Shooting for “Successful Beginnings”

Listed among a handful of women as a National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) Level III Shooting Instructor, Elizabeth Fennell is an all-around lover of wing shooting, clay shooting and fostering other women into recreational shooting sports.

- Britney Booth

Elizabeth and her husband Will run Fennell Shooting School, a private facility in South Carolina where everyone, from beginners all the way to top competitors, go for shooting instruction and clinics.

Additionally, in 2006 Elizabeth founded the group Girls Really Into Shooting (GRITS) to introduce other women to a no competition, no score, fun and exciting environment for sporting clays. From a thought born at her kitchen table, Elizabeth has grown the program to a national level, with 500 members and 14 chapters around the United States.

Elizabeth sat down to share her introduction to the sports and her advice to women who are interested in becoming involved.

How did you get started in upland bird hunting and clay shooting?

Years ago, I gave a guy who was an avid wing shooter his first actual shooting lesson with a local instructor, Henry Baskerville. Henry insisted that I give bird hunting a try as well, and so I did. The result of that first lesson has grown more and more apparent over time; it would become a sport I not only learned to love but also one that led to a career in the shotgun sports. How is that for “the rest is history” saying we hear so often?

What about the GRITS group; why did you start it?

I started GRITS after coming home from a shoot in Scotland in an effort to find a few other women to shoot with. While there, I discovered that shooting shotguns was going to be my new hobby. In other words, doing it more than three to five times a year. I wanted to try to shoot at least once a month while my kids were in school.