The cold and rain was not a significant problem except I left my heavy wool sweater in my vehicle when Gary picked me up at our usual meeting spot. After shooting the 5-Stand the rain turned to a downpour so everyone huddled. My hands were numb and I was well past chilled. Finally, it cleared enough to get our squad on its way. Waiting for the trapper and scorekeeper, the rain began again. We were relieved when the 4-wheeler pulled up, only to discover he had the wrong score cards.
Stepping into the box, I was still trying to center myself. At my call, the split pair raced down the hill. My gun doubled on the first target and it may have been from cold fingers. A bit shaken and wondering what the next pair would bring, I reloaded. All went well through the next three pairs until someone noticed that the trapper wasn’t throwing the targets on the menu.
I stepped out of the box.
We all started over.
At the next field, cold and preoccupied with my frustrations, I lost track of the target order. I was prepared for a simultaneous pair when the trapper, (who’d thrown the wrong targets on the previous field) mistakenly threw the first bird of a report pair. I held my fire and questioned the presentation. A report pair was the correct presentation. Lost, lost. I broke my own rule; always shoot first and ask questions later. And so it went.
I’m a firm believer in finding something positive in your round, even when it may seem impossible. Determined to learn something from the experience, I processed the day’s events while driving home and well into the next day.
I’m not proud of what I uncovered but I felt it worth a second look.....
***
This Sporting Clays Article was previously published in Sporting Clays Magazine by Dan Schindler in September 2005.
The Paragon School of Sporting is now making available the remainder of this article as well as numerous others, available for download on The Paragon School of Sporting Website:(http://www.paragonschool.com/
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Sporting clays continues to be an elegant sport born of long tradition, fulfilling our wingshooting passion to experience the wing and shot. Feather and clay, inescapably tied, grants us so many learning opportunities to hone our skills, a path of personal growth that affords us a refreshing, unbiased look at ourselves. Time and again, my students have learned how entirely more capable they are than once thought. The American sporting clays shooter can honestly and proudly say, in a very short period, he has indeed advanced to take his rightful place among the best in the world. And, let's not forget, no one is having more fun out here than you and I are.
The events, times, places and persons in my articles are all true. While I changed a name here and there, 100% of the information came from my experiences with you. Each tournament, each lesson, each experience with you generated the material for my work. I am grateful.
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