A Sharp Shooter???

Well no, not exactly....

For the past couple of years, Kevin has spent his funny money down the street at the shooting range. He always thought he was a pistol loving lone ranger, but turns out he likes to shoot little clay targets. For those of you that have no idea what sort of image you are supposed to have in your head. I will provide you with one:

Sort of resembles a flower pot being blown up in mid-air. Well yes, that is exactly what it is like. Here is one intact: So, this what men that don't really like killing God's animals go do with their guns. They blow up flower pots and call it skeet. I tried to figure out were the name "skeet" came from and couldn't figure it out--- possibly from "OH SKEET, I missed another little flower pot saucer." All kidding aside, I have to admit is fun and quite challenging.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, let me catch you up:

Imagine standing between two small houses that alternate shooting out these little clay saucers. You start really close to one house and move around spots like on a compass. You end up shooting from eight spots with a total of 25 shots. One house shoots the targets high and one shoots them low, but thankfully none of them come at your face.

So as you guessed it, Kevin took me the other day. I guess it was a date because he used his funny money to pay for it. So sweet. Since we were the only two there, they let me practice just shooting the targets thrown from the high house without moving around the spots. I got 10 out of 25. Not bad for someone who has NEVER shot a shotgun in her life. Then we decided to do another round, but this time we did it correctly (moved around the spots). I got 6 and Kevin got 19. Kevin did tell me that he has seen people score worse, so I guess I should feel good.

I sort of wanted to take home a piece of a target that I shot up and maybe scrapbook it, but was too embarrassed to ask. So, I just settled for a massively sore shoulder. Shooting a shotgun is like getting punched over and over. I was tender for five days.

So, I did a little research to prepare for my post on the history of skeet, and to satisfy yours and my curiousity:

It all started on the ground of the Glen Rock Kennels in the town of Andover, Massachusetts in 1920. It was there and then that a small group of upland game hunters, including the late C. E. Davies, proprietor of the Glen Rock Kennels, his son Henry W., and the late William H. Foster, all of Andover, were shooting at clay targets as a means of obtaining wing-shooting practice with their favorite upland guns. Their shooting gradually developed into a regular program that gave each shooter the same series of shots so that the competition, which was inevitable, might be even.
Originally, the arrangement was a complete circle of twenty-five yards radius with the circumference marked off like the face of a clock. The trap was set at "12 o'clock" and was set to throw the targets over "6 o'clock". The competitive program consisted of shooting two shots from each of the twelve stations. The shell that was left over from a box was used, first as a stunt, to shoot at an incomer from the center of the circle. This later proved to be a shot offering real snap-shooting practice and has since developed into the plan of Station Eight shots of the regulation program.
"Shooting around the clock" as it was informally called, had most of the elements of modern skeet shooting. But, a commonplace incident then occurred that had a distinct bearing on the present day program. In "shooting around the clock", shots were fired to all points of the compass, until a neighbor started a chicken farm in a lot adjoining the kennels. That put a stop to shooting in that direction. Foster solved the problem by producing a second trap and placing it at "6 o'clock" so that it would throw its target over "twelve". This gave the shooter the same problems as were found in the original clock face, but reduced the danger area by half.

I do have to tell you that within twenty four hours of shooting, Kevin had me at Gander Mountain trying on shotguns. Seriously, can you see me paying $1000 for a shotgun? You better not. All in all, I had a great time learning a hobby that my husband has come to love. I know we will go back. I have entertained thoughts in my head of one day beating him at his own game....hee hee hee!