Caleb Richardson likes to pull the trigger. Literally.
And he typically hits his target.
Today Richardson pulled the trigger, figuratively, on what college he will shoot clay targets for beginning next fall.
Hitting the target for Richardson’s services is the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville.
Richardson has been shooting shotguns for a long time. He started as a 4H shooter and then progressed to trap shooting for Booneville, both in junior and senior high.
“My stepdad (Barry Bradford) got me into it. He got me into the 4H (program) and it just kind of stuck,” said Richardson. “It started with trap and then skeet, sporting clays, and we’re going into bunker.”
He also shoots both American and International versions of trap and skeet.
The ability to shoot multiple disciplines was what attracted Richardson to U of O.
“They shoot everything,” said Richardson. “Some schools for recruiting stuff, sometimes they only want you to shoot one thing and specializing in it, but if you can shoot all of it you get better because you can pull aspects from the other ones.”
Another factor, Richardson said, is U of O is located in an adjacent county.
“It’s not that far. That, and I’ve been able to talk with all the coaches and my future teammates. I know everyone (already),” said Richardson.
A fixture on the top squad on his team, he shot a perfect 50 for 50 in last year’s regional competition – just the second Bearcat to do so – in Jacksonville to help his squad earn a state tournament berth and position himself in the Champion of Champions shoot.
Richardson is very active outside his time with the Bearcat team, shooting in competitions in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, with a trip planned to Kansas for a shoot this summer.
Before that will be the 2026 season which will begin soon with weekly practice shoots, which Richardson will supplement with his own practices.
“I don’t know how many rounds I have,” he said.
Part of that is because he started shooting with the junior high squad as a 5th grade student, though he could not compete with them – 5th graders are now part of the junior high team.
“We called him our mascot,” said former coach Thresa Brown, who made the introductions during the signing ceremony and spoke about Richardson’s accomplishments. “He would stay after everybody was done and he would get to practice.
“Around 7th or 8th grade he started really getting interested in shooting. He’s probably shooting every weekend somewhere and that’s what you have to do get good.”
Richardson was a part of a state championship skeet team for the Bearcats and won his division in sporting clays for another state championship.
Richardson has actually lost count of how many 50-for-50 rounds he has recorded, but at some competitions he will shoot 100 targets. He has yet to hit them all, but has dropped 99.
“For the school it’s usually just 50 but a lot of tournaments it is increments of 100. I haven’t shot a perfect 100. I’ve shot a 99 twice. The last one I missed third box, fourth station, third bird,” said Richardson. “It was a straightaway. I shot over the top of it.”
Richardson is following a couple former Booneville shooters who have made their way to U of O. Those are current coach Grace Sebo and Jacob Tucker, who were both national champions for the Eagles.
Brown, was especially excited for Richardson to be at the U of O as the head coach is her husband and former Booneville coach, Lance, Sebo is her daughter and is a U of O graduate, as Brown is herself.
Besides trap, Richardson played football for the Bearcats where he was an All Conference offensive tackle. He is also in Beta, FBLA, FCA, and FFA.
Richardson is the son of Deanna Bradford and Joe Richardson. He is the oldest of four siblings.
His daily schedule includes HVAC, civics, AI coding, (English) Comp 2, an online college class.
