Natural Revelation: Barnsley Gardens Skeet Tournament

A friend of mine from church is a teacher in a town just north of where I live. As part of an education fundraiser, his school paid for two entries into a skeet tournament at nearby Barnsley Gardens and Springbank Plantation. Surprisingly, none of the other teachers were up for a skeet shoot, so I was given the opportunity on quick notice to shoot as his partner. Even more surprising, he was ok with the fact that I've never really shot skeet, and am 100% amatuer. Now, I am not sure the difference between clays, trap, and skeet, but they tell me what we were shooting was in fact, skeet. Springbank had 12 stations set up on a course, similar to a golfcourse. At each station, two clays were launched, usually one at a time, but sometimes simultaneously. I don't mind admitting that I was certainly the least dangerous to the clay. Right about half of my clay pigeons went on to lead happy, healthy lives and will no doubt disintegrate naturally, at a ripe old age.

Fortunately, we were matched up with another pair of shooters. Older sportsmen, both of the guys carried our score and we ended up in 3rd place overall. One of the guys, who had hunted bird all over the world, gave me some tremendous instruction throughout the morning. As a former pistol instructor myself, I recognize a good shooting teacher, and he was certainly is one. All in all, it was a terrific morning, and I have now found another outdoor sport I really enjoy.