So...Whats with all this "PULL!" garbage?

[Bagelthief]

I'm just getting into the world of shot gunning. Wish I would have done it years ago, but late is better then never.

Shooting clay birds is some of the most fun I've ever had behind a gun, but when ever I see videos of other people doing it (even professionals and Olympians), they always say "Pull!" to get the bird going.

Now if I'm not mistaken, clays are meant to represent real birds that we are "hunting."

I've never been on a real bird hunt, but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the birds don't wait for your permission to take flight so you can shoot them.

Wouldn't the sport be more realistic and challenging if the clays were random instead of signaled?

/rant

[psssniper]

exactly

[boogak]

pull!!!

[iareConfusE]

pull!!!

PUSH!!!

[bohoki]

you realize back in the savage days they had real traps with birds in them and they would pull a rope and it would open the trap

i guess it would be more entertaining to watch track and field if they just called the guys out and waited a random time and then fired it off

holding low is pretty much the challenge

[Thefeeder]

><

If your squad is up to it.
Just tell the person pulling, after I load in the box, let it go at any time. We do it sometimes and it is a load of fun.

Live birds will change direction so I recommend shooting on real windy days for more fun. Not the same as birds, but closer

[AragornElessar86]

We've got more than one thrower, so often the guy shooting will give the ready signal and then the "pullers" will simply let go at will, sometimes simultaneously. Gives another fun angle to the sport.

[fiddletown]

The competitive clay target games are simply games. They call upon many of the same skills that are needed in wingshooting, but they're still games with a set of rules.

And they are fun and challenging, especially if you get involved in competition. Calling for the target really doesn't make the game less challenging, because everyone is doing it; so that's sort of the competitive baseline. And if you really want to be competitive, you will need to be very good. In skeet or trap competition, you will need to break 100% or nearly 100% pretty consistently.

Calling for the target is part of the game. In some games like international skeet and Helice there will be a random delay between the call for the target and the release of the target. Report pairs, in which the signal to release the second target is the sound of you firing your gun at the first, are common in sporting clays.

And in bird hunting, you're not necessarily snap shooting.

In hunting pheasant and other upland birds with a dog, for example, the dog finds the bird and then you or the dog flush it from cover. So you've identified the bird and now have some idea that it's about to take to the air. With other types of hunting, for example driven birds, doves or waterfowl, you'll see multiple birds in the air out of range, and you'll then identify your target and wait as he comes into range for your shot.

In any case, wingshooting, whether clay targets or birds, is great fun, and I heartily recommend it.

[bjl333]

When they first started having target throwers, they had a rope to PULL on to release the target. Notice I didn't say "clays" ... Thats because in the early days of skeet shooting they actually use a glass ball as the target they throw. Some of the early glass balls are worth some good money nowadays!!

[L84CABO]

[comblock]

wobblers are "random".

[Turo]

It's funny you mention "pull." I always understood why it was said, because we had an old thrower that you actually had to pull the rope to release the clays. But I laugh because most of the old guys I used to shoot with pretty much just yell anything. I've heard "hey!" "yeah!" "go!" and even some grunts that I'm not sure what they're trying to say.

[MFortie]

UP! That's what the pros say...

Actually, my son's scholastic clays coach tells him 'up' triggers the voice-activated systems better than 'pull'.

[ScottB]

These days, you hear all kinds of calls. The puller just needs to hear a positive command to know when to press the button. Like someone said, "pull" goes back to the live pigeon trap days. I have heard some old timers in skeet call "pull" for the first target and "mark" for the second

[WDE91]

Ive also heard guys when doing skeet say something like hee and haw

I guess it was to signal the left or right house?