for different years one buckle had engraved 102 and the other 133. Bill Howdershelt noticed the buckle and commented he was the reason for the decrease in the grouse population in West Virginia. Darrel advised the real reason, a parasite decimated the population. However Darrel was probably the number two reason. “I’ve killed a lot of grouse” he admits. During one hunt with Dowler and his step brother, they killed 16 grouse, 3 rabbits, 2 woodcocks, a grey fox and a grey squirrel in three and a half hours.

Darrel remembered, “One year we were on strike at the plant and we weren’t doing anything a friend of mine advised he had bought a place down on the creek and said it’s got a lot of foxes I’d like to get out and kill some. Darrel told him I wouldn’t mind going; I’ve got a truck, but I ain’t got no money for a gas bill. He then offered to buy the gas and we drove there the week before Christmas, we killed eleven foxes, I think we got about $275 or something like that. I gave the money to Luann and told her “go buy the kids something for Christmas.”
In the 70’s, Darrel hunted a lot, deer, foxes, squirrels, turkeys, groundhogs, crows, grouse, and rabbits.

Darrel was introduced to clay target shooting after a hunting trip. I asked him if he had any help or instruction in trapshooting. He said Darrell Dowler helped him more than anybody, “because he wanted to grouse hunt with me”. I advised Murray, I’d heard Dowler say that helping you cost him a lot of money. Murray said that while Dowler was helping him get started he said “I’m probably gonna regret this”. What advice did he give you? Luann, Darrel’s wife of 50 years, spoke up and said “Watch the target come out of the house, keep your eye on the bird and shoot when you get to it”. Must have made an impression for her to remember for forty years. Darrel laughed and said “Yeah that’s what he started me with.” He always said to hold for the straight away on all stations except on post 3 you hold right of center. Four and Five if you hold for a straight away you’re only gonna get a straight away or a right angle, more severe and the same on post one and two but a straight away or a left angle. He worked with me some on doubles basically don’t hold where the first bird comes out under the gun and you can’t see it. But really back then I was looking under the gun all the time but I can’t do it anymore.. or I just don’t do it anymore my eyes just don’t see ‘em like I use to”
The reason, may have been Darrel has developed cataracts. Recently he had one removed and the other surgery scheduled soon.
I asked Darrel who the top shooters were when he started. He said ”Gary Griffith, Darrell Dowler, John Garrison, Butch Somerville and Richard Paxton”.

Darrel’s first trap gun was a Remington 870 Wingmaster with a plain barrel. He also had a Winchester Model 12 he almost won the West Virginia State Handicap Championship at Moundsville with. Darrel commented, “I was only on the nineteen or twenty yard line and I was only down one in seventy five and missed five on the last trap”

In 1983, Darrel bought a Beretta and shot it until 1996. He then bought his first K80, shot it for about a year, then sold it going back to the Beretta. Darrel advised, “my brother, Richard, said you were shooting that K80 pretty good” I replied, when I bought that K80 I wanted a Seitz. I took the money from selling the K80 and ordered the Seitz.” Darrel received the Seitz in June of 1998, by June of 1999 Darrel had received 31 punches from the 27 and has over 45 punches since 2001 as shown on the ATA Website. It would not be hard to say, Darrel is in triple digits in punches for his career and carrys a 90.85% average on 143,800 Handicap targets. He is currently second in West Virginia on total targets registered with 400,200.

Some of Darrell’s many accomplishments:
Two time West Virginia Singles Champion 1989 and 1990
Sub Veteran Champion in 2014, Veteran Champion in 2018
Three West Virginia Handicap Championships 1989, 1990 and 2024
One WV Doubles Championship 1995
Five West Virginia High All Around Championships
Member of the West Virginia State Team every year since 1987
Inducted in the WVATA HOF Fame in 1994
Three time ATA All American, 2024, 2025 and 2026
Numerous 100 straights in singles with 5- 200 straights, six 99’s from the 27, 2 -100 straights in doubles.

One year Darrel broke 200 at the Grand American Clay Target Championship. He shot off with 64 other shooters for the top Prize. When asked how he fared, he chuckled and said “I went out in the first round. I was on a squad with Frank Little. I thought he was on post 2 when I was on post 4. I never looked around once and got out there. I was doing pretty good; Frank missed two or three and I thought holy mackerel, I missed one and looked over and Frank was on post 3 he was the one smoke balling them in front of me, I don’t know who that guy was on post 2” (There’s a lesson in there if you think about it. ed.)

Darrel broke another 200 at the Ohio State shoot. Frank Little had come out of industry class and broke the 200. Darrel ended up non-resident runner-up.
Shooting at North Lawrence, he broke 200 in the Budweiser Championships. He and Rodney Sheets were tied. Rodney didn’t want to shoot off, Luann’s sister was with them and wanted attend the rodeo. They flipped and Darrel won the flip.
He broke 200 at the Spring Championships in Marshall County one year.
At Marietta Gun Club, he shot 300 singles and 100 handicap on Saturday and 200 singles and a 100 handicap on Sunday and broke 498 in singles and 197 in handicap. Darrel commented that was the best shooting he’d done anywhere.
The Missouri Fall Handicap is where he won the most money. He’d been out there about five times, it was the only place he could go where he end up with more than he started with. Darrel’s biggest single win was about $3,900 with 1250 shooters in the Missouri Fall Handicap. The most he ever won on 25 birds was Jack’s Wild Bird program. I spent 10.00 and won $1100 around Christmas time and then again around Easter won $500.

I asked Darrel what his most prestigious win was, he advised it is between the WV State Championships; Trap & Field Handicap where he came in sixth place at the Grand one year; the 2023 Grand Trapshooting USA Handicap where came in third Senior Vet with a 97 and the Ohio State Singles Championship Runner-up.

Darrel was the WVATA Association President for fifteen years, the Association’s longest serving official. “Yeah, I’ll never forget my first association meeting as President. They started in on what happened 20 or 30 years ago. I got their attention, and will never forget the looks on their faces; , when I said, I don’t even know these people you’re blaming for the problems, I said, they quit shooting before I started. I will tell you right now, this Association is never looking back the only direction we’re looking to is the future.”
Darrel has always been a mediator looking for an amicable solution to a problem. One such occasion was at Marietta Gun Club during a shoot A couple of shooters had tied for a buckle, weather was coming in during the handicap event. One of the competitors was still shooting handicap the other had finished, the shooter was allowed to bank a round for the shoot off before the weather hit. Some shooters called foul and a complaint was filed with a ATA against John Hetzer. John sought Darrel’s advice and he told John to send a registered letter to both parties stating that the shoot-off would be held at the next registered shoot and to “keep a copy of the letter”. During the Grand American, the inquisition was held and the complainants stated their case. John said it was a mistake and provided the letter, the committee’s response to the complainant was, “what else would you have him do?” Hetzer came out the meeting grinning ear to ear and told Darrel “Boy, you saved my butt again” I’ve seen several instances where Darrel has “saved the day”.

Darrel is also an experienced target setter. I use to try to shoot on a squad or two after him knowing that if the targets weren’t correct he’d have them fixed.
Darrel recalled, he went to the NY State Shoot immediately after getting back home from the WV State Shoot. At the time, he had a ’75 motor home with a nonworking air conditioner and drove at night to beat the heat. Once he got there, he said, “I don’t know who set their doubles targets but they were terrible. I told the squad the trap needs reset. The guy came out and I told him that you need to move the field to the right and move the finger back 3 notches. He looked real funny at me and said, I’ll go look at them. He came out of the trap, looked at the birds and didn’t make a comment just left. The next day, I looked at the doubles and they were terrible again. He came, same fellow, out to reset the trap and I told him, “you need to do this to the reset the trap again”. He looked at me funny, went down and reset, looked at the birds and then look at me. He looked at the birds and me again and asked are they ok, I said yeah they’re alright. The third day of the shoot, Spear Proukou said “Darrel I want to take you down and introduce you to a good friend of mine. We walked in and there was the guy that previously had been setting the traps. Spear said I want you to meet Darrel Murray from West Virginia he sets the best double targets in the country” that guy looked and me and said what? Darrel advised I didn’t tell you I didn’t know how to set them, but I set a lot of them. He laughed and said you wouldn’t believe what I get called to the trap what some people want done to them. I said yeah I would I set them all the time. It really shocked the guy that Spear introduced me as the best at setting doubles targets on the hand set traps in the country.

For sure Darrel can set a target, he’s still our WV State shoot and HOF target setter. Darrel was inducted into the West Virginia ATA Hall of Fame in 1994 and has always been a great ambassador of the sport.