So yesterday was national ladies shooting day, where hundreds of women across the country came together to make new friends, whilst enjoying a spot of clay pigeon shooting. This event is hosted every year and it isn’t just for the experts. They cater for all abilities, including beginners who have no idea how to even hold a gun!

The club was founded in 2011 by Victoria Knowles-Lacks. Her mission was to empower women, bring ladies of all ages, shapes, backgrounds and abilities together. She has worked hard on creating the largest, all girl shooting community. They even have an exclusive members club which you can join for just £10 a month and reap benefits such as discounts, members competitions and private events. I went along to this years ladies shooting day to see what it is like.

They had 25 different places around the country hosting the event yesterday, so I decided to go over to Cloudside in Congleton and join in.

After a night of typical British weather (torrential rain) I was a bit skeptical about how the event would go. But, to my surprise I arrived at Cloudside shooting range with dry weather and a greeting of gift bags and warm tea/coffee- the perfect pick me up.

After warming up and having a natter with some of the ladies, we all went outside for a group photograph and then got split into 3 different categories, beginners, intermediate and advanced. I was pretty happy about this because it meant that I was in a group with women who all had the same skill level, so that we could all look like fools together and laugh about it.

Immediately, as we got down to the shooting range I started to feel really on edge. I really hate loud noises, especially when you can’t tell when they are going to happen and all of a sudden I was surrounded by loud bangs. So throughout the safety talks I was flinching and yelping at every loud sound I heard before our instructor kindly allowed us to put in our noise cancelling ear buds. After inserting the ear buds I felt a little less jumpy, but still sick with anxiety as I watched the other girls shoot away, their cheeks pressed against a huge gun.

Now, I must say that the women were all super supportive and were great at making me feel at ease which is something I wasn’t quite expecting seen as I was even annoying myself a little bit. But after having a chat I soon realised that my shoulders had come down from my ears and I was no longer jumping every 5 seconds.

Before I knew it, I was up. I gulped and reluctantly walked towards the shooting box dreading what was about to happen next. My lovely instructor calmed me down by explaining exactly how I should stand, where the gun needs to go on my body and where my hands should be on the gun. He then set off a few practice clays in the air so I could get an idea of what I was shooting and when.

Then it was time to shoot…I put my cheek on the gun looked down the barrel to see the clay and BANG!

I missed…. terribly! I had shut my eyes and took my cheek off the gun in pure fear, only to realise that it was actually not as loud or painful as I thought it would be.

I didn’t feel any kick back from the gun at all and it was no way near as loud as the double barreled guns the men next to us were shooting.

To say I was relived would be a huge under-statement. After only a couple more goes I got use to it and surprisingly found out that I wasn’t half bad at shooting, even the instructor seemed to be impressed!

Overall I managed to get a solid 18/25 clays, I was super proud of myself and the women who I was with were too. This really helped boost my confidence and I started to relax and really enjoy the day.

Afterwards, we sat and had tea, coffee and cakes and our host for the day, Sarah Critchley, announced the days winners, including best beginner, best expert and best dressed! Sadly I didn’t win anything, but I didn’t mind because now I had found a new love for clay shooting and alongside that became friends with women that I never would have spoken with otherwise.

So if like me you are reluctant to join national ladies shooting day because you are a bit scared, then please don’t be. Give it a go and you might just find yourself falling in love with shooting and making loads of new friends! It is also a fun activity for you to do in your spare time and you will soon become like family to the team, so you should definitely give it a try or become a member if you are interested.

If you would also like some proof that anyone can do it, then check out my progression video below and have a little laugh at my first attempt, where I slightly freak out after I shoot.

For more information on how to join national ladies shooting day, head over to the shot gun and Chelsea bun club website

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