GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Greene County Range and Firearms Sports Complex is adding a new sports clay shooting course thanks to grant money awarded by the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

“It’s recreation for people in the county,” said Terry Cannon, Range Master at the Greene County Range. “It gives them a place that they can go and shoot their gun safely, and it’s just entertainment for them.”

Cannon said the new sports clay shooting course will be three-quarters of a mile long and consist of 15 stations, each equipped with two machines that will shoot clay disks in different directions.

“We set it up to where they’ll go away from me and come across you, come to you, etc.,” said Cannon. “It’s just more like a bird flying. You’re walking through the woods, and they jump up and take off flying away. That’s sort of the way this is.”

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Outdoors Appalachia

The sports clay shooting is a type of target practice that helps hunters in the area train.

“If you think of it like duck hunting, dove hunting, or rabbits usually when you’re shooting at something, it’s moving when it comes to that sense,” said Eric Lowery, an avid hunter in Greene County. “Having a range that you can actually shoot something like it’s real, live action it’s moving, you’re able to get better.”

Lowery added that the new course is a great way to spend time with family.

“I’ve actually got a son, he just turned six years old and my daughter’s four, so it’ll be a great opportunity for me to get them out there and get them familiar with guns and hopefully get them in the woods, too,” said Lowery.

Lowery told News Channel 11 several people in the county enjoy using the range as a hobby, while others use it for hunting training. He said the new clay shooting course will benefit both those who live in the county and in Greeneville.

“If you have a local range like that, you begin to pull people from neighboring areas,” said Lowery. “When you do that, people have to have accommodations, whether it be food or a hotel or places to stay. It’s great for local business and it actually provides income for people that have small businesses around here.”

Cannon said the new course is almost complete and as long as weather permits, they hope to have it open to the public in about a month.

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