It’s Like Golf But with a Shotgun

I’d like to thank Eli Marcus, who in a recent conversation enlightened me to the existence of “sporting clays.” When I heard, “It’s like golf but with a shotgun,” I had to know more.

Turns out his description was not an embellishment. Wikipedia’s Sporting Clays article tell us: “Sporting Clays is a clay pigeon shooting sport. Often described as golf with a shotgun, the sport differs from skeet and trap shooting in that it involves shooting clays at various locations which are launched at different velocities and angles.”

Over to the Sporting Clays Magazine FAQ for a little extra color:

With variations in trap position, trap speed, shooting position, and flight paths of different types of clay pigeons, targets can come through the trees, from under your feet, straight down, over your head, quartering, going away, left to right, right to left, and in any path a real bird might choose. The key words are unpredictable, variable, and sometimes bordering on impossible.

If bass fishing can be a televised sport, and my cable system has 500+ channels, I’m wondering what kind of market failure is responsible for the lack of sporting clays coverage on TV.