Sporting Clays

Seahawk · 08-05-2025, 06:22 AM

berretafan's post in another thread got me thinking about sporting clays.

We put down two to three clay pigeon rebellions a year here, all on the farm with hand and mechanical throwers.

That won't be an option in South Carolina.

So I looked up sporting clays in the area of SC we'll be moving to:

https://www.nwtf.org/get-involved/hunting-heritage-center/palmetto-shooting-complex

I have a Browning Citori sporting clay o/u shotgun so I am set there...I am an average shot, but I enjoy shooting immensely.

Any advice? I plan on stopping by the place in the link next time we are down.

Dixie · Dixie's Garage

I shot a few times at Hermitage Farms in Camden, SC. I'm not sure that's anywhere near you, but it too is a nice establishment.
https://share.google/LToYTivsuQOBjAp8t

PS, I'm a terrible shot. That's why I like shotguns.

Seahawk · 08-05-2025, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie

I shot a few times at Hermitage Farms in Camden, SC. I'm not sure that's anywhere near you, but it too is a nice establishment.
https://share.google/LToYTivsuQOBjAp8t

PS, I'm a terrible shot. That's why I like shotguns.

That is great!

Camden is an hour and 1/2 from Aiken and I know a lot of folks there...that and I enjoy the area.

Here is a picture of my old Punt Gun I traded for the Citori:

PULL!!!

id10t · 08-05-2025, 07:37 AM

The clays games got too expensive for me so my shotguns collected dust until I got into turkey hunting, and now I shoot a shot or two to confirm pattern pre-season and then a shot or two on birds, two seasons per year.

Gonna experiment with my muzzle loading shotgun set up, if I can get a decent pattern out of it I'll use it for turkey during ML season.

berettafan · 08-05-2025, 07:38 AM

Haven't been but Backwoods Quail near Georgetown is a well known destination for sporting clays.

Looks like Hermitage hosts some charity shoots, strongly advise attending those if you can. Charity shoots are usually a lot of fun and not crazy intimidating on targets. I'd check out the NWTF complex too if they offer anything like that.

Seahawk · 08-05-2025, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

Haven't been but Backwoods Quail near Georgetown is a well known destination for sporting clays.

Looks like Hermitage hosts some charity shoots, strongly advise attending those if you can. Charity shoots are usually a lot of fun and not crazy intimidating on targets. I'd check out the NWTF complex too if they offer anything like that.

That looks like a good way to start. My Daughter lives in Mount Pleasant and like to shoot as well...so does her fiance. His parents have a place in Pawley's Island we have stayed at before.

Thanks!

berettafan · 08-05-2025, 08:40 AM

Will Fennell also does lessons in SC if you want to spend some $$ learning.

Seahawk · 04:52 PM

Nice.

https://www.fennellshootingschool.com/

I think a shooting lesson would be a great Christmas Gift for yours truly

I let a local pistol instructor do one-on-one training on my farm with me there. He has given me a few lessons over the years and they have been excellent...I still can't shoot but I look good missing.

I'll visit a few places and do a charity event or two and then see if Fennell is in my future!

Engineering meetings are over for the day! Off to lunch...

Alan A · 08-05-2025, 04:30 PM

Damn that place is cheap.

I mostly shoot at Orvis up in Millbrook - which isn’t. Can’t wait to retire.

berettafan · 08-05-2025, 06:49 PM

Alan come down to M&M in Pennsville NJ. They get a lot of NY shooters. Closes for the summer months but I believe back open in September. Best run tournaments in the business also if you fancy competing.

Jeff Higgins · 08-06-2025, 07:41 AM

I have to admit that shotgunning is the one shooting sport at which I well and truly suck. I love to get my little buddy Ed out in the field and go after pheasant and grouse, so a shotgun is, to me, somewhat of a "necessary evil" at best. Or, actually, that's not quite fair, as I do have a good time every time I have one in hand. They just don't hold the abiding interest that rifled arms hold for me.

We have no readily accessible sporting clays courses around here. My club does, however, have traditional trap, skeet, and something called "five stand". I actually really enjoy five stand, even if I suck.

Here is my upland / five stand gun. It's a CZ USA (Turkish built) 12 gauge with interchangeable chokes and 3" chambers (although in ten years it's never even had anything other than a 2 3/4" chambered). I bought it at a Cabelas when when my wife and I were out in the Boxster, top down, on a cold winter day. I stopped in for a warm hat and walked out with this shotgun (and a hat).

Jeff Higgins · 08-06-2025, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by id10t

The clays games got too expensive for me so my shotguns collected dust until I got into turkey hunting, and now I shoot a shot or two to confirm pattern pre-season and then a shot or two on birds, two seasons per year.

Gonna experiment with my muzzle loading shotgun set up, if I can get a decent pattern out of it I'll use it for turkey during ML season.

I don't think you will be able to get a tight enough pattern for turkey hunting from your muzzle loader. Most have a cylinder choke in the right and an improved cylinder in the left at best. The problems start when we need to load the charge past any choke. The tighter the choke, the harder it is to load.

Even though I have the CZ shown above, my main hunting shotgun has always been my side by side ten gauge built from a Dixie Gun Works kit in the early 1980's. It works great as an upland gun, marginal for waterfowl unless called in really close over decoys.

Here is what I use for my upland and waterfowl shooting. From left to right, powder, thick over powder cardboard wad, thick paper cushion wad, shot, thin cardboard over shot wad. The cut down shotgun shell in the background is my powder and shot measure. It is used for both, these guns typically shoot their best patterns with equal volumes of powder and shot. And really coarse powder, like 1Fg or, in this case, 1 1/2 Fg.

This shotgun has a really inventive, cool little trick - while nominally a ten gauge, the bores actually mic out at eleven gauge. The reason for this is that they will accept plastic shot cups and cushion wads meant to go inside of modern ten gauge shells. If your shotgun is similarly bored, say a twelve gauge that is really a thirteen, you can take advantage of that and use those plastic cushion wads and shot cups. They are probably your best bet at getting "turkey patterns" from your muzzle loader.

Good luck, I would be very interested to hear what you come up with.

berettafan · 08-06-2025, 08:29 AM

Hey Jeff 5 Stand is just sporting clays at 5 stations lined up together. For me 5 stand is actually tougher than a sporting course because you have to remember so many targets (our club has 13 traps on the 5 stand) and can't just look at what the guy before you had.

I'll just offer one quick tip to any budding sporting enthusiasts here as i don't want to monopolize the thread- A very talented pro shooter (and talented Nashville recording artist) by the name of Wendell Cherry says if you use your finger to shoot a moving target in the air you will break it every time. IOW the brain already knows exactly where to put the gun and we just have to learn to get out of its way and let the gun go where it needs. Skeet is a game of lead memorization and trap is frankly easy to half ass and still do well in. But sporting requires accepting the brains direction and mastering good vision discipline.

berettafan · 08-06-2025, 08:40 AM

Here’s a few pics from my trip to UK for the world championships last month-
Beautiful facility EJ Churchill just north of London.

berettafan · 08-06-2025, 08:45 AM

Jeff Higgins · 08-06-2025, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

Hey Jeff 5 Stand is just sporting clays at 5 stations lined up together. For me 5 stand is actually tougher than a sporting course because you have to remember so many targets (our club has 13 traps on the 5 stand) and can't just look at what the guy before you had.

That makes sense. My club is a little short on room to make a full walk through course, and this does have a stunning variety of targets from at least a dozen traps. The good thing about it is that we buy "cards" to give to the trap operator that specify which targets we want. It even breaks it down into "called doubles" vs "report doubles", i.e. we "call" for the second target vs. it gets launched when we shoot at the first. These "cards" are rated in difficulty, so guys like me can choose the "easier" ones. It is a lot of fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

I'll just offer one quick tip to any budding sporting enthusiasts here as i don't want to monopolize the thread- A very talented pro shooter (and talented Nashville recording artist) by the name of Wendell Cherry says if you use your finger to shoot a moving target in the air you will break it every time. IOW the brain already knows exactly where to put the gun and we just have to learn to get out of its way and let the gun go where it needs. Skeet is a game of lead memorization and trap is frankly easy to half ass and still do well in. But sporting requires accepting the brains direction and mastering good vision discipline.

I had a guy years ago tell me that shooting a shotgun is like "shooting hoops". If you over think it you will miss every time. It's all by feel. And that is where it all falls apart for me.

If I shoot too much shotgun, my rifled arms shooting suffers. I shoot so much rifle and handgun that my shotgunning suffers. Two entirely different approaches to trigger control and "sight" alignment. And that's my biggest problem with the shotgun - I try to align their "sights" like a rifle. I think about it too much.

Those places should have rubber birds for when guys like me show up. It's just a crying shame to see perfectly good, uninjured ones shatter on the ground like that all the time.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

My brother has the same Citori O/U. He is like Rainman with a shotgun. Wife is like that wih a rifle

I work the binoculars

berettafan · 08-06-2025, 09:39 AM

Sure enough trying to align the sights consciously causes you to stop the gun and miss because you end up focusing on the front sight. Soooo easy to do! I doubt i could move back and forth between rifle or pistol and clays with any level of proficiency.

Clays require a range of barrel awareness from very, very little on skeet type stuff and very close birds/fast birds to maybe a 50/50 or more barrel vs clay awareness on long stuff with very little lateral movement. I would say run and gun pistol stuff is somewhat similar in that you have a range of barrel/sight awareness for different distances.

Seahawk · 08-06-2025, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

I'll just offer one quick tip to any budding sporting enthusiasts here as i don't want to monopolize the thread.

Please, monopolize away.

The finger thingy?

berettafan · 08-06-2025, 10:42 AM

Crazy right? Heard it on a podcast and i was like 'dafuq he just say?'. I think he's right though. I base that on having done lessons with some former world champs and current top shooters where one thing stands out- none talk about leads when teaching. What they ALL talk about is seeing the bird well and adjusting your setup (barrel hold point, body/feet orientation) to give your eyes the best chance of seeing the bird well enough to seemingly slow it down.

Ok second direct tip since you gave me permission to behave like a 6 year old at an adult dinner party who was just politely asked about comics- gun mount being of obvious importance many will fully mount the gun then call 'pull' and try to track the bird. This can make it hard to see so instead mount the gun then do a downward shrug to get it slightly out of your face as you call pull. Shrug back up as your tracking the bird and ready to break it.