Clay Target Q&A
With Russell Mark, Olympic gold and silver medallist
Questions: russell@corporateshootingstars.com.au
Q I enjoy your monthly column to the point where I am now contemplating joining a clay target club just to have some recreational fun and maybe in the future join the occasional competition. I have enjoyed many forms of shotgun shooting over the past year, but I was wondering what you believe the best type of clay target event would be for me to join. I have heard and am concerned about people suggesting shooting competitions are in trouble in Australia because attendance at clubs has been on the decline for the past 30 years.
Phillip Coates, NSW
A Thank you, Phillip, I appreciate your comments. The SSAA, ACTA and both Field & Game bodies offer specific forms of clay shooting that can be enjoyed at a wide range of levels. Have a think about what you want from the sport, where you want to end up and most of all, what discipline you enjoy the most.
The second part of your question, whether clay target shooting is on the decline in Australia, is widely debatable. I would suggest it is not. There is no doubt that the number of competitors at weekly or monthly club Down The Line (DTL) Trap competitions is less in 2010 than they were 30 years ago. This would be a fairly accurate statement for the majority of clubs in Australia that have been in operation for that length of time. However, I would suggest that the number of clay targets actually shot each month for the greater percentage of these clubs is actually way up. This is largely due to one factor - practice.
Some 30 years ago, it was nearly impossible to shoot a practice clay target anywhere during the middle of the week. These days, most clubs in all capital cities and larger provincial centres have at least one day during the week set aside for practice and many clubs also have either Saturday or Sunday as a practice day. For example, the club where I do most of my training, the Werribee-Victorian Clay Target Club in Melbourne, is open four days a week solely for practice and one day or night a week for competition. Without income from these practice times, the clubs would undoubtedly struggle.
The best way to make money at a gun club is to throw targets. Clay target clubs have identified that there are a great many shooters, such as yourself, who simply want to go and shoot clay targets for fun and don’t really want to be put under the pressure of an organised competition.
Another reason why numbers may be down at some club competitions today, as opposed to events held several decades ago, is simply, as I have previously suggested, that there is a huge variety of clay target disciplines for people to choose from today. On any given weekend, a shotgunner can take their selection from the Olympic and domestic events offered by the ACTA, two types of Sporting Clays competitions and on top of this, the variety of practices offered by the SSAA, which include events as diverse as black powder and vintage side-by-side shotgun shooting days. Every type of taste is catered for at a range somewhere these days, compared to basically the standard DTL and Skeet competitions that were on offer by the ACTA and affiliated clubs until the 1980s.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the data supporting this theory; it can really only be done by calculating the total number of clay target sales annually within Australia. However, I have no doubt that it is more in 2010 than it was 30 years ago. If anyone has an accurate idea, I would be happy to hear from them, as it would be a handy gauge to judge the health of our sport.