There is a reason why sporting clays is sometimes described as playing golf with a shotgun. Like golfers who switch clubs for various shots, sporting clays competitors often switch chokes from station to station. This applies mostly to shotgunners who take our newest clay target game quite seriously. Casual shooters like myself frequent sporting clays facilities because it's a great way to keep the eye sharp between hunting seasons. For this reason I seldom switch from one choke to another when changing stations.

A soft rubber insert in the comb of the stock soaks up recoil before it reaches the shooter's cheek. The insert comes in three heights--standard, medium, and high--and is easily removed and installed.

When shooting an over-under or side-by-side double, I most often use Skeet or Improved Cylinder in one barrel and Modified in the other. When shooting a pump or autoloader I usually split the difference with Light Modified, same as I usually do when hunting. Some of the stations in the game of skeet are excellent practice for the pass-shooting of doves, and shooting trap is a good way to stay tuned for going-away shots at pheasants on the rise, but only sporting clays throws in many other shots as well.

The names of the shooting stations say it all: Springing Teal, Streaking Chukar, Flushing Quail, Rabbit Attack, Diving Doves, Going Away Ringnecks, Sneaky Snipe, and Runaway Rail. Sporting clays will never replace hunting, but it is the next best thing when hunting is not available. There are other good things about sporting clays as well.

SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer:
Model:	Benelli SuperSport Semiautomatic Shotgun
Operation:	Inertia Driven
Caliber:	.308 Winchester
Gauge:	12
Barrel Length:	28, 30 inches
Overall Length:	49.6 inches (28-inch barrel)
Weight, empty	7.2 pounds (28-inch barrel)
Length Of Pull:	14 3/8 inches
Safety:	Two position
Sights:	Red bar
Stock:	ComforTech carbon fiber
Magazine Capacity:	4 rounds
Finish:	Two-tone receiver, blued barrel, black stock
Price:	$1735

The building of a trap or skeet field usually intrudes on nature, but a really good sporting clays course becomes part of it. Course designers who know their stuff do a great job of utilizing the terrain in its existing, natural state. By leaving them undisturbed and at their natural best, lakes, streams, fields, hills, ravines, and other landmarks are used to their fullest.

All the planning and design efforts pay off by giving the sport a hunting atmosphere that simply cannot be captured by other clay target games. If you've seen one skeet or trap field, you have seen them all; however, I have shot sporting clays in many states from coast to coast, and no two courses were alike.

The various target presentations will have a similar look regardless of where you are--a springing teal looks about the same in Georgia as it does in California--but subtle imaginative changes in layout can make a big difference. I'll never forget rabbits on a course in Pennsylvania that emerged from the end of a hollow log; I had to be on my toes to hit one before it disappeared behind a mound of dirt.

Target Sizes Are Challenging
The regulation-size target thrown in skeet and trap is also used in sporting clays, but it is joined by other targets of various sizes. Especially challenging is the mini, which measures only 60mm in diameter compared to 110mm for the target trap and skeet shooters are accustomed to breaking. The first time you try hitting one you'll immediately understand why it's often referred to as "the flying aspirin tablet." You need plenty of pattern density for that one, and I've found No. 9 shot with Modified choke to be just the ticket.

The SuperSport has three interchangeable recoil pads that offer three options in pull length: 13.5, 14, and 14.375 inches. The 14.375-inch pull length is standard.

Another target called the battue is the same diameter as the skeet target, but it is much thinner. This thin profile makes it difficult to hit when it's launched, but the shooter who has the patience to wait until it turns broadside in flight will find it not that difficult to break. Then there is Elmer Fudd's nemesis, that "wascally wabbit."