Every Sunday morning and Wednesday afternoon, the Androscoggin County Fish & Game Association opens its Auburn gate and lets the public in to shoot.

“You do not have to be a member,” said Don Chouinard of Sabattus. “The only difference is you pay $1 more than members.”

Summer Sundays can pull in 35 to 40 men, women and children, eager to shoot clay birds during a friendly competition of trap. Three generations of Poulins wearing “Poulin X3” on the back of their jackets, shoot on a regular basis. On a recent Sunday, Jacob Poulin, 11, of Auburn, hit 23 out of 25 clay birds while shooting with his father, Mark, and grandfather, Don.

“You don’t need a specialty gun to shoot trap,” said Chouinard. “You can basically use any 12-gauge (shotgun).”

The club stays open year-round with wood stoves heating three warming huts.

It was initially on Turner Road, back in 1949, before moving to the land where the Taylor Pond Yacht Club is now located. Fish & Game moved across Perkins Ridge Road to its current 89 acres in 1969. Bill Adams of Auburn helped build the club’s first trap house and is still a member. 

Close to 400 members shoot about 134,000 clay birds per year, but trap is not the only sport featured. TJ Morin, 11, of Lewiston, recently came with his father, Tim, and grandfather, Marcel Morin, to shoot targets with his .22-caliber rifle on the rifle range.

When the flags are up, the different shooting ranges are “hot,” Chouinard said.

He stressed that safety is practiced by everyone. Guns must be open and unloaded when moved to and away from the firing line, and eye and ear protection is mandatory. “It’s all about safety. People have fun in a safe and organized manner,” Chouinard said.