MIKE BRAUN Ranch offers clays clinic

The Grand Valley Hunting Ranch near Orwell will be offering a series of clinics this year geared toward those who would like to try their hand at the shooting sports.
The ranch, on Pennimen Road in Ashtabula County, just a stone's throw from Trumbull County, offers a varied menu of shooting events, venues and disciplines, from sporting clays to trap, 5-stand, released bird hunts and native game hunts in season.
The modern, 1,200-acre facility also has three National Sporting Clays Association-certified instructors on staff. The instructors were all trained by Dan Schindler, one of the top shooting instructors in the United States.
In an effort to attract more people to shooting sports, Grand Valley will offer sporting clays clinics this year for shooters 16 and older.
Beginning shooters: Targeting the beginning shooter, the clinics get started March 16 with instruction for men and women. Instruction will be offered April 13 to women only.
The limited-size clinics get started with classroom instruction and then proceed to shooting out on the ranch's sporting clays range.
About the instruction: Here is a sample of the clinic instruction:
UClassroom instruction starts with an emphasis on safety and course etiquette.
UStudents are tested for eye dominance and shown the proper mounting techniques for a shotgun.
UThe flight of a clay target is analyzed, and students are shown how to properly set up to break the targets with their shots.
UStudents are organized into squads, each with an instructor. Each squad gets instruction on how to shoot and break targets in the three basic sporting clays presentations -- incoming, outgoing and crossing. Shooters take 25 shots at this point.
There will be more clinics during the coming year with classes for novice shooters looking to improve on June 22 and Sept. 21 for men and women, and a women-only July 20. Couples are encouraged to attend the combined classes.
Later clinics will have a different make-up with participants shooting in groups of five and being grouped according to ability. The focus will also be slightly more intense, with details of effective clay target shooting being emphasized.
Safety is also one a main aspect of the clinic, but instruction will be geared to those who have already had some clay target experience.
Abilities tweaked: Here is where the tweaking of ability comes into play to give the shooter training in how to make changes to become more proficient at shooting sporting clays. There are more targets shot during this course, and the shooters are exposed to a wider variety of shot types.
Each individual shooter gets personal instruction during each target presentation.
For more information on the clinics and other ranch offerings, call (888) 877-6440.