TRAP: Sport Shooting for Everyone

When most people think about recreational activities at the Lake, they likely think of boating, fishing, golfing, trips to the outlet mall and dining at the water’s edge. But a growing number of people are spending their days honing their skills at the shooting range. Trapshooting has long been a pastime at the Lake of the Ozarks. This art requires technique and focus, but it doesn’t play favorites to a particular age, gender or skill level. It’s a sport for a wide variety of people and one that combines the thrill of competition with camaraderie and fellowship.

Since 1793, outdoor enthusiasts have been enjoying sport shooting. In its early days, live pigeons were released from a number of holes in the ground covered by traditional top hats. The sport made its way to the U.S. in 1831. When the live birds became too expensive to use, they were replaced with metal “birds” made from glass-blown balls filled with feathers and flung from catapult contraptions. The sport has changed considerably since then. Clay disks, also called clay pigeons or clay birds, are used, and oscillating traps send the clays flying in a random sequence at a variety of heights, distances and angles.

Not to be confused with skeet shooting or sporting clays, two other varieties of the sport, trapshooting’s standard setup consists of five stations, 16 yards behind the trap house. The clay disks are cast out within a 35-degree arc, where the shooter can then take aim and fire. The challenge is not necessarily in locating the targets, but more so in tracking, leading and following through to execute the shot. Although it will take considerable practice to become consistently effective, most gun clubs host instructional shoots to train you in the proper technique and help you achieve success. After all, even the best shooters in the world had to start at the beginning, so don’t get discouraged.

There are a number of versions of the sport including Olympic Trap, Double Trap, Nordic Trap and — perhaps the most popular in North America — American Trap. This sector is broken down into three categories: singles, handicap and doubles. In singles competitions, there is a shooter standing at each of the five stations; each takes his shot, then rotates to the next station. The handicap category creates additional challenges as the shooter stations are moved 19 yards behind the trap house for women/juniors and 20 yards for adult males. From here, the angles are much more difficult, the time to shoot is diminished and wind plays a much greater factor.

Scoring a 96 or higher earns the shooter yardage or “getting a punch.” This then requires the shooter to move his position farther away from the trap house with a maximum distance of 27 yards. In doubles, the rotating trap is set to a stationary position and ejects two targets simultaneously. Each contestant shoots 10 clays from each station. In this variation, speed and accuracy is definitely a necessity.

Since 1900, Olympic Trap, also referred to as International Trap or Bunker Trap, has maintained a secure place on the Olympic stage. Drastically different from the Down the Line set-up, this version introduces a greater degree of difficulty, yet maximizes fairness for all shooters. Rather than all targets originating in one trap house with an oscillating head, there are 15 trap houses in the trench. Each of the machines are fixed at a stationary angle so all shooters receive the same projection. Randomized by a computer, the traps deliver the targets to each competitor in a series of 10 to the left, 10 to the right and five straight away. Maintaining the traditional five-station setup, the Olympic version also introduces a sixth shooter in the rotation. And if all the rotating, shooting and extra people weren’t enough, the field is expanded to a 45-degree arc.

So how popular is trapshooting? Every August the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships, hosted by the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA), draws an astounding 6,000 shooters for the 13-day event. The competition is held at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois, and is considered to be the largest and most talented shooting event in the world. In 1900 the first “Grand” was held in Queens, Long Island, and through the years has blessed Indianapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis and Vandalia with its presence. In the first tournament, 400,000 targets were tossed; in last year’s competition more than 4.5 million were thrown.

One of the major contributing entities to the success of the sport has been the American Trapshooting Association (ATA). As the primary governing body of American trapshooting, it is one of the largest shooting sports organizations in the world. Founded in 1900, the organization threw just less than 82.5 million clay targets in 2008 and has grown to have more than 1,400 affiliated gun clubs. Last year, there were 7,151 registered tournaments in North America, which drew more than 60,000 participating members. So as you can see, you won’t have to stand alone in exercising your passion for shooting.

Even with strong support from groups like the ATA and the thousands of gun clubs across the nation, some people still have reservations and misconceptions about the sport. So let’s create some clarity. First of all, you don’t have to be a man. There are many women’s shooting clubs across the nation looking for new members. Second, yes, shotguns do recoil — but because of the special low-load rounds, recoil reduction shooting vests and shock absorbing devices, the kick is greatly reduced. Third, you don’t have to like to hunt to trapshoot. Actually, the majority of trapshooters don’t hunt. They just enjoy the challenge of connecting with a 40-mph clay disc. And finally, shooting is a great stress reliever. Even if you miss all but one target, the sense of accomplishment you feel when the disc explodes into hundreds of pieces is therapeutically soothing.

The point is, no matter if you are a well-seasoned shot or have never shot before, trapshooting is an excellent hobby to add to your current leisure repertoire.

The Missouri Trapshooters Association (MTA) is proud to host the 3rd Annual MYSSA Fall Classic on September 10, an event held every fall that draws hundreds of tourists, locals and trapshooting enthusiasts. They are located at 51 Trapshooters Road in Linn Creek. For more information, call 573-346-2449 or log onto www.motraps.com.

Tags: Featured

Category: Blog, Featured