Destroying Some Ceramic Disks: My Day With the JU Skeet and Trap Team.

Recently, I was invited to spend a day with the Jacksonville University Sporting Clays, Skeet and Trap Team. As the name of this site (and my nickname) implies, I had never shot clays before. Heck, I had only fired a shotgun once or twice in the past. It was a 12 gauge, pump action shotgun that bruised my shoulder and left me sore for a couple of days. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about shooting another shotgun again. I’m happy to report that I had nothing to worry about.

The team is run by Coach David Dobson (who also runs Dobson Performance Shooting School) and, with his guidance, has won numerous competitions including the ACUI Division III National 5-Stand Sporting Clays last year and the individual members took home various awards at the SE Collegiate Spring Invitational. I don’t think I could have been in better hands for my first time out.

Coach Dobson started me out with figuring out which was my dominant eye. Through my own testing, I was pretty sure I didn’t have one. After numerous tests, he informed me that I didn’t, in fact, have a dominant eye but I did ever so slightly favor my right eye. This was important, he explained, because in clay shooting you keep both eyes open. Your dominant eye (which doesn’t always coincide with your dominant hand) determines which shoulder you put the shotgun to.

Pro Tip 1: Keep both eyes open.

The coach’s method to clay shooting is very easily summed up but difficult to explain in just words on a website: “reach out and touch it”. Basically, if you try to sight down the rifle and get a bead on the clay, you’re going to miss it. Instead, you want to use a combination of your binocular vision and the body’s natural pointing ability to put the shotgun where you think the clay is. It’s a very Zen approach, if I’m honest.

So there I was with a semi-auto 12 guage shotgun in the ready position. He launched a couple of clays to let me get an idea of their path, loaded a round into the gun and took a step back. He then said “say ‘pull’ when you’re ready.” So, after a deep breath, I tried to remember everything he told me in the very quick explanation and said “pull”. There went the clay. Feel the shotgun…BE the shotgun. Reach out…touch the clay. Pull the trigger….BLAM! The gun jumped in my hands and that little, florescent orange disk exploded. I felt a pat on the shoulder from him and, through my headset heard “great job! Do it again!”

Pro Tip 2: Be the gun.

Beginner’s luck. It had to be beginner’s luck. I was certainly going to miss this next time. The clay was in the air, I lined up and I hit it again! I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging but I kept busting clay after clay. I lost track of how many shots I fired. I remember the ones I missed (about 4 or 5) and I remember exactly why I missed them: I lost my zen and started thinking about it. That, and the semi-auto shotgun I was using was heavy as hell and my arms were turning to jelly by the end of it.

Pro Tip 3: Work those biceps.

It was an absolute blast! It was one of the most fun times I’ve had shooting in a long time. After leaving I immediately left to go price a shotgun so I could do it more. Before I go any further, I would like to thank Coach Dobson and the JUSSTC for letting me hang out with them for the day and graciously allowing me the use of one of their guns and ammo. I hope to stop by again sometime soon!

So what do you need if you want to try busting some clays on your own? Keep reading and we’ll get you started…

The Basics

So what exactly is Skeet and Trap? Basically it’s simulating bird hunting. The little disks are called “clay pigeons” or just “clays” and, once launched, follow a path that is very similar to birds in flight. There are lots of different rules depending on if you are shooting skeet or trap but the ultimate difference is with trap, the clays are moving away from you and with skeet, they’re flying side to side and crossing paths. Sporting clays is like golf but with a shotgun where you’re essentially shooting a “course” of launchers.

The Gun

For starters, you need a shotgun. Sorry, but your pistol grip, pump action 12 at home isn’t going to cut it. You’re going to want a semi-auto or break action shotgun. A 12 gauge is the most common but, if you’re really concerned about recoil and such, a 20 gauge is about the lightest you should go. Something like a .410 just isn’t going to have the pattern or power needed for clays. The longer the barrel the better, I might add, as it increases accuracy.

If you go with a semi-auto, you’re only ever going to be loading 2 rounds into it. Sorry, them’s the rules. On the plus side, however, is that the semi-auto mechanics are going to absorb a lot of the recoil. It’ll be a lighter shooting gun but a bit on the heavy side. On the opposite end is the break action. If you look at the pro shooting circuit, you’ll notice that most of them are using over-under style break action shotguns. These are pretty much made for bird and critter hunting which makes them ideal for skeet and trap. On the plus side is that you have two barrels (I’ll explain why that’s good in a moment) and it’s just inherently more accurate and reliable than a semi-auto. On the downside, that recoil is going to be a bit beefier. In the end, I’m personally looking at the break action for my own gun.

One VERY important feature the gun needs to have is the ability to install choke tubes. These are little things that screw into the opening of the barrel and they change the way the shot behaves when it leaves the gun. By swapping out the chokes, you can cause the pellets to stay tighter longer or to spread out earlier. That’s where the 2 barrel advantage of the over-under gun comes in handy. You can have one choke tube that keeps the pellets close on one barrel then have the other barrel spread the shot out faster. This means that you can have your first shot be more geared towards taking out the clay further away when it’s first launched then the second shot be more suited to taking out a clay that’s closer in. You have a choice in dialing down your strategy instead of having a “one size fits all” solution with the single barrel gun.

The Gear

There isn’t much you’re going to need outside of the absolutely required eye and ear protection. The ear protection is of the utmost importance here. Shotguns are freaking loud.

Outside of that, one thing I would highly recommend is a shooting vest. I’m not talking some tactical vest covered in Molle gear. Save that for the rifle range. There are shooting vests made specifically for skeet and trap shooting. They have large pockets at the bottom to hold your ammo. Most importantly, they have a great deal of padding in front of the shoulder and can be purchased in a right or left shoulder configuration. After spending a couple of hours shooting with just a t-shirt, I can tell you for certain how wonderful it would have been to have one of those vests. The next day I woke up with a bruise on my shoulder that bore striking resemblance to the buttpad on the shotgun I was using. A quick look online shows most of the shooting vests ranging from $30-$50. Well worth it, in my opinion.

The Place

So you’ve got your gun and your vest (looks great on you, by the way). You can’t just load up and start blasting away in your backyard…unless you have a HUGE amount of property. Suburban, housing development dwellers such as myself will have to look into other options. There’s a pretty good chance that there is a skeet and trap club within a short distance of you. There’s also a chance that there might be some skeet shooting lanes available at your local outdoor gun range. For some reason, counties don’t seem to be as twitchy about skeet and trap ranges as they are about handgun and rifle ranges, for some reason, so there’s probably a dedicated skeet and trap club near you that you never even knew about. NSSF’s range finder can be a huge help: http://wheretoshoot.org/Find_Range/

The Justification

At some point, there’s a “why” that needs to be addressed. Sometimes “because it’s freaking fun” isn’t enough to justify the investment. Ultimately, the best reason to pick up skeet and trap isn’t self defense but survival. As I said before, the clays simulate birds in flight. Now go to your window and look outside for a couple of minutes. I’d almost be willing to bet that you saw a bird at some point. If you live in the Southeast like I do, it was probably a duck or a goose. Seriously, those things are everywhere around here.

Now picture a situation: a freak storm has hit your area. You were prepared for a couple of weeks like any good, self reliant person. Things were worse than you or anyone imagined. Two weeks are coming up and despite your rationing of your supplies, food is looking a bit scarce. What’s that sound? It sounds like a duck. Good thing you know how to shoot skeet and have your shotgun and gear. It’s a great skill to have and one that can definitely save your life.

Ultimately, whatever reason you choose to try it out, I think you’re in for a treat. There is a heck of a rush when you bust that clay that I haven’t felt in most other shooting. It’s addictive and it will leave you wanting more.

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