How to Design a Sporting Clay Course

• 1). Check the local laws regarding shooting ranges in your area. These laws vary greatly depending on where you live and what your land is zoned for. This is also a good opportunity to contact the owners of nearby properties for their input. If the owner of an adjacent plot of land builds a dwelling within the range of your course, you may have to change your course or shut down completely. Local laws will dictate what rights you and your neighbors have.
  
  
• 2). Measure the land you would like to use for your sporting clay course. To do this, walk the full length of your property holding the measuring wheel to the ground. The wheel will measure the distance traveled in feet or yards.
  
  
• 3). Plan your stations. Most courses have at least ten stations to shoot clays from. These stations will need to be connected by some path, and the path should be walkable without passing in front of the shooting range of any other station. The safe distance for most sporting clay ranges is a 3-degree cone ranging out by 300 yards.
  
  
• 4). On your planning map, indicate where trees, ponds, streams and hills are on the land you would like to use. Make sure that trees are not in the safety cones extending from your shooting stations. Any trees caught in the path of the shooting range will become ragged, bald, and will die.
  
  
• 5). Place shooting platforms at every station. These are flat areas made of wood or concrete that serve as even ground for the shooter to stand on while shooting. These can help to make your course safe.
  
  
• 6). Install the clay throwers as needed for the type of shooting you would like to do at each station.