There is no better place to enjoy clay shooting in the Midlands than at Doveridge. Set across 70 rolling acres of picturesque Derbyshire countryside, we have world class clay shooting facilities as well as on site lessons to get you up and running. No matter your age or experience level, we welcome visitors of any ability and believe clay shooting should be open to everybody. And, we have a huge range of shooting disciplines to choose from with varying degrees of difficulty to provide a challenge for experienced professionals and keen beginners alike.
Doveridge Clay Shooting
With over six different varieties of clay shooting available in beautiful natural surroundings at Doveridge, you are sure to find something you’ll enjoy. We have been lucky enough to play host to some of the biggest competitions in the world thanks to the standard of our facilities and we are always looking for ways to improve them. Here, we take a look at a few different disciplines available at Doveridge.
English Sporting Clay
Providing a great challenge for both rookies and pros, we have two great settings to enjoy the very best in English Sporting clay shooting. In this discipline, the clays come out at various speeds and angles representing the natural movements of the animals they are replicating. There is endless variety in the trajectory of these targets and keeping your concentration up is a must. The Valley course is a tough challenge for even the most experienced shooters while The Garden is a great place for newcomers to get their eye in.
Olympic & English Skeet
Featuring one of the largest layouts in the UK as well as six fantastic courses for you to choose from, Doveridge’s skeet facilities are truly unrivalled in the region. The backdrop of our courses ensure targets are visible in all weather conditions and gun racks as well as seating is provided. We have hosted major tournaments on these layouts and each course can be set up to olympic standards. Skeet shooting is fast, furious and exhilarating but one of the most rewarding forms of the sport.
Down the Line (DTL) & Automatic Ball Trap (ABT)
Down the Line is the number one clay shooting discipline in the UK and involves a squad five shooters taking it in turn to shoot targets and gather the most points. Ideal for beginners, DTL shooting doesn’t take long to learn but can take a lifetime to master. It requires a high level of concentration to pick out the targets that are randomly fired across a horizontal plane and 25 is the usual amount of clays used. Automatic Ball Trap is the second most popular discipline and involves an extra shooter while two shots are allowed at each target. The clays come faster and at more varied, random angles than in DTL. We have a permanent ABT layout which can be used no matter the weather.
The High Tower
Hugely popular with our visitors, our mighty High Tower stands over 150ft tall and is a great place to shoot targets from. We can programme the targets to behave however you want and the High Tower can be a tough challenge for even the most experienced of shooters. It’s a beautiful, natural setting too on a natural highbank and amongst the woodland. The High Tower is a great place for beginners to learn as well as being excellent for game shooters to brush up on their skills before the season begins.
Compak Sporting
Often considered to be one of the most exciting shooting disciplines, Compak Sporting is a great way to learn about shooting and rapidly increase your skills. The targets come thick and fast which means a high level of concentration is crucial at all times. There are a total of five firing positions and targets are fired at random across the plane. We do have a permanent Compak Sporting set up that can be used all year round and we regularly tweak the settings to keep shooters on their toes.
Clay Pigeon Shooting Rules
We want everyone to have fun at Doveridge, but we do ask that you follow a few simple ground rules. You should never leave a gun attended and you should never point it at someone else, even when unloaded. Guns should only be loaded when you are ready to shoot and should be unloaded before leaving a stand. In addition, gun slips must be used at all times or your gun must be broken when walking around the grounds. You must obey the safety signs and instructions from staff members. We also ask that you avoid shooting the wildlife and steel shot is not to be used.
Doveridge only have these rules to ensure our visitors complete safety and we have an excellent track record which we fully intend to keep.
If you would like to know more about any of our clay shooting facilities or holiday cottages, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.