Peoria Skeet & Trap Club
A Classic Illinois Shooting Club Experience
If you’re looking for a classic shooting club experience, Peoria Skeet & Trap Club deserves a spot on your list.
Located in East Peoria near Spring Bay, the club has the kind of relaxed but serious atmosphere that makes people want to stay awhile. Surrounded by rolling farmland and mature trees that provide shade across the grounds, it has that traditional shooting club feel that’s getting harder to find.
One of the things that stands out most about Peoria Skeet & Trap is how welcoming the environment feels while still being a true destination for competitive shooters. The club features 10 skeet fields and 10 trap fields and hosts everything from casual practice rounds to registered shoots and championships throughout the year.
Founded in 1935 by a group of local hunters and sportsmen, Peoria Skeet & Trap began as a small club built around a shared love of shooting and community. Originally located along the Illinois River, the club eventually moved to its current location near Spring Bay, where it has continued to grow while still holding onto the traditional shooting club atmosphere that’s getting harder to find today.
But what really gives Peoria Skeet & Trap its personality is the people who keep it running, especially Becky McCumber.
Becky is more than just a familiar face around the club. She is a National Skeet Shooting Association Hall of Fame inductee and one of the most accomplished women in skeet shooting history. Over her career, she won dozens of world skeet championships and set world records including 1,183 consecutive targets in the Ladies 12 Gauge division and 259 straight in Ladies Doubles.
Long before women in shooting sports had the visibility they do now, Becky was competing at the highest levels and helping pave the way for future generations of female shooters. Her history with the club also runs deep. She grew up shooting at Peoria Skeet & Trap after being introduced to the sport by her father as a teenager, and decades later she still feels like part of the foundation of the place itself.
And honestly, Becky’s personality is part of the charm too. She’s experienced, direct, and deeply woven into the history of the sport and the club itself. After decades in skeet shooting, she’s seen just about everything that can happen around a clubhouse, and there’s something refreshing about how genuine she is. It adds to the authentic feel of Peoria Skeet & Trap and reminds you that the club is built around real shooters, real history, and a true love of the sport.
We recently had the opportunity to shoot there during the 82nd 3-I Tournament and got to experience that tradition firsthand. There were first-time shooters, youth shooters, longtime competitors, and people who had been returning to the event for more than 25 years. That mix of history, community, and generations of shooters all sharing the same grounds is part of what makes Peoria Skeet & Trap feel special.
Peoria Skeet & Trap manages to feel competitive without feeling corporate or intimidating, which is part of what makes it special. It feels like a real shooting club. The kind built on generations of shooters, scorecards stuffed into back pockets, and conversations under the trees between rounds.
Between the history, the people, and the classic club atmosphere, it’s one of those places that reminds you why people fall in love with shooting sports in the first place.
