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Looking for help getting my son started in Trap #6855341 08/14/17 03:26 AM
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Obi Wan Offline OP
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I'm starting my last year in the military and making some plans for the future. The school my son will attend next year has a trap team. I've shot quite a bit of skeet, but I am unfamiliar with trap. He's 13. I'm going to get him started with his pump 20 ga, but want to make sure I do it right. Any tips would be appreciated.

Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6855384 08/14/17 04:58 AM
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Best thing I ever did for my son was sign him up for lessons to shoot with both eyes open. He has been very competitive in trap, sporting clays, and skeet, and continues to shoot in tournaments in college. That is a skill that will pay off for life!


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6855662 08/14/17 02:11 PM
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We have a trap machine and are a very private place to shoot. Nothing fancy just pasture clay shooting which can be as easy or challenging as you like.

Located north of Terrell. NOTE I agree with the two eyes open shooting where you look style of skeet shooting and keeping your eye on the target


www.poetryshootingclub.com

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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6855663 08/14/17 02:12 PM
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The shooting where you look was introduced by Leon Measures thank you Leon


www.poetryshootingclub.com

Gun Dog Training, Flighty Quail

Guided/Unguided Quail Hunting

Group Events/Parties

700 Yard Range

CLOSE TO DALLAS

Take a youth shooting

214-728-2755

By appointment always and you shoot in private.



Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6856321 08/14/17 11:20 PM
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Look online (ATA,TTA) for the next shoot near you and let him watch some of the better shooters. Watch their styles and most of all learn the routine. Younger shooters will catch the eye of most of the guys at a shoot and the help will be plentiful. If you have shot skeet then you know it is not a cheap sport. Get your son the best equipment you can afford and LOTS of shells. Make it fun.

Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6856521 08/15/17 01:47 AM
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Leon Measures ...WOW!!!! haven't heard that name in years


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6857010 08/15/17 01:45 PM
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Obi Wan, don't try to do it yourself, get him started right., Where are you in N Texas? Elm Fork has several instructors who could do a great job getting him started.


About 55 years ago, I went there to shoot .22's with my Mom. the road to the rifle range was flooded (Imagine That) so we went around to the shotgun side. I had never shot clays., There was a really nice lady there who grabbed a 20ga semi auto and a box of shells. We went to station 4, I started "aiming": (one eye closed, like a rifle). She stopped me and forced me to shoot both eyes open, concentrate ON THE TARGET, swing about 4 feet ahead and pull the trigger then FOLLOW THROUGH., It worked so good !!!

I remember it like it was yesterday, so this is my suggestion get a "pro" and a lesson. "Uncle Joe" who is the best shot in the world shouldn't be involved.

Oh yea, if he makes the team start saving for his dedicated gun flag


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6857839 08/16/17 12:19 AM
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You don't say where you are exactly in North Texas, but if you are reasonably close to Terrell I would be happy to get him started on trap at my club (rules, where to hold, where to look, etc). Free of course. If he gets the game going and wants to really pick up professional pointers then we have a couple folks, or you can then look elsewhere for the high level skills shooters.


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6857995 08/16/17 02:24 AM
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Also - don't put a whole lot into the 'keeping both eyes open' mantra. Nora Ross, probably the top female trap shooter in the country, shoots with the off eye squeezed tight shut.


Only at the end do you realize the power of the Dark Side.
Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6858122 08/16/17 06:12 AM
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The biggest advantage to shooting with both eyes open is acquiring the target quickly. It's most important when shooting some sporting clay stands when the clay comes from a thrower you cannot see and you have a short time to acquire and fire. That's where my son beats me in clay shooting. Since I've been shooting doves for 48 years I'm almost afraid to try to learn, fearing I may not get my mojo back. At this point it's best not to think just shoot instinctively. I do swing on the bird and close my left eye at the last second!


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Couzin] #6858185 08/16/17 11:44 AM
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Originally Posted By: Couzin
Also - don't put a whole lot into the 'keeping both eyes open' mantra. Nora Ross, probably the top female trap shooter in the country, shoots with the off eye squeezed tight shut.
Uh ....you are wrong you are talking about 1 shooter she probably has a eye dominance problem. I would say 99% of competitive shooters shoot with both eyes open. Please don't let your son fall into a bad habit like 1 eye open.


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6858276 08/16/17 01:17 PM
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Gotta go with bentman (but I'd probably back off to 85-90%), shooting one eyed causes a loss of depth perception as well as peripheral vision.

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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6862963 08/20/17 11:40 PM
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Actually couzin has a point. It's not just both eyes issue but the mount also. Every instructor I went to would teach out of a textbook set of instructions. The same instructions don't necessarily work for everyone. Study the mount on the different Olympic shooters. Many have developed what works for them

As far as eyes ..... finding your dominant eye can get more complicated in some cases. For me my dominant eye gets taken over after I mount my gun. Took me years to figure this out

Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6862975 08/20/17 11:50 PM
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you can also put a piece of Scotch magic tape over one lens of his shooting glasses, this will force him to use his eye while keeping both eyes open. I think I stated this exercise wrong but you can google it or watch YouTube.


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6863232 08/21/17 03:19 AM
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If you want to teach him to shoot trap, don't make him start with a pump shotgun. It may be novel sounding, but it's not going to be any experience to take forward. He doesn't need an O/U, but a basic semi would be highly recommended.

If you're going to get coaching, they can provide the POV on eye dominance, etc. If you do select the both eyes approach and he has trouble with "2 barrels", you only need a small, square piece of tape the size of his pupil placed on his shooting glasses, over the non-dominant eye pupil area. No full size strips of tape or big dots, all of which block periphery needed for locating the target.

Don't know where you live, but most high schools in the area have a Clay Target Team and an Intermediate team of 7-8th graders. My son is on the FMHS Clay Target Team and we had a handful of Intermesiate kids last year. We also teach them to shoot the main three, Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

Check with your local high school if interested in team options, they can provide direction on all that's been mentioned. You do not have to be an experienced shooter to join, but it will be a time commitment to pursue.

Charlie


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6864209 08/21/17 11:19 PM
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A pump is perfectly fine for trap, it hasn't been that long since the Winchester Model 12 was one of the most popular trap guns and it still has a large following. Skeet and Sporting Clays is another story altogether.

P_102


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6869948 08/27/17 01:37 AM
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At one time I shot a lot of ATA registered targets and was fortunate to shoot with some really great adults when I was a kid. Learning to shoot with two eyes was hard for me but was a key in becoming a much better shooter. You can start with a pump but make sure you get him light target loads. regardless of the gun, make sure it fits. It's worth finding someone that fits gun stocks and going to them for a fitting if you get into the sport seriously

Trap shooters are great people in general and if you go to a club, there is always someone that will help a newcomer, especially a kid. If he takes to it and you have the budget, then it's time to get one instructor and stick with them. Like anything else with shooting or hunting, everyone has an opinion and they often contradict each other.

Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6882477 09/09/17 05:39 AM
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Trap will get in your blood quick. Back in the day I went all over the country shooting trap. I shot the zone shoots, state shoots, Southwestern grand and the grand american back when it was in Ohio. As far as one eye or two eyes goes it's personal preference for the shooter I think. One of my good friends who got me started shooting trap made the all american team a couple times as a junior and shot with one eye closed and so did I. As it was stated above you can put a piece of tape on your shooting glasses to block your off eye. The benefit of this is you can still keep both eyes open, but not have your off eye take over. Because automatically when you close one eye the other eye will squint a little bit.

As far as advice goes.

1. Find a Preshot routine your comfortable with and do it that same way everyime.

2. Don't move your gun until you see the target.

3. Don't get caught up in trying to shoot the target as fast as you can. The good shooters do shoot fast, but that is a result of them seeing and locking on the target fast. Not because they are trying to just shoot fast.



Last edited by stickshooter 41; 09/09/17 05:58 AM.
Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6884689 09/12/17 02:18 AM
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One eyed will work for trap, but not at anything else. In trap you are shooting on a single plain at a given distance and speed. If you want your child to "learn how to shoot" they need to use both eyes.


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Re: Looking for help getting my son started in Trap [Re: Obi Wan] #6885889 09/13/17 05:18 AM
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What do you mean by won't work on anything else? I have also shot skeet, sporting clays and have hunted pretty much everything that flies that you are allowed to hunt my whole life. I'm not claiming to be the best shooter around, but I have had a good bit of success throughout the years of competition.

At no point have I ever felt like I was at a disadvantage only shooting with one eye open.

I agree with you that you should absolutely shoot with both eyes open if you can. But not everybody can. If I try to I get a very distorted sight picture. You have to work with what you got. You can still be a very good shooter with one eye open at whatever you won't to shoot. In the end if you can shoot, then you can shoot.

Last edited by stickshooter 41; 09/13/17 05:20 AM.
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