I love shotguns. I love the outdoors. So it was only natural when I discovered sporting clays — I knew I had met my soul sport, if you will. As with any new romance, I experience highs and lows (especially in my scores) but the challenge and …
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I love shotguns. I love the outdoors. So it was only natural when I discovered sporting clays — I knew I had met my soul sport, if you will. As with any new romance, I experience highs and lows (especially in my scores) but the challenge and beauty of the sport is what keeps me coming back for more.
Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting that began in England in the 1900s. Often confused with trap or skeet, which consist of repeatable fixed targets; sporting clays simulate the unpredictability of live-quarry shooting over a natural terrain course, thus, lending to its nickname, The Golf of Shotguns.
A standard sporting clay course has 10 to 15 shooting stations, each equipped with trap machines set to release five to 10 clay targets for each shooter, which allows for the average round (max score) of 50 – 100 targets. Like holes in golf, each shooting station along the course is unique. Clays will be presented at various levels, distances and angles, simulating a variety of wing shooting scenarios. Some stations will also include rabbit targets that roll and jump across the ground. This medley of unpredictability lends to the challenging, yet captivating nature of sporting clays.
I began my love affair with shooting sporting clays in college; immediately captivated by the beauty of the course, the challenge of shooting the assortment of targets and the thrill of watching them shatter. It is where my husband and I had our first date, which, for the record was the one and only time I have ever beaten him on a course and where we now take our 6-year old whom adores being the golf cart chauffeur.
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Baldwin County’s first sporting clay course, Bushy Creek Clays, nestled among the hardwoods in Perdido. Known as South Alabama’s Premier Sporting Clay Club, it truly lives up to its reputation.
Gary Cox, owner of Bushy Creek Clays, left no detail untouched in his design, from the fully automated traps with personal key systems to the well maintained club cars and perfectly manicured course. Adorned along the path, shooters will find name plates identifying the various trees and sitting areas to relax.
After being in the petroleum business since the age of 22 and many years of transforming hobbies into business ventures, Cox’s love of wing shooting naturally led to the inception of Bushy Creek Clays.
“I got bored one day and said, 'This will work.' So here I am,” says Cox.
Bushy Creek can accommodate every level of shooter, from novice to advanced, and offers professional instruction for those learning the sport, as well as seasoned shooters wanting to hone their skills. They offer individual, family and corporate memberships and are host to many National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) registered shoots, corporate and fundraising events throughout the year.
Cox takes pride in being able to help various organizations, schools and churches raise money for their individual causes. He ensures all charity events are open to the public in order to introduce the sporting clay experience to a wide audience. I am elated to have stumbled upon one of Baldwin County’s best kept secrets and plan to visit Gary Cox’s masterpiece again very soon.
Those that are aware of my fierce competitive nature often ask me why I continue to play a sport I know I will never win. I simply explain that the only true competitor in sporting clays is you. It is a game of one that can be enjoyed by many.
Do I try to improve each time I play? Most definitely. Will I ever be a national champion? Most definitely not. However, no title in the world could replace the blend of tranquility and excitement I experience each time I’m on a sporting clays course, not to mention the pride I feel watching one of those little clays turn to powder right before my eyes. I may always be above par, but I am surely loving it one target at a time!
Bushy Creek Clays
Facebook: Bushy Creek Clays
Website: www.BushyCreekClays.com
Address: 22505 Will Vaughn Road, Perdido, AL 36562
Contact: 251.751.0211 / contact@bushycreekclays.com
Upcoming Bushy Creek Events:
June 6 – Alabama Power St Mary’s Home Shoot benefiting abused, abandoned, and neglected children
Sept. 19 – The 2014 Alabama Sporting Clay Association State Championship (ASCA)
Keeping it local
Try these other nearby sporting clay courses
Taylor Creek Shooting Preserve: Old Windsor Road, Theodore; 251-689-2386; TaylorCreekShooting.com
Santa Rosa Shooting Center: 6950 Quintette Road, Pace, FL; 850-995-9377; SantaRosaShooting.com
Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center: 3985 Highway 90 E., Crestview, FL; 850-682-6708
Sporting clay shooting checklist
