Although he was never known to have ever pointed a gun at a registered target there is ample evidence that Shaner did indeed shoot many clay targets in the late 1800's and very early 1900's but he never shot a registered target. Elmer F. Shaner still was recognized as the "Dean of Organized Trapshooting," the man who put the sport on the athletic map. Shaner spent nearly 50 years in the sport and didn’t miss a single Grand American until failing health stopped his streak in the last two years of his life.

On August 22, 1890 Shaner was in attendance at the organizational meeting of the PSSA at the Crosby House in Corey, PA. He was elected the first PSSA Secretary on that hot evening in western Pennsylvania. The rest is history

Shaner was managing tournaments for the Pennsylvania State Sportsman’s Association when the old Interstate Manufacturers Trapshooting Association, a forerunner of today’s Amateur Trapshooting Association, chose the former school teacher from the Pittsburgh, Pa. area to guide the destiny of their sport as its secretary-treasurer. He managed all 10 of the Grand Americans at live birds, from 1893 through 1902, also was the manager of the first 19 Grand Americans at inanimate targets.