You MISSED! King of the Hill at Downers Grove Sportsmen’s Club
If you didn't make it to the King of the Hill Tournament at Downers Grove Sportsmen’s Club on October 3—you MISSED!
You missed a great sporting clays course. You missed a beautiful club. You missed some terrific food. But most of all, you missed a day with some incredibly friendly people who made you feel welcome from the moment you arrived.
The King of the Hill was a 100-target sporting clays event spread across 14 stations, with either six or eight targets at each stop. The course offered an excellent variety of presentations and terrain.
One station might put you in the woods with targets that demanded quick gun movement and good instincts. A few stations later, you were looking across more open terrain at crossing targets where you had a little more time—but also plenty of opportunity to overthink them.
Following pairs challenged your gun movement and discipline, while some tricky true pairs gave shooters options. On several presentations, you could legitimately debate which target to take first. There wasn't necessarily one right answer—it came down to what you saw, how you approached the pair and how well you handled the shotgun.
That variety made the course fun.
It wasn't simply about finding the hardest possible target. The course offered presentations that tested different parts of your game and gave shooters a chance to work on gun handling, target reading, transitions and choosing the right break point.
A Club Worth Visiting
The condition of the club also deserves recognition.
The grounds were nicely manicured and well maintained, and the combination of wooded and more open shooting areas gave the course a lot of character. It felt like a club where people take pride in both the facility and the shooting experience.
But the biggest impression was the people.
Downers Grove Sportsmen’s Club
4700 Old State Road
Morris, Illinois 60450
Everyone was incredibly friendly.
From the people running the event to the shooters we met along the course, there was an easygoing and welcoming atmosphere throughout the day. It was a great example of what makes the sporting clays community special: good competition without losing the camaraderie that makes spending a day at a gun club so enjoyable.
And Then There Was Lunch...
After 100 targets, Downers Grove had another surprise waiting.
Brisket.
And not just a quick sandwich on the way home.
Shooters finished the event with a barbecue lunch featuring brisket, beans, coleslaw, baked potato and cornbread—a pretty outstanding way to wrap up a morning of sporting clays.
The prepaid $125 entry included the 100-target event, a shared four-person golf cart, barbecue lunch, beverages after the shoot, and awards and prizes.
That's a lot of value packed into one event.
Put Downers Grove on Your List
There are plenty of shoots competing for our weekends throughout the Illinois sporting clays season. Sometimes you pick one event and inevitably miss another.
If you passed on King of the Hill at Downers Grove Sportsmen’s Club, this was one you should remember the next time it comes around.
A well-maintained club.
A fun and varied 100-target course.
Four-person carts.
A great barbecue lunch.
And, most importantly, a group of genuinely friendly people who made it a great day of sporting clays.
So, if you weren't there this year...
You MISSED!
Don't make the same mistake next time.
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