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Wingshooting clinics scheduled at Decatur Gun Club

Clinic sessions planned for Aug. 24-25 and Sept. 29

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[July 30, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Decatur Gun Club are sponsoring wingshooting clinics for hunters on Aug. 24 and 25 and for women and young shooters on Sept. 29 at the Decatur Gun Club.

The Hunters Wingshooting Clinic at the Decatur Gun Club consists of two four-hour wingshooting sessions each day. Morning sessions run from 8 until noon, and afternoon sessions run from 1 to 5. The clinic sessions will be taught by instructors certified by both the National Sporting Clays Association and the IDNR.

The clinics are designed primarily to improve hunters' wingshooting skills. Hunters interested in improving their ability to hit moving targets with a shotgun are encouraged to attend. However, these wingshooting clinics are not limited only to hunters. Anyone from 16 years of age and older who wants to improve their shotgun shooting skills can attend. In addition, participants will have fun while shooting with friends or new acquaintances with similar shooting abilities. The fee is $35 per participant.

Hunters' wingshooting clinics are hands-on and include extensive live fire at a variety of clay target presentations on specially designed sporting clays courses. The clay target presentations represent typical hunting scenarios. From ducks and doves to pheasants, quail and rabbits, hunters will find clay target presentations that resemble their favorite, as well as their most troublesome shots.

The sporting clays course at the Decatur Gun Club will be overlaid onto the Decatur Gun Club's skeet and trap fields for the two-day clinic. The participant-to-instructor ratio is 4-to-1. Typically participants are squadded with others of similar shooting ability.

At the start of each session, there will be a short briefing, approximately 15 minutes, about shotgun safety and handling and on-range safety.

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The IDNR/Decatur Gun Club's Youth/Women's Wingshooting Clinic on Sept. 29 is an introductory clinic designed for boys, girls and women interested in learning to shoot or improving their ability to shoot a shotgun at a moving target. Boys and girls in the 10-15 age group and women are eligible to participate. There is a nominal $10 fee to register for the Youth/Women's Wingshooting Clinic.

The youth and women's clinic is about learning to safely shoot a shotgun at a moving target with reasonable reliability. The clinic starts with a shotgun safety presentation at 11:30 a.m., followed by a short, small-group, hands-on shotgun orientation session with each group's wingshooting instructor. These clinics are taught by instructors certified by both the National Sporting Clays Association and the IDNR.

Lunch is provided for participants. Following lunch, the afternoon is spent in the field shooting clay targets until about 4 p.m. Besides learning to safely handle and shoot a shotgun, participants learn that being skilled at shooting clay targets is a lot of fun.

Advance registration is required. Registration forms for the IDNR/Decatur Gun Club Wingshooting Clinics can be accessed at http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/
landmgt/programs/wingshooting/
WingshootingDates.htm
. Click on the date you plan to attend to access the appropriate forms, and follow the instructions on the forms.

[Text from Illinois Department of Natural Resources file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]

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