BOULDER CITY, Nev. — Doctor bills being what they are these days, Richard Aitken's ophthalmologist has probably been well compensated for the cataract surgery he performed Oct. 29.

	Richard Aitken has his eye doctor to thank for his victory.

That didn't keep the Peyton, Colo., shooter from giving his eye doctor a pat on the back Saturday.

Aitken won the shotgun competition here at ESPN's Great Outdoors Games qualifying event by hitting all 80 clay targets in four 20-target matches.

It's a feat that has been accomplished only one other time in the current format, where three teal and two rabbit targets are thrown in random order at 3.5-second intervals during a match.

Under doctor's orders, Aitken, 50, couldn't shoot for two months after his surgery. Aitken said he'd shot only four boxes of shells in preparation for this competition.

"I had a lens implant," Aitken said of the surgery.

Then Aitken added, with a smile, "It's a very good one."

You couldn't help but see that Saturday night. And "night" is a key word, in Aitken's case. It was in the shotgun competition at the Great Outdoor Games last year in Reno where Aitken noticed his vision slipping.

Most shotgun shooting events are held during daylight. But at night, under the television lights, Aitken noticed he couldn't see targets like he normally could. That brought about a visit to his doctor and the resulting surgery.

Seeing better, not practicing more, was crucial for Aitken.

"I've been shooting a shotgun for 32 years," he said. "You just don't lose your ability to shoot as long as I've been doing it. It's about like riding a bicycle."

Without the ability to physically practice, Aitken said he relied on mental practice instead.

"The first thing you have to have his confidence, confidence in who you are and how well you know how to shoot," Aitken said.

"You know the angles, the distances. Then you just go through those things in your head."

Aitken faced another confident shooter in the finals, Jim Crouse of Reno. Crouse had also posted a perfect round of 20 targets in the semifinals.

But Crouse left Aitken an opening when he missed two targets midway through the match.

And Aitken kept proving how successful his eye surgery had been by posting another perfect 20 and gaining the qualifying spot for ESPN's Great Outdoor Games V.