Barney Hartman

Bernard "Barney" Conrad Hartman (2 November 1916 – 30 October 2016) was a world champion skeet shooter,[1] National Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame Inductee,[2] Canadian Sports Hall of Famer,[3] and recipient of the Order of Canada.[4] Hartman is the author of Hartman on Skeet, a 1967 instructional book published by McLellan and Stewart referred to as "the definitive book on skeet."[5]

Life and career

Bernard "Barney" Conrad Hartman was born in Swan River, Manitoba on 2 November 1916. Growing up on farms, he learned to hunt to help feed his family during the Great Depression.

In 1938, only one year before Canada entered World War II,[6] Hartman joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as an aero-engine mechanic. Without a university degree, his desire to fly Spitfires could not be realized until two years later when Canada lifted education restrictions for pilots, to help with the war effort. Hartman scored so highly on his flight tests that he was made an instructor for the RCAF for the war's duration in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Hartman stayed in the RCAF until mandatory retirement 25 years later, flying Search and Rescue flights out of Goose Bay, Labrador.

Hartman began skeet shooting while stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador, winning his first competition in 1949.[7] Between 1957 and 1962, Hartman captured seven consecutive amateur Canadian Skeet Shooting Championships[7][8][9][10][11][12] and placed first or second in a number of categories in the NSSA World Skeet Shooting Championships.[13][14] Hartman won the bronze medal at the 1959 Pan Am Games and again at the 1963 Pan Am Games. In 1963 Harman captured both the Canadian and World Championships.[15][16][17] Hartman was named captain of the all-American National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) ten times in the sixteen years that he was a member.[3] He has held or tied almost 30 world titles in 12, 20, 28, .410 gauge and all-around categories.[1]

Hartman's consistent performance in the world of skeet shooting earned him the nickname The Shooting Machine [18] and Mechanical Man.[19] In 1963, he was known to have smashed 2002 consecutive birds.[20][21] Hartman was inducted into eight sports halls of fame including: the American Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame;[2][22] Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame;[23] Canadian Sports Hall of Fame;[3][21] Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame;[24] Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame[7][25] and the Recreation Association's (R.A. Centre) Hall of Fame Sports Award.[25]

In 1960, Hartman was featured in the O'Keefe Great Achievements in Sports series.

He died in 2016, just 2 days shy of his 100th birthday.[26]

References
  1. Ferguson, Bob (4 March 2008). "Barney Hartman". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  2. "NSSA Hall of Fame Inductees". National Skeet Shooting Association. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  3. "Hall of Famer BARNEY HARTMAN". Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  4. "Mr. Bernard Conrad Hartman, C.M. – Order of Canada". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  5. Gresham, Morris. "1 on 1." Skeet Shooting Review. National Skeet Shooting Association. October 2006. Page 46. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. "Canada's Role in WWII". Mount Allison University. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. "Barney Hartman". Honoured Members Database. Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  8. "Hartman Takes All Top Events Of Skeet Shoot." The Globe and Mail. 31 March 1958. Page 4.
  9. Ottawa Man Wins Skeet Crown." The Globe and Mail. 10 August 1959. Page 9
  10. Barney Hartman Skeet Champion." The Globe and Mail. 1 May 1961. Page 19.
  11. "Hartman of Ottawa Best Skeet Shooter." The Globe and Mail. 3 April 1962. Page 27
  12. "Champ of Champions Skeet Shooting Title Captured by Hartman." The Globe and Mail. 31 July 1962. Page 27.
  13. "Bob Schuley, 13, Captures Skeet Title." The Washington Post and Times Herald. 9 August 1959. Page C3.
  14. Skeet Title to Rogers." The New York Times. 5 August 1960. Page 21.
  15. "Hartman Wins Over-All Title In Skeet Shoot." The Globe and Mail. 6 May 1963. Page 19.
  16. "Victory Won By Hartman In Shootoff." The Globe and Mail. 13 May 1963. Page 35.
  17. "Hartman Wins Skeet Laurels." The Globe and Mail. 12 August 1963. Page 18.
  18. Dawson, Alan. "Barney Hartman The Shooting Machine." The Globe and Mail. 11 March 1967.
  19. Dawson, Alan. "Hartman on skeet." The Globe and Mail. 4 November 1967. Page 42.
  20. "Skeet Ace Smashes 2,002 Birds in Row." The Globe and Mail. 29 October 1963. Page 32
  21. Labow, Jeffrey. "Years in Goose Bay put shooter on target." The Globe and Mail. 23 August 1980. Page S4.
  22. Hughes, Graham. "Skeet shooter took aim at world titles: 'Hard-core obsession' drives 82-year-old." The Ottawa Citizen. 14 January 1999.
  23. "CAF Sports Hall of Fame". Canadian Armed Forces Sports. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  24. "Bernard 'Barney' Conrad Hartman". Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  25. Cleary, Martin. "Hartman now a hall of Famer, times eight." The Ottawa Citizen. 11 May 2013.
  26. Egan, Kelly (3 November 2016). "Egan: Two days shy of 100, the 'Wayne Gretzky of skeet shooting' grazes final bull's-eye". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
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