Freshman Sophia Bultema aims down range. Courtesy | Sophia Bultema
Freshman Sophia Bultema became a pioneer for United States Paralympic Trap shooting after being the youngest person to make it to the finals during the summer 2022 France World Cup and ultimately placing fourth in the finals.
In addition to shooting for the Hillsdale shotgun team, Bultema shoots for the USA Shooting Paralympic team and for the bunker Scholastic Clay Target Program team in Ohio. In the last two years, she has shot in four world cups including two in Italy, one in France, and one in Dubai. Bultema is also sponsored by Krieghoff firearms and Winchester Ammunition.
“These gun companies and ammo manufacturers have realized she’s doing really well in Para Trap, with her accomplishments overseas and with her having paved the way in Para Trap here in the United States,” assistant Hillsdale shotgun coach Caitlin Connor-Royer said. “They see that she has a really bright future ahead of her, and they want to help her out. She’s a pioneer for sure.”
Bultema’s family members are hunters, so she grew up visiting her family property in the mountains of Colorado to shoot. At 12 years old, Bultema shot a gun for the first time — a purple .22 rifle that her grandpa gave her for Christmas. At 14 years old, she shot at flying targets on a range for the first time in the form of American Trap.
Bultema said it was difficult at first, but once she practiced more it became boring.
“A little clay comes out from a little house 16 yards in front of you and I was like, ‘Wow, that is so fast. I can barely see it. How am I supposed to shoot that?’” Bultema said. “Then after a couple of years, it’s like watching paint dry.”
Bultema competed on the St. Mary’s High School shotgun team, specializing in the American disciplines such as skeet, trap, and sporting clays. Nevertheless, Bultema could not find a gun that fit her comfortably because she has an upper limb difference, so it took a few years for her to fully appreciate and not be scared of shooting.
In 2017, two members of the USA shooting team, Dale Royer and Connor-Royer, approached Bultema about joining the USA shooting international committee’s Paralympic trap team. At the time, the Royers said they were helping coach Bultema’s high school team and were managing the Pikes Peak Gun Club in Colorado Springs. Bultema agreed to join the team and the couple got to work training her for the next two years. Royer said he taught Bultema the technical side of shooting, introducing her to trap. Connor-Royer said she lent Bultema her Krieghoff shotgun to see how it fit her, hoping to end her struggle to find a properly fitting gun.
“When I shot her gun it was really light, it fit me really well, and it didn’t hurt me whenever I shot it,” Bultema said. “So I was able to overcome my fear of the gun itself, which is not something you want when you’re shooting.”
In 2021, Bultema traveled to Italy for the Italian Paralympic Trap Nationals where she shot trap. The Royers said they accompanied Bultema to help her understand what takes place at the bigger competitions. It was in Italy that Bultema said she realized just how elevated the level she was shooting at was and how much higher the skill level was than the American nationals she was accustomed to shooting in.
“I realized that Para shotgun isn’t just something that you get a participation medal for,” Bultema said. “It was new for me to compete against other people — and there were some really good shooters. It set a fire under me so that I wanted to train, get better, and be good at this.”
In her junior year of high school in Colorado, Concordia University of Nebraska invited Bultema to attend the school for shooting. She attended Concordia for a year, but after her coach passed away in the middle of her freshman year, she said she did not get the coaching she needed to improve.
While Bultema was at Concordia, the Royers signed to be coaches at Hillsdale and USA Shooting partnered with Hillsdale. Bultema said she saw the appeal in having coaches she knew and being connected to USA Shooting through a well-known college like Hillsdale, so she applied to the college and was accepted.
“Once we got the job here and she transferred in, it was almost like we were picking up right where we left off, just with a more substantial communication between us,” Royer said. “I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.”
During the summer of 2022, before Bultema transferred to Hillsdale, she traveled to France for a world cup. Despite having an injured thumb, she shot 100 out of 125 clays in trap and became the first junior to ever make it to the finals, finishing in fourth place.
Bultema is currently in the process of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I would say look for her at Paris ’24 for sure,” Connor-Royer said. “She’s one of the top Para shooters from the United States, especially in her category.”
