Once upon a time bird
hunters put up their
shotguns when the seasons closed and never looked at them until
opening day of the following year. But no longer.
With the advent of a shot gun shorting game called "Sporting
Clays" men, women and children who like to shoot have taken
to "hunting" clay targets year around and, while shattering
the fast flying "saucers" with charges of fine shot,
are getting the practice required to put meat on the table when
hunting seasons are open.
For many shooters, hunting clays is more fun than game gunning
and many hundreds of thousands more rounds of ammunition are
shot at artificial targets than at the real thing. When shooting
clays there is no harvest or stress on the wildlife resources
and the very fact that there are no birds that need to be cleaned
at days may be a plus for lots of sportsmen.
Sporting Clays Shooting, which has been dubbed "shotgun
golf" because shooters walk around courses that are laid
out to offer challenges resembling actual wild bird shooting
rather than routine (almost constantly predictable) shots as
in Trap and Skeet, two other clay target games which pre-date
Sporting Clays.
One of the most outstanding Sporting Clay layouts in the country
is part of J & H Game Farm in Shawano county Wisconsin off
highway 156 just west of the village |
of Navarine. It boasts
eight different courses and has hosted "big shoots"
of state and national importance. These major tournaments give
some of the world's greatest shotgun shooters a stage on which
to strut their stuff.
But the beauty of Sporting Clays is that there's something for
everyone. Joe Hunter doesn't have to be a tournament class shooter
to have fun shooting sporting clays and to shoot surprisingly
good scores using the same gun with which he hunts upland game
birds. This started off as game for bird shooters and, like every
activity where scores are kept, eventually developed an upper
echelon of specialist shooters, out for blood, and using refined
and cumbersome equipment too heavy to tote on an all-day hunt.
Average Joe hunters, however, if they view the game in proper
perspective can have more fun than the "hot shots"
as they practice with their personal bird guns, test different
shot loads out of different chokes (noting how different loads
and chokes "grind up" or only "scratch" flying
targets is more fun and more practical than wasting shell on
a stationary pattern board) while practicing actual wing shooting.
For fathers, uncles, or anyone introducing a boy or girl to shooting
there's no better venue than a sporting
clays course. At J & H Game Farm reservations can be me made
with certified shooting instructors for shooting lessons. Many
veteran hunters would benefit from a session or two with a knowledgeable
gunner |
who can spot causes for
misses and suggest techniques that insure hits.
In Sporting Clays everyone from beginner to expert misses which
makes it all the more challenging for crack shots and avoids
embarrassment for the casual shooter who hasn't mastered all
the moves. Compared to the mechanical monotony of 200s straight
run by in-the-groove skeet and trap shooters, scores in the 160s
and 170s have topped major Sporting Clays tournaments. In contrast
to the uniformity of trap and skeet layouts, no two Sporting
Clays courses are alike. Even targets coming out of the same
trap may not be identical in angles, height or speed.
All manner of shooters have gunned Sporting Clays at J &
H Game Farm since the first courses were laid out. When they
counted targets thrown in 1997 the number exceeded 550,000 for
that year according to Jim Johnson, club operator.
Regardless of which coarse is utilized (and there is also a "rabbit"
course where clay targets bounce along the ground simulating
rabbit hunting) a participant fires 50 shots. Literally millions
of targets have been shot at. But only 15 times have 50 straights
been recorded, those on the two "easy" courses, and
only a couple shooters have ever gone 50 straight twice, On the
six more difficult courses, while there have been 49s, 50 has
yet to be broken.
Part of the attraction for shooters at J & H is the stroll
between each of the stations through natural, hunting atmosphere
surroundings. The club started out as and continues as a licensed
game farm featuring pheasant shooting in good cover on released
game birds from October to March. Actual bird shooting is limited
to members but the Sporting Clays courses are open to the public.
For those interested both winter and summer league shooting is
offered. Reservations can be made |
