Eight hundred world-class shooters representing 30 countries are registered in the competition, which will be held from August 21 to 23.
After representing New Zealand for the first time in the Australian skeet shooting nationals in May this year, Mr Gutsell, a member of the Mataura Clay Target Club, will do so again in the open division of the world championships.
After squeezing in as much practice as possible, Mr Gutsell will travel to Ireland on Sunday and link up with club-mates Ewen Pirie and Peter Williams, who will represent New Zealand in the veterans' squad.
Mr Gutsell knows he will have to be at peak performance to make headway among such a large gathering of topclass athletes in a very specialised field.
‘‘Europe, Asia and America are all very strongly represented and are home countries to some of the best in the world.
‘‘Shooting is almost on a par with football in its international scope and down-the-line is a tough discipline.
‘‘If you can't hit every target on the first shot, you might as well stay home,'' he said.
Down-the-line shooting differs from skeet or clay target shooting in that the ‘‘trap'' (the device that launches the targets) is set on a random oscillation over a 90 degree shooting range and at intermittent intervals, meaning a target can fly at any time in any direction over the range.
Competitors use double-barrelled, ‘‘under and over'' 12-gauge shotguns and are awarded three points for hitting a target on the first shot, two for hitting it on the second shot, and zero points for a miss.
‘‘The randomness is the biggest challenge,'' Mr Gutsell said.
Perfecting his technique to cope with this involves long hours of practice and Mr Gutsell puts in six to eight hours a week.
Competing in Southland shooting events has been a key part of his preparation for the world event.
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‘Competition shooting really puts the mental pressure on and is much different to practising solo, when you can allow yourself to relax a bit. I'm glad Southland target shooting has such a strong following because this allows me a lot of competition time,'' he said.
Five other Southland shooters, from the Invercargill, Nightcaps and Gorge Road clubs, will join the three from Mataura to represent New Zealand in its 30-member squad.
With the appropriate special firearms import licence already cleared by Customs and a secure area in the plane booked to carry his custom-made Italian competition gun, Mr Gutsell is looking forward to touching down in Ireland, acclimatising and getting down to business.
After the competition is over, he plans to take a week off in Ireland to soak up some of the atmosphere before returning to Gore.
‘‘It'd be a bit rude to go all that way and not give yourself a chance to enjoy the country too, wouldn't it?'' he said. - Grant Bryant
