First Time Trap Shoot

[Jmg198]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I attended and participated in my first trap shoot. When I told the guy at the counter that it was my first time and that I had only read about trap in a book he told me that the best thing for me to do was to go watch the regulars shoot for awhile. I was intimidated by quickness of the shooters at first. After a guy shot the next guy was yelling "pull" or "aaaaa". The guys saying "aaaaaa" kind of amused me. (Why do they say "aaaaa" instead of "pull"?) Anyway, I watched about three different rounds of shooting and I couldn't take watching anymore I had to participate. I went back to the counter and told him that I'd like to give it a shot. He then set me up with another gentlemen there that looked at my gun and my shotshells to made sure that I understood the rules. From my earlier reading about trap I new what size shotshells to by. I was also a little intimidated in that I didn't have a gun that was made for trap. I was using a Savage 755A semi 12 guage that my grandfather gave me and who had set the gun up for deer hunting. The man told me that the gun would be fine, but the scope rail might give me some sighting issues. I was all ready to go and couldn't be more excited. So, I signed up and after a few minutes I was standing in the 5th position ready to shoot. The man who looked at my equipment and made sure that I new the rules stood behind me through 3 of the stations and told me how I was shooting and to make sure I understood the procedure. He told me that I was aiming high and on my last five shots of my first round I hit four clays. All total in that first round I hit a total of 8 clays. I was so excited to hit so many and knew it was a sign of things to come. I then participated in 2 more rounds and in both hit a total of 18 clays. After this I had shot all of my ammo. I had purchased this ammo back in 1999 and was glad to have used it, but I wish that I could still get 100 rounds for $15. Anyways, I had finally shot trap, something I had always wanted to do and I had a better time than I had imagined. I was just wondering if anyone could give me tips or tell me how they did on their first trap shoot? Thanks for reading my story. jmg198

[stetson]

My trap gun is a remington 3200 trap special.I use to shoot registered trap shoots from
April-October.When I started out I hit in the high 60's and when I stopped I was hitting in the low 90's.Bad neck forced me to give this game up,just could not stand the pain of recoil of 325 rounds of 12 gauge being discharged every week.

[Jmg198]

Stetson, my shoulder had red marks on it from only shooting 100 rounds. I even had a red line down on my bicep. I don't think I had the butt of the gun in the correct position that time. If I had shot 325 rounds my shoulder probably would be in pain also. I guess it is something that if you don't do often your body doesn't get use to the constant impact. Then again if you do it too often your body wears out. What shells did you use for 16 yards? Thanks for you comments!

[pickenup]

I sure do ENJOY either hearing, or reading the stories, from new shooters. Yours is no different. It put a smile on my face. Thanks.

You may have noticed a few of the shooters wearing a vest. There is a good chance that it is a padded vest. That, along with a good recoil pad on the butt of your shotgun, could save a lot of wear and tear on your shoulder. Both are fairly inexpensive too.

It has been WAY TOO long for me, to even come close to remembering my score on my first trap shoot. It is hard enough to remember the last one. LOL

[Jmg198]

I shot 4 rounds of trap last thursday. The gentleman their had me do the eye test to see which of my eyes are dominant. Come to find out my left eye is dominant. So we decided that I would try to shoot left handed. It felt really uncomfortable during the first few stations and then it started to feel okay. I broke as many birds left handed as I did right handed. The only difference was the size of the bruise on my left shoulder was much larger than the one on my right. I believe I'm going to take "pickenup's" advice and buy some padding.

[GoodOl'12gauge]

My trap gun is a remington baikal. It has 20 inch barrels with full chokes. That is what ive used for years.

[LoneWolf]

I have a Benelli Montefeltro with a 28" barrel and skeet chokes installed for trap. I have no dominate eye unfortunatly (I'm just the lucky 1 in 100,000 or so that doesn't) so I really have to practice a lot to keep my accuracy up. I usually break about 16-20 clays on 16 yard trap whenever I go, but it's been over a year since I shot anything, so I wouldn't expect myself to get that good of a score or even close to it.
When you shoot, the one reason that most people miss is because they over think the shot. If you just stop thinging about it then you will more likely get a better score.
Good luck to you all. Hope this helps Jmg198.
Lone Wolf

[tom vito]

Not really my first time, but my son's.

It was about 6 weeks ago. We were getting all ready for the upcoming hunting season. Had most of the choirs around the house done, so we decided to go shoot trap at the local range. He was using his model 500 mossberg pump, and he nailed 9 of 25 his first round. He got progessively better from there. His last round he got 14 of 25. I was rather proud of him.

His next time shooting trap was about three weeks back. He and I attended a youth pheasant hunt that a local club was sponsoring. Before letting the kids out to hunt the birds, they each shot 10 clays on the trap range. This day he nailed 8 out of 10. Everyone was standing around going, " look at this kid shoot. He must've been shooting that shot gun since he was 2." Yet another very proud moment for the ol'man.....

[Jmg198]

Tom vito, your son sounds like a shooting prodigy. I think its great to teach kids the correct way to use firearms.

[kchociej]

I just got a new Remington 870 Express for Christmas (I must have been really good this past year). I've shot clays before maybe a total of 50 birds on a "friend of a friend's" property. I'm in the process of selecting a sportsman club in my area to shoot at and price is going to be my determining factor since the memberships are sort of expensive.

Shot 2 rounds of trap my first time out 2 weeks ago and hit 20 birds my first time out. I went again last week and shot 3 rounds and did absolutley horrible the first 2 rounds, and did better on my final 3rd round.

I'm trying to figure out the whole shotgun pointing idea. I've got a hi-viz green dot that I use to line up the bird and then pull the trigger when the dot is just below the bird. I'm going again in the next few days and really want to get this down because there is nothing more frustrating than missing a bird!

[jsa3107]

Originally Posted by GoodOl'12gauge

My trap gun is a remington baikal. It has 20 inch barrels with full chokes. That is what ive used for years.

And how many out of 25 did you hit with that set up??

[jsa3107]

Originally Posted by kchociej

I just got a new Remington 870 Express for Christmas (I must have been really good this past year). I've shot clays before maybe a total of 50 birds on a "friend of a friend's" property. I'm in the process of selecting a sportsman club in my area to shoot at and price is going to be my determining factor since the memberships are sort of expensive.

Shot 2 rounds of trap my first time out 2 weeks ago and hit 20 birds my first time out. I went again last week and shot 3 rounds and did absolutley horrible the first 2 rounds, and did better on my final 3rd round.

I'm trying to figure out the whole shotgun pointing idea. I've got a hi-viz green dot that I use to line up the bird and then pull the trigger when the dot is just below the bird. I'm going again in the next few days and really want to get this down because there is nothing more frustrating than missing a bird!

Remember the bird keeps moving you have to keep the gun moving
That is a mistake most make

[FJF0311]

jmg198,

The reason some trapshooters use other auditory commands than pull, is they feel shouting "Pull!", the jaw motion changes their face position on the stock, and eye alignment

[Jmg198]

That does sound logical.

[edho]

10/18/09/ yesterday my middle son 27 year old wanted me to go trap shooting with him .i came up with all kinds of reasons not to go but youth won out over old and tired, so i went he had been practicing for some time i've never shot trap but i've been hunting since i was 12. but moved to florida in 83 have not shot a gun since .26 years must be out of practice .told the man at trap shoot don't know what i'm doing, he wanted help ,told me put the gun to your shoulder say pull aim and shoot ..lol its a miss did that 4 times miss,miss ,miss then i said must be out of practice, after some encourageing words from the trap men i said let me try like i'm hunting. but a shell in the gun held it like i did when i used to hunt walking a feild said pull saw the skeet raised the shot gun pointed and shot ,all i saw was dust fly .i had 19 shots left he told me should shoot the way he says .i said let me try that again to make a long story short never missed another 20 strait,by the time i finished all the old farts were standing around wanting to see my gun .its a /sportsman/ remington, browning, made in 1935 full choke auto.it was a pretty good day .i know my son won't forget that day .thx mr browning nice gun .guess who had to clean the gun lol sorry son losers weep ...in case u counted my son shot the last shot . if i do it again i'll post the outcome..bye all

[JUNKKING]

First off I am impressed with you honesty. Most people would automatically say yeah man i was the best out there I banged 22 of the first 25 birds I shot.

Back in the late 70's I shot trap 3 times a week, I started with a Remington 870 Wingmaster TB grade 34 inch barrel monte carlo stock. I moved onto a Browning BT 99 single barrel 34 inch then onto a Pirazzi over and under. I still have all of the guns.

You seem like you are really into the sport, If you are going to continue shooting trap get yourself a Trap gun. Your poor shoulder will thank you for it. A sporting gun is designed to shoot maybe 10 to 15 rounds in a day not 25 rounds in15 to 20 minutes.

From what you mentioned speed was your amazement. i think you are trying to shoot as fast as those guys. Slow that shot and don't look at the trap house. Kind of focus in a broad area just beyond the trap house. You will automatically see that bird come out and have a smooth natural swing toward it. Remember you are shooting a shot gun, By the time you catch that bird it already has 16 yards on you. When you shoot that bird is 22 to 26 yards away. Your pattern is maybe 18 inches wide or more at that point. Don't try to aim directly at the bird. Point at it and you will see your score climb fast. Good Luck, JUNK

[questor]

My trap gun is the same gun I use for my hunting gun. Yep, the 870. Shoot two or three rounds when I hit the range. Don't have the monies for a trap gun, therefore my 870 fits the bill.

The local club has a pro and for $75 (one hour of one on one instruction) he pointed out my problems (mostly lifting my head prior to the shot) and started hitting 23-25. Well worth the monies.

as for "aaaaaaaaa" or "pull" or "brrrrrrrrrr" any sound is okay, as long as the bird flies.