"I enjoy sporting clays a little more," says Dryke, who teaches shotgun shooting with his dad Chuck at family-owned Sunnydell, which opened in 1945, is considered the first established sporting clays course in the nation.

"It's not like trap or skeet, where if you miss one you've lost," Dryke said, "In sporting clays there's a little slack. If you miss one, there's some heckling and joking. It's more fun.

" The easy-going nature of sporting clays is in stark contrast to skeet or trap, where talking is not allowed during competition.

The entire idea of sporting clays is to duplicate field situations with round clay targets that simulate birds and small game animals. And, here, it's always open season.

The targets fly overhead like a duck, from the left or right like a snipe, bounce on the ground like as rabbit, or break out of cover at your feet like a pheasant.

And you never know from where the next target may emerge. The targets may fly out in doubles, or one in the air and then one on the ground. You might have to shoot into the sun, which would never happen in skeet or trap.

"A good shooter will miss a shot just like a good golfer will misread a green," Chuck Dryke said.

Taking the golf analogy further, sporting clay courses are somewhat similar to golf courses, but there are shooting stands instead of tees. Sunnydell has about 30 different stands, six duck towers and three running rabbit machines.

And much like a golf course designer attempts to present challenges to the golfer, so did Chuck Dryke in developing his difficult sporting clays course.

"Designing courses brings out the evil in you," he said with a smile. The game originated in England and spread to the United States, where its popularity is skyrocketing both among hunters and those who wouldn't traditionally pick up a shotgun.

Sporting clays have "a great future for shotgunning," said Chuck Dryke. "You're not killing or destroying something-that's what's pulling in the women."

Also, Dryke said, "The amount of game in yesteryear was really quite a bit. People didn't have to entertain themselves shooting targets, because you could stand along any fence line and find plenty of game

." These days, he said, game is scarce, regulations are stringent and fewer areas are available on which to hunt birds and animals. The North Olympic Peninsula, in particular, offers limited opportunity for upland bird, duck or goose hunting.

Hunters also like sporting clays because they can practice under controlled conditions the similar shots they would see in the field. But while it makes for good practice, the sport presents a challenging game in its own right.

Chuck Dryke thinks the growing sport may become an Olympic event some day, but Matt is less optimistic.

"They would have a tough time regimenting it because every course would be different," Matt said.

Chuck Dryke trained hunting dogs before he trained shooters and he said the Sunnydell sporting clays course sprung up about 40 years ago when "we had these guys from Canada coming down with their hunting dogs and we would argue about who was the best shooter. So we set up a field shooting contest and settled the argument with sporting clays."

Sunnydell is associated with the U.S. Sporting Clays Association and is one of only 14 sanctioned shooting clays courses in Washington, according to Black's Wing & Clay, the shotgunner's source for sporting clay, skeet and trap locations. Port Townsend, however, plays host to several shooting clays events each year.

Sunnydell is open to the public. The cost is $24 for 100 clay targets on the course. Shells are not included; they cost about $6 per box of 25 and can be purchased at the shooting grounds.

The 12-gauge is the preferred shotgun, using low-velocity target loads. You're just trying to break a target, not kill a bird, and the lighter load causes less recoil and makes it easier on your shoulder.

Shooting lessons from the Drykes cost $300 for 1/2 day and $600.00 for a full day. For details on sporting clays or shooting lessons, phone Sunnydell at 683-5631.