It was a chilly 48 degree fall morning in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, the leaves were just beginning to change color and the brisk wind sporadically blew them off the trees. I bundled up, wrapped a scarf around my neck and started to walk from my lodging at the Inn at Pocono Manor to my adventure location for the day at the neighboring Manor Sports.
During the scenic walk on the million dollar mile, a street filled with grand homes along the golf course, my nose turned a Rudolph shade of red and my fingers felt like frozen french fries.
But, that would all be forgotten once I had a 20 gauge shot gun in my hands.
Today, Mike and Loretta at Manor Sports would be teaching me how to skeet shoot, a sport that involved mechanically propelling clay disks into the air and then attempting to shoot them down.
Hopefully, this lesson will include me actually hitting a clay disk or, dare I wish, two.
We loaded my shot gun on a golf cart and headed out to the skeet shooting range, which was all mine at the moment.
Lucky for me, but even luckier for the potential folks who would have been at risk around me.
I had exactly one round of bullets, 25, to accomplish this bucket list goal of hitting a clay pigeon and for the first ten shots it wasn’t looking too promising.
Being that I am not coordinated, the numerous amounts of directions were baffling my concentration. “Put the safety on, load the bullet with the metal facing you, don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.”
Don’t want to end up with a missing big toe or anything.
“Put the base of the gun high on your shoulder, keep your cheek pressed against the gun, your head should be one with the gun, you are its eyes. Close one eye to aim, turn off the safety and remember to say “pull” to release the clay pigeon and, of course, shoot the gun.” Ugh.
My shots were too high, too low, too far to the left and so on.
After painfully watching my failures, Mike set one clay pigeon on the ground and told me to shoot it to see if my eye aim was off balance. Pressure.
I hit it dead center. That wasn’t the problem.
He then told me that after I said pull, count to one thousand one and then shoot. I immediately hit my first one after this tip.
There were two more dead pigeons due to my expert shooting skill and I was thrilled. 3 out of 25, 4 if you count the one on the ground, was a complete success in my eyes. Overall, it was interesting to try something a little bit different. Shooting can be a lot of fun if you are looking for a new activity to try as a family. Just remember to make sure any children are aware of the importance of gun safety. You can learn more here about gun safety for children.
The next morning I woke up with an immense feeling of accomplishment, and also a baseball size bruise on my upper arm.
Manor Sports is not only for skeet shooting, it is also filled with bucket list activities for the entire family: archery, mountain biking, sledding, fishing, cross country skiing, etc. For more information check out Manor Sports.
yeah that kickback on the shotgun. i had such a huge bruise when we went skeet shooting too!
Funny, because it didn’t feel as bad as the bruise looked!
Hi Annette, this looks like a fab day out! I’ve actually just gone and booked something similar so it was great to hear how your day panned out :-)
It was a fun, and sometimes frustrating, day! I need to try again to see if I can hit more of the pigeons. Good luck!
What a great story! I am so glad that you were able to shoot those last four pigeons. It really is a great feeling. My family loves to go shooting. My daughter has especially enjoyed it. I have been talking to my husband about getting her her own gear, and maybe even her own gun.
It did feel absolutely amazing each time I was able to hit one of those clay pigeons! I could see how it would be a fun activity for the entire family.
I’ve done this many times…a lot of fun!
Only twice so far for me, buy I’d love to do it again so I can get better!
Such a fun thing to do! I love going to the gun range, I always feel so accomplished when I am able to actually make contact with the target. Thanks so much for sharing!
Your comments about being elated with the victory of sorts are pretty amusing. It’s nice that you found a positive way to look at the situation and kept your sense of humor.
The first time I went skeet shooting, I had a hard time shooting the targets too, but once you learn the tricks and tips, you quickly pick up the skill. Sounds like you had fun!
I definitely need more practice!
Such a great thing to do! I I also love shooting, I generally feel so expert when I am ready to really reach the objective. Much obliged such a great amount for sharing!