By David Hart
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FIND OUT MORE
To find a sporting clays range near you, or for more information, visit www.mynsca.com, or call the NSCA's heaquarters in San Antonio at (210) 688-3371.
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The bird came in high over the trees, leveled off and then dropped right in front of me.
Easy shot, I figured, but instead of shattering into a cloud of orange and black dust at the report of my shotgun, the clay pigeon continued its path before smacking against the trunk of an oak tree 20 feet to my left. My 10-year-old son Kyle laughed as I stood in stunned silence, my shotgun still mounted to my shoulder. Kyle stepped up to the concrete pad, yelled "pull" and promptly busted the bird clean.
Welcome to sporting clays, dubbed "golf with guns." The game, a variation of skeet that simulates realistic hunting conditions, originated in England in the 1930's, but has become a fixture in the United States that draws shooters of all ages and capabilities.
"It didn't come to America until about the 1970s, but it really took off in the '80s," says Tony Monzingo, director of the National Sporting Clays Association. "There are about 630 NSCA member clubs throughout the country and probably quite a few more on top of that."
The Basics
Skeet and trap, two popular shotgun games, are fun, but the birds fly a predictable path, the shots are pretty much the same and after a dozen or so rounds, it becomes, well, pretty boring.
That's where sporting clays takes a unique turn. Each course is different and the variations can be as wild as the imagination of the course designer as targets fly in and out from all angles. Shooters move from station to station-much like golfers walking a golf course-taking shots at quail rising, rabbits running, ducks decoying and doves soaring high overhead.
Virtually every course uses a hard clay disk rolled across the ground to simulate a running rabbit. The "rabbit" hops over bumps just like the real thing, offering a challenging shot.
"Elm Fork Club in Dallas actually has a rabbit target they bounce off of a trampoline. I've heard of courses with targets that skip across the water. Others have clay targets that land on a pond right in front of you like decoying mallards. Another club launches birds from under your feet as you stand on a hill offering a down-and-away shot just like you might encounter if you were chukar hunting out west," says Monzingo. "That's what makes this sport so unique and so fun. That's also what makes it such good practice for hunters in the off-season."
Some courses are relatively open with clay pigeons flying through nothing more than air. Others, however, have a more challenging layout, almost as if the course designer wanted to provoke as much frustration out of the participants as he could. Birds squirt between trees, disappear over hills and zip through brush much the same way a wild quail might. In fact, Monzingo says the machines used to pitch the clay discs can actually make the targets curve in flight. Some travel 60 mph, some even faster, while others seem to stall right as you pull the trigger.
Open to All
The beauty of clays, as many regulars call it, is that it belongs to anyone with a shotgun who loves a challenge. You don't need a fancy over-and-under to compete. In fact, Monzingo says a shooter in Ohio has won the state championship eight times, all with a 12-gauge Remington 870 pump shotgun, a working man's gun if there ever was one. Experts, however, own high-dollar guns and examine each course much the same way a golfer studies the fairway and putting green before he swings his clubs.
Sporting clays is also an equal-opportunity pursuit. My two boys, eight and ten, are addicted to the game and women are a regular sight at sporting clays ranges everywhere.
Don't, however, expect to start dusting birds on every station your first go at sporting clays, even if you're a skilled skeet or trap shooter. Monzingo says decent wing-shooters can expect to break half the birds on a 100-shot course. Beginning shotgunners might break only a quarter of the shots, even less, depending on the course. The best sporting clays enthusiasts shoot all the time and routinely break 75.
A round of sporting clays is a little more expensive than a standard 25-shot round of skeet. Depending on the club, a 100-shot round of clays can run between $18 and $35. That may seem like a lot for a healthy dose of humility, but there isn't a more fun way to find out your kid can break clay pigeons you can't.
