SCTP: Tucson Shooting Stars
7800 West Old Ajo Highway
Tucson, AZ 85735
ph: (520) 883-6426
dlhman
About Us
Welcome!
Tucson Shooting Stars is happy to welcome you to our family!
What we do:
Our host club has excellent information regarding the different events in the shooting
sports. Tucson Trap & Skeet has provided this great summary of our sports!
Shotgun target sports date back to England in the late 1700's when "box shooting" used
live pigeons released from box traps with a pull cord, thus we have today's popular call of
"Pull!" requesting the release of the target. The shotgun sports have come a long way
since then. Below you will find additional information on the 3 main disciplines of clay
target shooting.
Trap: The first formal trap shoot took place in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1831, using live birds.
With the advent of glass ball targets, and eventually clay disc targets, the sport began to
take on the popular form of the game known today as Trap. American Trap uses a single
target launcher, or trap, which is located below ground in a trap house. This trap oscillates
left to right and back, launching a single clay target, or bird. American trap has a field with
5 shooting positions. Singles Trap features shots taken from each of the shooting
positions 16 yards behind the trap house. The shooters position themselves on one of
the 5 shooting positions, or stations. Each shooter shoots five shots from his current
station, then the squad rotates to the next station. Each shooters shoots five shots from
five stations. Handicap Trap is the same game with shooters moving back to varying
distances from the trap house. The maximum distance is 27 yards. Doubles Trap is shot
from 16 yards, with the distinction being in the way the targets are presented. In Doubles
Trap, the targets are thrown two at a time, and the trap does not oscillate. So each of the
pairs of targets are uniform in trajectory.
Skeet: The game of Skeet came along later. It was invented in Massachusetts in 1920, by
a man hoping to improve his wingshooting abilities. There have been many refinements to
the game of Skeet since that time. Typically American Skeet is the variety played in the
United States. A skeet field has 8 shooting positions and two traps. The targets are
thrown from the "High House" on the left side of the field, and from the "Low House" on the
right side of the field. These "houses " are simply structures that hold the traps, or target
launchers. The targets have a distinct flight path. In Skeet, only one shooter holds the
shooting position at a time. Each shooters shoots a sequence of birds from 8 stations
from a "high house" and a "low house." Skeet also has a format where different gauge
shotguns are used. Using 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge and .410 bore guns lends a
great deal of variety to the game.
Sporting Clays: While Sporting Clays has its roots in Trap and Skeet, it is a completely
different game with its own set of rules. The game is played over a course which may
feature varying terrain with several different target presentations from different locations
with varying flight paths. While Sporting Clays was originally designed to simulate live
game scenarios, it has evolved into a sport all its own. The game is played on a course,
made up of stations. Each station features a shooting stand for the participant to shoot
from. Upon the shooter's call, targets are released. Targets can be thrown as single
targets, simultaneous pairs, or report pairs where the second target is launched upon the
report of the shot at the first target. Unlike Trap and Skeet, there are a variety of specialty
targets in Sporting Clays. in addition to the 108mm Standard targets. These include 90mm
MIDI targets, 60mm MINI targets, rabbits that roll and bounce on edge, battues that arc,
and rockets which are heavy and maintain speed. In addition the presentation of the
targets vary, which is to say they may be thrown crossing from one side to the other,
quartering away, quartering in, inbound, outbound, overhead, underfoot, or straight up in
the air. It is the variety of targets, target presentations, course layouts and terrain that many
find so enjoyable about Sporting Clays.
5-Stand: Some ranges, where space is an issue, may choose to offer the game of
5-Stand Sporting Clays in addition or in place of a traditional Sporting Clays course.
5-Stand is a compact way to get a lot of target presentations. Generally it is played on an
overlaid Trap/Skeet field, employing all 3 traps and adding between 3 and 5 additional
traps. The game is shot from 5 stations with a menu telling the shooter which birds will be
launched and how they will be presented (single, report pair or true pair). Once the
shooters have shot their specific birds, the squad rotates to the next station in a fashion
similar to Trap.
There are several excellent descriptions of the different clay target games and a great deal
of detailed information is available on the Internet. Below are just a few links to get you
started:
Copyright 2015 Tucson Shooting Stars. All rights reserved.
7800 West Old Ajo Highway
Tucson, AZ 85735
ph: (520) 883-6426
dlhman