Origins of the Charleston Skeet Club

The view east from the banks of the Ashley River in West Ashley delight many tourists and locals who dine at the fort like structure that houses California Dreaming. Step back a few years and the view was just as pausing, but the people on the banks were not dining, they were participating in the sport/game known as skeet shooting.
According to the National Skeet Shooting Association this game began in 1920 as a way for American bird hunters to practice “wingshooting,” Clay targets were flung into the air and participants took aim to split the clay into shards. It didn’t take long before clubs, competition, championship games, and Halls of Fame arose around this activity. Hunting was (and still is) huge in St. Andrew’s Parish, so naturally locals took up the activity.
On Thursday, May 17, 1934 an “Opening Shoot” was held at the James Island Gun Club. One year later on this date South Carolina’s first registered skeet shoot was held at the James Island field under the official regulations of the National Skeet Shooting Association. A little history is lost here as mention of the James Island Club was soon missing from local media but on March 12, 1938 an organizational meeting of the Charleston Skeet Club was held. By now, the banks of the Ashley River had become a perfect venue since the river and the marsh protected the surrounding residents from shotgun shells and chards.
Many stories revolved around skeet shooting. A few of them included:
1. In 1939 an outbreak of polio postponed the state championship tournament because of a ban on crowds.
2. One 1942 competition included the toss of a “Hitler” bird with a special prize given to the shooter that broke this bird.
3. During the war it appears that competitions and practice shoots were planned based on the availability of ammunition and the club became inactive.
4. A Charleston Skeet Club Championship was determined by the flip of a coin due to darkness.
5. 1947 was the year of “The Battle of the Charleston Skeet Range” when the first annual South Atlantic Skeet championship was held on the banks of the Ashley River.
The one St. Andrew’s name that was ever present when anyone mentioned skeet was W.O. “Sammie” Bootle. Bootle lived and breathed hunting. Very little stood between him and a hunt. So no big surprise that Bootle was elected secretary-treasurer of this newly formed club, which planned to meet every Sunday afternoon. Bootle’s participation in competition was immediate.
In May of 1938 he won the S.C. State Championship held in Spartanburg. In 1939 Bootle was elected President of the state association and Charleston was chosen as the site for the state tournament. Many competitions were held at the Charleston Association’s range “on the west bank of the Ashley river near Windermere.”
Bootle also won State Champion in 1939 and 1940. During a 1946 Skeet Club Meet Bootle established the season record: 891 out of 900 targets which included a run of 572 shots without a miss. Bootle failed to hit the 573rd target when he switched to a borrowed gun. In 1990 he was inducted into the South Carolina Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame.
The Charleston Skeet Club, with Bootle ever present, continued their weekly shoots, local tournaments, and hosting of state and regional championships on the banks of the Ashley River through 1957. Development pressure began to impact the site and curtail the use of this location for the sport. Merritt Dredging Company had been operating in the area since the late 1930s. Now the Pre-Stress Concrete Co was building a plant. Local residents protested the zoning changes in the late 1950s along the west bank of the Ashley River as inappropriate for light industrial use. Later this site would see the development of marinas, restaurants and hotels.
Skeet shooting stories? Contact Donna at westashleybook@gmail.com