DELAWARE, Ohio — Clay targets are challenging, yet quite the experience.
“I clearly remember the first hunting trip with my family at age seven so I mean, I’m approaching 30 years shooting shotguns," said Joe King, the range and training manager at Black Wing Shooting Center in Delaware.
King often spends his time on the outdoor range.
“The clay target sports is what we shoot outside. We have trap, skeet, sporting clays and five stand,” he said.
King said safety fundaments are important for shooters of all skill levels.
“Safety is boiled down to two really simple things: One is keep the muzzle of your firearm in the air or downrange at all times and you keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to call for the targets. If you do those two things all day long, there’s a 0% chance of anything bad happening. It’s that simple,” he said.
In sporting clays, all the targets are thrown in a different presentation and you “have a very short window to figure out how you’re going to break these targets. So, there’s a problem-solving aspect to it that I really enjoy and that’s the challenge to me.”
If you want to get started in the shooting community, King recommends taking at least a one-hour lesson with an experienced shooter.
“It’s going to give you a huge advantage without really developing bad habits and really wasting money missing targets and things.”
Black Wing Shooting Center is a great place for beginners. The facility offers gun rentals, training, concealed carry classes, community events, and more. For more information, you can visit blackwingsc.com.