Girls with guns! Shooting clays becoming popular sport for women
CAMPBELLSPORT (WITI) -- Girls with guns?! Lest we make anyone nervous, "Girls With Guns" is a group of women who gather at the Wild Wings Sportsman's Club in Campbellsport to shoot clays!
"They come a little nervous. Many of them have never shot a gun before. But they see that our environment is very much focused on instruction, safety and providing an environment that is very encouraging," Laura Kruschka with Wild Wings Sportsman's Club said.
Shooting clays is a sport that has become even more popular with the ladies!
"We've noticed that there is a substantial increase in the number of women interested and involved in shooting sports over the last couple years. Five years ago, our co-ed or our couples league had six teams in it, and this year we've got 48 teams," Kruschka said.
In July, 11 women came out to shoot, and in August, that number has swelled to almost twice that!
Stacy Hafeman is among the girls who are having a blast.
"My husband has been shooting out here for a couple of years, and I thought it sounded like a really interesting sport, so I came out, and I had a couple of lessons, and I encouraged some girlfriends of mine to come out with, and so we did group lessons. We became better at the sport and really enjoy the sport. I actually became kind of addicted to it!" Hafeman said.
Hafeman says the reason is simple.
"I think it's just the exhilaration of aiming at such a small thing and actually hitting it. Wild Wings offers patches for 30, 40 and 50 -- so we have all hit our 30 patch. Some of us have hit our 40 patch. The goal would be to hit 50, because then ultimately we would be beating our husbands," Hafeman said.
The professionals at Wild Wings offer first-rate instruction with an emphasis on safety first. Plus, it is about family, fun -- and it can even be a stress reliever.
"It's wonderful to be able to come out here and shoot, and to come with girlfriends or come with family. When you have a hard day and you have stress, it's really nice to shoot something -- especially when you hit it," Keely Postulka said.
You're never too old to shoot sporting clays. Barbara is 82 years young, and Carol Savatski is still wet behind the ears at 76. Her husband Don tried to get her to shoot clays for years!
"Finally I thought, 'okay, I'll do it,' just to get him off my back and so I did, and I just love it," Savatski said.
If you're thinking you can't shoot sporting clays that fly through the air, take it from a sweet lady with a wee bit of fire in her belly!
"If I can do it, you can do it! It kinda makes me smile inside sometimes when I can shoot better than some of these guys," Savatski says.
Savatski and her husband, Don have been married for going on 60 years, so they know everything about each other. But his bride sure surprised him in one way!
"I didn't think she'd take it this seriously!" Don Savatski said.
In this sport, the girls can be even more competitive than the guys!
Kailynn Doyle is a junior at Campbellsport High School. She says it's "always exciting" to "beat the guys!"
"They're not very happy! They get mad," Doyle said.
Shooting sporting clays at Wild Wings Sportsman's Club has become a social event.
"We even had a shotgun wedding. We had a couple who met here at Wild Wings. They got married out of state, but they came back and had the reception here, and truly it was a shotgun wedding. All the guests were invited to shoot sporting clays," Kruschka said.
CLICK HERE for additional details on shooting sporting clays at Wild Wings Sportsman's Club.