Artsy Fartsy Shooty Wooty.

We've all been knocked down a peg. It's about time really. Our shooting scores weren't really reflecting how good we are. We just proved yesterday that none of us should be joining the NSCA (National Sporting Clays Association) anytime soon. Nor should we even be contemplating shooting a tournament.

Yesterday, about 1/2 hour south of Birmingham Alabama, we shot at Tannehill Sporting Clays. Like most of the contacts I find online, this day was organized mostly via email. We ended up shooting late in the afternoon because I had to attend a pre-rig at the venue, but that was fine because it was a gorgeous day, perfect shooting weather.
We arrived and checked in at the club house, got the guns and shells and headed out onto the course. It was a really nice course. 10 stations tucked back into the Alabama woods. There were 5 of us shooting. We were supposed to have two guest shooters, Jason and Jenn, but Jenn backed out. Guess she thought working on her day off would be more fun.

And she was partially right. This was a tough course. I had the feeling we were in for a long afternoon when the first station consisted of two very fast crossing targets. Crossing targets are regarded as the hardest shot in Sporting Clays and this was no exception. And this was just the first station!

As we progressed it became a good mix of hard and easy shots, lots of crossing stuff and some high fliers. We even had one shot that crossed through the sun. Well, it crossed through the sun for the first two shooters (Wayne and myself), but as the day wore on, the sun got behind a tree for the other shooters, but that still didn't make it an easy shot.

Needless to say, none of us shot as good as we had in the past. I had the top score of 47 out of 100. And Wayne was second with 40. We could honestly say we were on par with our standard shooting. It's just that the course was harder than some of the others we shot. But as we say, the worst day shooting is still better than the best day working.

As a final thought, I don't know if it's a southern hospitality thing, but just like the course we shot near Columbia, South Carolina, there was no "key" keeping track of how many clays we through, nor was there a trapper counting either. It was just us 5 shooters, 3 guns, 2 golf carts and buttons at each station. No one was counting and charging per target, they just said, "Have a good time, don't throw too many extra clays."

I'll shoot here again.

And now some pictures and video...Here is Artsy Fartsy Shooty Wooty picture #1. Shooters in the background, trap in the foreground.

Here's a quick Artsy Fartsy Shooty Wooty video taken from the same station as the above picture. This is the target that went up and away through the sun. Needless to say, many of us missed these targets.

And here's Artsy Fartsy Shooty Wooty video number two. There was a station that sent a really easy target out over a small pond and then a second target in a high overhead arch. You can see Wayne take out the first target, but I couldn't get the second target into frame. But what I did capture, which I thought was cool, is the splash of the many bits of shot hitting the water in the distance behind the now expired target. Kind of gives you and idea of what comes out the front end of a shotgun.

And finally, who's that handsome devil?

Look at that form! Relaxed, cheek gently resting on the comb of the shotgun, target lining up...

Too bad I missed.

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