Ready to try Trap shooting?

The sport of Trap Shooting is good practice for hunters that hunt quail or pheasants as it simulates birds flushing and flying away from the shooter.  It is done from five shooting positions (called posts) at clay targets thrown from a single trap machine that is located in a buried house in front of the five posts.  The five posts are from 16 to 27 yards back of the front edge of the trap house and trap machine throws the targets away from the shooter at the same height but varying angles.  There are three different trap competitions that are shot from different distances.

Singles Competition normally consists of five shooter squads (1 shooter on each post) and is shot one shot at a time from the 16 yard line with each shooter shooting five shots in rotation.  The shooter that starts on post one is considered the squad leader and they will be the first to shoot in the rotation and then the other shooters will follow until all shooter have shot 5 shots from their post.  They then rotate to the post on their right and shoot another five shots.  The shooter that started on post one (squad leader) will always start first.  This procedure is repeated until all shooters in the squad have shot five targets from the five shooting posts.  The squad then moves to another field and repeats the procedure in the same order.  This is done until each shooter has shot 100 targets.  In singles competition shooters only compete against shooter in their class.  The process for establishing a shooter class is explained in the Amateur Trapshooting Association rule book for you who are interested in becoming an ATA member (http://www.shootata.com).

Handicap Competition is done in the same way singles are shot. except the shooter stands at different yardages according to their ability.  New shooters start on the 21 yard line and can only move back by winning.  The distance you move back is determined by the number of shooters in the competition.  Again this information is found in the ATA rule book.

Doubles Competition is shot from the 16 yard line the same way singles are shot except the machine is set to throw two targets at the same height and angle.  The shooter will load two shells and attempt to break both targets when it is their time to shoot.  A doubles round is normally 50 targets, 5 pair from each post.  Again shooters only compete against the shooters that are in their class.

If you are not interested in shooting competitive trap it is still a great game to hone your shooting skills and at the same time have a lot of fun.  MSA's two active trap fields are equipped with voice call releases, so if you wish you can shoot by yourself.

It's is great way to practice and we will be more than happy show you how to activate the systems!