Shot Trap for the First Time!

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lpsharp88

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Like the title says, I got to shoot trap for the first time yesterday, and it was awesome! I'm a pistol/rifle shooter about 99% of the time, so this was definitely out of the ordinary for me. My boss's dad loves to shoot, and found out that I like to as well, and invited me to shoot at his club with his friends. So it was basically me (28 years old) shooting with a bunch of retirement aged gentlemen, and one younger lady. Everyone was super nice and very helpful, even if it didn't seem like the help did much good at first, more on that in a bit.

We shot 4 rounds of 25 birds. My first 3 rounds I hit around 17-20 out of 25, even managed to hit my first 10 on my second round. Then on my last round I only hit 1, which came after some coaching from the group haha. My shoulder is a little sore after putting 125 rounds of 12 gauge down range, but I love it.

After my first three rounds, they inquired about how I aim, so I said that I close my non-dominate eye (right eye) and line up the sights, squeeze the trigger. Exactly how I was taught. They said that it's better to keep both eyes open so that you can pick up the bird faster and have a wider range of view, which make complete sense. So I tried that on my last round and proceeded to smoke the first bird, then miss the last 24 haha. After the 4th round one of the gentlemen grabbed a box of shells and he coached me through it and I got better, not as good as before, but ended up hitting about a third or maybe half towards the end of the box.

Some observations:
1. My Mossberg 590A1 is EXTREMELY poorly suited for this game. I missed horribly on my first two birds, then one of the gentlemen was nice enough to let me use a spare trap gun of his and I quickly improved.
2. Trying to aim with both eyes open is much harder than I expected. I had a pretty hard time focusing enough to pick up the bead and try to line it up with the bird, but got better.
3. Apparently you don't "aim" a shotgun, you "point" it. Still trying to wrap my head around this one. When I rabbit or deer hunt I definitely aim, as in line up my sights, and do not point it.
4. I need to work on leading my targets. When I was trained on the rifle, we were taught to kinda ambush moving targets. This didn't work so well for me in trap shooting.
5. Swinging through the target. Still having trouble with this one, most likely due to number 4.

Overall I had a great time and will definitely be going back for more!
 
I had a similar experience years ago. I had no technical interest in shotguns, but rolling cans and breaking rocks with rifle and pistol was beginning to lose interest. A friend took me trapshooting and I worked at it hard for a number of years. I have gotten off into other areas of competitive shooting, but I still credit him with connecting me with the Gun Culture and the habit of keeping score.

The main characteristic of a dedicated ATA Trap gun is a high enough stock so you can see the rising bird. Mossberg used to make a 500 pump with a very tall Simmons rib and a big Monte Carlo stock. I shot this and that, but kept coming back to my Remington 1100 TA with the mild recoil of the gas action.
 
Trap shooting is a lot of fun. I shot ATA for 5 or 6 years until a shoulder injury put me out for several years. Now money keeps me out for now. As for aiming or pointing my best advice is to do what works for you. I close 1 eye because if they are both open I see double birds. It can be a humbling experience at first, but keep practicing and above all HAVE FUN.
 
Like the title says, I got to shoot trap for the first time yesterday, and it was awesome! I'm a pistol/rifle shooter about 99% of the time, so this was definitely out of the ordinary for me. My boss's dad loves to shoot, and found out that I like to as well, and invited me to shoot at his club with his friends. So it was basically me (28 years old) shooting with a bunch of retirement aged gentlemen, and one younger lady. Everyone was super nice and very helpful, even if it didn't seem like the help did much good at first, more on that in a bit.

We shot 4 rounds of 25 birds. My first 3 rounds I hit around 17-20 out of 25, even managed to hit my first 10 on my second round. Then on my last round I only hit 1, which came after some coaching from the group haha. My shoulder is a little sore after putting 125 rounds of 12 gauge down range, but I love it.

After my first three rounds, they inquired about how I aim, so I said that I close my non-dominate eye (right eye) and line up the sights, squeeze the trigger. Exactly how I was taught. They said that it's better to keep both eyes open so that you can pick up the bird faster and have a wider range of view, which make complete sense. So I tried that on my last round and proceeded to smoke the first bird, then miss the last 24 haha. After the 4th round one of the gentlemen grabbed a box of shells and he coached me through it and I got better, not as good as before, but ended up hitting about a third or maybe half towards the end of the box.

Some observations:
1. My Mossberg 590A1 is EXTREMELY poorly suited for this game. I missed horribly on my first two birds, then one of the gentlemen was nice enough to let me use a spare trap gun of his and I quickly improved.
2. Trying to aim with both eyes open is much harder than I expected. I had a pretty hard time focusing enough to pick up the bead and try to line it up with the bird, but got better.
3. Apparently you don't "aim" a shotgun, you "point" it. Still trying to wrap my head around this one. When I rabbit or deer hunt I definitely aim, as in line up my sights, and do not point it.
4. I need to work on leading my targets. When I was trained on the rifle, we were taught to kinda ambush moving targets. This didn't work so well for me in trap shooting.
5. Swinging through the target. Still having trouble with this one, most likely due to number 4.

Overall I had a great time and will definitely be going back for more!

Trap shooting is really where it's at, for having fun and becoming an expert at small game hunting, especially the ones that fly and the ones that can run like the wind! (Rabbit, Squirrel, etc.)

On your observations:
1. Yes, your need the proper gun with the right barrel length, to do well shooting trap.
2. & 3. Combined. You should be keeping both eyes open, but your should not just be pointing, that is an amateur Trap Shooters mistake and it is often the advise of others Trap Shooter, who seem to do well themselves, but they do not score consistent 99/100s. A competition shooter, who is looking for strings of 100s, will tell you to keep both eyes open, but aim with your dominant eye at the same time. That almost seems impossible, but with practice, it simply becomes second nature after a while.
4. & 5. Combined, learning to lead, under shoot and follow through also becomes second nature, with lots of practice.

I notice that you mentioned lead, but did not mention under shoot, which is an absolute must when a target is flying away from you. A target that is straight in front of you and 30 degrees to either your right or left, is pretty much flying away from you. To hit those targets consistently, you need to aim about a foot below them, with a strong follow through. As a result the target will fly into your shot pattern.

If you want to become a serious Trap Shooter, it takes a lot of practice, but if you just want to have fun, you should still learn the proper way to address the target. Trap offers an amazing amount of different target pictures, from straight away to 45 degrees right or left.

Have fun and let us know how you do in the future.
 
Last edited:
dmoserwy said:
As for aiming or pointing my best advice is to do what works for you
That was my thought, but I figured I should take the advice of the seasoned vets and try it out. It didn't work at all at first, but I was catching on at the end. I still shoot better the other way, but I haven't tried both eyes open nearly long enough to write it off.

One thing I forgot to mention was I saw a completely new to me concept, the reverse trigger. I had never heard of, or seen, a trigger that worked in that way. I didn't get to try one out, but it seems really cool.
 
It's a release trigger. Common in trap, getting more common in skeet. They can be set up for release/release or release/pull in an over/under. A little tricky to disarm once you've set the trigger by pulling it. On an O/U you generally have to keep the trigger pulled and open the action release lever. That will disarm the triggers.

The thing about the beads - don't look AT them when shooting. If you move your focus from the target to the beads you will stop your swing and miss behind. When you mount the gun, check the beads and make sure they line up correctly - this tells you that you have the gun properly mounted, then shift focus to the house and call for the bird. Keep your focus on the bird, move at the knees to follow the bird. You do not want to change the relationship from your eyes to the bead while swinging (i.e. do not swing with your shoulders or arms) Your computer will take care of the rest. You'll 'see' the beads in the foreground - just don't look at them.
 
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