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Dan Bonillas

7315br

Silver $$ Contributor
It's with great sadness we were informed by Dan's wife Karen today that he has passed away. Dan has had some medical problems the last couple years, but it is really shocking to find out he is gone.

He has been a close friend of mine since 1980. Dan and I hunted together for many, many years and I shot on the same squad with him also. He still holds a number of ATA and PITA trapshooting records and was the best adverse weather trapshooter I ever saw. We were shooting on the same squad in a 500 doubles marathon when he broke all 500 targets. I also had the pleasure of shooting with him when he broke the lone 100 straight at Las Vegas and Reno from the 27 yard line when the wind was was extremely bad.

Dan was always a gentleman at any shoot and was really funny to be around. He came to Alaska (when I still lived up there) many times over the years to fish with me and I hunted Quail with him on leases and a Ranch we owned together.

I realize this is not a trapshooting forum, but I do know there are people on this site that shot trap and knew of him. He is in the ATA Hall fame if some are interested in his achievements (there were many). He represented Perazzi shotguns for over 40 years. He was 78years old. He will be sorely missed.

7315br


A few pictures added:

My favorite two guys to shoot with. Bonillas on the left, me in the middle, and Jim Hegarty on the right. 2nd picture early 1980's Pheasant hunt. 3rd picture of one of our Quail hunts ( Dan Orlich was with us on that trip...tall guy on the back row )...I miss him too.
 

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Sad to hear this. Lots of old trap shooters here. I remember watching him in a shoot off for the Western Grand in Reno around 2005. He and the other shooter, I forgot his name, put on a great show for us going 4 more rounds in the shoot off off for the championship. He was definitely one of the greatest trap shooters of all time. May he rest in peace.
 
Sorry to hear about Dan. I was introduced to him at a shoot in Houston around 1978. I was just just a few years into my trapshooting days. John Hall was our local hero and he had Dan and Britt Robinson come in for the shoot. They needed to fill out their squad, and I was given the invite to shoot with them.
RIP, Dan.
 
Very sad to hear.

I was fortunate to shoot a few rounds of trap with Dan when I was living in CA years ago. He was a great guy and had a fantastic sense of humor.

He will be missed and my prayers go out to his family and friends.
 
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