Collegiate shotgunners tackle American Skeet in San Antonio

ACUI shotgun tournament brings hundreds of shooters from dozens of colleges

San Antonio - Heading back to the skeet fields at the NSSA-NSCA National Shooting Complex, hundreds of collegiate shotgun shooters participated in today's American Skeet Championships.

Originating as a way to practice wing-shooting skills for bird hunting, skeet quickly grew into its own competitive sport. Practically the same as International Skeet (shot on Thursday), American Skeet is a little easier and tends to see higher scores.

Shooters still compete on a half-circle field with eight stations; seven along the curve and one in the center of the straightedge. The squad of shooters stays together, taking turns at a station before advancing to the next.

At each corner of the semicircle is a house that launches clay pigeons from varying heights; the high house at ten feet and the low house at three. Despite the differences in houses, both throw their targets to the same height and distance.

As the shooters progress through the stations, they will face different combinations of either one house throwing a target, or both houses throwing targets simultaneously. Clays must be broken before they reach the ground in order to be registered as a hit.

Shooters will need to adjust their lead on the target - aiming ahead of a moving target to account for the speed and angle it's traveling - from station to station, creating the challenge of attaining a high score.

And you're only allowed one shot at the target, so if you miss, that's it.

Unlike the International version, there are no finals for American Skeet. There is, however, a pseudo-finals when ties are involved.

For instance, there are five men currently tied with scores of a perfect 100. They (and anyone else who shoots a 100) will need to engage in a sudden-death tiebreaker after everyone has finished their regular rounds of skeet.

In a way it can be more exciting than a final but, conversely, it isn't always guaranteed to happen. As is the case with the women, where a sole shooter is leading with a 99.

<img style="border: 1px solid #000000" src="http://www.nrablog.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f3%2f2013_acui_american_skeet_bethel.jpg" alt="Bethel University shooters at the ACUI Clay Target Championships in San Antonio, Texas" title="Bethel University shooters at the ACUI Clay Target Championships in San Antonio, Texas/></p> <p> And, as usual, Lindenwood is leading the American Skeet team race with Lindenwood #1's 490 out of 500 holding three points on the Texas A&M team. </p> <p> Today is far from over through, as there are more events left, not to mention gun raffles, later tonight. </p>

---

Original Page: http://www.nrablog.com/post.aspx?id=d805ea6e-cbcc-4215-a9a6-190b2cb86883

Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader

**********************************************************
Electronic Mail is not secure, may not be read every day, and should not be used for urgent or sensitive issues