AIMING HIGH

PEQUOT LAKES - The sport of sporting clays, it turns out, is a lot like the game of golf.

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When Dave Sheley was giving a pointer to a sporting clays league teammate Wednesday evening at Wild Acres Hunting Club and Shooting Preserve, it could easily have been mistaken for a putting tip.

Better to miss the target on the front side than the backside, Sheley went on to say.

Better to miss on the high side than the low side, as the old putting adage goes.

"It's humbling," Sheley said after Wednesday's shoot. "Like golf with a shotgun."

Tucker Sheley shot at a target at a station Wednesday evening at Wild Acres Hunting Club and Shooting Preserve. Brainerd Dispatch/Brian S. Peterson » Purchase reprints of this photo.

But for one day during a recent shoot, Sheley's son, Tucker, found sporting clay nirvana. Tucker, 20, also an avid golfer, shot a perfect 50 during a May league shoot.

A perfect score at Wild Acres is like, say, shooting in the low 60s at Augusta. It doesn't happen very often.

According to Annie Gilotte of Wild Acres, the thrower Wednesday night for the Sheleys and the Backus Corner Store team, Tucker is only the third shooter to record a perfect score at Wild Acres since the course opened in 1995.

A career round.

"I was hot. I shot with just one other person and it definitely helped my rhythm," said Tucker, who said he notched a previous-best 49 out of 50 targets two years ago at Wild Acres.

The 50-target course is made up of 10 stations scattered throughout fields and wooded areas at the club just northeast of Pequot Lakes, with each shooter getting a crack at five targets per station before moving on. The targets are displayed to simulate shooting game in the wild so as to sharpen shooters' skills for game hunting.

On Wednesday, shooters had to deal with trees, branches and even tall prairie grass - the final station included a simulation of rabbits dashing along the ground, with targets bounding through the heavy vegetation.

"This gets you ready for it (game hunts)," Tucker said.

Tucker Sheley (left) and his grandfather, Al, watched Wednesday as a shooter fired at a high-flying target. Brainerd Dispatch/Brian S. Peterson » Purchase reprints of this photo.

League shoots are flexible at Wild Acres, with shooters coming out pretty much whenever they can to get in their "round." On Wednesday, Corner Store team members had the place to themselves, with seven shooters on hand, several doubling up to make up for missing the next league shoot. Between - and during - shoots at each station, they exchanged pointers and lighthearted jabs before gathering their guns and bags and enjoying a casual walk through the woods to the next station.

"It (the camaraderie) is definitely a big part of it. And it also helps for the hunting season," Tucker said of league shoots. "And, as you can see, it's a fun time. Grandpa jokes, Dad is intense and I just take it all in."

In the wind and under overcast skies, Corner Store shooters admitted Wednesday wasn't their best outing, even for those who were doubling up, enabling them to get a second look at the targets. But such a "mulligan" was significant for Tucker, who recorded a solid 42 in his first go-around in May before finding perfection in his second round that day.

"I doubled up. That definitely helped," he said. "I was able to correct all my mistakes."

And unlike Wednesday, only one other shooter was on hand when Tucker got in two league shoots during that May outing.

"I had a friend up from Texas and we just buzzed through," said the Pequot Lakes High School graduate, who will be a junior at St. Olaf College, where he plays basketball. "With the 50, I got into a rhythm. And it was a beautiful day. No wind.

"It was my friend's first time so he didn't really know what was going on, but I knew, and so did (the thrower). The last couple of shots were a lot slower."

And when he shattered target No. 50?

"I think I screamed 'Yeah!' and gave her (the thrower) a hug," he said.

Tucker admittedly struggled Wednesday, but he remained upbeat, enjoying a night of shooting with family and friends.

"They (his teammates) all shot well. This was one of my worst rounds of the year. Last year was better. And since I shot the 50 ..." he said, trailing off, indicating that his shooting has done the same.

Tucker has been shooting at Wild Acres for eight years, competing in league with his father, Dave, who owns the Corner Store, and his grandfather, Al. But his love for hunting and sporting clays goes back much further.

"He would grab the clay birds and score for us when he was 6," Dave said.

"He's been a goose killer since Day One - (his first time out) I asked him 'How did you do?' And he said, 'I got two but should have got three.' He was all bummed out because he didn't get the third."

In hunting, as in golf, it's all about bagging the birdies.

BRIAN S. PETERSON may be reached at brian.peterson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864.