During the last lockdown in November 2020, shooting grounds across the country ceased to fire clays and my boredom levels soared.
This resulted in a trip up to the farm with an old box of clays and a hand held clay slinger. Whilst this was a great source of entertainment for an hour or two, my husband's forearm was left rather sore as he was the only person able to throw them further than 10ft.
This farm outing though would become the stepping stone to a much bigger clay adventure.
After returning home the internet searches began. Unfortunately second hand clay traps are surprisingly hard to get a hold of, it appears the only way to pick them up is word of mouth or the right place at the right time.
So a quick message to a friend at Promatic would reveal what new options were available to us.
There was a great Christmas deal on the lightweight Super Hawk trap that came with trolley, radio release and a selection of midis and standards and had a great throwing distance. The down side for us was that it only stacked 65 clays and we are rather prone to getting carried away.
From there it was easy to walk ourselves up, Promatic has a lot of great options, but after weighing it all up and deciding what it was that we would get the most out of, we decided on the Harrier XTS.
With a throwing distance of 73m, tilt turn base, 50 degree elevation, 200 clay capacity and 3 year warranty it was the perfect starting point.
The delivery was quick, arriving just over a week after the order, although you will need a few helping hands on arrival as it is surprisingly heavy with the pallet and travel crate it comes on.
After removing the packaging there was a short pause, where we stood with furrowed brows, our lack of mechanical expertise rapidly dawning on us. Fortunately a quick Youtube video later (is there anything you can’t find on the internet?) and it was built. Less than an hour after starting and we were off shooting our first clays out across the back garden. The freeing sensation of having all the control, where we stood, the angle of the targets and the ability to have fun and laugh like nobody was watching was truly worth every penny.
With the quad trolley on the back of the Gator we have since been able to move it to different locations around the farm and this is really where the adventure begins, as we have now found a few potential spots that could allow us to create a more permanent shooting opportunity.
A few more Promatic clay traps and who knows what we can achieve...
Comments