Bullets, Beer & BBQ

Great fun, even if you’ve never shot a gun before. We’ll drive to the beautiful Pocono Mountains for a three-hour sporting clays course. This mountainous course will put you right in the middle of some of the most breathtaking woodlands scenery in Pennsylvania. Beginners welcome! The instructors are friendly and patient and will help you get ready for your first round. We provide shooters’ earplugs and protective goggles. After basic shotgun safety and instruction, we’ll shoot 25 rounds with the instructor (NCSA members).

Then, it’s on to the sporting clays course! The targets will fly over rough, rugged terrain. As we walk (or ride) between 21 stations over the one-mile course, your eyes will be tested by background, angle and speed of the target. A variety of challenging — but fair — presentations will challenge your reaction time. Each person will shoot 50 rounds, so there’s plenty of time to perfect your shot.

Afterward, we’ll shoot the bull over a beer tasting at an award-winning microbrewery, housed in a renovated late-1800s farmhouse. The tour features a ten-barrel brew house, featuring a gleaming copper-topped, brick-encased brew kettle, a mash tun, a 360-gallon hot liquor back and a grist mill, as well as two lager conditioning tanks, four open fermentation tanks, eight bright beer conditioning tanks and six Firkin cask conditioning tanks, all of which can be seen from the bar or the Fermentation Lounge and game room.

We will feast on a lunch of BBQ at a 20% discount, and handcrafted pints can be had for $3.50 (try to find that in NYC!). Lunch and beer: out of pocket, optional. Space is limited for this trip; sign up soon to secure your spot!

Event Intensity Level

This trip is Intensity Level 1. Read a full description of all levels.

Event Details

• Includes Transportation, insurance, shooting instruction, shotgun rental, earplugs, goggles, targets and shells, and brewery tour
• Depart 7:30 AM (meet at 7:15 AM for check-in) NE corner of 73rd Street and Broadway, in front of Apple Bank (1, 2, 3 to 72nd Street).
• Return Around 5:00pm, same location
• Wear Comfortable clothing, sturdy shoes
• Bring Water, snacks and money for BBQ and beer afterwards

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With its roots coming from England, sporting clays is a shotgun shooting game in which clay pigeons are presented to the gunner in ways that mirror the flight pattern of game birds, or occasionally rabbits, in their natural habitats. The shooting grounds are laid out in stations (also called stands or butts, the British term) with each station representing one type of bird or a combination of game, for example, a rabbit and a grouse.

At each station, clay pigeons are thrown in pairs, five or so pairs to the station. A course consists of several stations, usually five to ten, where 100 birds or more may be presented over the course. Sometimes birds from the same traps may be shot from different positions, so the gunner sees the same target from entirely different angles, which creates entirely new shooting problems. An area presenting pigeons to several stations from a single trap is called a field. With variations in trap position, trap speed, shooting position, and flight paths of different types of clay pigeons, targets can come through the trees, from under your feet, straight down, over your head, quartering, going away, left to right, right to left and in any path a real bird might choose.

Experienced, Fun & Qualified Guides

From cycling across the United States to leading horse treks through New Zealand to scaling Nepalese peaks, Outdoor Bound guides have real-world outdoor experience. Collectively, they have hiked, biked, climbed and kayaked tens of thousands of miles around the globe.

Whether their professional backgrounds are as teachers, personal trainers, artists, environmentalists or business leaders, they all have an extensive knowledge of the natural world and local history. Each guide has also passed a rigorous guide certification program and is trained in wilderness first aid or as a Wilderness First Responder.

Diverse & Interesting Groups

There is no typical Outdoor Bound participant. While ages typically range from 20 to 50, those who come to experience outdoor adventure range from singles to couples, from lawyers to waiters. They are a mix of women and men. While the group is always diverse, you will certainly feel welcome. Our guides go the extra mile to make the atmosphere of each trip social and fun. Many people in the Outdoor Bound community have forged lasting friendships as a result of our trips.

New Experiences

Skydiving, ice-climbing, hot-air ballooning, skiing and hiking every weekend are just a few of Outdoor Bound’s year-round adventures. These trips are accessible to everyone, including the novice, who might feel a little uneasy, the young urban professional trying to get away and even the adrenaline junkie looking for a new rush.

Environmental Awareness

“Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures,” is the Leave No Trace motto embraced by Outdoor Bound. From purchasing bamboo T-shirts to printing with soy-based inks on recycled paper, Outdoor Bound strives to create the least environmental impact possible while on trips and in the office.