PEORIA MAGAZINE November 2022

version of sporting clays, a third popular form of clay-pigeon shooting. The discipline simulates in-the-wild conditions and offers various target angles, speeds, sizes and trajectories. “All the information you read is that’s what people want to shoot, because there’s so much variety,” Ripley said. “Whereas trap and skeet are the same.” In skeet, two opposite machines launch targets on sideways aerial paths that intersect in front of the shooter. In trap, one machine launches targets on an aerial path away from the shooter. Sporting clays usually takes place on a course of at least 30 or so acres. The entire Peoria club is about that size, according to Ripley. “If we had the acreage, we could put sporting clays in,” he said. “We couldn’t do trap and skeet and sporting clays. Sporting clays is like golf with a shotgun.” The Five Stand cost the club about $40,000, but Ripley and the others believe it’s worth the investment. Koshkarian suggested the Five Stand can help hunters tune up for their respective seasons. It also might help the club attract more trade from non

members. Right now, the club averages between 40 and 60 non-members per month. “We can sustain, basically,” Koshkarian said. “But the issue is we need both member and non-member visitors to be here …We’re hoping that this brings in more visitors that then also become members.” Peoria Skeet and Trap Club also is cultivating potential members among area youth. The club plans to play host to a nascent trap-shooting team from nearby Metamora Township High School. An eight-week summertime youth programaveraged 38 participants per week this year, an 11-season high. They also are schooled in firearms safety, which club members said is a top priority. “That ’s kind of the l ife blood,” Koshkarian said. “You’ve got to get new shooters into the game, and if you can start them young, that’s even better.” A partnership with the nearby Sankoty Lakes resort also helps the club, according to Ripley. Sankoty Lakes donated new skeet-target throwing machines and also provides the club

special overnight rates. Next year, the resortmight sponsor a club tournament. Next May, the Peoria club is to play host to the annual Armed Services Skeet Championships, a national event open to active and retired military. Winning the bid for that tournament was quite the coup, said Ripley. “By and large, the club is doing pretty well,” he said. Phelps sounds like he can’t wait to show shooters new and old the Five Stand he helped install. Not to mention a place where he’s shot for 36 years, not long after a work accident almost cost him his left arm and ended many of his athletic pursuits. “A friend brought me down here, and I just fell in love with it,” Phelps said. “It means everything to me, outside of my family. I love the place. It’s a great club. “I’ve traveled all over the nation shooting skeet tournaments, and you’ll never find a better place to shoot.”

Nick Vlahos is a longtime Peoria print journalist and regular contributor to Peoria Magazine

Nick Ripley and other members compete on the range at the Peoria Skeet and Trap Club

NOVEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 97