SPORTING CLAYS
HISTORY
Sporting Clays started in the 1880's in England where they used glass balls filled with feathers to practice game hunting.
This type of shooting was not only popular with the rich land owners who could afford to hunt, but it was also popular among the less-well-to-do who could not afford the cost of pheasant hunting on game preserves and estates.
When the clay target, similar to what we know today, was developed organized sporting clays in England was started.
It quickly gained popularity in England, enough so that in 1927 the 1st British Open Sporting Clays Championship was held.
During this time, skeet and trap were growing in the United States, but it took over sixty years for sporting clays to travel across the ocean.
In the early 80's a group in Connecticut organized one of the first, if not the first, sporting clays tournament in the USA at the Remington Gun Club.
The Orvis Company picked it up and held the first National Shoot in 1983. By 1985 the United Sporting Clays Association was formed in Houston, Texas.
OVERVIEW
Today, Sporting Clays is the fasted growing shotgun discipline and one of the fastest growing participation sports in the U.S.
Thousands of courses cover the world varying from a "mom-and-pop" backyard operation using half a dozen launchers to the multimillion dollar "super-courses" spread over hundreds of acres using 100 to 200 fully automatic clay target launchers, where shooters move from station to station riding golf-carts, traveling tarmac roads similar to top golf resorts.
The National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA)is the governing body in the US.
The three main categories of Sporting Clays Shooting are:
Sporting Clays started in the 1880's in England where they used glass balls filled with feathers to practice game hunting.
This type of shooting was not only popular with the rich land owners who could afford to hunt, but it was also popular among the less-well-to-do who could not afford the cost of pheasant hunting on game preserves and estates.
When the clay target, similar to what we know today, was developed organized sporting clays in England was started.
It quickly gained popularity in England, enough so that in 1927 the 1st British Open Sporting Clays Championship was held.
During this time, skeet and trap were growing in the United States, but it took over sixty years for sporting clays to travel across the ocean.
In the early 80's a group in Connecticut organized one of the first, if not the first, sporting clays tournament in the USA at the Remington Gun Club.
The Orvis Company picked it up and held the first National Shoot in 1983. By 1985 the United Sporting Clays Association was formed in Houston, Texas.
OVERVIEW
Today, Sporting Clays is the fasted growing shotgun discipline and one of the fastest growing participation sports in the U.S.
Thousands of courses cover the world varying from a "mom-and-pop" backyard operation using half a dozen launchers to the multimillion dollar "super-courses" spread over hundreds of acres using 100 to 200 fully automatic clay target launchers, where shooters move from station to station riding golf-carts, traveling tarmac roads similar to top golf resorts.
The National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA)is the governing body in the US.
The three main categories of Sporting Clays Shooting are:
NSCA Sporting Clays or English Sporting.
This is the most popular form of clay shooting in the US and UK, and a course or competition will feature a given number of stands each of which has a predetermined number of targets, all traveling along the same path and speed, either as singles or doubles. Each stand will feature a different type of target; e.g., crosser, driven, quartering, etc.
This is the most popular form of clay shooting in the US and UK, and a course or competition will feature a given number of stands each of which has a predetermined number of targets, all traveling along the same path and speed, either as singles or doubles. Each stand will feature a different type of target; e.g., crosser, driven, quartering, etc.
5-Stand
There are five "stands" or stations to shoot from. There are usually somewhere between 6 and 8 traps that throw targets. Participants shoot in turn at each of the 5 stands and various combinations of targets are thrown from the traps. Usually there is a menu card that will advise the shooter of the sequence of targets. Five Stand is a great way to get a Sporting Clays like experience in a small amount of space, with very little walking.
There are five "stands" or stations to shoot from. There are usually somewhere between 6 and 8 traps that throw targets. Participants shoot in turn at each of the 5 stands and various combinations of targets are thrown from the traps. Usually there is a menu card that will advise the shooter of the sequence of targets. Five Stand is a great way to get a Sporting Clays like experience in a small amount of space, with very little walking.
FITASC
International (FITASC) sporting is the most challenging form of sporting clays.
It is the French version of practice for field shooting.
Unlike the free and easy format of English or American Sporting, FITASC Sporting is shot in squads of up to six with a fixed order of stands (parcours in French) that are shot in strict rotation.
(FITASC is an acronym standing for the French words: Federation Internationale de Tir Aux Sportives de Chasse)
International (FITASC) sporting is the most challenging form of sporting clays.
It is the French version of practice for field shooting.
Unlike the free and easy format of English or American Sporting, FITASC Sporting is shot in squads of up to six with a fixed order of stands (parcours in French) that are shot in strict rotation.
(FITASC is an acronym standing for the French words: Federation Internationale de Tir Aux Sportives de Chasse)
Unlike trap and skeet, which are games of repeatable target presentations, sporting clays simulates the unpredictability of live-quarry shooting, offering a great variety of trajectories, angles, speeds, elevations, distances, and target sizes.
Rather than using standardized distances, target angles and target sizes, sporting clays courses are designed to simulate the hunting of ducks, pheasants and even rabbits.
Six different sizes of clay targets give the participant the experience of actual hunting conditions.
Rather than using standardized distances, target angles and target sizes, sporting clays courses are designed to simulate the hunting of ducks, pheasants and even rabbits.
Six different sizes of clay targets give the participant the experience of actual hunting conditions.