I knew that today was not going to be a good for trap, staying out until 5AM the night before does not do anything good to a person's reaction times. Bleary-eyed for my first round on the line, I surprised myself by shooting my average, a respectable-for-me 19.
But then I made things worse for myself by shooting round in a two-man squad with one of the fastest shooters at the club. We were both shooting over/unders but he was so fast that he usually got his shot off before I pocketed my empty hull. I felt the pressure and tried to speed up my reloading, which made my mounting sloppy, and when the high-speed round was over I had dropped four additional birds beyond my average. Three of the misses were crossing clays that I looked over and shot under because I mounted the gun too high, and one was a straight away from station three that I just plain missed on the left.
After that round I sat one out and signed up my last two rounds for the day on full squads with other novice shooters. This gave me the time I needed to do my little ritual before every shot: drop in a shell, check my feet, wait for the shooter to my left to fire, snap the gun shut, safety off, mount, lean into it, set my hold point over the trap house, finger on the trigger, and call the bird. Focusing on my fundamentals, and changing from sunglasses to clear safety glasses for the overcast conditions, netted me another 19 and a 21.
The moral of the story? Take your time. Don't lag, but don't rush. Remember, you are out there to crush clays, not see how fast you can miss. If the gun does not mount quite right, do it again. If you have more than a few mismounts in a round, practice mounting your gun at home or off the line.
At my range we have voice-activated traps. If you call for a bird and you don't get one, take your finger off the trigger, reset your hold point, and call for it again. How many times have you seen someone call for a bird, not get it, call again, a third time, get the clay, and blow an easy shot? Same thing for a dud shell-remember your fundamentals. New shell, foot position, safety, mount, hold over house, call for the clay, smoke it.
Another Tyro Trap Tale from:
-Under/Over.
But then I made things worse for myself by shooting round in a two-man squad with one of the fastest shooters at the club. We were both shooting over/unders but he was so fast that he usually got his shot off before I pocketed my empty hull. I felt the pressure and tried to speed up my reloading, which made my mounting sloppy, and when the high-speed round was over I had dropped four additional birds beyond my average. Three of the misses were crossing clays that I looked over and shot under because I mounted the gun too high, and one was a straight away from station three that I just plain missed on the left.
After that round I sat one out and signed up my last two rounds for the day on full squads with other novice shooters. This gave me the time I needed to do my little ritual before every shot: drop in a shell, check my feet, wait for the shooter to my left to fire, snap the gun shut, safety off, mount, lean into it, set my hold point over the trap house, finger on the trigger, and call the bird. Focusing on my fundamentals, and changing from sunglasses to clear safety glasses for the overcast conditions, netted me another 19 and a 21.
The moral of the story? Take your time. Don't lag, but don't rush. Remember, you are out there to crush clays, not see how fast you can miss. If the gun does not mount quite right, do it again. If you have more than a few mismounts in a round, practice mounting your gun at home or off the line.
At my range we have voice-activated traps. If you call for a bird and you don't get one, take your finger off the trigger, reset your hold point, and call for it again. How many times have you seen someone call for a bird, not get it, call again, a third time, get the clay, and blow an easy shot? Same thing for a dud shell-remember your fundamentals. New shell, foot position, safety, mount, hold over house, call for the clay, smoke it.
Another Tyro Trap Tale from:
-Under/Over.
