shooting courses
Helice Rings
The National Helice Sporting Complex is a ring leader in the world of Helice, boasting Six state-of-the-art shooting rings. Helice is a shotgun sport that simulates the flight of a live bird. The goal is to hit the white cap and separate it from the orange propeller before the target flies over the fence.
Helice shooting, also known as "ZZ bird" shooting, originated in Belgium during the 1960s as an alternative to live pigeon shooting. It’s a challenging form of competitive shotgun shooting similar to clay target sports. However, a helices target, is made of plastic that fits into a set of plastic “wings” to mimic the erratic flight of a live bird.
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The course layout, referred to a ring, consists of five launchers, each holding two targets, are arranged in a semi-circle in front of the shooter's position. The five-machines are positioned between 4.50 meters and 5 meters apart. Twenty-one meters beyond the launchers is a rigid, semi-circular fence, twenty-four inches high. This fence marks the outside border of the shooting area (into which all scoring targets must fall). The mesh size of the fence must not allow the white center cap of the helices target to pass through.
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Similar to clay shooting, the shooter will call to release the targets, and will have two shots to hit each target. The launchers rotate the helices target rapidly, and due to their plastic wing design, the targets fly off on unpredictable paths. Some targets go high and fast, while others stay low to the ground. Unlike sporting clays, you never know which way a helices target is going. It's easy to see why they made this style because it closely resembles hunting live pigeons.
During competition, the shooter stands inside a marked space on the shooting stand, with his/her gun held in any position judged safe by the referee, from gun-down to fully mounted.
As soon as the shooter is at the designated mark and loads the gun, the operator will start the machines (launchers). The shooter only scores points if the witness cap is dislodged from the propellers and lands within a fenced area (ring).
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The US Helice Association has sanctioned Helice shoots throughout the year where shooters can earn points to secure a position on Team USA and go on to represent the United States at the Helice World Finals.
Sporting Clay
Welcome to one of the fastest growing shotgun sports in the world, sporting clays. Sporting clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting at special flying targets known as "clay pigeons" or "clay targets" with a shotgun. It’s a great way to connect with friends and family, and hone your skills during one of the many hosted private events.
Visit our Calendar page to check out the tournament schedules in advance.
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Sporting Clays is shot over a course of numerous shooting stations laid out over natural terrain. National Helice Sporting Complex comprehensive shooting facility has 2 separate courses and includes 30 fully automated shooting fields. Sporting clays aims to simulate the unpredictable flight paths of gamebirds and paths of rabbits across uneven terrain. Courses provide a variety of trajectories, angles, speeds, elevations, distances, and target sizes. The original idea was to replicate hunting conditions, so unlike trap and skeet (games of repeatable targets), sporting clays has more target variety.
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In competition, you move from station to station where new target presentations are thrown in pairs (usually 3-4 pairs per station).
Five Stand
5-Stand is a type of shotgun sport shooting similar to sporting clays, trap and skeet. There are five stations, or stands and six to eighteen strategically placed clay target throwers (called traps). Shooters shoot in turn at various combinations of clay birds. Each station will have a menu card that lets the shooter know the sequence of clay birds (i.e. which trap the clay bird will be coming from). The shooter is presented with 5 targets at each station. After shooting at the 5 birds on the menu at that station, the shooter proceeds to the next stand, where they find a new menu of 5 targets.
Skeet Shooting
Skeet Shooting is a recreational and competitive activity whose participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles. Skeet is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay shooting—alongside trap shooting and sporting clays. The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting with the shooter shooting from seven positions on a semicircle with a radius, and an eighth position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses that hold devices known as "traps" that launch the targets, one at each corner of the semicircle.
Trap
Trap shooting is practiced all over the world, being a very popular sport in the United States. It is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting. Trap shooting is distinguished by the targets being launched from a single "house" or machine, generally away from the shooter. Trap shooting variants include, but are not limited to, international varieties Olympic trap, also known as "International Trap", "Bunker", "ISSF Trap", "Trench". Non-Olympic shooting variants include Down-The-Line, also known as "DTL", Nordic Trap, and double trap.
Member perks
Enjoy unlimited visits, guest passes, discounts, and more with National Helice Sporting Complex’s Membership Packages. Allow us to treat you to the best hospitality in Helice and shooting sports with courses and activities for individuals and companies.