Went to the local, Parks and Recreation owned and operated, shotgun range today. It was a great place with trap, wobble trap, skeet, 5 stand, and sporting clays. I have always shot trap and don't do too bad at it (normally hit somewhere around 80% of the targets) so today I thought I would try skeet. The guys I was shooting with have been doing this for a while and were very kind (didn't laugh at me and were very encouraging) and gave some great coaching.
There are two big differences between trap and skeet. First, trap is always one round and one target, you never have more than one round in your shotgun. In skeet, about half the targets are doubles. When you say pull one trap fires then a little less than a second latter the second trap fires. The second difference is angle. In trap the targets fly away from you at varying directions and at varying angles, but they all come from the center house. In skeet there are two houses, one on either side of the range you are shooting on. One house throws the target high, the other low, but they are always the same trajectory with the only variable being how the wind effects the target. You start in skeet under the high house and work around to the low house, with the last round being shot right in the center of the range. This means that the first shots are one target going away and the other target coming towards you. Then they are all crossing until you get to the other side for the away and towards shots again. Much harder than trap. In skeet today I hit 3 of 24 targets and one didn't really count because I hit it out of order. On the double target throws you have to shoot the target that gets thrown first, first. I didn't.
The guys recommended I try wobble trap which is like a hybrid of skeet and trap. In wobble trap your first round at each station is a single shot. The next two rounds are each doubles where you call pull and the first target is thrown. As soon as you fire the second target is thrown. For trap you stand 10-25 yards (if I remember right) in back of the house. For wobble trap you are standing right above the target thrower. The targets come out at varying heights and angles from you, so they are all still away shots. I did much better there hitting 18 of 25.
I was using my new double barrel my wife bought me. I have never shot multiple shots from any gun except a pump. I tried to pump my shotgun on the first double. It had to look very awkward, but no one laughed. I am going to do some more skeet shooting. It is much harder than trap or wobble trap. It is good to be challenged, I just have to remember how challenging it is and not get disappointed as I learn how to do skeet.
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