It's never been all that appealing to me because of some "perceived" flaws (like I knew anything?) and I'm embarrassed to say that I'd never actually done it before. Went to a range yesterday with a past president of the Colorado Skeet Association and had myself a fairly thorough lesson and...I came away with a new appreciation of the game. I'm still a bigger fan of sporting clays (because of all the great exercise and gunning practice that gives for actual hunting), but for crossing shots and the quick response on doubles...I can see where it should be a useful and helpful exercise.
The standard criticism of the sport I'd always heard from mostly ne'er-do-wells (such as myself in my rugged youth) was that it was a "grooved game" shot by soft old men that didn't translate-well to actual hunting conditions. This of-course from people who didn't have two nickels to rub together, who shot seriously junky guns, and who hunted more out of sheer-desperation than for any actual form of sport. Ignorance is a funny thing, and on many fronts I've clearly suffered long from it's tendrils (the gift of growing up in crap-poor Appalachia). FWIW....actual skeet ranges were few and far-between in the land of my youth (because so-few could actually afford to participate) so it was pretty easy to miss-out on it there. Also, to be fair, skeet is hardly thriving out here either. The denizens of the range we went to yesterday were some seriously crusty old fellows. If I had to guess, I'd say that they were mostly there to hang out and socialize (& to escape their spouses wrath) more than they were there to shoot. I know I'm clearly not seeing it in it's prime (which was what...back in the 50s?) so I'd hate to speculate further. But....I'll shoot it again, no question.
Oh, and also....a Model 12 Winchester 20-gauge would be perfect for this game. Found myself wishing I'd had one handy. My 10lb clays gun worked fine but...I'd bet a lighter gun (with really light loads) would be ideal, and...I bet it would be darn fun.
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