Trapshooting

On the first Sunday of each month this 16 yard Trap event starts at approximately 8:00AM (or when we have enough shooters to conduct a round). A 25 bird round of trap goes for the incredible price of $2.50. The Dillman Range has a 5 position trap range. Attendance always picks up just before hunting season as shooters refresh their skills.

Weekday Trap is generally on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 9:30am to 11:30am. Check the calendar for details since the schedule can vary during the year.

Members can be certified to use the trap machine and facilities at other times. Member training is available from the rangemaster. Once certified members and their guests may use the trap facilities for $0.10 per bird.

Other Trap Shooting Opportunities
In addition to the trap event on the first Sunday of the month, the Range Committee has also authorized the use of the trap system for shooters on normal range days if a qualified Trap Operator is willing to run the trap range. The fee will be increased for this operation to $3.50 per round of 25 birds. This opportunity is open to both members and non-members.

Trapshooting Background

This is a sport in which participants use shotguns for shooting a saucer shaped clay target flung into the air from a spring loaded device called a trap.

Trapshooting originated in England in the late 18^th century when marksman, to improve their hunting skills, shot at live pigeons released from cages or box traps. The practice was outlawed or died out in the late 18^th century when various inanimate objects were substituted as targets, culminating with the invention of the modern disk. Trapshooting has since developed an appeal of its own apart from training for hunting and is chiefly pursued among marksman who seldom or ever hunt. It has been included in Olympic Games competition, with few exceptions, since 1900.

Modern birds, or clay pigeons, are 4 5/16 inches (11 cm) in diameter and 1 1/8 inch (3 cm) in thickness and are made of pitch and clay or limestone, weighing 3 ½ ounces (99 – 113 g). They are so brittle that even one pellet from a shot will usually shatter them for a score.

A trapshooting field consists of a single trap house located 16 yards (15 m) in front of 5 shooting positions. Targets are thrown into the air away from the shooter and at various angles unknown to him. A regulation round is made up of 25 targets, with each shooter firing at 5 targets from each of the 5 stations. In doubles competition, two targets are released at the same time, and the shooter must fire one shot at each. The gun used is usually a double-barreled 12-gauge (bore) shotgun.

World championships and Olympic trapshooting events are supervised by the International Shooting Union. In the Olympics each competitor fires four 25-target rounds on each of two days. The total targets hit out of 200 attempted determines the winner.