Advice on fairly local places for a newbie trying shotgun sports...

[haroldg48]

I'm a long time shooter and have spent a lot of time shooting pistol and rifles of all sorts. One thing I have done only once is tried shotgunning, specifically skeet. I sucked.

As I get older, I find myself feeling too old to probably be any good at IDPA or USPSA and getting bored with just shooting static targets at pistol ranges. I'm interested in trying to learn something new, specifically about shotgun sports. I've noticed a few places within an hour or so of my home in Clayton that have sporting clays and 5-stand ranges and seem open to helping new, completely inexperienced folks like me.

I'm looking for advice or any suggestions and/or personal experiences with places I can get to in 60-90 minutes who would be happy to have a new person like me try to start up shotgun sports. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Infamous1]

Kidds shooting sports
Deep River sporting clays

 

[haroldg48]

Kidds shooting sports
Deep River sporting clays

Thanks! So they both are new person friendly?

 

[Infamous1]

So they both are new person friendly?

Yes sir. Deep River actually has coaches that will teach you the "way". I went to Kidds as a total newb and they explained everything to me and set me loose. I am a screw up learner.....I learn by screwing up.

 

[haroldg48]

Yes sir. Deep River actually has coaches that will teach you the "way". I went to Kidds as a total newb and they explained everything to me and set me loose. I am a screw up learner.....I learn by screwing up.

Thanks a lot. I think I'll try them out! My worse flaw (according to me) is that I shy away from things I don't do well, so I never learn new things or get better at the ones I'm mediocre at.

 

[Burt Gummer]

I learn by screwing up.

I wish I did 😂

 

[dman24]

Thanks! So they both are new person friendly?

Deep river is great with new people, haven’t been to Kidds yet. The first time I went to deep river they sent a staff guy to pull the targets for me and my buddy. He gave us some tips about where we were missing the targets and helped us along. Now they just give us a remote and say to have a good time. The entire staff is friendly and it’s reasonably priced. We go about once a month typically and have a great time. They also offer one on one coaching if you decide to get some extra assistance, I will be getting my wife some help next time we go.

 

[haroldg48]

Deep river is great with new people, haven’t been to Kidds yet. The first time I went to deep river they sent a staff guy to pull the targets for me and my buddy. He gave us some tips about where we were missing the targets and helped us along. Now they just give us a remote and say to have a good time. The entire staff is friendly and it’s reasonably priced. We go about once a month typically and have a great time. They also offer one on one coaching if you decide to get some extra assistance, I will be getting my wife some help next time we go.

Thanks much! I'm planning on trying both soon. When I do, I'll update the thread.