Skeet & Trap Shooting at YCC
Though sometimes called its best-kept secret, skeet and trap shooting has a long and distinguished tradition at the Youngstown Country Club. The former Sharon Steel Corporation got the skeet program off the ground in the 1950’s by financially assisting the club in setting up the original field and skeet quarters. As interest grew, the club built a second field to the east of the first, giving the Youngstown Country Club one of the most challenging skeet layouts anywhere. The tree-lined backdrop and exposure to brilliant sunlight at various times of the day and year test the mettle of even the most skillful shooter.
Getting Started
The skeet and trap program runs from early October through late April. The range is open for recreational shooting Saturday and Sunday mornings. New shooters are always welcome—with the admonition that skeet, like golf, tennis and most everything else in life, requires practice, perseverance and concentration.
Novices may use a club shotgun to get a feel for the game. Those who stick with it invariably buy their own firearms, shooting apparel and equipment. Skeet and Trap is an all-weather sport. Shooting glasses and hearing protection are absolute musts. For safety’s sake, you can’t take the field without them.
The "Best Kept Secret" at YCC
The Skeet Layout
A round of skeet consists of 25 shells (one box) fired at moving targets from eight locations or pads on a semicircular field. The object is to establish a perfect score by breaking every target, including those thrown two at a time from four of the stations. A round of skeet takes 20 minutes with a regulation squad of five shooters, so it’s a good pastime for men and women with limited time.
Skeet & Trap Competition
Intra-Club Competition
Organized competition distinguishes the Youngstown Country Club’s skeet program from many others. The skeet team competes in 50-target matches, some of which constitute the Indigo Tournament, now in its 60th year. The Youngstown Country Club fee for inter-club competition is $5 per round. The host team also foots the bill for refreshments at each event. Each club is assessed a higher fee for the Indigo Tournament, high point of the skeet season.
The Youngstown Country Club’s competition comprises of Country Clubs in the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike; Mentor Harbor Yachting Club at Mentor-on-the-Lake and Hunting Valley Shooting Club in Middlefield. The league, which includes home and away events, prepares shooters for the Indigo Tournament, which pits the Youngstown Country Club against the other Indigo clubs. The clubs compete for team and individual honors in the 250-target tournament, which is held the last weekend of February and the first weekend of March.
YCC Only Event
The Youngstown Country Club holds two members-only tournaments. The Midwinter Shoot in December and the Club Championships in April are for novice and experienced shooters alike. The Club Championships are the season windup, deciding the Youngstown Country Club scratch and handicap champions in a 100-target match.
Some Youngstown Country Club shooters have gone on to nationally ranked competition sanctioned by the National Skeet Shooting Association. Besides the standard 12-gauge shotgun, 20-, 28- and .410-gauge shotguns are used in registered skeet. They fire successively smaller shot charges, increasing the difficulty factor at each level.
