LOCAL CLUB PROVIDES RECREATION

When most sports' fans think of Sunday afternoons, professional football usually comes to mind.

But for several members of the Cape Girardeau County Gun Club, clay shooting has become a Sunday afternoon ritual at the club grounds located just outside of Jackson on Hwy. 72.

"It's a sport, just like bowling," said club treasurer John Sarff. "We have a good time out there."

The club features one skeet field and one trap field for the 55 members of the club. They also have a "portable-5 trailer" that shoots the clay targets in a random fashion.

"We can make it extremely hard or we can make it simple," Sarff said of the trailer. "We can change the field so you'll never get the same shot."

The skeet field shoots clay pigeons at the same angle on a 180-degree range. Shooters must follow the clay targets asd they cross the skeet field from either the right or left.

The trap field is shot in more of a vertical angle. The clay targets move upward, away form the person shooting.

"Most of our people shoot skeet," Sarff said.

The club does not conduct competitions, except of the friendly kind.

"It's just strictly for enjoyment," said Sarff. "we never did get into the competition. Most of the guys don't care anything about that, they just want to go out and have fun."

Local residents interested in joining the gun club are encouraged to call Sarff at 243-8015 or club president Ronnie Hutchison at 651-4485. Sarff said prospective members must complete a membership form and background check.

"We want to know if they've ever been conficted of a felony or something like that," Sarff said. "As long as they are clean, good, upstanding people that abide by the rules of the club, we'll be glad to have them."