Trap, skeet, or both??

[Mark8252]

I started shooting trap and went on to skeet. I found it to be more fun because it is a more social form of shooting, at least at my range anyway.
I stayed with skeet for several years for this reason. I just joined a winter trap league and every member of my 5 man team is a skeet shooter like myself.....including the 14 year old granddaughter of another team member. I have not shot a 12ga since I last shot trap so I will have to get used to that recoil again. I am looking forward to having a great time.
Why do I find many trap shooters unwilling to shoot skeet and skeet shooters unwilling to shoot trap? Why can't you have your preference and shoot both?
But then I like to shoot trap on the 16 yard line with a full choked Remington 1100 Sporting 410. Anytime I can shoot any shotgun its fun.

 

[waidmann]

I agree, have fun. For those who have take their claybirds very, very seriously, let them.

If you want to shoot skeet with a 2 trigger SxS 16 ga., do it, etc. etc.


"There is something about a shotgun that tends to cheer one up." -Robert Ruark

 

[Rancho Relaxo]

I have thought that trap shooters can be a little unnerved by stations 3,4,5 and 8 in skeet because they are quite unlike any shots found in trap. Generally speaking, trap shooters enjoy the rhythm of a good squad while skeet shooters like being able to socialize a little. Also, skeet shooters may be less likely to grumble over a perceived "bad pull" than trappers.

Personally, I got into the shotgun sports in college while on a trap league. A year later I joined a skeet league and from then on trap wasn't as interesting. I got my first 25 and 50 straights in trap quickly but my first skeet straight took at least twice as long to get, and I've still only shot a 49/50. 2010 was a bad year for skeet and I only made it out once at the very end, managed to get a 25 on my last round with my 20ga BPS. Always exhilarating for me to get a straight.

 

[70extreme]

Some of the skeet/trap people remind me of golfers. They take the game WAY to seriously. It is just a game. They seem to have forgot that they are there to have fun.

The elitism about which GAME is superior is comical. Personally, I could never do either as a full time hobby. They are both mind numbingly repetitive to the point of tears.

 

[hogcowboy]

I also found that the trap shooters where way to serious. Those shooting skeet where just having fun. I stuck with skeet because of that until I moved too far away but remember the goods days of shooting skeet. There are no ranges at all where I'm at now. But I can go out and throw some any time I want.

 

[451 Detonics]

I have shot both a good bit and did both for fun and in serious competition. Oddly enough my favorite fun skeet gun is a SxS 16 gauge with 2 triggers, a Winchester Model 24, 26 inch barrels choked IC/Mod. It is also my favorite upland game gun. When I was shooting seriously I shot a Remington 3200 Comp 4 barrel set for skeet and trap.

I once had the difference explained to me like this...

Skeet shooters wear tweed, shoot fine doubles, smoke pipes and enjoy a single malt scotch. Trap shooters wear bib overalls, shoot Model 12s, smoke Swisher Sweets, and drink beer.

They take the game WAY to seriously. It is just a game. They seem to have forgot that they are there to have fun.

A good friend of mine won $100,000 at the Grand last year...seems like a good reason to take it serious to me

 

[RUT]

Neither.... sporting clays!

 

[oneounceload]

Agree on the sporting clays.....as to the OP question, one must remember, that to be successful in trap or skeet competition, you have to not miss as opposed to hitting as many as you can. The way of shooting both games are VERY different, so competitors who want to be in the winner's circle will focus hard on one or the other.

That is not to say someone can't enjoy both and do reasonably very well. Trap-specific guns are very different from Skeet guns - if you look at guns like BT-99's on the low end and Ljutic, Seitz, Kolar, etc. on the high end, you'll find very high ribs, combs, etc. Skeet guns are not built like that.

Sporting clays is even more social than Skeet, as the goal in sporting is to try and hit as many as you can, as opposed to not missing any.

Shoot them all and decide which if any or all, you want to pursue

Good luck!

 

[RNB65]

Sporting Clays tops both by a country mile. Unfortunately, so does the price.

 

[oneounceload]

Sporting clays where I live is slightly higher than 4 rounds of trap or skeet - by about $2-4 total - a small difference for me for the fun and variety

Just drove 600 miles round trip this weekend to shoot the variety at another sporting course - no need to do that with trap or skeet as they are always the same

 

[Bill B.]

They take the game WAY to seriously. It is just a game.

Except for shooting practice trap shooters tend to get involved in the trap games that pay money. There is no room for error either in a local bird race or the Grand American. Any time major payouts is involved it becomes serious.

 

[throdgrain]

I think I'm lucky where I live, there's at least 6 sporting clays courses within maybe a 20 mile radius, and 2 within 5 miles of my house

I sometimes shoot skeet as a warm-up before a round of sporting, surely wouldnt want to solely shoot that though, I'd go mad with boredom

 

[PJR]

Started with trap, moved to skeet, ended up with sporting and not going back.

Skeet and trap are rote games. As much as I respect the dedication and focus required to be good at both I prefer the analytical challenge presented by sporting clays. I get more enjoyment from sorting out a presentation and shooting it well than going straight on a round of skeet or trap.

In skeet/trap the winner is the one who hits the most. In sporting clays the winner is the one who misses the least. It's an important distinction.

 

[70extreme]

I look at skeet and trap people as OCD patients who have channeled their disorder in a healthy way.

You might be able to win money at trap. But the majority of the super serious types are not financially benefiting from the game. When you count the cost of their guns, ammo, time, and other expenses they would be better off getting a paper route.

 

[Jim Watson]

The guy who got me into shotgunning was a trapshooter and Trap was much better supported in this area at the time. I was a good solid high B class shooter with occasional flashes of brilliance like the time I was second in handicap at the Zone. Although I am no longer a full time trapshooter, I can still do ok, at least at 16 yds.

I find Skeet to be tough, though. From my experience and watching others, it seems that a Skeet shooter can convert to Trap easier than vice versa.

So if you want to be a good all around clay target shooter, I would recommend starting at Skeet and picking up Trap only after you were shooting a lot of straights in Skeet. Then look into Sporting Clays.

Of course you can have fun plinking at anything with any gun if you like. But the good shooters work at it and invest in the equipment.

 

[ruddy]

What the heck--shoot 'em both and have fun.

 

[hoofchaz]

I worked at the PA state shoot for a few years, and it does get intense sometimes. A lot of money, a lot of pressure on some people. I do it for fun, some people do it to break 100 straight and win. One year the 16 yard marathon went 625 birds or something like that before someone missed. One time an empty shell out of an automatic ejector came close to someone sitting watching. They reached out and grabbed the shell out of the air, the shooter turned around and told them not to do that. Apparently it was part of their routine to hear an empty case hit the ground.
CHAZ

 

[ExtremeGunCare]

I personally like to shoot both, but I don't say it out loud lol. I was told this when I was just getting into the sport at age 10. "Trap Shooting is easier to learn than Skeet, but Skeet is easier to Master than Trap." or the numerous variations in stating the difficulty in Mastering Trap.

I do believe it is harder to Master Trap than Skeet. In Skeet, I already know the process and where the disks fly. In Trap there is always a slight mystery of which angle. I also think wind affects trap way easier than skeet.

I think what comes down it for me is the cost... I spend too much as is in Trap to then try and compete in Skeet too. I think you might find that cost can be one of the main reasons why there is a division.

If I had the means I would be doing both daily!

Good Shooting,

Jason Lumetta
ExtremeGunCare

 

[Capstick1]

I'm just speaking for myself. I'm a pretty decent trapshooter but tend to stay away from the skeet range. I have no problem hitting all 25 targets at the trap range but if you get me out on the skeet range I'm doing good if I can hit 13 out of 25. I'm especially intimidated about shooting doubles in skeet. I blame myself though, not the gun. I remember one time I was shooting skeet with a pro who was using a special edition Remington 1100 in .410 ga. I was using my 12 ga. The pro hit every one of his targets. My results were pretty disappointing to say the least.

 

[Mark8252]

Skeet/Trap

I also believe trap at the longer yardages is harder than skeet. It is the only time I use shotshells of higher quality than the cheapest Walmart sells.
I also believe that skeet is more fun by far.
But then anytime I can pull the trigger its a good day.

 

[oneounceload]

I'm just speaking for myself. I'm a pretty decent trapshooter but tend to stay away from the skeet range. I have no problem hitting all 25 targets at the trap range but if you get me out on the skeet range I'm doing good if I can hit 13 out of 25. I'm especially intimidated about shooting doubles in skeet. I blame myself though, not the gun. I remember one time I was shooting skeet with a pro who was using a special edition Remington 1100 in .410 ga. I was using my 12 ga. The pro hit every one of his targets. My results were pretty disappointing to say the least

And that is the issue - folks used to an easy 25 straight don't want to try something where they can't run them, even if that is not the goal, as in sporting clays

 

[451 Detonics]

If you really want to have fun try skeet with a SXS muzzleloader, trying to find that double bird through the huge cloud you just put up there is fun. Not to mention the smoke from the shooters ahead of you!

 

[BBroadside]

"Trap Shooting is easier to learn than Skeet, but Skeet is easier to Master than Trap." - Extreme Gun Care

I'm glad you put it that way. I couldn't believe how easy Trap was when I first shot it, and then I found my scores didn't increase much, probably because my approach isn't scientific enough - I pay 95% attention to what I do and how to improve it, not 100%.

Skeet I was miserable at the first time. Second time, much better. If I can remember the pattern, I expect my skeet scores (often under 10) will eventually meet and exceed my trap scores (15-20). Anyway, I've only shot each about four times, so I can't judge too much based on my handful of performances.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Shoot all the games. Keeping it fresh and new means lots of ground gained.

I like standard, US style trap. But if that's all I did, you'd find me dead of boredom on Post 5 some day.

In any given month, I may shoot trap singles, doubles, handicap, Olympic trap, wobble, 5 stand,Sporting Clays, Chinese trap/Mongolian Wobble, and even a little skeet. if I stuck to one game, I might have better scores and less fun.

And yes, by most folks' standards, I shoot fair to middlin'.

There's a point there.....

 

[UniversalFrost]

i shoot everything and have gotten to the point that I am getting specialized guns for each..

my recent purchase , a Citori Trap model with 32" barrels (F/IM) in 12ga, has helped me improve my scores in trap.

My skeet gun is a grade IV Citori in 28ga and my sporting clays gun is an 11/87 premier.

Each type of shooting has it's own crowds and attractions to the sport. It really comes down to your local ranges and what is better supported or which sport attracts the better class of folks.... Some of the trap folks have really made me PO'd in the past, so I just go to another range for trap or just switch to more skeet or more clays for awhile...

just go out and shoot and have fun...