Trap Shooting for beginners

Introduction to trap shooting

Trap shooting is as American as apple pie and is a favorite pass-time for many families across America, especially in the Midwest. I can remember growing up in Ohio where our family would gather for July 4th and shoot trap for hours. 

We shot trap at my brothers graduation party as well as mine. I also remember my mother telling my dad that we were not to shoot trap at my sisters graduation party. We politely complied with her request and decided to throw a trap shooting party conveniently at the same location of her graduation party starting only minutes after her party ended. Trap shooting is just what we did as a family and it kept us close. 

There are many ways to shoot trap but just for this article I am going to talk about it in the most basic form or what I call "backyard trap shooting." Trap shooting can get very involved when you join a club which has specific regulations on how the "bird" is supposed to fly, how far you need to stand in relation to the target and other factors that try to standardize the game but for this article we are focused on the bare bones of just using those little clay birdies to build community and have fun. 

What is trap shooting?

Trap shooting or shooting trap is a simple game that is played with clay "birds" and a shotgun. The shooter(s) step onto the firing line and a thrower then launches the bird into the air where a shooter then takes down the bird. There are plenty of ways to do this in more creative ways which we will get into later. 

How did it start?

Shooting trap started in the 18th century in England. Pigeons or doves were often the target of choice. The shooters would step onto the firing line and wait for the dove to be released from a trap, hints the name "trap" shooting. Eventually glass balls were used to take place of the live bird. These balls were filled with feathers, dust or anything else to give an obvious impression of when they were hit. During the 19th century a man named George Ligowski of Ohio created the clay disk now associated with trap shooting. 

What do you need to trap shoot?

1.) Choice in gun and ammo: Most people use a .20ga or .12ga pump. I typically use my .12ga over and under now but when I started shooting trap very young I used a Mossberg bolt action chambered in .410 and got very handy with that little gun. I suggest a modified choke for most people but everyone has their own opinions on what type of choke works best. 

2.) Targets: Picking up clay targets can be done almost anywhere where outdoor supplies are sold. You can even pick some up on Amazon. Click here.

3.) Clay thrower: You can get mechanical ones, electric ones or handheld ones like this one. I personally like the handheld ones because you can throw them at any angle and if you are good enough you can throw them flying low to the ground or bounce it off the ground which we call a "rabbit." Find a handheld thrower.

4.) If you like you can invest in a shell pouch. Growing up we never used shell pouches and just placed them on the ground. If you plan on shooting a lot of trap or joining a league you may want to save your back and invest in a shell pouch. This speeds up the game and makes reloads much faster reducing wait time and increases the overall fun by making shooting rather than reloading the priority. 

There are many options out there for shell pouches ranging from budget nylon ones to premium leather with extra pouches for spent shells. Click here to find the version Old Northwest Leather makes. This shell pouch is made from thick American sourced leather and is a sturdy choice designed to place your box of shells right into. If you choose to get a shell pouch you will want to consider a good belt to go with it. Typically a 1.75" belt is the best choice but a 1.5" belt will get you through. The weight of shells will easily put wear and tear on your store bought belt and could possibly break it fairly easy. If you want to invest in a good belt, check out our belts in our everyday carry category. 

Actually shooting:

There are a number of ways to shoot. The most basic form is giving each shooter a number of birds and counting up how many they hit. The player with the most number of birds hit wins the round.

There are other games each with many variations such as: Annie Oakley or "golf" as we called it because we played with points, double trap, shooting with partners, flurry, slider, or a sudden death tournament game where two shooters race to hit the same bird. Explaining these games would take another blog so stay tuned.