Bang Bang

By Jaskiran Sagoo

One of my favourite things to do is forcing my boyfriend to participate in something new every so often, but when I told him that I had booked us to go clay pigeon shooting at a farm, he definitely didn’t need telling twice! We went to the College Farm shooting ground in Aylesbury, situated among lots of greenery and pretty scenery.

Once we arrived, food was on the agenda (as always) so we went to a pub just down the road called The Eight Bells. The locals were lovely and due to the bank holiday weekend they had a yummy barbeque going on, so I indulged in some grilled marinated chicken and chips.

With a full tummy I was ready to go shoot. You need to arrive 15 minutes early to sign in and drive through the farm to get to the shooting ground. It’s a nice drive up and you get a good view of all the cute cows! When we arrived we met our group which consisted of me, three men and a thirteen year old boy (who probably had more guts than all of us!). We had a brief talk about the gun, and when I say brief I mean 2 minutes, then given some ear plugs (because trust me you need them) and then you shoot!

With clay pigeon shooting you use a shotgun which you do not need a licence to handle. The instructor deals with one person at a time and you are usually in groups of up to six. We paid for 25 shots over the hour and used these up over 4 stations. Each station has the clay pigeons flying around in different ways. Our instructor was lovely and pretty funny which always wins me over.

                Avtar was up first and managed to shoot the first pigeon and the next few, making it look super easy.

I was up next and pretty scared. The sound, weight and length of the gun was pretty intimidating. After a few I could feel a pain on my shoulder and had a rest, but carried on with a lighter shotgun. This had more of a kick back when I fired the gun but is way easier to handle.

It’s an expensive sport. We paid fifty pounds for twenty five shots which is reasonable compared to other shooting ranges so definitely do your research and look at other venues before booking. Make sure you wrap up warm and dress appropriately. I wore some Topshop wellies, Leigh jeans, a warm fitted jumper and Zara coat. Definitely ask for a light shotgun if you’re petite like me and if it is a little scary when you turn up, persevere and use up all your shots.

 I think I became comfortable shooting after my 20^th gunshot. I did have a little bruising the next day on my shoulder so make sure you’re not off anywhere in a strapless dress the next day. Here's a link to their website if you’re interested http://thebigshoot.co.uk/ and I would recommended it as a gift for any of the men in your life. My boyfriend certainly appreciated it!