The drive from Denver had been uneventful, which was good. I listened to a stack of CDs hoping to learn how to say ‘good morning’ in Italian and trying not to spill Diet Pepsi all over the box, while anguishing as the gas gauge plummeted down like weights at the gym. On the rural roads the weathered buildings and farm houses with sharp angled roofs reminded me of my family car trips from Long Island to Miami Beach when my age was written in single digits.
I’m afraid to add up how much money I’ve been spending at the shooting range these days.
Seriously. I don’t want to know. I just walk up to the counter, hand over the plastic and sign the slip without looking at the amount. It’s super easy if I just don’t bother putting on reading glasses!
In the last few months, I have had the pleasure of actually getting out and shooting some myself and in the process, have loved seeing so many more women out on the clay courses. I am also thrilled to see the growth of women interested in, and pursuing, wing shooting! Truly a passion of mine and there is nothing like being outdoors, with good friends or family, a shotgun and hopefully a great dog or two….Right?
Once the press conference is over in Tuscany, Italy and the pretty girl has held up the shotgun while everyone clamors around with a camera, there’s a much more defining moment. It’s the moment when the gun is in your hands, and the arm of the trap is cocked and loaded with the first clay you’ll shoot with it.
Just recently I was looking through some of my favorite recipes for preparing fresh summer vegetables. I came across one for okra gumbo that my grandmother used to make. I must have been an extraordinarily weird kid to have liked okra. Still do, because Grandma’s recipe for gumbo was always made with garden fresh okra. “Delicious” really was an appropriate description.
The season of Not Hunting is, for me, always filled with a bit of listlessness that can be ameliorated somewhat, but not entirely, by shooting skeet and clays. And occasionally going out for a summer cottontail hunt.
We love seeing pictures like the first ones below because they exemplify how shooting shotguns parlays into your everyday life. When you are passionate about something it shows, right? Here at Lanier Shooting Sports we are all about being lighthearted, fun, (albeit safe) about your shooting passions. In fact, we like it so much we would like you to send us similar photos of how shotguns are a part of your life and if we use your photos, we will send you a Lanier Shooting Sports hat with our logo! Submit your stories and photos to elanier@laniershootingsports.com.
A sporting clays training session that drew top instructors to South Carolina in mid-June could change how the sport is taught to the majority of shooters using the new “Coordinated Shooting Method.”
The idea of Touch-and-Go actually has its roots in aviation. New pilots use it to learn how to land and take off again. You come down for a landing, touch the runway with your wheels, and then push the throttle forward to take off again.
What does Touch-and-Go have to do with consistently breaking targets in sporting clays? It has to do with how you approach the target, touch it, and then pull ahead for the proper forward allowance — or lead as most people call it.
This is a new column dedicated to recreational shotgun pursuits in both the clay target disciplines and the feathered kind. From the first moment I ever pulled the trigger of a shotgun, I loved it. I had to really work at it but I enjoyed it so much I was willing to do so. The more I shot, the more I wanted to learn. I took lessons from a variety of instructors and, over time, my skills evolved as did my passion for just about everything involving shotguns.
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