MY STORY

Ever since a child I’ve wanted to shoot. Growing up in South Africa, there was always an opportunity to partake in shooting sports or interact with various types of firearms. Having shot guns from a young age, my enjoyment of the sport grew, and with it, the interest in the many different types of shooting sports out there.

It was only once I moved to the UK and started getting involved with clay pigeon shooting (sporting clays) that I felt like I’d found my passion for shooting sports. The varying grounds and surroundings, shooting layouts and various disciplines available, made it a smorgasbord of shooting enjoyment. The closest thing I can relate it to is golf, but where your clubs require 12 gauge cartridges!

Suffice to say, once I started I was hooked, however, like many starting out, I didn’t want to end up re-mortgaging the house just to take up this new hobby/sport/passion. And it’s a common misconception that shooting is expensive; however there wasn’t enough resource available when I started that actually helped with making it as cost effective as possible. This is something that I believe turns a lot of potential sporting shooters away.

HOW I WANT TO HELP YOU

Unless you’re absolutely loaded (be prepared for many shooting puns throughout my site and posts!), everybody wants the best bang for their buck. When I started, I wanted to make the sport as affordable as possible (who doesn’t?), but there was very little information or guidance on how exactly to do that. So I worked it out for myself. Now I want to share my experiences and tips with you – I mean, if I wanted to make it as cost effective as possible, doesn’t everyone?

Sporting clays is a wonderful sport and it needs a continuous influx of new shooters in order to sustain itself. The number of younger people entering the sport has waned in recent years and it wouldn’t be amiss to believe this is partly (or mostly?) down to the perceived cost of taking the sport up. 

Another hurdle, particularly in the UK, is that it’s incredibly difficult to get your licence (Shotgun Certificate), so why even bother…? Well, I’ll show you too that it’s actually not that complicated and far more accessible than you previously thought.

MY GOAL

The Budget Shooter aims to show you the best, most affordable ways, to take up and enjoy the sport of shooting; most notably sporting clays (clay pigeon shooting). It’s an incredibly fun, engaging and disciplined sport and I want to make sure anybody and everybody who has an interest in it, has the opportunity to partake in it.

All the best,

Gareth (“Gazza”)
TheBudgetShooter.com