PSA: Shoot More Sporting Clays, 5- Stand, and Skeet

[serper3]

I see this all the time... Trap shooters have a very very hard time with sporting clays, 5 stand, and skeet.

I shot 100 sporting clay targets with a friend last weekend who shoots a lot of trap, and another friend who barely shot shotguns. needless to say, they both had a really tough time on the sporting clay course. shooting trap only gives you a small percentage of all the clay presentations! its great for focus and all.. but at least do yourself a favor and spend some percentage of your shooting shooting different types of targets.

[deckhandmike]

I still suck at trap. 24 is my best. I use a pump. Kinda like to hit a 25 before I progress to the harder shooting sports.

[ysr_racer]

I still suck at trap. 24 is my best. I use a pump. Kinda like to hit a 25 before I progress to the harder shooting sports.

It's not that sporting clays is harder, it's that the target presentations are ever changing, unlike trap and skeet which remain constant.

Oh, I guess it is harder

[Thefeeder]

><

I was lucky enough to have years of hunting birds under my belt before I shot my first clay.....so I started at the hard end of the learning curve where targets change direction.

But I do agree, shooting different clay games is much more fun and makes a person a better all around shooter. Tournament shooters will flame me for that remark....I know ...but the rest of us just shoot for fun.

So whats out there to try:
Trap singles, doubles, handicap, bunker and wobble
American Skeet, International Skeet, Skeet doubles
Sporting Clays, 5 Stand, FITASC, Duck Tower, Flurry......and ????

[alfred1222]

I was lucky enough to have years of hunting birds under my belt before I shot my first clay.....so I started at the hard end of the learning curve where targets change direction.

But I do agree, shooting different clay games is much more fun and makes a person a better all around shooter. Tournament shooters will flame me for that remark....I know ...but the rest of us just shoot for fun.

So whats out there to try:
Trap singles, doubles, handicap, bunker and wobble
American Skeet, International Skeet, Skeet doubles
Sporting Clays, 5 Stand, FITASC, Duck Tower, Flurry......and ????

Ya but not everyone is a tournament shooter, and even most people who are sometimes shoot sporting clays to clear their head. When i was competing i was shooting 500-600 shells a week, all skeet, but i made sure to shoot a little sporting once or twice a month to remind myself that shooting shotguns is still fun.

[sandiego67]

I see this all the time... Trap shooters have a very very hard time with sporting clays, 5 stand, and skeet.

I shot 100 sporting clay targets with a friend last weekend who shoots a lot of trap, and another friend who barely shot shotguns. needless to say, they both had a really tough time on the sporting clay course. shooting trap only gives you a small percentage of all the clay presentations! its great for focus and all.. but at least do yourself a favor and spend some percentage of your shooting shooting different types of targets.

The opposite is also true. I shoot with a few guys who can go out and shoot 23-25 on skeet, 19-21 on 5-stand and then shoot 18-20 on trap.

I struggle on skeet and 5-stand but still love it. I have to migrate back to trap after a few rounds to get back my confidence.

[serper3]

The opposite is also true. I shoot with a few guys who can go out and shoot 23-25 on skeet, 19-21 on 5-stand and then shoot 18-20 on trap.

I struggle on skeet and 5-stand but still love it. I have to migrate back to trap after a few rounds to get back my confidence.

I would rather be more well rounded and shoot 85%+ at all the games, than average 24s on trap and single digit skeet, 5 stand, and the same percentage for sporting clays.

Like i said, trap is great for practicing focus and endurance.. at the end of the day, its all about what you enjoy. i just think its sad that some who shoot a ton (of trap) can't hit a 30 mph crosser at 25 yards.

[renay]

I don't think it's sad that a trapshooter isn't a great sporting clays shooter. To each his own. I shoot trap mainly but I shoot a round or two of 5 stand once a month just for a tad of variety and my 5 stand scores suck. I like shooting the different targets that are presented and it's a nice break from trapshooting.

[bigbearbear]

It depends on a person's preference. Wife and I shoot trap all the time, we're focusing on it to let her get her first 25, she's very close now, a few times at 24....soooo....close....

For us, it is a nice way for husband and wife to share a hobby. Couldn't care less that we don't shoot skeet (at all) or sporting clay well. We don't hunt so clay shooting isn't practice for bird shooting as far as we're concerned.

Once she has her first 25 I think we'll try skeet next, probably sign up for a clinic with TheFeeder since we have no idea how the game works.

Once we get started we'll probably focus on it to get our first 25 and then move on Sporting Clay.

[tallengnr1]

In the end, it's all about putting lead in the air, and shattered chunks of clay on the ground. Each and every smoked clay target is a joy to behold, regardless of the particular shotgun sport.

[serper3]

In the end, it's all about putting lead in the air, and shattered chunks of clay on the ground. Each and every smoked clay target is a joy to behold, regardless of the particular shotgun sport.

I do agree with that. Do whatever you like. Most of us are doing it for fun even if you shoot registered targets.

It's just interesting to me how much more popular trap is than the other games. Every club you go to.. They have 7 trap fields for every skeet field and the other games are even more difficult to come by.

I started off also shooting only trap for my first few years because the range by my house only had trap. The mentality if shooting one game until you shoot a perfect game kind of makes sense to me.

[Sandro]

Every club you go to.. They have 7 trap fields for every skeet field and the other games are even more difficult to come by.

Interesting, Coyote Clays has 1 trap, 2 skit, one 5 stand, 20 sporting clay stations and 12 mountain course clay stations.

The sporting clay courses used heavily, many stations you need to wait where skit is not so much and i see very seldom use of the trap field.

http://www.coyoteclays.com/shooting-courses.html

[870classic]

I have been shooting ATA and bunker trap for about 30 years now and I have not mastered it. I started shooting sporting clays about 15 years ago and it was a humbling experience having shot trap most of my adult life. About 10 years ago, I starting shooting skeet and I love it.

And yes, I have observed the same condition with trap shooters. Change the game and the shooter will adapt, but it will take some time. I have observed that skeet shooters and upland hunters will show better scores when they shoot sporting clays then most seasoned trap shooters. YMMV.

I overheard this observation at the trap range one afternoon:
Trap shooting is an easy sport to learn, but a hard sport to Master.
Skeet shooting is an hard sport to learn, but an easy sport to master.
Sporting clays is just plan different.

Cheers.

[serper3]

Interesting, Coyote Clays has 1 trap, 2 skit, one 5 stand, 20 sporting clay stations and 12 mountain course clay stations.

The sporting clay courses used heavily, many stations you need to wait where skit is not so much and i see very seldom use of the trap field.

http://www.coyoteclays.com/shooting-courses.html

Duhh. Because there are very few sporting clays places in the bay area. Coyote valley and birds landing really are the two closest to me in the east bay. No one would drive there unless to shoot sporting clays. There are way more, trap/skeet ranges much closer to everyone in the bay area

[Thefeeder]

I have been shooting ATA and bunker trap for about 30 years now and I have not mastered it. I started shooting sporting clays about 15 years ago and it was a humbling experience having shot trap most of my adult life. About 10 years ago, I starting shooting skeet and I love it.

And yes, I have observed the same condition with trap shooters. Change the game and the shooter will adapt, but it will take some time. I have observed that skeet shooters and upland hunters will show better scores when they shoot sporting clays then most seasoned trap shooters. YMMV.

I overheard this observation at the trap range one afternoon:
Trap shooting is an easy sport to learn, but a hard sport to Master.
Skeet shooting is an hard sport to learn, but an easy sport to master.
Sporting clays is just plan different.

Cheers.

Trap shooting is an hard sport to learn, but a easy sport to Master.
Skeet shooting is an easy sport to learn, but an hard sport to master.
Sporting clays is just Skeet and Trap and all the rest

Easier to learn to hit clays on a Skeet field...a shooter can shoot the same target presentation up to 4 times and not interfere with the others in the squad. Same with easy stations at a Sporting clays field by letting others play through

On a trap field you need to have the field to your self and be able to set the trap to effective teach a new shooter to hit the same presentation repeatedly...makes it hard to teach a shooter how to hit a hard right target when they get one shot and a different target the next shot