Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current, September 20, 2013, Image 11
COMMENTARY These ‘Annies’ get their guns, head into the woods to shoot They named their club after An nie Oakley, that famous 19th and ear ly 20th century woman-with-a-gun. In casual conversation, these shotgun-car rying metro Atlanta sportswomen refer to themselves simply as “the Annies.” Members of the Annie Oakley Shoot ers gather the first Monday of nearly ev ery month to shoulder shotguns and blast clay targets that fly like game birds. “In golf and tennis, nothing blows up,” said Debbie Avery of Sandy Springs. “In this sport, things blow up. It’s in stant gratification.” The Annies grew out of a charity shooting tournament for women, said Mary Huntz, one of the originators and self-described “mother hen” of the group. “We decided, ‘why let all these guys have all the fun?”’ This year, their Annie Oakley shooting tournament reaches its 10th year. Over that period, the club has raised $365,000 for chari ty, she said. The group’s mission is to encourage women to learn the sport of shooting. New shooters must take lessons. “Most of our women never held a shotgun be fore,” Huntz said. “I like to say we are peashooters and sharpshooters.” The club has about 150 women on its email list. They live in communities spread from Cobb County to Monroe. Some months, 60 or more women join the shoots on “Annie Mondays.” On this season’s opening day in September, about 40 women took part in a shoot at the club’s home, a private hunting and shooting club near Social Circle. They shouldered 12-gauge or 20-gauge shotguns or packed them into golf carts or hand-pulled carts that look surprisingly like strollers. Then they headed into the woods to shoot glow- in-the-dark orange or green clay targets that fluttered from the trees or darted from the bushes or flew into the sky. Dentist Laura Braswell, who prac tices in Buckhead, joined the group six or seven years ago. She had done some shooting in college, she said, but had laid aside her shotgun. She decided to take it up again to have an outdoor sport to share with her son. He’s in high school now and they still go shooting to gether. Now she shoots regu larly with the Annies. “I’m just happy to get out in the woods,” she said She likes being with the other women. “You meet differ ent people. You have fun. There’s a little bit of networking, but mostly it’s just social,” Braswell said. Christy Roberts learned to shoot growing up in Texas, where she’d hunt deer. She’s been shooting with the An nies for about five years. “It’s obviously fun to be with a different group of ladies than the usual,” she said. They shoot “sporting clays,” which means no two shots are exactly the same. They work a course of 15 stations, mov ing from one to the next like golfers on a course. Targets fly in several different di rections and offer combinations of high and low flights. They mimic the various flight patterns of different birds and, in one case, the cross-the-ground scurry of a fleeing rabbit, shooters said. “It’s a lot like golf to me. To me, it’s easier than golf. Golfing is a little more frustrating,” said Jo hanna Tate of Dun- woody. “ [Shooting] is something my hus band and I can do to gether.” On opening day, Avery, her friend Car ol Beerman of San dy Springs, Braswell and I set off as a four some. We were ac companied by in structor Cheng Ma, a 68-year-old com petitive shooter and hunting guide who grew up hunting in California and now teaches clients how to properly wield a shotgun. Avery brought her dog, a German shepherd puppy. “I want to make sure she’s good with gunfire,” she joked. Avery’s husband introduced her to shooting. Now they hunt together, even going so far as Argentina to find birds to hunt. Other Annies also have traveled in pursuit of a good shoot. Tate, for in stance, says she’s hunted in Scotland. Avery introduced her friend Beerman to the sport. She took right to it and she says she was amazed at how many wom en are active shooters. “I’ve just kind of fallen in love with it,” Beerman said. The attraction? “I like the challenge of it,” she said. “And maybe it’s the pow er of the gun.” JOE EARLE Annie Oakleys Shooter Debbie Avery, right, fires at flying targets while instructor Cheng Ma looks on. At left, Carol Beerman practices sighting the target. AROUND TOWN JOE EARLE Northside Hospital Cancer Institute helps thousands of people survive cancer and enjoy life like never before. Northside is the only hospital in metro Atlanta chosen by the National Cancer Institute as a Community Cancer Center. So, right here at Northside, you have access to the latest cancer research and treatments. In fact, Northside has the highest survival rates in the country for bone marrow transplants for both related and unrelated donors. When we say we offer a lifetime of care, we mean a long and awesome lifetime. Where the Extraordinary Happens Every Day Northside.com Northside Hospital CANCER INSTITUTE NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL CANCER INSTITUTE: RESEARCH THAT LEADS TO Not Acting Your Age www.ReporterNewspapers.netl SEPT. 20 — OCT. 3, 2013 | 11