ok, i admit it. im hooked.
are you?
heres the place chat about it.
so, have at it!
ive been doing it for over 30 years now. how about you?

Shotguns don't shoot the same that other ones do, differnet focus, trigger pull etc so while highpower service rifle shooters, we cross trained in everything but shotgun.

I shoot it not often enough, such that the lab was usually staring at me while duck hunting. He thought that me getting to shoot was not nearly enough. He would like to retrieve.

Haven't shot competition rifle in about 10 years, could get into shotguns now, but wife and I decided to spend our recreation funds going to AK every time we can instead. LOL. Good deal for us at least.

4H benefit shoots get our money a few times a year, and thast about it.

I love to watch a good shotgun shooter shoot though.

i legged in pistol with good eyes, got tired of being wet in rifle matches...got old and my weak eyes can handle shotguns now. lol!

LOL, Maybe thats where I will head... 20 of 30 leg points in pistol with only 3 matches shot, I was using bullseye as a bit of crosstraining...

I know the wet feeling. LOL.

At least being out of competition, means I can now choose to get wet or not in the things I do. Doesnt' matter to anyone else, not letting a team down etc... if I sleep in the tent in the rain in Alaska instead of getting wet that day looking for a moose.

Heck with a shotgun if I hit 50% I think I"m on fire.....

Having shot a box of shells once at teal... and having a friend offer more, I says no, lets go back to the airboat. I'll have more fun driving my airboat than shooting more at teal.. .and I've shot my duck limit other days with one round per bird...

yep...gotta love guns that have a 30" diameter bullet.....

LOL, we did all our best shooting, and saw all kinds of records broken when we went to .224 bullets...M14 still feels right but the AR shoots circles around it and its earlier relatives.

The 30 inch wide bullets don't help as much as I thought they should.....

You left out the new kid on the block. Sporting clays????

Back in the day, I was a AA27AA trap shooter. Haven't shot registered targets in years, due to raising a family, and a busy career....I sure do miss it at times. Someday I'll get back into it.

s.clays? who cursed? lol.

Should have known from the retired part of your intro.

Have fun with the older crowd.

sporting is generally what we shoot on benefit shoots. To me its much harder than skeet, which if you figure it all out is pretty repetitive.

I like the idea of sporting clays.

I should really shoot a bunch of it before duck/dove seasons.

SC makes more than a few of the older crew nervous.

Nervous? Wouldn't see why. The person that breaks the most still wins, whether its 100 on the skeet or whatever on sporting.

Seems to me sporting teaches a lot of differing shots, more so than skeet or trap, but skeet or trap is the way to start to learn the basics at least for me.

I keep forgetting to buy a couple of cases of the AA with the tracer wads... so I can have a clue where I miss at...

I prefer SC over skeet and trap. Skeet is the most mechanical event, at least in my opinion. It is a tangible standard to judge scores tho, SC depends on how the course is set up. Skeet has the same difficulty, with the exception of wind or international skeet, on all courses.

I dont think you could do well on SC without learning the others first.

We took a guy that shot on the Army skeet team, for his first SC shoot. This guy could go 100 straight on skeet with all four gauges. Saw him do it over 4 days. SC whipped his butt! I think his score was in the low 20's.

Reason why is many like to shoot their 95Plus high skeet scores. Take them on a good SC course-there are easy and hard-and until they spend the time to learn other than the 20 some yard skeet targets they struggle big. For some of them it is hard on the ego and they quickly go back to their comfort zone.

Not all, but many, especially the older guard are not up to the challenge.

Hear many say, this isn't like anything I ever saw hunting and that is their excuse. Well the game has changed and it essentially isn't about hunting. It is about SC.

Not that you can't tune up your hunting skills on a SC course. You can. However, there are many presentations it would be rare to see with any frequency on the hunting fields.

Army Skeet team put on a demo at one of our clubs and those guys can shoot. Took them on the 5 stand and they were lost for a spell. One came up to me and said how are you breaking that long chondell, I can't touch it. Showed him and it didn't take long for him to catch on. He had a big grin on his face when the light came on.

long chondell.. I think the one at our course needs 7-8 foot lead when I manage to break it...

RE the old crowd not up to it, thats arrogance IMHO.

They are up to it, but like many, me included, we tend to gravitate to one sport or another and try to be the US champ at it. I tried but not long enough likely to get there with the service rifle. I didn't want to shoot anything BUT service rifle. I think I've shot match rifle 1-2 times in my whole life... just my choice.

Nothing wrong with match, but I choose a different route.

Nothing at all wrong with picking which one you want to strive at.

I bet the army guys, once they figured it out would hand it back to everyone else pretty hard... They have the mental down which is HUGE, they just need to change mechanics a bit and get used to the new mechanics.

Observation of people is where I was coming from. Definitely not arrogance. Many of them are not up to getting into the game seriously due to the fact they don't want to drive home having the score ride home with them. They are used to high 90s.

Not so true with the young Bucks. They will often jump in and learn a new game and do well. The old guard not so much.

Yep the Army guys have the eyes, reflexes and mental game to play SC at the highest level. Once they get the mechanics and tricks down they would do well.

my goal of the skeet trap thread is to save it and revive it. yes, s.clays is the hot potato these days. it appeals to hunters where skeet/trap appeals to those that like to practice repetition and endurance, like bullseyes shooters.
i like skeet/trap because i dont have to rent a cart or walk 2 miles. as i heard it mentioned, s.clays is golf with a gun.
and for that reason, youll never see me on a s.clays course. i prefer to get up from a bench, go shoot, and go back to the bench. then hang out in the club and relax. not swat flies and pray the battery isnt dead on the machine farthest from the clubhouse in the woods while i dig pebbles out of my boots. :>

Sounds like Skeet is like F class, as you age, its one thing you can keep up with

I've not shot with many folks that were scared of their scores to speak of... Guess that may be a shotgun thing possibly.

hey tx aint so far from mo. come be my guest some day. i hold cyber shoots twice a year at my farm. come join us guys. the steaks after the shoot are more fun than the shooting. lol.

When I get some more vacation time I might swing on up.

Use my 2 weeks every year in Alaska during moose season currently.

mark your calendar...9-10 oct is our next cyber meet. had 25 last april.

I started competitive skeet shooting when I was 15 years old (44 years ago). I stopped competitive shooting when I got married and started my family but continued shooting skeet and some trap just for fun. I had a skeet and trap club just down the road from where I worked and used to shoot during my lunch hour. Then I got into .22 rimfire benchrest and competed at that pretty heavily and successfully. I've just about run my course with that and have been thinking about shooting skeet on a limited basis again. The last round of skeet that I shot was in 2007 at the range that I first learned to shoot at in my old hometown. That club had to shut down due to the fact that they shot over a body of water and the EPA didn't like it. They held a big event on their last day and I shot the last 25 straight at the club.

I've dusted off the old Browning Ultra Sporter, located my skeet choke tubes and will head to the skeet range this week. Kinda wondering how I'll do after all these years. Getting excited about it.

Remember, a low house miss at 7, buys the beer.

Well I went to the skeet range today and shot a couple rounds. I was shooting some of my old reloads with 1 oz. of #8s. The first round I showed my rustiness. I only managed a 16 but felt pretty comfortable doing it. I thought about that first round and realized that I was probably not married to the stock enough and concentrated on keeping my head down for my second round. I frickin' amazed myself by going straight. Some of the guys I was shooting with called me a sandbagger (with a smile) but I knew the leads and concentrated on keeping my gun speed up and my head down. The nice thing about having done a lot of high level .22 benchrest competition and maybe my overall experience and age but I was not nervous in the slightest as I stepped on station 8 with 3 shells left in my vest's pocket. I'll be doing more.

I never missed the low 7 but I did miss one high 7 by peeking at it in my first round.

LOVE it! Been doing it seriously for close to 25 years now. Shot lots of registered skeet and sporting clays and want to do some ATA this summer but doubtful I'll take to the extream I did with the other two.

One of my really good friends is a pro, about the time I feel like I can really kick ass he shows up to shut me up LOL!

What guns are you guys shooting?

I have a couple that I use for Skeet. My favorite is a Browning Ultra Sporter with 30" barrels which I usually choke Sk and Cyl that I bought slightly used in the late 90s. It has an adj comb on the stock and I have used it for trap shooting by raising the comb a bit. I also have a Citori Skeet gun with fixed Sk/Sk chokes and a high rib that I bought in 1982.

I shot a few K-guns for years till I stopped shooting registered stuff and then could not justify a 15k scattergun for playin so it went down the road.

Im a 1100 super slut now, the darn things just work. I have all variations, trap, skeet, sporting but Im really liking my 1100 comp synthetic. That gun offers the most for the buck over any other gun on the market IMO. Just a perfect all arounder.

I started out shooting a 1100 SA skeet gun that was my Dad's. My Dad, brother and I all shot that thing when we were all learning to shoot skeet back in the early 70s. When I could afford my own shotgun, I also bought an 1100. When I needed cash in my college days, I sold it. After college I worked off the books at a gun shop. When I left in 1982 to start my career, the shop owner owed me for some back pay. When I told him I needed to get paid before relocating, he said he didn't have the cash. I looked on the rack at the new Citori Skeet model and said, "How bout I take that instead." He went for it. I've put a goodly number of rounds thru it but it is still in great shape.

I've been shooting in a trap league for about 5 years now.
I shot about 10 years ago, and did fairly well with a double 20. Started up again ,and averaged about 13 the first year, maybe 14 the second.bought a different gun,and did no better.
Got a new pair of glasses,and last year my average was 22.4 for the year.
Summer League starts tomorrow night for me and the 18 yo son. Got him a used beretta Al390 to use this year,but may have to shoot it myself,as he says it kicks harder than the 1100 of my brothers he used before.
I've been using a field model bps for three years now
We use the standard 3 dram eqiuv, 1 1\8 oz of 8 shot mostly.

Sure doesn't seem like 25 years ago...and I cherish this picture, as I was standing in very good company...

I'm on the left, holding my Winchester Model 12 Trap Gun. This was the 16 yard event, and I missed my very first target out..

That's "Zip" Eaton in the center, from Helena, Montana. Zip was one of the best of the best. It was a real privledge to have him as a friend. He was a fierce competitor, even when he shot, and competed into his mid 70's. On his left, is Scott Levengood, from Kalispell, Montana. Scott was one of the best shooters to ever come out of Montana. He still holds many trap shooting records to this day. He was taken from us much too soon in his early 40's from cancer. Not many days go by without me thinking of the fun we had shooting together. On Scott's left is Missoula's Norm Jones. Norm was a master at the 16 yard line and walked away this day with first place after a great shoot off with the other lone 100 straight in AA. On my left is one the best friends I have in my life, Bill Beyl, from Bozeman, Montana. Bill is the most talented "shooter" I've ever known. Rifle, shotgun, pistol, bow, slingshot, it didn't seem to matter what weapon it was, he could pick it up, sight unseen, and make it work. Just about everything I know about shooting, Bill passed on to me..Bill was the first Trap Shooter from Montana complete a Grand Slam. That's 200 straight 16 yard, 100 straight doubles, and 100 straight from the 27 yard line.

thats a great pic!!

Great picture, just wondering if you still have the Model 12 Trap gun?

Doc

hey, look what I did.my first!!
got the patch, and a free pitcher of beer

I'll never part with that gun....broke a 499X500 in a singles marathon in Billings, Montana with it in 1990.

I love that photo. We have some old ones from teams at Camp Perry at Nationals. Brings back great memories with great friends.

I'm envious, we know you can shoot a rifle, but I never could shoot a shotgun for flip. Birds are thankful though! Lab was always pissed though... But I did at least hit the banded pintail he retrieved... may well have been one of if not his last retrieve.

anyone here a current 3 game card holding shooter? trap/skeet/s.clays?

Enjoyed reading all this.. Shot trap a bit in the mid 90s, but now only shoot a bit at the local club.. Been considering skeet.. Tried it several times, but I think I am too old and slow.. The same deal with SC and 5 std.. Hope to get in some trap and skeet shooting when I get back in Wy. and maybe in Mt..

whats the max you guys ever paid for a skeet or trap gun?

I like you returned to the Remington 1100 left hand after so many years of shooting everything else. I have a trap full and a trap barrel with choke tubes and use a Rem 11/87 barrel "light Contour" 28 inch barrel for skeet and 5 stand. The Remington light contour barrels swing like a feather for shooting 5-stand.

Doc

The is so true, every hard core skeet shooter I saw shoot 5-stand or
was shocked at their low scores with many not shooting 5-stand again.

Doc

so many skeet guys are use to shooting 60/40 figure 8 patterns, they forget clays is 50/50 and most shoot high.

I started out as a skeet shooter in the early 70s and competed at registered events when in my mid teens. I tried SCs when it started to become popular and liked the idea that it was more like field shooting than skeet. I shot at some courses that I really liked where the targets were presented in some interesting angles, thru small openings in the tree canopy. Then the local SC range got into throwing some real long range targets and some unrealistic presentations that just annoyed me. I was doing a lot of bird hunting then and wanted realistic presentations. My scores were ok but I think I had a higher % of hits on real birds. I then got into rimfire benchrest and have done that for the past 15 years. I'm now getting back into skeet shooting with the retired guys from my club and it's all about just swinging a shotgun again and having fun with other shooters. I'm no longer interested in competing, just shooting as well as I can and hanging out with the other old guys. Nobody keeps score and everyone encourages and helps each other. It's fun! That's what I'm all about now. I've been there and done that with competition and now just want to relax and break a few clays. A friend wants me to shoot some SC and I probably will, but skeet is just fine for me right now.

Could you explain that to me please?

when your shot goes out the bbl, it spreads. 50% goes above the bead and 50% goes below. hunters like 50-50 , because if a bird dips in flight, he'll still get him.
skeet shooters like to see the bird the whole time, so they prefer to have their guns pattern 60 above and 40 below for better hits. trap shooters like 70-30 since trap birds rise and by the time the shot arrives at the bird as its going away, the bird rises even more, so having a 70-30, the shot goes high ahead of the bird and the bird flies into the bottom of the swarm. make sense?

now, move to a 5 stand field. take the straight up shot. clays guys will hit it as it peaks and stands still.
if a 60-40 gun waits for it to peak, 60% of the shot will go over the bird, and to make matters worse, the bird is starting down. so by the time the shot get to the bird...the bird drops and skeet shooters tend to miss more by shooting over....with guns built 60-40.

How is this pattern predictable, or changeable?

By adjustments on the gun such as adjustable comb?

Yes, that would be one way. I shoot a sporting clays gun with an adjustable comb. For skeet I have the comb all the way down where the beads are aligned. I want a 50/50 pattern for skeet. For trap I use the same shotgun but I will put a couple washers under the comb such that the muzzle bead sits atop the mid bead. Without an adjustable comb one would just buy a shotgun either with a stock that gives the desired pattern or the barrels can be regulated to provide a 60/40 pattern (Browning has a Citori Crossover Target model with this configuration.)

all shotgun owners should pattern a gun when they buy it.
put up paper with a 30" circle drawn on it. mark center and draw cross hairs thru it. back off 21 yds, choose a choke, and shoot it the way you normally would hold your gun aiming at the center mark.
go look at your pattern.
the holes will tell you where your gun prints by design....if you didnt flinch. if you did, do it again with new paper.

look where the majority of holes are. they will either be equal in the whole circle in all sections, or high, low, left or right. do it a couple of times. get a trend.
now you know where your gun patterns, so when you actually shoot your gun, youll know where that shot is really going. no more magic guessing.

All true. However if you you don't start in the right place, know where and how to look, along with being able to dance, it will not take you all that far.

like flying...everyone needs someone in the other seat when you start.

This is really not the best way to do it for a Sporting, FITASC, or hunting gun, but it's better than nothing for any other game that will be shot with a pre-mounted gun.

All it will tell you is where the barrels shoot when you get the sight picture you particularly want and then "aim" at the target.

There's no place for "aiming" in any shotgun sport.

Absolutely correct. This is why THE most important thing about buying a shotgun is the fit. It HAS to point where you are looking and come up to your head naturally. When I see people trying out a new shotgun and contorting themselves to get their face on the stock such that they can see the bead(s) on the rib. Some will stretch their necks out or tuck them in or pick their head up. All are doomed. Oh, and shoot with both eyes open. When I went to buy a hunting weight O/U for myself a number of years ago when the salesman asked me what I was interested in, I told him to just start handing me what he had on hand. When he handed me one that I could pull up to my shoulder and pointed where I was looking, then I looked at it to see what it was and how well made it was. It was a Franchi Alcione and has accounted for many pheasants, duck and geese over the years.

So, to pattern your shotgun, put up your 30" circle, look at it (and I mean fixate on the target) and quickly bring the shotgun up to your face and slap the trigger. That'll tell you how your shotgun patterns for you.

All the above is fine as long as one has a consistent mount. If they don't most of the above will not amount to much.

I can make most any shotgun fit me when I'm consciously mounting it or shooting pre-mounted. When I'm not is when the truth is revealed.

Part of a gun fit is shooting at targets. Mounting one in the store it may seem right, but there is a better than even chance it isn't.

See many go to the pattern board and quickly bring the gun up and slap it into the face then slap the trigger. Most of the newer shooters are quick, but not smooth. The experienced ones are smooth, but not necessarily all that quick.

I hear many say slap the trigger hard. I'm not for anything that moves my head around. Either in the mount or hitting the trigger. I can't think of any eye/hand game where bouncing your head around is an advantage.

Shooting a shotgun that doesn't shoot where you look (a shotgun that has not been fitted) is akin to shooting a rifle that isn't sighted in.

The shooter is doing everything that he's told but can't succeed because of equipment that is wrong. He then compensates and learns poor form and bad habits.

Fitting a gun to even a novice is the first step to long term success.

+1

Back when I was poor I bought an 870 that did not fit me well. I couldn't hit much with it unless I had time to mount and crane my neck to see the bead on the rib and shoot. Snap shooting was a miss. Most times I usually shot over the bird/target. After buying the Franchi, I could just look at the bird, bring the gun up, and, yes, SLAP the trigger and more times than not, down it would come. I remember one shot on a pheasant where my dog put up the bird just as I was stepping over a small old rock fence, to my hard left. All I had time to do was look at the bird, throw the gun to my shoulder and shoot. Down it came. No thought, no sight picture, no hesitation. Just instinctive, look, mount, shoot. Impossible without a gun that fits you perfectly.

The shot you describe I've made on Ruffed Grouse more times than I would want to know if I could. I've made them with Remington's 870"s, Winchester 101's, Model 12's and 59's, original and Repo Parkers, Beretta's, Ithaca 37's and perhaps another one or two. Pumps, semi-auto and SxS. Made them with my head on the stock and off the stock. Perfect foot placements and mounts can be sometimes difficult to find in the Grouse wood. All probably had different dimensions. Close, but different and definitely not perfect. Impossible? Obviously not. Some had the element of luck involved, some didn't. Some where only successful because a good Dog saved the day.


Perfect is great, close is damn good when it comes to a hunting shotgun. With the clay target sports as close to perfect as you can get should be the goal.

so anyone shoot this weekend?

Yes.

now that was a quality post at its best!
:>

You are not into sporting, remember? And have headed it the trap and skeet thread, so figured I'd stay with the bare minimum so as not to send it off on a tangent.



Particulars would be around 600 shells fired for practice on a SC course.

lol.
seems clays in general are dead on 24hr overall.
heck, sent out a www invite to what, 55,000 members and get 1 interested in a meet, with a 6 month heads up?
wow.

For the most part rifles are obviously the main focus here and one of the reasons I like the joint. For myself, something different and more than a few that know their way around them.


However, glad you signed on. Hang in there.

Have had a look or two at your thread on the shoot. Were I not 800 miles away and employed, I would be on your invite like rust on a Dodge. Unfortunately, my only fall week of vacation will be spent 20 feet up a tree during the rut. But a HORRENDOUSLY generous offer you have laid out there, sir !!

I've been shooting trap recreationally for about 10 years..........if and when i ever have time. Actually started with a little English stocked SxS 20. Could usually run 19-21 registered birds. But never shot in any competitions.

Decided a few years in to try a better fitting gun. Picked up a Winchester Select Energy Sporting. That's about when my available shooting time ran out. Last time I shot was last summer at a local club. Shot a 49/50. I love shooting. Just no time.

As far as skeet goes........couldn't even tell you where there's a facility anywhere around here. Would LOVE to try SC sometime (I must still be young-ish). But again..........time.

Where you live?

Judging from your location "outside the burgh", probably not too awfully far away.

Then if you find time for SC give me s PM. A few courses are close.

Is that THE burgh, as in PITTSburgh? Then you are 800 miles from Vanzant Skeet farm! Bob.........Your farm, Clubhouse, and fields are great, but the location kills it, IMHO. The drive from the Mountain Grove Motels are OK, but 3 hours from the Big Airport + Car Rental puts a heck of a premium on the trip.

What kills it for me is the fact that it's prime time for grouse and woodcock in Minnesota.

That would be it and yep way to far, but it sounds like a fun time.

Shot a SC tournament today. No rain. Ha!!!!

Wow !! The clay gods smiled on you. You got one of our 29-percenter days !!!

Yea, I was wondering about that bright orb in the sky. Odd thing it was.

Hey Battue, when folks say slap the trigger they don't mean to slap it like ya do the old lady, they mean to pull it quickly rather than squeeze it like a rifle. If you see someone slapping it so hard their head is bouncing around, take a video, I'd like to see that.

Agree, but I've seen more than a few interpret slap to be what I would consider to be a yank.

Also it would be interesting to video many shooters and notice just how much head movement is going on. Often the mount brings about a lot of it. They slap the stock into the cheek.

Watched a video of George Digwwed once and he was asked what is the biggest mistake you see in most shooters? His replay was the head is not still and made reference to how little the head moves with professional golfers, tennis and baseball players.

For myself anyway, and it could be wrong, I squeeze a rifle trigger from the bench. However, on quick shoots where there is little time to mess around,
I hit a rifle trigger much the same as a shotgun. In fact on either when things are going good the trigger pull is keyed from the eyes. It just happens.

I compete at rimfire benchrest and even with a 2 oz trigger I pull it and other rifle triggers way different than a shotgun.

I'm getting back into skeet after a long hiatus and really enjoying it again. I'm shooting on a weekday morning with a bunch of other old retirees and having a ball. It's coming back to me fairly quickly.

Know a few shooters who are up there and they meet every Tues-Thrus-Sat AM on a local skeet range. They really enjoy the shooting.

im not set up for customer convienence or to be a hospitality service. and its not really about shooting. its about being at my home and relaxing with friends. if im too inconvienient, well there ya have it. im not worth the trip i guess.
tomon, what you may have missed was, it was my home. its not a shooting facility. but i think you know that because i met you.
its not every day someone opens their home up to strangers, but i do. and its not every day the host(a retired pro,) teaches for free on his personal range either.
if coming out to my place is too hard for any of you, then youre coming for the wrong reason. its suppose to be about visiting a friend who invites you to his home to shoot.
and its a place where all of you get to see each other and have a good time with guns on a cheap dime. i keep it cheap because i know you all are spending good coin just to get here.
as far as being in vanzant so far out in the sticks killing the shoot....sorry, its what 1/2 of gun owning americans dream of having but cant, so they borrow/rent//pay dues at other clubs to be able to pull a trigger.
for those lurking, tomon came to one of my shoots last year with a group of guys from another website and got rained out due to a hurricane passing thru in oct.... of all things. they wanted to film some shooting to boost their website and celebrate the grand opening of their site. i offered my home to them and they came.
only 4 shot in between downpours and 7 never made connections at airports. the camper/rv never made it so camping fell thru.
i never really got a chance to give them my program, they opted out of dinner in town, all the day two events got poofed, and decided to just pop a few rounds, took back some of their clays, loaded up, and went to shoot in someones cow field and drank beer on sunday. i hope to see them again some day.
so id say weather killed the event, not distance or me, and i dont have any control over that.
my farm effects 2 kinds of people. either they are city slickers with their smart phones texting the whole time saying what in Gods name did i get myself into, or its country boys that feel right at home around the cows and tractors. :>

all i know is its mine, im your host, its here, its not some cheap hand cock flingers set up off my porch on a stool, its a by God professional range with clubhouse, im opening it up to you, all are welcome, and if you like it come back, if not... go meet in a holiday inn conference room on some interstate, drink beer, and talk about shooting. :> :>
the world shoot back in the 90's use to cost 1500.00 to register. took 6 flats of ammo, 8 bucks a practice game, it was 30 miles into town and on site food was offered by scalpers. 10.00 for a burger? really? local motels knew of the shoot and would jack the rates. when i think of all the millioneres that use to attend with their 300,000.00 rv's and gas costs to get there, i faint. most of them drove from the 4 corners, plus hawaii. thats california, maine, florida, and alaska to get to san antonio.... and didnt flinch.
let alone pulling out 50,000.00 shotguns too.
so all i can do is laugh at comparing what the premiums are to get to my place.

nope....my place is geared down.way down.
its suppose to be a retreat & a relaxing visit.

i just spent june in new york doing a tour of some of westchester counties fine trap clubs.
what a great time. checked in at the old homestead in connecticut and shot some in the n.w corner. what a blast.
btw....that was 500 miles from my home.
just got back to va.
hot and humid here. im starting to remember why i stopped shooting registered birds in the summer. its just too hot folks. i cant take it any more. its just fun shoots for me from now on.

how about you guys?
i dont know how you guys down in florida do it!

Resurrecting this thread...

I'm into sporting clays, no trap or skeet for me. I live in western PA and have three pretty good courses near me. Nemacolin, Seven Springs, and Hunting Hills are the regular spots.

Try to get two or three rounds in per week on average.

I used to shoot Olympic Skeet, International Trap and helices in Peru. Hunted lots of doves, not much since moving to the US, but have shot some skeet and 5-stand.
Trying to get back into it, but raising a family and work is inconvenient
Will try SC at some point, jut to get a different type of target.

We have crossed paths. I'm at one of them at least twice weekly.
At 7 Springs yesterday. If you have seen a black Cocker named Toby-who they pretty much insist on having the run of the place-we have.

Have not been down to Roy's place lately, but the Springs is only an hour away. Also shoot at Buffer Creek, Stoney Creek along with Lawrence Co Sportsmans which is a pretty nice club.

just letting you know my semi annual skeet/trap get-togethers are doing fine and the next one is 19-20 oct at my place. still be glad to have ya swing by. we got 14 coming so far. lmk.

One of these days, life will slow down and maybe I'll cross paths with you on one of the local-ish courses. I have yet to shoot a round of SC in my life. But it's one of those things I am just ITCHIN' to try.

Got an ATA trap shoot at my local club. It's our annual belt buckle shoot, 2 day event. 9/22 & 23rd. I need to keep my head down & win one of them. Bob

Shot I don't know how many registered Skeet target back in the 80's & 90's and probably 10x as many practice targets. Just got back into shooting Skeet as one of the local ranges put a range in. Unfortunately, I'm no where near as good as I may have once been. The biggest issue for me is seeing the targets. I don't pick them up as quickly as I used to - glasses or no glasses.

im having another one of my private 2 day shotgun shoots at my farm in mo 3-4 apr 2020. anyones welcome. we have 10 so far. pm me for details.

rumor has it white flyer is discontinuing bio targets and going back to pitch. anyone hear of this?

No, but good chance I will be seeing someone that knows in a couple weeks and will ask him.

i think your right i heard that too ?

Just found this thread, after being on 24 Campfire for years, good to see others shooting stuff other than rifles and handguns.
I use to be a hunter, lots of trips out west, deer, elk, caribou, and all sorts of birds. About 18 years ago it dawned on me I enjoy shooting more than I did killing critters, today I can shoot 300 birds a day and I don't have to clean or eat them.
At 75, it's fun to get together with other old farts and enjoy a day shooting trap, skeet is for the girlyboys who enjoy dressing up in their pink to-tos and playing grab-ass while other are shooting. :>)
Can't do SC as I can't walk that far anymore, but I've done it a few times many years ago and it was very enjoyable.
I am one of those trap shooters that enjoys a custom fitted trap gun, took many guns to find the one I really liked, then a few more years to talk my self into buying one that cost more then many cars Iv'e owned, but at 75 with a good wife and good investments, I figured enjoy what you worked for, for one day down the road you're dead, then it's to late to worry about anything you did or bought.
I shoot about 9000 registered birds a year, and about that many practice, shoot both big and little shoots, and enjoy them all,
Good shooting to all that read this.

Trap shooting is very enjoyable.. I haven't shot registered birds for over 20 years.. My trap shooting partner died, and I became involved in several African trips, and never got back into the game... When the weather is nice enough to shoot trap here, I can be shooting varmints or fishing.. Maybe sometime.. Still love shooting trap every summer at the local club..

I got 5 from 24hr coming in apr. for a 2 day fun shoot. if you want to join in, give me a pm. details are somewhere buried in the campfire main forum. good news! it has picnic tables, clubhouse, and chairs! not much walking required, jbmi!

Sounds fun...what state?
Bob

It's in Vanzant, MO. I went last spring & had a ball. Good people, good food, good targets-----Great fun. I was signed up for this spring but a couple things came up. I had to back out. Otherwise I would be there. I'm a trap shooter-----I was going to get there a couple days early & have Bob give me a couple lessons on skeet. He's the VA state skeet champion a number of times. Do it you'll have fun.

mighty kind of you bob.

we are s.central mo. on the ark boarder. most Texans that come go up to Tulsa and across to springfield to get to us.
where in texas are you?

jbmi...come put those nice guns through the test with us!

rgk, can ya make it up to mo in apr?

I have 8 guys checking work schedules. if they all clear...we will have 19 at the shoot.

ok, jbmi is out.
too far.

"There's no place for "aiming" in any shotgun sport.............."

if this was true, they wouldn't put front beads on shotguns.

anyone doing any snow shooting?

I've been shooting skeet and trap all winter. Not much snow here in southern NY so far. It was cold and very icy after an ice storm earlier in the season to where we had to wear ice cleats, but it has been very mild lately.

when I shot in ct, the hot hulls would eject and melt down into the snow and hide, then seize to the ice pack. we couldnt pick up hulls until spring.

The White Flyer Rep was not at the shoot. However, I know the manager and asked if he had heard anything. His reply was we don't use them and don't ever intend to, because they kill the grass and make the place look bad.

thanks for the update.

do the viewers prefer big sanctioned shoots or fun local shoots?

Kenton and I have been spending Sunday mornings at Andy Dalton

well well! that will give you a good chance!

Just lessen the embarrassment levels

youll be part of a good gang who care more about the lunch line than the prizes!

any update on your buddies?

Not being discontinued presently, but they will be coming out with a new bio that doesn't kill the grass....

Current issue, they have two or three of their plants shut down, and if this goes on we may be looking at a target shortage come summer.

Another is for sporting clays....some of the bigger shoots have been cancelled and some others are questionable. The Seafood Blast, which is a sizable shoot here on the East Coast has been cancelled.

With trap on the downside....Winchester is finally going to have a bigger presence with Sporting.....Finally.....

The White Flyer bio clays kills the grass? Son of a b**** just bought 20 cases have to figure out where to throw them out then

The problem arises on clubs that throw millions of targets.....The bios change the PH of the soil if the pieces are not picked up and they are allowed to degrade....which was the purpose....I doubt 20 cases over a large area would have much of a negative effect....

Club close to here had their soil tested and the Ph was 3-4....Supposedly they were going to lime it heavily....So far the heavy target fall areas are mostly dirt....

20 cases in one place will effect soil.
it did on my back yard range.

How about a roll car for those that were there this weekend from the campfire under the screen name so we know who we actually met?

maybe best done on pm. some prefer anon.

After 6 weeks I finally got back out on the skeet fields yesterday. We had a trial run on just one squad to see if we could shoot while practicing safe protocols. We had masks, sanitizer, nitrile gloves, and were able to keep a good social distance. We only shot 2 rounds and after the layoff I was pleased with a 24 & 23. We go back to our normal schedule on May 1, so long as shooters can adhere to the new rules.

im more concerned about being in the club and exchanging money.

btw, what club you shoot?

Couple clubs close by are open....one never did close....go and shoot, with little change other than some don’t stand as close...most ride around the sporting course on clay carts sitting shoulder to shoulder and BS like always....

Wawarsing Rod and Gun Club near Ellenville in Ulster Co. NY.

Shot at our club last Wednesday for the first time. Only restrictions were Club House was closed, only one person could enter at a time to use the rest rooms.
Shot 5 stations for Trap as we were at least 6' apart, skeet shootesr looked normal, and walked to each station as a group, no masks were seen while I was there for either trap or skeet.
Now we're in an area of the state that has very few cases and only a few deaths, so no one seems to concerned.

sadly, just because cases are low, doesn't mean the plague isn't present.
as its reported, the plague is moving like a cloud across areas that haven't been effected yet. namely the Midwest.
to drop ones guard can be a deadly mistake.
we just spent the lockdown period in the Ozarks. 0 cases in my county. some practiced distance and mask, some didn't. but then again, there could have been cases out there. just not reported. some of those old farmers are literally (die)hards and just probably dismissed it as a BAD FLU.
be careful. clay shooting isn't worth dieing for.
29 are dead in my home town here in va.
4 in ct.
my home in ct is less than 50 miles from the nyc epicenter. why is it so low?
they are still in lockdown and are doing the distance and mask thing.
sometimes careful living wins.

Then tell me why do men have nipples?

The really good shooters don't guess on where the barrel goes on the mount....They don't necessarily look at it, but most are aware of where it is at....


29 dead????? Ages and any underlying conditions....where were they living?

va..
poor.
not practicing distancing.

va is opening up...but the arrogant are still not obeying rules.

im heading to ct tomorrow.
masks are still required in public and no shooting.

This thread needs updating.... I just started shooting skeet in a "fun" league at a local range.. ORSA (Oak Rdige Sportsman association) here in TN. wow is this addicting... I cannot wait to get to the range each week... I started out first round ever with a 28... then shot a 35 another 35 and now a 44... the guys there are super helpful giving me tips as we move around the field... been helping me a lot. This sure is gun...

A round of skeet is 25 shots. I'm guessing your league is a 2 round (50 shot) league and the scores you mentioned are based on 50 shots. A 44/50 is pretty good for one's second outing.

Sako
Is that the range that is set up by a set of TVA power lines? If so, I shot up there back about 1987-88 time frame. The people were really nice that I shot the tournament with.

im spending my winter in conn, so my home club for skeet will be Torrington in the upper western corner. anyone near there?

Any of you shot trap with or received lessons from Britt Robinson?

shooting trap at nw shooters assoc in ct this month. great guys. open to guests.

Basically I just shoot trap games anymore. Shot them all bit was not much in it for the winner. Sure u could win500 or a 1000 dollars on a good day. But only after u spent a couple thousand to do it. So I go for games on trap and follow many different trap clubs. By the end of the season I can say I paid for my shooting by breaking even or maybe a little on top. And do it with a 16 ga.

so hows the primer and ammo shortage doing in your areas?

In my area, there are not a lot of reloading shops or places to buy supplies. When I shot all the time I would have to drive about 2.5-3 hours to Gamaliel Shooting Supply in KY to get any kind of a decent price on supplies. Local supplies are limited to Bass Pro and one other place that is about an hour away that has shot, or maybe a few bags of wads. Primers are mainly kept by a few places that keep them in stock for the muzzle loading crowd that use the 209 primers and they may have a couple of thousand in stock. Powder is hit or miss but once again it is a good drive to any place that would even think about stocking it.

fair amount of scattergun ammo and loading supplies around here, primers are the wild card.. Flats are still about 55 for the cheap stuff

Old time GS here has power, but a jug of Greendot is $199, I passed. Shot 8's &7 1/2's was $39, limited types of wads and no primers.
Glad I have some of each, should have enough for 2000 rounds, with hope of some more coming available this spring

anyone ever shoot the moon?
rare shot indeed. every so often if you shoot enough, youll have odd things occur. this was from last oct's shoot at my place in mo.
trap night birds...and the moon came up. the clays path flew right into the moon and I shot! got a pic just before it happened. look close. see it? wish he snapped as the target was exploding!

Cool picture

As a single father I was looking for something to do with my teenage sons that all of us would like, and came up with skeet shooting. I bought each a Winchester 1300 pump, sewed a pot holder in a couple of my old t-shirts for shoulder pad, hired a skeet instructor for a day and they (we) were hooked. getting them up for school was like pulling teeth, but say "ready to go shoot some?" early on a weekend morning and they jumped up so fast you'd better not be in the way. We shot most every weekend, hot or cold for a couple years, till girls and jobs started interfering. It was a great bonding agent at a time when I really needed one for us. We still enjoy an occasional shoot with plenty of memories...

Good stuff.
I havent shot trap sincd 2001.
Just looked at the 1100 T in the safe and its trap night tonight.

Used to see kids at the range now and then.

Indeed, it can be a nice way to spend the time.
Bonding, skill building, and just plain old good fun.

Good on ya for having seen and done it

Well i went to the trap range, 16 yarder w the old 1100.
Missed 2 and got clicked on the cheek so didnt go another round.

I was hoping for a 24 but settled for 23.
Not bad for a 20 yr break.

LOL

Am no trap shooter and never been one, just a hunter.

My son wanted to try trapshooting in 7th grade so I told him to choose between baseball and trap. It was a tough decision at first, but now there are no regrets! When he was a freshmen his squad won state and he won handicap at nationals. Now his little sister shoots with him on the school team and we shoot our local league together. She’s making up ground and holding her own shooting with him. They are very competitive, but more supportive of each other. Such a great sport to get involved in and you meet some of the nicest people (adults and kids) where ever you go.

I coached (this is my last year) the SCTP kids in the county I live in. We just had the reginal shoot for our state and had one of the girls on the team finish 1st in sporting clay and second in skeet. We finished 2nd in skeet as a team as well.
I had told the girl that I would coach until she graduated and she did this year. I have coached her since she started in the 4th grade, and now that she is out of high school, I can quit. She got a full ride a a college on their shooting team so I am very proud of her.
People (myself included) talk bad about kids today (and some are bad) but I have been very please with the ones I have had a chance to coach on our team over the years.
It is a good bonding experience and I still keep in touch with several of them and their parents.
I always started every year coaching with the same line "we are going to do 2 things, 1) WE ARE GOING TO BE SAFE, 2) we are going to have fun. If we do the first thing, the second will follow.
I have seen perfume and gasoline derail more than one good shooter over the years...........

good sign of the times, people are starting to call about attending my shoot in oct. hope we get a crowd.

shot some 25 year old reloads last weekend. 209 primers in blue magic hulls with 1oz 9 w/700x. all went bang!

I have a bunch of the old 157 primers (I think that is the number) for the old Remington All American hulls. I have loaded many of the old Blue Magic hulls. Oh the good old days.

they use to call them blue tragics. never could figure out why. they loaded ok for me!

Well I just wanted to brag a little, a kid that I coach just won the SCTP TN state shoot in skeet with a 100 straight. I think this is his second or 3rd 100 straight that he has shot but his first in competition.

Oh and a girl that I coached since the 4th grade that graduated this year got a college ride on their shooting team.

That deserves an "Atta Boy & Atta Girl"

hey bob,
remember the girl who shot at the last meet you attended? she got a college scholarship by winning the state shoot in mo. with a clean sweep hoa/class etc...(shelby)

That's the way to go !!!! Good Shooting !!! She was talking about doing a career in the Navy. Hope she takes ROTC in college.

When is the Vanzant Fall Grand? What is the date for the early bird discount ?

Same girl I was talking about won the SCTP state in Varisty women's Sporting clay and just shot a 99 in trap. She missed her 95 bird

the shoot flyer is posted over on atc. i gave up posting it here.
https://www.americantrapshooter.com...un-shoot-22-23-oct-21.15075/#post-112423
22-23 oct.

she decided to go to UNC instead of the navy.

Good Luck to all those headed to Ohio for the SCTP Nationals! Just took a quick look at the numbers and over 2,500 kids are scheduled to shoot 16 yd American Trap this year.

Don't forget about the AIMS in Sparta as well. Good luck to all shooters

sad that many grown ups don't shoot as much anymore.

I use to be an NSCA, NSSA, and ATA member and shot in competition in all, but now I just enjoy going to the range and shooting with my friends and having a good time. I guess I have lost a lot of the fire to compete. Don't get me wrong, I still like to shoot good but I do not miss the "grind" of working all week, run to a comp. for the whole weekend, and return to work on the following Monday and never feel like I had a day off.
When I started, you could go shoot a local skeet tour. for $15 per gauge, when I quit shooting most all tour. we money shoots and were well north of $55 per gun. I was never in it for the money, I was in it to get better but at some point, the cost to compete just got too high. Between the entry fees, cost of shells, and travel you could drop a bunch of money in a weekend.
I still go to the range and shoot with friends and have a good time, but don't miss the "grind" of having to compete"

Shooting competitively requires a lot of Time and Money...... Add the ammo shortage and well it's hard to keep folks into it.

those that are in it for the money, live off those that aren't in it for the money who just shoot to have a good time.
as those that aren't in it for money quit, those that are... begin gnashing teeth on each other since there isnt as much to feed off of. like a pack of hyenias. lol.

Living money isn't made on shooting tournaments. Living money is made on lessons from being real good at the tournaments. If the good ones can't get others to pay for lessons, the cost of competitive shotgun shooting is the same for all..

And for most it is a social event, and as long as they can pay the price, they shoot.

One guy did the spread sheet analysis of a sporting clay event. And the additional cost of shells at their present price vs last year came out to $20 dollars additional for 100 shells fired. Factored in vehicle cost, gas to and from, entry fees, motel, food, and the additional cost was around $20. for the event per 100 shells fired.

Practice costs are something else.

Of course skeet and trap are essentially shot for free games compared to sporting....and you can hear the death gurgle every time you drive past a range...


Shells are out there to be had, and the availability is currently being manipulated to keep the price high...Any who think we are all in this together are fooling themselves....

I shoot for fun & the competition. Shells are starting to show up at the local Walmart. Prices are up some but not too bad. A cheap box of Winchester or Federal is @ $6. You just can't be pickie about the load. I've got some that are 1145, 1180, 1200 & 1250 fps. Some are 1oz & others are 1 1/8 oz. 8's & 7 1/2's. Still have about 4000 rounds---I'm good for a few more ATA shoots. And hopefully the Fall Vanzant Grand !!

Looks like USA won men's & women's Gold Metal in skeet. I haven't seen results for trap.

Silver in Ladies Trap. Don't know about the men.

Used to shoot and fish all the time.
Job and family changes.....kinda put the damper on it

Now w more free time and money its weather and aches n pains that screw it up.

Oh well.