Trap Shooting is an amazing sport. It not only teaches a person gun safety, but it also teaches self discipline, focus, and determination.

Game: Annie Oakley

 Annie Oakley

 First this game was named after the American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter Annie Oakley Butler. She was the first American women "superstar".

Annie Oakley is where everyone lines up, side by side, and four people mount there guns, the first person says pull. If the first person hits the target then nothing happens, but if anyone after the first person hits the target then the people before them are out, and so it keeps going like that till there is one person left.

Game: Buddy Shoot

Buddy Shoot

In this game there are five teams of two. The "buddy's" take turns pulling the target, if the buddy who pulls the target misses it the second buddy is there to back up the first one to try and hit the target. Every time they shoot the buddys take turns pulling the target. But if the first buddy hits it and the second buddy does as well then there are no points given to them.

These are pictures from May 2015 of a Buddy Shoot that I participated in with my friends :)

Some Games!

There are a few different games that are associated with trap. The games have the same skill uses but they are in a way amplified. They games are challenging due to distance, having partners, and literally going up against other people, side by side. The games are fun but as competitors we take them serious because we all want to be the best and to be the last one standing!

Tracing

If you are having a hard time seeing where you are aiming, there are shells that are made to help track where you are shooting. They are called tracers. 

Point and Shoot

There are several tips to becoming a good shotgun shooter and breaking clays. First, the shotgun is very different from a rifle or pistol, where you focus on squeezing the trigger while not disturbing the sight picture. Forget all of that. With a shotgun, you point it at the target and pull the trigger. Trap shotguns don’t even have sights, just a small bead at the end of the barrel.

Squad Leaders

• Making sure the squad is at the correct field and on time
• Making sure the squad is prepared to start
• Making sure the score keeper is ready
• Calling a bird to see how they are launched 
• Making sure the squad is okay with how the target flies
• Signing the score sheet if required at the end of the round
• Checking to see if the scores are correct between the shooters and the score keeper

Ways to Help Staying Focus on the Line

1. Chew gum
2. Listen to music
3. Counting the hits and the misses
4. Watch the other shooters shoot on your squad

The Fives

There are 5 stations on a Trap field.
There are 25 shells in a box.
You shoot 5 shells at each station in a round of Trap.

The Field

In trap shooting, the targets are launched from a single "house" or machine, generally away from the shooter. There are 5 stations and they start at 16 yards away from the trap house. The yardage can go back all the way to 27 yards.

Shell Smarts

There are two types of gauge that are used for Trap Shooting and they are 12 gauge and 20 gauge. They have different size shells and different colors to tell them apart more easily. 20 gauge shells are ALWAYS YELLOW. 12 gauge shells come in a variety of colors but mainly BLUE, RED, and GREEN.

12 Gauge 

                                       

20 Gauge 

Rule #3

Handling the shotgun is very important. To tell other people non-verbally that your gun is unloaded; for a semi-automatic the barrel should be pointing towards the sky and the chamber should be open and visible.

A break action should always be unloaded, and should be broke open. This shows others that your gun is safe and unloaded.

Rule #2

Ear protection is extremely important. The fire from the guns is very loud. Therefore, ear protection is needed. Here are the different types of ear protection.

Ear Muffs

Foam Ear Plugs

You can squish these to fit into your ear, and when they are in, the foam expands to fit perfectly into the ear canal.

 Custom Ear Plugs

These ear plugs are made specifically for the person who is going to be wearing them. They are custom made, you can pick from an assortment of colors for your ear plugs to be custom made.

Rule #1

You MUST wear eye protection!

The purpose of eye protection is that pieces of the target tend to fly back from the wind, and from the sun. The color of lenses also illuminate the target. If it is cloudy or darker outside one would wear a lighter shade of lenses, such as yellow. If it sunny and bright outside one would wear darker lens, such as purple, or maybe even orange or magenta. The color of the lens depends completely on a persons preference. 

Rules of the Range

Before you can break clays you have to know the safety rules of the range.

HELLO and welcome to this blog!