Biodegradable clay pigeons

[Matt304]

Where can biodegradable clay pigeons be purchased? I have found a place that makes them on the net, but I cannot find anywhere to actually buy them. I thought that they would be a fairly popular item.

 

[another okie]

Keep checking around in sporting goods stores, or ask them to check their suppliers. They do exist; some are manufactured not far away from me in SW Missouri. I think the "White Flyer" is listed as biodegradable, so you might google that for stores.

That said, all clay pigeons I've ever encountered are made out of materials that are fairly natural, such as chalk and clay, sometimes with some resins. I find even the "non" biodegradable ones disappear pretty quickly in our Oklahoma weather. The only caveat is that regular clay pigeons are hard on pigs, but I don't have any pigs. They don't bother cows.

Championtargets.com claims to have a new "e-target" that is pretty biodegradable, and there is a dealer locator on their web site.

 

[The Sheriff]

The "Bio's" aren't what they're cracked up to be.
I looked into them for our club, but found out from the rep that they kill everything on the ground where they land, leaving bare soil as they decompose. As I understand it, it's the huge amount of sulfur in them.
...Great idea, but currently not a solution.

 

[FullEffect1911]

I have had good success with the white flyer biodegradable targets... They do in-fact break down after a couple years.

Here is the website for some more information
http://www.whiteflyer.com/targetbio.html

I use them at my target range for stationary targets, good fun.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Wal-Mart, of all places, has started carrying the the White Flyer brand biodegradable ones around here. 135 count box for about $8-9. I've also seen them at Sportsman's Warehoue, but for a few bucks more a box. They seem to work well, although the might be a bit more brittle. I'm not sure, since I was shooting 20 degree weather and everything seems a bit more brittle then.

 

[The Sheriff]

I suppose that if you are shooting over barren soil, or desert, they probably can't do any harm. But, up here, we have our Clay's course in a forested, and rather lush former Christmas Tree farm, that we'd like to see stay that way.
That type of topography and varied presentations in Sporting clays is what we strive for.

 

[another okie]

Sheriff - when you say "the bios" are you specifically referring to White Flyers, or to the category? If they are hard on grass and trees I'll avoid them.

 

[The Sheriff]

Specifically to the White Flyers, because that is what we buy.
I was interested in them as well, but the result seems to defeat the purpose, I think.
...They decompose into the soil, but they kill everything beneath them.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

I'm a little confused. Aren't they supposed to take 2 years to decompose? If I place anything on my grass for 2 months, let alone 2 years, it kills all the grass and leaves bare soil.

 

[The Sheriff]

Not sure how long it takes for them to totally decompose, but as they do, they leach out the higher than normal sulfur content that binds them together.
Keep in mind that most of these clays are either hit and shattered, or they break when they land un hit. Either way, over time, they cover a wide area, that is then denuded of any future growth.
...With regular Clays, they break apart the same way, but everything then grows up around them, and if the grass is cut, such as in a Skeet or Trap field, the residue is ground up, and everything still grows below it.
...Also keep in mind that with all of that additional sulfur content, you may be changing the PH of the soil, that can then cause lead to deteriorate, rather than remain inert.
...I love the concept, but it isn't there yet.

 

[scout26]

We got a batch of White Flyer Bio clays at our club a few months back when our supplier was running short of regular pitch birds. The only thing we noticed was a higher then normal breakage on launch then with the pitch birds. The "kills the grass" problem is not a issue for us as we have 60+ years of broken birds and wads in the impact area. In fact about 2-3 times a year we go out there with a plow and push the mess into mounds along the back or scope some up to pave the Sporting Clays course trail.

You can see the area in the background of this picture of my son pushing the hull picker.

 

[Muskie Boy]

Boidegradable / Non Toxic Sporting Clays

For me the biodegradable is a nice secondary feature. The White Flyer Biodegradable are also non toxic.

If you look at the standard clays there is a warning on the box that states they are petroleum based and not to be ingested by livestock. As we shoot over hay fields this is very important to us.

I thought I saw Bass Pro Shops in Portage Indiana was carrying White Flyers now. Can anyone confirm this? (The store where I was buying them went out of business.)

(If you cover your grass with any clay it will be deprived of sun and will die. The composition of the clay has nothing to do with it.)