Commentary
Roland Leong, Managing Editor
May 3, 2009
Is Sporting Turning Into FITASC in the Woods?
The physical character of Mid Hudson Sporting Clays, New Paltz, NY, has changed. It has changed from the classic New England/Hudson Valley sporting clays venue to a suburban sprawl of FITASC in the woods.
Mid Hudson used to be an example of the classic New England/Hudson Valley sporting venue: trees, shrubs, foliage, rocks, tree stumps, logs, but mostly, tight quarters, smaller target windows through which to see clay birds, with a good mix of optical tricks to befuddle you to miss; but mostly targets that one could hit with a gun choked IC/IC, IC/MOD and quite often a course that one could shoot with a sub-gauge gun.
A recent visit to Mid-Hudson showed that seven of the sixteen sporting stands (1-5,11,14) have had their target areas cleared of all standing organic material to the bare ground.
Everything from the traps to where the targets land and a good distance around are clear-cut. There is no target that gets to fly between trees on its way to earth. No rabbit gets to bounce between logs. Completely cleaned out. You shoot at a lot of longer quartering and crossing targets across a cleared opening. Most of the remaining stands towards the end of the course that were left the same have been throwing long birds for some time. But that’s my whole point. Where there once was a mix of targets in a close setting, there are now mostly medium to long targets in an open setting.
Mid Hudson was great because it had (or could mimic) those classic New England/Hudson Valley sporting venue attributes. And it previously threw targets that challenged and befuddled shooters with optical imagery, speed changes and clever presentations, rather than sheer speed and distance. Now that has all changed. The majority of targets are long quartering or long crossing targets. The place now is more like Peconic River North.
Peconic River Sportsman’s Club in Manorville, NY out on Long Island, is situated on a flat, sandy piece of western LI. They don’t have elevation to work with, so they use mechanical lifts to elevate traps. I did say flat, and they can’t dig, so no valleys. They are limited with how much landscaping they do. They can’t plant and move trees and bushes, so to change things up, they throw long birds. That is Peconic River’s hallmark–Long birds and open fields with full lines of sight. Choke up and bring 7.5s and 1 1/8 oz loads. You’ll need all the law allows. Not all target presentations are like this, but a lot of them are. So when you go to Peconic, you can expect to shoot long birds. But there’s not much else they can do out there.
For Mid-Hudson, it wasn’t a change that was necessary. It already had a great venue. It had the Hudson Valley SC venue. The change to a long course in the woods is unwarranted and it’s a change that I’m not certain is going to work for the sport because I’m not sure people want sporting clays to evolve into an open field, long target game. I'm not certain that everyone is ready for Sporting Clays to become FITASC in a cleared out woodlands field.
I know. I get it. New owners. It is their place. It is their money. I don’t see the enthusiasm for it and I don’t see the crowds. Maybe it is just the bad economy. Maybe it is also the change in targets. Maybe it is also the increase in shooting fees to $48. Maybe it is all of the above. Mostly, I think it’s the change in the venue, and the people I talk to don’t care for it. Well, if you go, you may want to choke up, bring 7.5s and you might want to bring the 1 1/8 oz loads. I’m not sure if you’ll like shooting your sub-gauges there.