Skip to content

Civilian Marksmanship Program

  • Home
  • About
  • Donate
  • Sponsorship
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Calendar
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Auction
  • Competition Tracker
  • E-Store
  • Forum
  • Join Our Email List
  • Live Targets
  • Photos
  • Home
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • NM SUPPORT TEAM – NEW MEMBER FORM
    • RETURNING NM SUPPORT TEAM FORM
    • Privacy Policy
    End of Navigation Section
  • About
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Director Emeritus
    • Director of Civilian Marksmanship
    • Board of Directors
    • Programs Chief
    End of Navigation Section
  • Donate
  • Sponsorship
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Youth
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Air Gun Matches
    • College Resources
    • Aces Postal
    • American Legion Junior 3PAR Tournament
    • JROTC 3PAR Matches
      • National JROTC Air Rifle Championship History
    • Junior Rifle Camps and Clinics
      • Junior Air Rifle Camp Counselors
      • Application to Host a CMP Summer Camp
      • Junior Rifle Camp Counselor Resources
    • Junior Distinguished Badge
    • Postal and Regional 3PAR CMP Matches
      • CMP 3PAR Regional Championships
      • CMP 3PAR State Championships
    • CMP National 3PAR Championship
      • State 3PAR Junior Olympic Championships
      • CMP National 3PAR Championship History
    • National Trophy Junior Team Match
    • 3PAR Shooting information
      • 3PAR FAQs
      • Sanctioning 3PAR Matches
      • National 3PAR Council
      • 3PAR Forms
      • 3PAR National Records
      • National Standard 3PAR Rules
    • CMP Scholarship Program
    • CMP-USMC Highpower Rifle Clinic
    End of Navigation Section
  • Clubs
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Club-Related Forms
    • CMP Affiliate Rifle Purchase Program
    • Club News
    • Become Affiliated with CMP
      • CMP Affiliation Application Form
      • Benefits of Club Affiliation
    • CMP MOU's
    • CMP-Affiliated State Associations
      • M1 Garand Fund Development Program
    • Club-Sanctioned Clinics and Matches
    • Find a CMP-Affiliated Club Near You
    • Form a CMP Marksmanship Club
    End of Navigation Section
  • Compete
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • ACES POSTAL COMPETITION
    • CMP National Records
    • CMP Smallbore Program
      • CMP Smallbore Postal Program
    • CMP Air Rifle and Air Pistol Program
    • CMP League Matches
    • Get Started
    • Matches
      • Air Gun Matches
      • CMP Match Award Donors
      • Talladega Matches
      • Camp Perry Matches
      • Military Matches
      • Rimfire Sporter Rifle Matches
      • All Upcoming Matches
    • Register for a CT Number
    • Distinguished Badge Program
      • Distinguished Marksman Badge
    • Competition Rulebooks
    • Forms
    • CMP Pistol Program
    • CMP Live Target Images
    • CMP Competition Games
    • Marksmanship Forums
    • Junior Highpower Support Program
    • CMP Rifle Program
    End of Navigation Section
  • National Matches
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • CMP Industry Day
    • National Smallbore Matches
    • National Air Gun Matches
    • National Matches Junior Camp
    • National Matches Support Team
    • Long Range Matches
    • Springfield M1A Match
    • National Trophy Pistol Matches
    • Awards & Trophies
      • Vintage Sniper Match
      • CMP Game Events Awards
      • Long Range Awards
      • Individual Pistol Awards
      • National Trophies
      • National Trophy Individual and Aggregate Rifle Awards
      • National Trophy Team Rifle Awards
      • National Trophy Infantry Team Rifle Awards
      • Team and Special Aggregate Pistol Awards
    • National Matches First Shot Ceremony speakers
    • National Matches Air Gun Events
    • National Matches Welcome Center Information
    • National Rimfire Sporter Rifle Match
    • National Matches Spectator Events
    • National Matches Camps, Clinics, and Schools
    • National Trophy Rifle Matches
    • Directions to Camp Perry
    • Area Lodging Info
    • CMP National Championship Matches
    • National CMP Games Events
    • National Matches Archive project
    • Commercial Row Information
    End of Navigation Section
  • Education
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Advanced Maintenance Class
    • Basic Pistol Course
    • Advanced Highpower Clinic
    • GSMM Master Instructor Training and Certification
      • GSM Master Instructor Resources
    • Armorer's Corner
    • Clinics
    • NM COLLECTOR SOFTWARE - CMP EDITION
    • Other Resources
    • Range Officer Training Course
      • Range Officer Training Course: Level II Rifle
      • Range Officer Training Course: Level II Pistol
    • Shooting Tips from the USAMU Service Rifle Team
      • USAMU FAQs: Equipment and Ammunition
      • USAMU FAQs: Shooting Positions
      • USAMU FAQs: Shooting Techniques and Tactics
    • Information on CMP Target Systems
    • Basic Rifle Class
    • Introduction to Shotgun Class
    • JROTC Marksmanship Instructor Course
      • JMIC- Master Instructor Resources
    • State Directors
      • CMP State Director Application
    • Small Arms Firing Schools at the National Matches
    • Rifle and Pistol Marksmanship 101
    • Coaching Resources
      • Air Rifle Target Stand Plans
    End of Navigation Section
  • News & Media
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • National Matches Results Bulletins
    • Instagram Links
    • CMP Podcasts
    • CMP Media Kit
    • ON THE MARK Newsletter
      • An On the Mark Series by: Gary Anderson
    • Customer Comments/Feedback
    • CMP Publications and Training Materials
    • The First Shot
    • CMP Shooting News Archives
      • Join Our Email List
    End of Navigation Section
  • Safety
  • Sales & Services
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Ordering Information
    • Rifle Sales
    • Creedmoor Rifles & Accessories
    • CMP Gift Certificates
    • 1911 Sales Information
    • Videos - M1 Garand
    • CMP Purchase Eligibility Requirements
    • Club Sales Index
    • Custom Gunsmithing
    • Firearm and Parts Sales Links
    • Guns on Auction
    • How CMP Supports Veteran Organizations
    • Visit CMP Stores
    • CMP Target Sales Program
    End of Navigation Section
  • Ranges
    Skip This Navigation Section
    • Air Gun Competition Centers
      • Anniston, Alabama Lodging
      • CMP Monthly Match Program
      • Open Marksmanship
    • CMP Targets at Petrarca Range
      • CMP Petrarca Monthly .22 Bench League
    • CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park
      • Talladega Matches & Events
      • CMP Talladega Pro Shop
      • Talladega Marksmanship Park Shotgun Events
      • Talladega Marksmanship Park Sponsorships
      • 5K Range Run & 1K Fun Run
      • 3D Archery Range
      • Paver Project
      • Talladega Marksmanship Park area lodging info
    End of Navigation Section

Michigan Junior Feature: Anthony Wilder

June 18, 2019

Civilian Marksmanship Program▸The First Shot▸Michigan Junior Feature: Anthony Wilder

By Serena Juchnowski, CMP Feature Writer

Rifle, pistol, shotgun – some themes are universal. What most appeals to Anthony Wilder of Pelkie, Mich., about bullseye pistol shooting is “the challenge, definitely the challenge of it…beating my scores that I have shot in the years past, every year always beating myself.”

Anthony Wilder (left) at the 2018 President’s 100 Match at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Wilder was not the first in his family to discover shooting. Anthony developed an interest in the shooting sports after his brother, Matthew, attended the Youth Shooting Sports Camp put on by the Ottawa Sportsmen’s Club in Pelkie. Anthony eagerly listened to his brother’s daily accounts of what he did in camp. The mentioning of a pistol team really stuck with Anthony, who was too young at the time to take part in the camp.

Fast forward, and Anthony is a dedicated member of a junior bullseye pistol team. The team makes a yearly pilgrimage from Michigan to Ohio to shoot in the Canton-McKinley CMP EIC Pistol Match and to attend the National Matches at Camp Perry.

Team at Camp Perry – from left to right: Coach Bob Gardner; Matthew Wilder, Jack Gockenback, Anthony Wilder, Joel Apger

While there are many competitors who travel far distances for matches, Anthony describes a devotion-inspired change to the travel schedule the team made several years ago.

“I live about 700 miles away…I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan: that upper half, way on the Western side. So, me and my team travel down, we used to do it a day in advance, but now we’ve been able to wake up at three in the morning and go and make it there in one day. It’s usually around first of July, right before the National Matches at Camp Perry. Usually, a lot of us bullseye pistol shooters will go to Canton and compete, then immediately head over to Camp Perry.”

The Canton-McKinley match is especially important to Wilder as it was there in 2018 he earned a bronze pin that he considers his greatest shooting accomplishment. “Last year I won a bronze at the Canton-McKinley EIC CMP Pistol Match, .22 pistol match, and I wear that on my hat every time I go to a match or an event for the pistol team. I always wear it.”

Anthony Wilder at Ottawa Sportsmen’s Club; Pelkie, MI

While he always wears the pin, Wilder does not always shoot the same pistol. When competing in junior events and the National CMP .22 Rimfire Pistol EIC match, he uses a Ruger Mark III .22/45. For service pistol events, he competes with a Springfield Armory Range Officer chambered in .45 ACP.

Even though EIC matches, or Excellence-in-Competition matches, are common events for his team, Anthony’s sights are not currently set on the Distinguished Badge, but rather on improving for himself and doing the best that he can.

“Right now, I’m not looking for EIC points but probably in the future I might, towards my last few years of a junior I probably will,” he said.

Headed into his senior year of high school, Anthony Wilder is certain that bullseye pistol shooting will always be a part of his life.

“I will definitely stick around, even after I age out on the junior team, I will stick around to help my coach with training new shooters and stuff like that. I’m setting my goal that by my last year as a junior to at least come second place in the CMP Junior President’s 100, that would probably be the match I really want to win, or at least come close to winning.”

Besides the prestige of the match, Camp Perry is a special place. Wilder attributes this to his fellow competitors and teammates.

“I would say it’s the people that I shoot alongside with. To me, they are some of the nicest people I have ever met and probably ever will meet.”

Anthony describes the pistol team dynamic as “different” than those of traditional athletic teams. Wilder admires the practicality of marksmanship and the fact that members of the armed forces put the very techniques he is learning into practice. Wilder places a great emphasis on consistency as what he has learned about it on the range has carried into his everyday life.

He offers the following to new shooters, saying, “When you take a bad shot, don’t worry about it, forget that shot and focus on the next one.” For Wilder, competitive shooting is more about personal growth and achievement than about titles and winning.

So, what is Anthony Wilder looking for? He is considering joining the Marine Corps but for now is just hoping to shoot better each day than he did the time before. He also builds on the friendships he makes on the range, sharing a passion for metal detecting with his coach, Bob Gardner.

Despite what one might say is an irresistible temptation, the metal detector stays at home on range days.

“I can usually spot [spent brass] on the ground, otherwise the machine would just go nuts,” he added.

Join Anthony on the Firing Line at Camp Perry this year! For National Match information, schedule and registration, visit https://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-national-matches/.

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share4
4 Shares

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Auction
  • Competition Tracker
  • E-Store
  • Forum
  • Join Our Email List
  • Live Targets
  • Photos

Civilian Marksmanship Program

The mission of the Civilian Marksmanship Program is to promote firearm safety and marksmanship training with an emphasis on youth. Our vision is that every youth in America has the opportunity to participate in firearm safety and marksmanship programs.

If you need assistance accessing any of our content or would like it in an alternative format you can contact us via our contact form, click here.

  • Calendar
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Donate
  • Sponsorship
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Youth
  • Clubs
  • Compete
  • National Matches
  • Education
  • News & Media
  • Safety
  • Sales & Services
  • Ranges
  • Privacy Policy

©2022 Civilian Marksmanship Program. All rights reserved.
Site by West Edge Collective.