Shoot Skeet or Skeet Shoot, it is a matter of Schematics!

After four nights of camping at the Hemlock Fairgrounds we finished all the required items for the fair before we headed on our Great Canadian Adventure. We headed a bit further west, about seven miles to be precise! We moved to the Conesus Lake Sportsmen’s Club, where they were holding their 32^nd Annual Conesus Lake Open Skeet Shoot. Oh, you are saying … I didn’t know you and Charlie were shooters, well we aren’t but a large group of our friends are! When you want to spend time with your friends, you go where they are! We spent Friday and Saturday night here and learned a great deal about the sport! The Conesus Lake Open is listed as one of the top 100 shoots in New York; it is an NSSA (National Skeet Shooting Association) Event.

So, some of you are saying, what is skeet? I said the same thing. My dad was into guns and shooting, but he always shot pistols. So I understand indoor ranges and matches. But skeet differs from all other shooting sports, because it was originally developed to improve hunting in the field. Later, due to its growing popularity, it developed into a competitive sport.

Its development was actually brought about, when the rural areas began growing into large, massive, industrial cities. Hunters found it necessary to travel longer distances in order to find hunting grounds. They soon discovered the game was no longer as plentiful as it once was. They soon began to realize, some form of game conservation would have to be enacted. Eventually, it was, with game seasons, and limits, imposed on all hunters. Because of the shortened seasons, hunters were finding it harder to get enough practice in to become a better shot. Some hunters turned to trap shooting to fine tune their hunting abilities. However, this was no help because of the lack of incoming and crossing shots.

In 1920, Charles Davis, the owner of a dog kennel and an avid hunter rectified this. He devised a way to improve his field shooting using an idea based on a field, laid out in a 50 yard circle. He called it “Shooting Around the Clock.” Around the circle, he placed 12 shooting stations, with a single trap, located at station 12. Shooters would fire two shots from each station, and one from the center, equaling a box of shells, or 25 shots. This layout provided almost every type of shot a hunter would encounter in the field. All went well, until the owner of the adjoining property complained of falling shot on his land. To avoid any future problems, Davis cut his shooting circle in half, and put a second trap at the opposite end of his shooting field. This became the birth of the modern day skeet field.

This hunting practice field became so popular; it soon developed into a popular shooting game. Eventually, it was renamed Skeet, which is the Scandinavian word for Shoot. In 1926, the first National Skeet Championships were held, and shortly after, the National Skeet Shooting Association was formed. Today NSSA has approximately 15,000 members and 700 affiliated member clubs, it is the largest organization in the world dedicated solely to the sport of skeet shooting.

The Conesus Lake Sportsmen’s Club is dedicated to the development of the sport at all levels of participation and vows to create an atmosphere of healthy competition and meaningful fellowship within its membership. Shooters who want to compete can enter fun shoots and skeet shooting tournaments. They also offer members a recreational target shooting sport that will strengthen hunting and gun safety skills and extend “hunting” seasons.

At the Conesus Lake Open, matches are conducted for all gun gauges, and under skeet’s universal classification system all shooters compete against others of like ability. They held matches for five gauges of shotguns, 12, 20, 24, 28 and 410. All guns must be capable of firing two shots since four sets of doubles are included in the regulation 25-shot round. The competitive Doubles Events, the gun may be a double barrel (side-by-side or over-

and-under), a pump gun or an automatic, depending on the shooter’s preference. Our friend, Pete is at the event, not to shoot, which he does often, but instead he is here to sell items to shooters and repair their guns. He is a subject matter expert on skeet guns, and he is a great gunsmith! They definitely shoot in all kinds of weather! Friday was a perfect day, a bit warm but blue skies and a little breeze. Saturday started out well, but slowly the

skies kept getting darker and let out a few drops here and there. By early evening, the rains had set in and were accompanied by thunder and lightning. The lightning put a hold on the shooting and brought all the shooters back into the club. Twenty minutes after every lightning sighting, they tried again but never were very successful as the lightning returned. They were able to finish the 12 guage shoot out at 8pm and rescheduled the rest of them for earlier Sunday morning. Can’t start before 8am, just in case the neighbors want to sleep in! So, breakfast will be served starting at 7am, will you be up!?

Let me tell you a little more about the organization holding the event this weekend. The Conesus Lake Sportsmen's Club is called “…… a club with an attitude.” Interesting name! Well, I think I figured it out. On the wall of the club is this poster.

The Winner is always part of the answer; The Loser is always part of the problem.

The Winner is always has a program; The Loser always has an excuse.

The Winner says, "Let me do it for you; The Loser says;" That is not my job."

The Winner sees an answer for every problem; The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

When a Winner makes a mistake, he says," I was wrong"; When a Loser makes a mistake, he says," It wasn't my fault."

The Winner says," It may be difficult but it is possible"; The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."

From spending the past few days with many members of this organization, I can say that the poster speaks volumes about the members of this club. I believe that in this organization you will find the finest fellowship of sportsmen and women in the world. This club provides a rewarding recreational adventure where the best of sportsmanship prevails. You are welcomed into this unique organization with open arms and they all are winners, in my book.

Sunday we leave the comfortable surroundings of this area of the United States where we raised our family and head to Canada, where our “Great Canadian Camping Two Lane Adventure” begins.