Clay pigeon shooting is a popular activity at resorts and lodges worldwide. If you’re looking to add it to your establishment, you first have to decide whether you will offer sporting clays, trap shooting, or skeet shooting.
Trapshooting features one launch machine and a single shooting location. Skeet ups the ante by adding a second launch machine and flight trajectories. These cause the two targets to converge midair. Because both of these variants have formalized and sometimes rigid rules, they tend to attract a more “professional” or “serious” audience.
Sporting Clays vs. Skeet and Trap Shooting
Sporting clay shooting differs from skeet and trap shooting. It features multiple stations, and participants move through the course similar to a game of golf. Courses can feature between 10 and 15 stations. Each station has launch machines that simulate a wider variety of conditions than either trap or skeet shooting. These conditions can even include stations that simulate other animals, like rabbits bouncing along the ground. That means that the target audience for sporting clay shoots tends to skew more recreational than trap and skeet.
In addition to course fees, lodges can also offer equipment rentals. Clay pigeon shooters need eye and ear protection. Also, they need shell pouches to carry their ammunition between stations. Lastly, they’ll need access to the appropriate shotguns and ammunition. Depending on what kind of shooting you offer, you may also want to provide gloves, vests, and in the case of sporting clay shooting, you’ll need clay carts to help your workers move the required equipment from station to station. And, of course, you’ll need a steady supply of clays to resell to your guests.
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Even if you don’t offer hunting at a lodge, adding sporting clays can be a high-impact way to improve customer experiences without breaking the bank. Because trap, skeet, and sporting clay courses have different space requirements, most lodges have the open space needed to add it to their roster of activities.
