ATHOL — Darin Nagle hasn't given up on shooting.

He's just taking aim at targets differently these days — Wild West style.

The former North Idaho College and University of Idaho basketball player is now making a name for himself on the mounted shooter circuit.

At 6-feet-9 inches, Nagle was a natural on the hardwood, but he's not your average shooter in the saddle.

"Everybody gives me a hard time and asks why I ride such a small horse," Nagle said with a smile, referring to his height.

While the lanky Nagle shooting at balloons on a blazing horse may appear awkward at first, his results speak loudly and quickly show the sight is no joke.

The sport consists of shooting at 10 balloons along a course with either .45-caliber pistols, rifles or shotguns with black powder blanks, not live rounds. Scores are based on both speed and accuracy. The score is penalized for each balloon that's left standing. Two guns are used during each session.

"Fifteen feet is about the farthest you want to be away from the balloons when you shoot because you're shooting with black powder," Nagle said.

In just three years of competing, Nagle has won or placed at several events while riding his 7-year-old quarterhorse Reno and has steadily risen to a Level 3 shooter with Level 6 being the highest. He is one win away from being at Level 4.

Nagle got into the sport through his wife, Shanda, who has been a mounted shooter for nearly 15 years and taught him.

"He's done really well," Shanda said. "He's won some Overall categories, which is good because he's going against guys who have done it a long time."

Nagle also won his class at the Western Nationals event in Las Vegas last year.

The Nagles compete in as many contests as they can throughout the region.

"It's an expensive hobby," said Nagle, adding that gun costs range from $600 to $1,500, entry fees for both contestants can cost a total of $750 for each shoot, not to mention travel and maintenance costs.

The payoffs for winning can be $2,000 per event; buckles and other awards; and, for the Nagles, family bonding time. The couple's daughters Josie, 4, and Jaylynn, 1, accompany them at contests, and Josie has already shown interest in the sport.

As a former college player, Darin said he is competitive and it's always nice to be able to help pay for your hobby. But the circuit is also full of contestants who help each other.

"The people we shoot with are like a huge family," said Nagle, who works at Bennett Lumber Co. "Everybody is good to everybody. If someone's gun breaks, they can always borrow one from someone else."

Shanda said Darin generally scores better than her these days in fun head-to-head outings — men and women compete in separate divisions in the contests — but Shanda fared better during a recent demonstration at the North Idaho State Fair.

Regardless of how those cases go, Darin said he'll never forget who introduced him to the sport and taught him.

Nagle, who graduated from Potlatch High in 2003, NIC in 2006 and Idaho in 2008, said he no longer plays basketball due to back problems. Transitioning into mounted shooting was somewhat easy, he said, because he grew up around horses and guns.

"But it's still much more difficult than it looks," he said.

The most difficult part, he said, was putting away the pistol he had just shot with in his holster and grabbing the other to finish the run.

Shanda said Darin's riding and athletic backgrounds have helped him advance in the sport sooner than most.

"It's all about coordination," she said. "It's easier to teach those who have played sports and are competitive. At first, with him being competitive, he always wanted to run faster than he shot. But once he caught up (with shooting) he was fine."