Selkirk staging Scottish clay pigeon shooting championship

Clay target shooters are setting their sights on Selkirk this Sunday.

Bisley at Braidwood, based at Scotland’s biggest sporting shooting ground, in Midlem, is staging the Scottish Clay Target Association (SCTA) Scottish Championships.

Around 150-180 entrants in total are expected in the Borders for the event, with around 70 Scottish national shotgun sport devotees bidding to win caps for Scotland and a place in the national men’s and women’s teams.

Judges and score checkers will be out in force as entrants try to get the best returns from 100 clays.

And, with the best marksmen and women from associations around Britain set to be taking aim, some very high-grade scoring is expected.

General manager Alan Grierson explained: “This is a prestigious event which is the culmination of a number of selection shoots held in various clay shooting grounds in Scotland through the year.

“Anyone wishing to be considered for the Scottish shooting team must shoot at this event and the Scottish ‘caps’ will also be awarded on the grounds in a ceremony immediately after the competition, which is also on our grounds.”

The weather forecast was not too promising for Sunday but the contest has to be decided on the day, so any rain is not expected to pose a problem, said Alan.

Braidwood at Bisley had a number of covered stands providing shelter, so there would be no reason to stop.

As well as being Scotland’s largest sporting ground of its kind, Braidwood at Bisley’s rural build also made it quite unique, said Alan.

“The targets are hidden and there are small nooks and crannies, so you feel you are in a field setting,” he added. “Most other grounds are flat land but we offer the rural experience.”

As well as offering rifle and air rifle shooting, Braidwood at Bisley also recently became the first course in Scotland to install a virtual reality simulator.