In Wyoming for the 2015 National High School Finals Rodeo in mid-July, Ethan Usher of Santa Ynez shot 92 out of 100 clay pigeons with a .22 rifle.
That put him in the top 11 for trap shooting in the nation. “I’ve been shooting and hunting my entire life,” Usher explained. “I started shooting trap when I was 9. My dad was an instructor for 4-H. Every time you shoot a clay, it turns into fireworks. It looks like a whole bunch of fireworks are going off.”
Usher described Rock Springs, Wyo., as a big, windy basin. “Trees were bending over sideways,” he said. “There’s a lot of neat rock formations.”
He grew up in Garteville, a small town outside of Carson City, Nev. When he was 13 years old, he moved to the Santa Ynez Valley, where his parents are from. “The weather’s a lot nicer,” he said.
In Santa Ynez, he leads the rodeo lifestyle—shooting, roping, and wearing cowboy boots. “Rodeo is a lifestyle,” he affirmed. “You have to accept that in order to do rodeo. It’s not like any other sport. Rodeo, you commit to it and you’re basically in it for life. Most people are born into rodeo, with their families. You basically take on the Western lifestyle.”
He wears his boots to school every day. “My friends think I’m weird because I wear my boots, jeans, and belt,” he admitted. To live the rodeo lifestyle, according to Usher, you also have to know how to rope—the art of lassoing cattle. Usher and his sister are learning from their dad, and he hopes to compete in those events when summer comes around again.
“Next year, I’m hoping to make it not just in shooting but in roping,” he said.
Shooting, for now, remains his strong suit. At state, he won for target and trap shooting. “It felt really good,” he said. “Being a freshman this year, going up against some seniors and juniors and sophomores and everyone.”
How’d he get so good with a gun?
“You have to think of every shot like it’s its own little deal,” he explained. “You have to think of just that shot. Like it’s the only shot that matters. Your heartbeat matters a lot. There’s [a lot] of up and down with your heartbeat.”
This article appears in Jul 23-30, 2015.