For some, becoming a competitor is a gradual process – participating in a league or club and progressing as one’s skills do. For others, there is a defining moment in which the drive to win and succeed prevails.
At the age of 14, Logan Lucas of Pacific, Missouri attended a memorial range day in honor of his friend, Aaron Hurst. Up to this point, marksmanship had only been a consideration for hunting and general plinking. (Logan’s dad had him shooting rocks off the back deck and joining him in the hunting blind at five years old.)
Logan fired an 11 out of 25 in his first round of trap, boasting to his dad that it was too easy. “I went out the next round and shot a 24 out of 25,” Logan recalled. “My third round was a 25 out of 25, then my fourth round was a 24 out of 25. I was instantly hooked in the shotgun shooting sports.”
He joined Team Henges at St. Louis Skeet and Trap and began practicing and competing regularly. Over the last decade, he has earned approximately 100 medals in a variety of shotgun sports including ATA 16-yard line trap, skeet, sporting clays, and international trap. In 2016, after approximately a year of trap experience, Logan claimed High Overall at the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Midwest Regionals. Two years later he followed this with a Bronze Medal in Men’s Junior Trap at the USA Shooting National Championships, a Bronze Medal in Men’s Junior Trap at USA Shooting’s Spring Selection, and a Silver Medal in Men’s Junior Trap at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Changwon, South Korea.
This international experience was a defining moment in Logan’s shooting career. “I shot the most consistent in my life,” he recalled. “I shot five 24s for a 120/125 to have a shoot off for bib number one. That shoot off went nine targets with me and a guy from Turkey. Once we got into the final, I was bib one.”
In International Shotgun, bib numbers are important as they are used to break ties in early levels of a final. Bib one represents the number one shooter in the final to determine the medalists.
After a high-pressure shootoff for bib number one, Logan concluded the final only a single target behind the gold medalist from Australia. “It was a battle all the way to the end,” Logan said.
“I felt like all the hard work that I put in training for that match had paid off. Spending countless hours on the range to perfect and enhance a craft and to be the best at that certain discipline takes hard work and dedication,” Logan revealed. It was this commitment to excellence that led Logan to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU).
Logan voiced his interest in joining the unit as a junior in high school and joined the Army several years later in 2021. Since that time, Sergeant Lucas has represented his country at home and abroad as an athlete, soldier, and shooting instructor. Some of his most notable accomplishments include a Bronze Medal in Men’s Trap in part one of the 2024 Olympic Trials, Silver in the 2024 U.S. Grand Prix, and top honors in the 2024 Palm Beach Grand Prix. This year Logan earned a Bronze in Men’s Trap at USA Shooting’s 2025 Spring Selection and recently made the Men’s Trap National Team for the third time. He was also an Honor Graduate of the Army’s Basic Leadership Course.
When asked what advice he’d share with up-and-coming competitors, Logan said, “Be a sponge. Soak up as much as you can at a tournament and when you go home and practice you have something you can work on. See who’s shooting, look at how they are standing, and how they move to a target smoothly. See where they hold their gun for their gun hold and eyes. Then you go back to training and see what works best for you and shoot the best score you can.”
To give back to the sport and promote marksmanship among the next generation, Logan is one of several elite shooters coaching the 2025 Junior Olympic Development Camp in Hillsdale, Michigan.
Logan aspires to make the 2028 Olympic Team for International Trap for his shot at a Gold Medal in Los Angeles. While training is paramount, he is still close to his family and roots as a self-proclaimed “hunting fool,” pursuing waterfowl, deer, turkey, pigs, coyotes, and pheasants. Enjoying time outside and with family and friends can serve as a needed respite from the pressure of performing on an international stage. “When the going gets tough and you’re struggling, just know it won’t last forever. A saying I like to use is ‘when in doubt shoot it out.’” In other words, focus on developing a routine you can rely on and execute no matter the circumstances.
