Shooting Hours

After relocation on Wice Church Road in 2023 the Membership of JPRP Club developed a 5-Stand program for the Shot Gun Shooter(s) of the Jackson Purchase shooting community.

Many shooters in the Purchase Area are very familiar with Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clay, however they aren’t familiar with how the game of 5-Stand is played. The biggest difference in 5-Stand and Sporting Clays is the number of shooting stations. Please take a few minutes to read and understand the game and what JPRP Club is offering the public.

Even if you’re not a serious shotgunner, you’ve probably have heard of sporting clays, possibly have evenshot a round or two. Sometimes described as “golf with a shotgun” has become one of the three major American shotgun sports; trap and skeet being the other two.

As with golf, no two sporting clays ranges are alike. Golf courses take advantage of the existing topography on which they’re laid out, and sporting clays courses do the same. But whereas in golf you play either nine or 18 holes, sporting clays has no set number of “holes” or shooting stations. Anywhere from about eight to a dozen shooting stations make up a sporting clays course. A typical round of sporting clays consists of shooting at either 50 or 100 targets, singly or in pairs

Sporting clays has become so popular because it typifies the many different shots a shotgunner experiences in hunting different game birds. For instance, some targets are thrown away from the shooter, some are incoming, and some fly side to side, high and low. In addition, some sporting clays courses even have “rabbit” targets that roll along the ground on their edge. These can be quite challenging to hit as they bounce along, some targets staying low to the ground as they speed past...while others make high, unexpected jumps or bounces.  

The problem with creating and developing a sporting clays course—at least from an ownership perspective—is that a course requires a large amount of land. On top of that, multiple clay-target throwers must be purchased for each shooting station. Obviously, the start-up cost of a sporting clays range can be prohibitively high.

An alternative to a traditional sporting clays course that smaller shooting ranges and sportsmen’s clubs are taking advantage of is a relatively new shotgun game called Five-stand Sporting Clays, or simply Five-stand. In essence, it’s similar to traditional sporting clays, offering shots at targets from a multitude of angles and distances, but does so by placing five shooting stations or stands side-by-side, only a few feet apart.

The advantages of five-stand—again, from a range owner’s standpoint—is that a much smaller parcel of ground is required, possibly as little as only one-tenth of the acreage needed for sporting clays. Fewer clay target machines are needed; just six or eight can throw targets for all five shooting stations.

A typical round of five-stand involves shooting five targets at all five shooting stations, requiring a box of 25 shells to complete the round. Usually, a single target is thrown from each shooting station, followed by two pairs of targets. The pairs may be thrown on-report, as a following-pair, or as a true-pair. On-report means that a second target is thrown as soon as you fire at the first target; in other words, on report of the gun. A following-pair means a second target is thrown automatically a few seconds after the first. And with a true-pair both targets are thrown simultaneously.

For the shooter, there are several advantages to five-stand as compared to sporting clays. As mentioned, a round takes only one box of shells, so the cost of shooting is less. And you can shoot a round of five-stand quickly, usually in only about half an hour’s time even with a full squad of five shooters. But a full squad is not required; a round of five-stand can be shot alone or with just a buddy or two. 

There is definite advantage for older shooters, and others with mobility issues, is that there is relatively little walking and no carts are required with five-stand since shooting stations are literally side-by-side. To keep the five-stand course challenging and fresh, Dan said they tweak the flight path of targets every couple week, and does a full change of the course about once a month.

JPRP Club has invested in eight (8) new Pro-matic traps. One (1) rabbit trap, one (1) Chondel, one (1) Battue, one (1) 90 mil, (2) two left hand trap and (2) two right hand traps.  We are in the process of installing a 20-ft utility pole to install one of the standard traps so it can be moved up and down to different elevations.

In addition to the (8) eight Pro-matic traps, JPRP has invested in the Claymate WI-Card System.

The Wireless trap release developed from more than 10 years of customers’ and shooters’ comments, the Wi-Card range of Clay Counting Trap Controllers is set to retain the industry lead and is the most important new product to wear the Promatic-Claymate Badge of Excellence.

The system can be programmed in three configurations:

• Cost based with up to eight different cost settings
• Target based, counting up or down
• Both cost and target based, at the same time

We can choose to operate the count-down cards for day-to-day customers, who can have their credit card swiped in, much the same way as restaurants, so in the event that a customer leaves without paying, a fixed maximum amount can be recovered.

We may also choose to operate the count-up cards for club members who will pay their bills regularly, with maximum limits depending on their ‘Credit Standing’ in the club. Free play mode is also available, whereby selected controllers will throw targets without a Counter Card present. This may be necessary for competitions where stands are refereed, entrants are booked in and targets pre-paid. Besides easy-to-follow instructions, various safety measures are included within the software to ensure the System is as secure and idiot-proof as it can be. This product represents a pinnacle of achievement in the way the System communicates with you using the four-line display and a menu structure that is extremely user-friendly, with only 5 buttons. While there is no need for a desktop PC to operate Claymate we have adapted it for the PC software that is to follow, by enabling you to use data stored on each card - such as total targets thrown overall or by each controller – giving you the opportunity to analyze your customers’ needs without any market research costs. The system has also anticipated the future with all the necessary hardware, to allow for Plug ‘n’ Play Radio Systems, Solar charging and more. While many range owners are facing a tough financial challenge, Wi-Card ensures that we get paid for every clay thrown on JPRP Course offers greater facilities for shooters. 

• System is for programed for 5-Stand
• 100% reliable in all weathers
• Pre-wired for all (8) eight Promatic traps
• Cards can be set to count up or down, target-based or cost-based
• Cards can be set to start or stop from any target value from 1 to 9,999
• Multiple Charging: members or guest’s rates, Standard or Rabbits – JPRP decide what to charge
• Solo shooter delay
• End of Day Shut Down, and Morning Wake Up routines so we control our opening times
• Single targets, following pairs or true pairs counted separately
• Large two-line 16-character display, to show target selections, targets thrown and other system information.
• Unique Ground Code and Identification Number match card and ground for total security
• Controllers can be securely set to 'Free-Play' for competition days when target counting is required, as well as clay launcher control but without needing a card to operate
• Stuck button detection
• Connectors for two handsets
• Full audit functions
• Compatible with Super Sporting, Skeet/Trap Claymate and Multi-trap controllers including Evolution in case we decide to expend JPRP to other shot gun sports.

Private Shoots

JPRP offers private clubs, churches, businesses and other groups the opportunity to enjoy a day of shot gun shooting.

The Bottom Line in Shot Gun Shooting

“The bottom line is that five-stand is similar to sporting clays, only more fast-paced and a little cheaper. “And although the shots are similar to what you’d typically experience on a sporting clays range, the shooting pace is more like what you’d expect on a trap range. The advantage being that you can shoot more targets in less time. Shotgunners looking for something new should come out and give five-stand a shot.”

Jackson Purchase Grade and High School Students

While many may not realize that there are over 8,000 high school students in the Jackson Purchase area.  Many of those students are not involved in a sport while attending school. How many of you know that there are shooting sports that a student can become involved in?  They are high school, 4H, boy scouts, girl scouts, future farmers of America, and NRA. Many students in Western Kentucky are missing out on a shooting scholarship since they aren’t involved in shooting sports.

I will cover what JPRP Club has to offer for the youth shooters in the next issue posted in the JPRP web-page. 

Each of you are welcome to come and shoot a round(s) of 5-Stand at JPRP.

If you have any questions concerning 5-Stand or shooting sports, you are more than welcome to call me. I can be reached at: Phone: 270-748-7681 text or e-mail: bnapde@brtc.net

Daniel F. Everett

JPRP Vice-President