On Friday 7th June 2019 I had my first experience with a shotgun. BASC Ladies Shooting organised a Novice Ladies Day at my local shooting ground, Mid-Norfolk for all ladies that want to get into shooting but don't know where to start - aka me.
For the past year I have been hoping that one day I would finally have a go at clay pigeon shooting and Friday was the day all my dreams came true. It was a fantastic day organised and hosted by both BASC and Mid-Norfolk and I can't wait to attend future events.
Events of The Day...
The day started around 9am ish with a cup of tea and a freshly made bacon roll. We all sat together, around 16+ of us who majority had never met one another before but we all got on so well which was the best start for the day. We were separated into groups of 5 or so depending on our confidence level and were talked through the safety and rules by our instructor for the day. Our gun for the day was a 12bore Beretta.
We were led through the ground to our first stand of the day which was a typical straight ahead shot, no tricks or magic shot needed here. This was the perfect first stand for us never had shot before and was a good start. We used score cards and upon first shuffle, I was picked out first. Super nervous but extremely excited I put on my glasses and ear defenders and took up the shotgun. Our instructor was a really nice guy and a very good teacher. I had 5 chances to hit this clay, a situation I had never, ever been in before but I took a deep breathe and did my best. I ended up missing the first two, I was getting used to the stance, positioning of the gun and the kickback but for the next 3, I hit them all. I was so shook up, couldn't believe I had just shot my 3rd clay I had ever shot plus 2 more! Took ages for the shakes to go away and to be honest with you, they didn't until about the 3rd stand and by then we only had one stand left!
Our second stand of the day was a rabbit simulator. The first trial run he showed us of what we were going to hit I completely missed it flew past so quick! However, by the time it got to my turn, I hit 4/5 only missing the first one! Couldn't believe it at all, a quick moving target and I hit almost all of them.
Next stand was a very realistic drive and this was to simulate a bird flying over the top of you. A very tricky shot! The clay was flying so quick and we had the weight of the gun to deal with plus trying not to topple over backwards following the clay. On the first two shots I was too slow and couldn't keep up following so on the 3rd shot I wasted no time and shot it pretty much the minute it came into the air and I hit it but missed on the 4th and 5th. Still very happy to have been the only one to hit on that drive.
Lastly, the 4th stand was the clay flying straight out in front of you from where you stood into trees. By this time my arm was tired and I was struggling to get the gun comfortable into my shoulder, however I hit the 1st one, missed the second, did a cracking shot on the 3rd and missed the 4th and 5th. Once again, I was absolute chuffed that I smashed it (quite literally) having been my first time holding a shotgun let alone shooting anything! On the 5th shot I was prepared for the shot at all and ended up getting a kickback directly into my arm muscle which has since bruised up terribly but in no way am/was I in pain or have any complaints to the way I shot and performed that day.
Once we had finished our shots for the day, we headed back to the club house and enjoyed another cup of tea, a slice of cake (yum) and a chin wag with all the ladies who were also equally buzzed from the day. We all made friends that day and enjoyed the experience together.
Caesar Guerini was also there with a pop up display of a range of stunningly beautiful shotguns which we were able to hold and get a feel for.
All in all, as I'm sure you can tell from this blog post and if you follow me on instagram, I had an absolutely INCREDIBLE day! I seriously can't wait to go and get that adrenaline rush again!
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and enjoyed reading about my day first time clay shooting!
Much Love,
Jazmine x