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The
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), working with a variety
of partners, sponsors wingshooting clinics at sites geographically distributed
throughout Illinois. Two types of clinics are offered. Youth/Women's clinics
are designed to teach participants basic firearm and hunter safety, wingshooting
fundamentals, as well as practical wingshooting. Hunters clinics are designed
to enhance the wingshooting skills of hunters and impart sound wingshooting
practice techniques. The clinics are conducted on weekends during the
spring through early fall of each year.
A schedule
of the clinics sponsored by the IDNR can be found at Wingshooting
Clinic Schedule. For further general information about wingshooting
clinics, or for information about becoming a clinic sponsor please contact
Dave Cassens at (217) 785-7742, Terry L. Musser at (217) 782-6752, 8:30
a.m. - 5:00 p.m., or Joe Robinson at (217) 785-8060, 8:00 a.m.. - 4:30
p.m., Monday-Friday. For specific information about a scheduled wingshooting
clinic or to register for a clinic, call the number on the schedule next
to the clinic of interest.
History
 The
first clinic was held in June 1999 at the Des Plaines Conservation Area
in Will County near Joliet, IL. Thirty-eight wingshooting students were
trained in the fundamentals of shotgun shooting. Clinic participants and
sponsors were enthusiastic about the philosophy and format of the clinics.
The success of that first pilot clinic provided the stimulus to expand
the wingshooting clinics to other IDNR and several privately operated
sites throughout the State.
The Will and Grundy
County Chapters of Pheasants Forever (PF) co-sponsored the first clinic
with the IDNR. The Will and Grundy County PF Chapters provided monetary
assistance as well as the assistance of several members to man the clay
target traps.
Information:
Youth/Women's Wingshooting Clinics
 Each
clinic is comprised of a morning session taught by either an IDNR Certified
Volunteer Hunter Education Instructor or an IDNR or National
Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) Certified Wingshooting Instructor.
Students learn firearm nomenclature, firearm safety, and some hunter safety
during the morning session.
The afternoon session
is taught by IDNR or NSCA Certified Wingshooting Instructors. Most students
are either beginners or have novice level shotgun shooting ability when
enrolling in the clinic. The objective is to teach students the fundamentals
of hitting a moving target with a shotgun with reasonable reliability.
An equally important objective is to work with each student to ensure
the fundamentals of safe shotgun handling are practiced in the field.
The youth/women's
clinics are taught with semi-automatic twenty or twenty-eight
gauge shotguns. For the beginning and novice wingshooting student unaccustomed
to recoil and lifting the weight of a shotgun, these small gauge, gas
operated shotguns are considered ideal for teaching. Their low recoil
and reasonable weight make them quite manageable for new students.
Saturdays are usually
devoted to boys and girls ages 10-15. Sundays are usually reserved for
girls ages 10 and up and women of any age. Boys and girls must be at least
4 feet 6 inches tall and weigh 75 pounds or more to participate.
Youth/Women's Wingshooting
Clinics are available to students either for free or for a small registration
fee. Most of the funding for the clinics is provided by the IDNR, the
Illinois Conservation Foundation, and clinic sponsors.
Participants do not
need to have passed a
Hunter Education Class. Note: Wingshooting Clinics do not
satisfy the Illinois Hunter Education Requirement.
Information:
Hunters Wingshooting Clinics
Hunters
wingshooting clinics were added to the Department of Natural Resources
wingshooting program in 2001. Designed to enhance the wingshooting skills
of hunters, these clinics are open to sportsmen and women ages 16 years
and up. NSCA Certified Wingshooting Instructors from the IDNR's Wingshooting
Program, each working with a squad of four hunters with similar skills,
refines and enhances the wingshooting technique used by each participant.
Hunters with wingshooting skill levels from beginner to advanced are encouraged
to attend.
Participants shoot a variety of clay target presentations on a sporting
clays course set-up and designed or specifically modified for the clinic.
Target presentations resemble actual field hunting situations. Participants
will encounter presentations that mimic the flight characteristics of
pheasants, quail, rabbits, doves, ducks and other game species. Sound
wingshooting practice techniques are also taught at hunters clinics.
 Hunters clinics are
held on weekends with two 4-hour sessions available to participants each
day. Each daily session, morning or afternoon, typically has twenty to
twenty-eight participants depending on the number of instructors. Normally,
each wingshooting instructor works with four participants each session.
A small fee is assessed each participant to cover the cost of clay targets
and refreshments.
Sponsors
Funding
for the first six semiautomatic twenty-eight gauge shotguns used in the
youth/women's clinics was provided by the Illinois Hunting and Outdoor
Sports Association, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever,
and Quail Unlimited. The Illinois Conservation Foundation provided funding
for the next set of twenty-eight gauge shotguns.
As
the IDNR Wingshooting Program has expanded, funding for additional equipment
has come from a variety of sources. A third set of shotguns was provided
by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation. Substantial
support for other equipment such as clay target traps (i.e., clay target
throwers) has been provided from various units within the IDNR.
Funding for shotshells, clay targets, and lunch for youth/women's clinic
participants is provided through the generosity of the local chapters
of one or more of the organizations listed below and from individual and
business sponsors from the vicinity of the wingshooting clinics. Members
from local chapters of these organizations have helped with the clinics
by manning the clay target throwers and by preparing lunch for participants.
Wingshooting clinics for women and young wingshooters would not be possible
without the significant monetary and volunteer support from these businesses
and sportsmen's organizations, their chapters, and their members.
Illinois
Conservation Foundation (ICF) The role of the Illinois Conservation
Foundation and its partners is to preserve and enhance the State's natural
resources by supporting and fostering ecological, educational, and recreational
programs for the benefit of all people now and for generations to come.
The ICF sponsors golf and fishing outings and celebrity hunts from which
funding is derived for educational shooting programs.
Illinois Hunting
and Outdoor Sports Association (IHOSA) works for the interests of
the game bird husbandry, hunting preserve, outfitting, and sporting clays
industries. The IHOSA has a forty plus year history of working for conservation,
hunting, and shooting in Illinois.
National Rifle
Association Foundation (NRA Foundation) Established in 1990, the NRA
Foundation, Inc. is a tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductible
contributions in support of a wide range of firearm-related public interest
activities of the National Rifle Association of America and other organizations
that defend and foster the rights of all law-abiding Americans. These
activities are designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance
marksmanship skills of those participating in the shooting sports, and
to educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological
and artistic context. Funds granted by The NRA Foundation benefit a variety
of constituencies throughout the United States including children, youth,
women, individuals with physical disabilities, gun collectors, law enforcement
officers, and hunters.
National
Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is a national organization encouraging
habitat development for wild turkeys and other woodland species, and assists
young sportsmen and women through its "Jakes" events.
Pheasants
Forever (PF) is a national organization that promotes habitat
development for ring-necked pheasants and other upland wildlife. PF also
supports efforts to improve the knowledge, ethics, and skills of sportsmen
and women.
Quail
Unlimited (QU) is a national organization emphasizing habitat
development for bobwhite quail and upland wildlife with a strong interest
in educating young sportsmen and women.
Whitetails
Unlimited (WTU) is a national organization which provides funding
support for educational programs, habitat conservation, and the preservation
of the hunting tradition for the direct benefit of white-tailed deer and
other wildlife.
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