Rollins shooter wins world championship in difficult shotgun sport

Michael Taylor likes a good challenge.

One of only 37 members of the National Sporting Clays Association Hall of Fame, the successful businessman, former state senator, rancher and father returned to his home in Rollins after winning the 2018 FITASC world championship in search of a new shotgun sport. His new endeavor would be helice.

Now, just three years later, he already has a world championship in his new sport.

Described by some as skeet shooting on steroids, helice challenges even the best shotgun shooters. Also known as electrocibles or more often, ZZ bird shooting, helice originated in Belgium during the 1960s as an alternative to the banned sport of live pigeon shooting.

From the outside, helice seems easy enough. The target or helice consists of two orange winged plastic propellers. In the middle is a softball-size white “witness cap” attached to the center that looks similar to a clay target. The object is to stand 26 meters away and shoot the helice so that the witness cap separates from the rest of the target and comes to rest inside a 46-meter ring ahead of the shooter.

Sounds simple, right?

The challenge comes in the fact that the targets are rotated at several thousand feet per second and then launched at as much as 45 mph from one of five traps in one of more than 1,200 possible angles. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the rotation of the targets and any wind means the target will erratically change direction at a moment’s notice, simulating the flight of a bird.

“Helice is probably the most difficult of the shotgun sports, in my opinion,” Taylor said. “Bunker trap is very difficult as well, but helice takes it to a whole new level.”

Once the helice passes outside of the ring, competitors can no longer shoot it and it is scored as a lost target. Any witness caps that land outside of the ring are also counted as lost targets. At the speed the targets travel, shooters have less than two seconds to take two shots in the hopes of making a hit. Over/under or side-by-side shotguns used as semi-auto guns simply do not cycle fast enough for this game.

“You have a very short time window to make the shot, which makes it harder as you get older, as your reflexes slow down. Wind also plays a factor, so it’s a sport where you can do really well one day and not so well the next,” Taylor explained.

“In sporting clays, if you chip off part of the clay, that counts as a hit. Helice is not like that. You have to knock that center piece out, or it doesn’t count. It has to be a solid hit, so we are forced to use a very tight choke on our shotguns.”

ONCE TAYLOR decided to take up his new sport, he set to work by purchasing a helice launcher and practicing at his winter home in Arizona. It wasn’t long before he felt confident in his skills.

“It’s just like anything else. It’s all about repetition. You cannot aim, it’s all about your reflexes and hitting where you are looking. It has to become second nature. The minute you begin to plan or to aim, that’s when you are going to miss. It takes good eyes and trust in your skills,” he said. “The first year, I thought I had gotten pretty good and I really had it down. As usual, that’s when things go downhill and you learn what you need to work on.”

Having traveled to more than 20 countries for competition over the years, Taylor had his sights set on the 31st Helice World Championships in Cairo, Egypt, in October 2021.

After four final days of practice in Arizona, Taylor made the trip to Cairo, where his hard work would pay off.

Over the course of five day Taylor earned three more trophies to add to the collection that dominates his guest house in Montana as well as his winter home in Arizona, including first place in the Masters Division, second in the Baretta World Cup Masters Division and third in the African Grand Prix Master Division.

“At this rate, we are going to have to move out because soon his trophies are going to take up all of our room,” Michael’s wife, Jana Taylor said.

With back surgery looming just a day away, Michael Taylor said Monday he is not sure what his future will hold. Whatever he decides to do, as always, he will do it to the best of his ability.

“I would like to do some more fishing and hunting as well as traveling,” he said. “Perhaps I will do some teaching to help the younger generation of shooters and pass along my knowledge.”

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 406-758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.