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New to Clay Busting - Where do I start?

S

StephDoza

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Hi everyone!

This is my first post on the forums so if there is anything I am doing wrong please let me know!

I am starting my journey into the world of sporting clays. My father used to shoot them professionally in the 90s and before he begins teaching me any of the foundational techniques he wants me to go out and get a feel for breaking clays. I am willing to start with any of the clay busting sports but my main focus will be on sporting clays. My father has me all kitted out with some great gear so no need for any suggestions in that department. I am really just looking for clubs that allow guests in my area. I am located in Middleboro, MA and would like to shoot on weekends or weekdays after work.

Hanson
- Do they still shoot on Wednesday nights?

Plymouth
- Weekends only?

Fall River
- Most likely the club I will join. My father is a big fan of the club and has many friends there still.
 
That’s odd, I would think your dad would want to teach you some basics BEFORE you go out and learn some bad habits you’ll have to work to break later on.

I’m also curious why you would start with Sporting Clays and not Trap, which could allow you to focus on just breaking clays instead of all the other “complications” of sporting clays?

Of course, I don’t really know anything at all about clay target shooting other than I tried it once and it was hard. I am looking to pick up an SKB Trap gun and hopefully make Trap my winter shooting sport this year.
 
Cuz said:
That’s odd, I would think your dad would want to teach you some basics BEFORE you go out and learn some bad habits you’ll have to work to break later on.

I’m also curious why you would start with Sporting Clays and not Trap, which could allow you to focus on just breaking clays instead of all the other “complications” of sporting clays?

Of course, I don’t really know anything at all about clay target shooting other than I tried it once and it was hard. I am looking to pick up an SKB Trap gun and hopefully make Trap my winter shooting sport this year.
Click to expand...
He's been teaching me shooting foundation ever since I was a child. My first lesson was shooting with both eyes open which he forced me to do by ripping the sights off of my BB guns.

I want to shoot sporting clays more than I want to shoot trap or skeet. Trap and skeet look boring to me. Who knows maybe I'll switch over and try to shoot in the Olympics one day.
 
You want to shoot sporting clays right out of the gate....go for it.

That said, I agree with Cuz, that a more-predictable game would be a better start. When you shoot a rifle (with or without sights), you see where the bullet hit. You have limited variables, and can make corrections. Clays....each shot is unique, and you can't tell what you did wrong (or right) until you've done it some. Sporting clays is even more unique*.

Yeah, when you can run 100 straight with regularity, Trap gets boring (except you want to get to 200....). I've been being "not bored" for several decades.

Wave to us here, on NES, from the medal podium.




* Fellow Grammar Nazis - I know that you cannot modify an absolute, but I'm doing it for rhetorical effect. 'Cuz 'Murica! [laugh]
 
I’m shocked with your dad’s involvement that you are not a proficient shot gun shooter now but you didn’t state your age.

I shot trap for 10 or so years and stopped when I quit the club I was at. Harvard doesn’t really have a shotgun field and the club I joined for a spell wasn’t cutting it for me.
I just became a new member of a club up here in ME that has a really nice facility out to 440 yards plus trap, skeet and sporting clays. Nice guys who are all working men, damn good shooters and no fudds seen. All of them were working with a new family of shooters who just bought shotguns.
Looking forward to getting into skeet for the first time and then a walk over to sporting once my feet get wet.
Felt good getting the shotgun out. If I like it as much as I think I will it will be time to get a 12ga O/U. My auto loader isn’t ideal but it will work.
 
Asaltweapon said:
I’m shocked with your dad’s involvement that you are not a proficient shot gun shooter now but you didn’t state your age.

I shot trap for 10 or so years and stopped when I quit the club I was at. Harvard doesn’t really have a shotgun field and the club I joined for a spell wasn’t cutting it for me.
I just became a new member of a club up here in ME that has a really nice facility out to 440 yards plus trap, skeet and sporting clays. Nice guys who are all working men, damn good shooters and no fudds seen. All of them were working with a new family of shooters who just bought shotguns.
Looking forward to getting into skeet for the first time and then a walk over to sporting once my feet get wet.
Felt good getting the shotgun out. If I like it as much as I think I will it will be time to get a 12ga O/U. My auto loader isn’t ideal but it will work.
Click to expand...
My relationship with my father is complicated. I am 25 and he lives 275 miles away in Maine. We have played around with shotguns only a handful of times together. Most of the time we've spent shooting has been long range rifle practice. Most of the shooting we do is for preparation for deer season.

What club did you join? My father belongs to two clubs up in ME.
 
MisterHappy said:
You want to shoot sporting clays right out of the gate....go for it.

That said, I agree with Cuz, that a more-predictable game would be a better start. When you shoot a rifle (with or without sights), you see where the bullet hit. You have limited variables, and can make corrections. Clays....each shot is unique, and you can't tell what you did wrong (or right) until you've done it some. Sporting clays is even more unique*.

Yeah, when you can run 100 straight with regularity, Trap gets boring (except you want to get to 200....). I've been being "not bored" for several decades.

Wave to us here, on NES, from the medal podium.




* Fellow Grammar Nazis - I know that you cannot modify an absolute, but I'm doing it for rhetorical effect. 'Cuz 'Murica! [laugh]
Click to expand...
I am an avid golfer and one of the reasons sporting clays is so appealing to me is that it reminds me a lot of golf. I also like how it mimics realistic presentations of birds. If I really take a liking to sporting clays I will train one of my dogs to flush pheasants.

My old man has had one 100 straight in sporting clays. I think he won a shoot one time in Addieville with a 98. Maybe if shells weren't so expensive right now I could convince him to go for 200 straight in trap.
 
StevieDoza said:
My relationship with my father is complicated. I am 25 and he lives 275 miles away in Maine. We have played around with shotguns only a handful of times together. Most of the time we've spent shooting has been long range rifle practice. Most of the shooting we do is for preparation for deer season.

What club did you join? My father belongs to two clubs up in ME.
Click to expand...
Big Pine.
 
I'm going to use this thread to take you all on my sporting clays journey. After shooting in Plymouth last weekend I was going to try Fall River this Sunday but due to the heat they will not be shooting sporting clays. Back to Plymouth for this Sunday.
 
StevieDoza said:
I'm going to use this thread to take you all on my sporting clays journey. After shooting in Plymouth last weekend I was going to try Fall River this Sunday but due to the heat they will not be shooting sporting clays. Back to Plymouth for this Sunday.
Click to expand...
I can't say I am overly excited with how I shot yesterday but in retrospect it wasn't all that bad. After all, it's only my second time shooting sporting clays ever. I dropped 20 out of 60 clays which doesn't help the average. Last week I only dropped 18 out of 60. Plymouth had the same pairs being thrown as last week as well.

I woke up later than I wanted to Sunday morning after a rowdy Saturday night. I don't think that helped my cause either. I really didn't pay close enough attention to the easy ones but I was turning the tough ones to dust - go figure. It's also very hard to improve upon something when you only get to do it once a week. Out of 120 clays I have broken 68.34% of them. Looking forward to shooting a new layout in Fall River this Sunday if the heat doesn't shut them down again.
 
Weds night in Hanson, trap shooting open to the public as well as Sunday morning. Great bunch of guys run it and offer plenty of advice , if you want it.
 
Marshfield rod and gun invests a lot in their shotgun sports program, theyre running 4 days a week now.

"The Skeet Field is open to the public Wednesday 4pm-7pm, Thursday 9am-1pm, Saturday 9am-1pm and Sunday from 10 am-1pm, weather permitting. This is a very informal group and there is always someone who can offer help and time with new shooters.

On Saturdays, Five Stand is open for practice and introduction during the same hours.

Contact Rick Braccia [email protected] if you have any questions"
 
Shot sporting clays again in Plymouth yesterday. Really did not perform well at all. I dropped 25 out of 60 shots - breaking only 35 clays. That comes out to 58.33% dead birds from this last outing. I somehow managed to miss 10 out of the last 12 which was a huge bummer.

Overall I have shot at 180 clays and I have broken 117 which brings my break percentage to 65%.
 
I shot at Fall River this past weekend. I decided to shoot two rounds for a total of 100 clays. I think I did pretty decent considering the difficulty of the targets. I broke 59/100 which brings my total for the year to 176/280. I am breaking 62.8% overall after my first 4 times shooting this great sport.
 
I brought my coworker to Fall River this past Saturday to introduce him to the great game of sporting clays! He definitely exceeded my expectations!

I broke 34 out of 50 clays which comes out to 68% - unfortunately I only broke 2 of the last 10 on the last stand.

The total moves up to 210/330 or 63.6% - the road to 70% continues!
 
8/27

My friend who I introduced to sporting clays is addicted! He and I are taking this journey together. I haven't shot every weekend and I will not be shooting this weekend so I'm giving him some time to catch up :) He has shot 3 rounds I am at 6 or 7 rounds under my belt (I believe only 6)

Fall River changed their layout and there were a couple of stiff pairs. I shot two rounds and broke 53 out of 100. While the percentage wasn't phenomenal - I did succeed in breaking 8 out of 10 rabbits which I have struggled with in the past.

My father sent me down an Anthony Matarese Jr instructional video which I have watched twice through already. He will be sending me down the advanced DVD shortly. My biggest takeaway involves trusting my hold point and matching the speed of the clay with my gun.

I am still hovering in the 60% range so the road to 70% continues. Not bad in my opinion considering I haven't even shot two flats of shells yet.


Total:

263/430 or 61.1% overall
 
Need a bit of help. While I have tactical shotguns, I have never shot trap, and shot skeet once. Looking to get into the sport, but really confused over what 12 gauge shotgun to buy. I'd like to get one and I've heard you can get multiple barrels for shooting either trap or skeet or sporting clays, but really couldn't find anything in a semi-auto.
  • Does such an animal actually exist?
  • What are the pros and cons
Thanks
 
unshuffled said:
Need a bit of help. While I have tactical shotguns, I have never shot trap, and shot skeet once. Looking to get into the sport, but really confused over what 12 gauge shotgun to buy. I'd like to get one and I've heard you can get multiple barrels for shooting either trap or skeet or sporting clays, but really couldn't find anything in a semi-auto.
  • Does such an animal actually exist?
  • What are the pros and cons
Thanks
Click to expand...
Although I'm sure there are different barrels out there for different versions of the sport for serious shooters you'll go a very long way with a full length barrel and am improved cylinder choke. I still shoot an 870 express and hang in there with the guys with fancy over unders and have fun in the process. Don't let buying a fancy gun keep you off the field
 

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