NW Clay Crushers: Where Champions Are Made

---

The Trap Field 

In trap shooting, participants stand in stations (posts) positioned in a crescent shape behind the trap house. The trap house, located in front of the posts, is equipped with a mechanical trap that throws clay targets into the air.

Each shooter takes turns shooting until everyone has fired 5 rounds at their post. Then the shooters rotate to the next post and repeat until they have shot 5 rounds at all 5 posts for a total of 25 shots. The posts are all the same distance from each other and the trap house in front of you, but each post (1-5) has its own challenges as they are all placed at a different angle in relation to the trap house. The targets are launched when the shooter directs them to be launched by saying "Pull," "Pull It," or some other loud noise.

A Round of Trap 

The individual that stands at post one will always be the one to initiate a round. The first thing you'll want to do is say "Squad ready" to make sure your team is good to go. Then you will address the scorekeeper with a "Scorer ready" to make sure their god to go. Next, you'll say, "Let's see one" This is done so that the squad has an opportunity to see a clay and how it flies. The way in which the clays are thrown should fall into certain specifications, but we won't dive into the now. "Seeing one" gives the squad an opportunity to protest how the clays are being thrown and to verify that the throw is within standards.

Once everyone is ready, the first shooter at post one will load their gun, mount and call "pull" to initiate the throwing of a clay. You take a shot, and break it! Good job! Now the shooters at stations 2,3,4, and 5 will take their first shots. This pattern continues until each shooter has shot a total of 5 shots from the post they started on. Keep in mind that your gun should not be chambered with a round until it is your turn to shoot.

Once everyone has shot 5 times, the squad will rotate. You'll move from station 1 to 2, the shooter at station 2 will go to 3, so on and so forth. The person at post 5 will move to station 1. Because this distance of travel is longer than the other stations, there is etiquette to be followed. Rotate your body to the right and walk behind the rest of your squad. Safety is very important on the trap field so keep all of this in mind. Make sure your gun is empty, clear, and open. If you have a break action, keep it open and walk with it open. If you have a semi-auto, walk with it barrel up and locked open.

Once the rotation is done, the same process is executed with rotations after everyone has shot once at their station. This continues until everyone has shot a total of 25 shots.

The skeet field has eight shooting stations and two trap houses. Seven of the stations are arranged in a half moon between the two trap houses, and one station is directly between them. The high house, on the left side of the field, throws its targets from a trap 10 feet above the ground. The target rises to a height of 15 feet by the time it travels to the center of the field. The low house target, on the right side, leaves the trap house just 3-1/2 feet from the ground. It also rises to a height of 15 feet by the time it reaches the center of the field.

A round of skeet consists of 25 targets, with 17 shot as singles and 8 as doubles. The first miss is repeated immediately and is called an option. If no targets are missed during the round, the last or 25th target is shot at the last station, low house 8. The shooting sequence is as follows:

• Stations 1 and 2: High house single; Low house single; High house/Low house pair
• Stations 3, 4, and 5: High house single; Low house single
• Stations 6 and 7: High house single; Low house single; Low house/High house pair
• Station 8: High house single; Low house single

Skeet is shot in squads of 3 two squads of shooters shoot together. They move from station to station around the half moon, ending up in the center, at the end of the round.

Any gauge shotgun may be used, of any type, as long as it can fire at least two shots. The preferred shot size is #9, but nothing larger than 7-1/2 should ever be used. Since strength is not a factor, women are able to compete equally with men. Left handed shooters do just as well as right.

English Sporting is the most popular clay shooting discipline. It has no set rules regarding target speed, trajectory, angle, distance or elevation and will be different at every shooting ground. Sporting was originally intended to replicate live quarry shooting and appeals to both clay pigeon shooters and game shooters alike. 

Sporting layouts tend to be spread around a countryside setting to allow targets to be presented emerging from trees, bushes and banks. A set number of targets will be given from a number of shooting stands throughout an area. Shooting stands / cages are used to ensure guns can only swing through a safe arc of fire. 

A stand may involve targets being thrown from one or two traps in varying combinations such as: 

• Following Pair. Upon the call of "Pull" a single clay is released followed by a second duplicate target as soon as the trap has been reloaded.
• Pair on Report. Upon the call of "Pull" a single clay is released. As soon as a shot is fired a second target is thrown (from the same trap or a different trap).
• Simultaneous Pair. Two clays are released at the same time from two separate traps.
• Single. Just one clay released at a time (shooter can use both barrels to hit the target) 

A round of Sporting may consist of 60 targets spread over eight stands including simultaneous pairs, following pairs and singles. Stands are usually numbered and labelled with the number of targets to be taken and the combination. Most professional shooting grounds only use automatic traps controlled by remote (wired or wireless) release buttons. Sporting tends to be shot in small informal groups who will button for each other and record the scores (it is difficult for an individual to button, shoot and score). Competition shoots will involve a scorer at each stand or a scorer taking a squad around each stand in turn. 

Most Sporting shooting grounds expect shooters to have a look at a target before they shoot it. A degree of wasted targets is accepted as long as it is reasonable.