Trap and Skeet meet Sunday, February 28, 2010. Photo by Britney McIntosh | Staff

One club around campus has gone from relatively unknown to seam-bursting capacity with a single click of the trigger.

The UK Trap and Skeet team is firing up for its new season and the club expects it to be its best year yet.

“The club has been around for about 20 or 25 years, but it has been so stop-and-go because of the lack of support,” agricultural biotechnology senior and team

President Daniel Birkenhauer said. “This is the first time it’s been around for five or six years straight, and we are really seeing that change our numbers.”

The increase in numbers has certainly been evident in the amount of women joining the club, now a double-digit number opposed to zero only a couple years ago.

Telecommunications junior Catherine Lacy serves as current club vice president and president-elect for next year. She is one of 10 women now involved in the shotgun club.

“The sport is great because it’s something that challenges your inner self,” Lacy said. “Everything is in your head and it’s such a mental battle – I just love it.”

Birkenhauer, like Lacy, was introduced to shooting at a young age.

“I remember how it felt hunting with my dad and my grandpa when I was a little kid,” Birkenhauer said. “I never really shot competitively until I started getting older and moving up to where I am now. I think that’s one thing most of us here have in common.”

The club prides itself on its student community involvement, with nearly every team member participating in at least one, if not more, other student activities. It is definitely something the club tries to promote, Birkenhauer said.

Because of the team’s constant success and growth, the club has been able to travel in order to compete with teams from across the region, competing in about eight meets per season.

“The coolest thing we’ve done as a team was going to nationals last year,” Birkenhauer said. “It was our first time ever being there. There was this huge televised event put on by ESPNU, which we actually won. It was really amazing to be able to go out there and show off all the work our teams had been putting in.”

The hard work is something club members say trap and skeet is all about.

“What draws me to the sport is the fact that it has been the only hobby I’ve been able to stick with my whole life,” Lacy said. “I have been doing this since I was 8 years old and I love it more every day. I feel like the people I meet and the memories I make are things that will stick with me forever. It’s something great to get your mind off things when you need it.”