By By CHRIST PROKOS
Staff Writer
The “BOOM” of shotgun shells you may hear reverberating through the woods next weekend along U.S. Highway 17 north of Washington will not be the signal for an early start to deer season.
Sporting clays, however, should seek cover as the 2010 North Carolina State Championship will be coming to Hunter’s Pointe for a three-day run Friday through Sunday.
Roughly 150 shooters are expected to take aim at the clays, or “birds,” during the three-day competition.
The top shooters in each class will be competing for one of seven Remington shotguns donated by the North Carolina Sporting Clays Association.
The tournament begins Friday with a 100-bird preliminary round and 50-bird rounds for 20-gauge, 28-gauge, .410-gauge, pump-action and side-by-side shotguns.
The 200-bird main event will be held Saturday and Sunday along with a 100-bird FITASC contest and a 50-bird, five-stand shoot.
For Hunter’s Pointe, this will be the fifth time it has hosted the state championship since 2002.
“It used to be a one-day shoot,” said co-owner Lori Frazier. “We kind of started North Carolina to consider this multiple day event. There are about three clubs big enough to host a multi-day event.”
For the 100-bird shoots, contestants begin at one of 14 shooting fields, or stations, and attempt to hit either six or eight clay birds launched from two traps. Upon completion, they advance to the next station. When all 14 stations have been concluded, they will have shot at 100 birds for up to 100 points.
“I hate to make a golf reference because I don’t play the sport, but it’s like golf with a shotgun,” Frazier said.
Frazier and her husband/co-owner, Chuck, relocate the traps overnight to give participants a more unexpected look on the second day of the tournament.
Sporting clays is a sport that has seen incremental growth in popularity in recent years with some colleges and high schools now forming clubs.
“The minute you say ‘guns,’ people think that something bad will happen,” Lori Frazier said. “We are the most safety-conscious sport. When the shooters are not in the shooting stand, the guns are open to see there are no shells in the gun.
“In the last five years, we are starting to see more and more schools getting shooting teams and they travel to big competitions. The big thing is focusing on the safety part.”
For more information on the 2010 North Carolina Sporting Clays State Championship, go to http://www.hunterspointesportingclays.com.
Just the facts
WHAT: 2010 North Carolina Sporting Clays State Championship
WHERE: Hunter’s Pointe Shooting Clays, 506 Decoy Drive, Washington. North on U.S. Highway 17 on the right-hand side past Northgate.
WHEN: Friday through Sunday, July 30-Aug. 1.
FRIDAY SCHEDULE: 100-bird preliminary at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.; 50-bird shoot from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE: Rotations for 200-bird main event at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 100-bird FITASC shoot at 9 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2:40 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 50-bird five-stand shoot begins on the hour starting at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
GRAND PRIZES: Seven Remington shotguns donated by the North Carolina Sporting Clays Association.
MORE DETAILS: http://www.hunterspointesportingclays.com or call 252-975-2529.