NHL hockey great Bobby Holik competing

The 18th-annual Buffalo Bill Invitational Shootout, organized by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the Cody Shooting Complex, takes place Aug. 11-13 and features a guest shooter familiar to hockey fans. Robert “Bobby” Holik, a former first-round draft choice of the Hartford Whalers and one of the most productive Czech-born players in the National Hockey League, joins a field of 80 registered shooters from 10 states.

Holik is a member of the CZ-USA Shooting Team and represents the company, a subsidiary of Czech-based firearms manufacturer Ceska Zbrojovka, at shooting events around the country. He also raises money for charity and conservation.

Holik was a member of two Stanley Cup teams for the New Jersey Devils during his career after entering the league as the 10th overall selection in the 1989 entry draft. During his NHL career, he played in 1,314 career games, logging 326 goals and 421 assists.

Holik’s Czech background and familiarity with CZ firearms through his military service prior to his hockey career led to his interest in the company, and he now shoots CZ pistols and rifles as well as a CZ-USA shotgun for sporting clays. The company has donated a Dan Wesson 1991 model revolver for the firearms collection of the historical center’s firearms museum, as well as a CP-07 Duty revolver to the Shootout for auction.

Shootout participants — men, women, and youth — compete for prizes with a total value of approximately $20,000. Prizes, as well as items for a Saturday evening auction, include firearms donated by other major firearms manufacturers, in addition to CZ-USA. Participants will find a Winchester Model 42 donated by Dick Oneslager, a “Tommy Gun” from Auto-Ordnance/Kahr Arms, and an AR-15 rifle from Olympic Arms.

The 350-target shoot includes skeet, wobble skeet, trap, wobble trap, five-stand, and sporting clays. Each discipline is scored one point per target and any gauge shotgun may be used. Shooters win awards in three categories: Top Gun for high overall and ladies’ cumulative score (entry fee $300); Top Disciplinary Shooter for the high score in each of the four disciplines (entry fee for each discipline $100); and Top Team for the five-person squad with the high cumulative score for all disciplines (entry fee $1,500).

Registration begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, with a reception for shooters and their guests from 5-7 p.m. The evening also includes a calcutta with teams to be determined on a random draw basis. Competition begins at 9 a.m., Friday, at the Cody Shooting Complex, located approximately four miles north of Cody, just off Highway 120 on County Road 7WC.

The competition, which continues through Saturday, ends with an evening banquet and auction at the historical center. Spectators are welcome to watch the competition at the Shooting Complex.

Shootout proceeds benefit the historical center’s firearms museum. For more information, contact Jill Gleich at jillo@bbhc.org or 307-578-4025.