[dads81-DL]

Well, my son, 11 yrs old, thought we should go shoot some trap today. He wanted to try out his new shotgun. It's an 870 20 gauge. I guess it's not really for trap but he had a blast. He broke 3 of 13 clays till his shoulder gave out. And he can't wait till next week to try it again. I broke 14 of 25. I haven't shot trap in about 20 years. But it was fun shooting with my son. Now to get the old side by side zeroed in. Lol

 

[greyhawk50]

Father - son time is always good.
Mixed with the smell of burnt gun powder - even better.
Thanks for letting us share in your joy.

 

[FOUR4D4]

Thats how you do it start them young

 

[oldbrass]

good times for sure, many more to come

 

[dads81-DL]

Thanks guys... The guys helping Eli said to replace his butt stock pad for better trigger reach. His has quite a thick hard rubber pad. So I'll either try a thinner pad or order a different stock,cut it down and add a nicer softer pad.
I didn't plan on shooting Sunday ,but to help out my son and grab a few pictures of his first time at trap . So next time I hope to get a few pictures for when he gets older.

 

[FOUR4D4]

Better get a wide angle lens for the big ole grin on the youngsters face

 

[greyhawk50]

Just a few pointers from an ole Trap Shooter.
1. Test him for his dominate eye by having him hold his strong arm out straight with his index finger placed on a fixed object. Have him close one eye and then the other. Which ever eye sees the finger on the object is the dominate eye. Hopefully the same as his strong arm - be it right or left handed. If he is right handed but left eye dominate, he will be required to shoot with one eye closed. Not the best as explained later.
2a. A general rule of thumb to see if the shot gun fits. Using his strong arm, have him bend it at the elbow with his palm up and fingers slightly bent. Place the butt of the gun in the crook of the arm as you place the grip in his hand. The 1/2 bent index finger should be just ahead of the trigger.
2b. After confirming that the stock is the correct length. Have him shoulder the weapon and take up the shooting position with his eyes closed. IF, when he opens his eyes, he should have a proper sight picture straight down the center of the barrel. This will confirm that the drop in the stock and the cast off of the stock are correct.
3. This sounds silly but it works. Have him stand with an empty gun to one side of someone else as they shoot at the clay birds. Have him shoulder the gun and assume the shooting position. As the bird is thrown, have him come on target, follow thru as he acquires the target and pushes the trigger. (jerking the trigger on a shotgun has the same effect as jerking the trigger on any other weapon.) At this point, he needs to continue the follow thru until the bird breaks or hits the ground. This will teach him not to stop when the gun is fired (thus causing him to shoot behind the bird). Follow thru is critical.
4. Another tip for the weak arm. May or may not help. Have him place his index finger parallel with the barrel. This simulates pointing at the target with that finger. It's a natural way of getting on the bird.
5. Shooting at a target with a shotgun should be done with both eyes open and focused on the target. The "shadow" of the barrel should be seen in his peripheral vision. You need both eyes for depth perception. (try putting tooth paste on a tooth brush with one eye closed ) Shooting a flying target requires determining distance and speed of that target. If he remembers seeing the bead on the end of the barrel, he most likely missed the shot.

I hope this helps.
You will still have lots of fun but breaking targets always adds to it.

 

[dads81-DL]

Great info. We did measure the gun ,from 1/2 finger to crook of elbow. Its about 1 1/2 " to long. Now we will work on your other teaching areas. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Spoon]

Great info. We did measure the gun ,from 1/2 finger to crook of elbow. Its about 1 1/2 " to long. Now we will work on your other teaching areas. Thanks for the tips.

I was 8 and toting a Model 12 in 12ga...of course. 1st year frustrating, since I connected very few times on birds with that over-sized old shotgun. You may not want to put a shortened stock on it. He'll be out-shooting you before you know it if the guns fits

There's something about besting our Dads, that drove me to become very proficient with a scattergun. Well that and learning to shoot two and occasionally 3 ducks from the same bunch with a single shot that fit mighty fine and mastering the reload for the follow up shot(s) in a big hurry!

Enjoy the special days Time passes so fast and you may not have such great opportunities in a few more years.

 

[greyhawk50]

Additional suggestions.

Forgive me if you already know all of this or have experience. Others on the forum may find this interesting.

Proper stance for Trap Shooting. I am right handed and the following is the stance that I prefer. Using the image below as a reference.

1. Stand with the majority of your weight (70% give or take) on the front foot. In my case, my left foot.
2. My feet are spaced about shoulder width apart. I prefer to point the toe of my front foot at the center point of the flight pattern of the bird (not the center of the Trap House). On station #1, that would be approx. 8-10' to the left of the Trap House. Station #2 would be approx. 3', station #3 would be center, station #4 would be 3' to the right and station #5 would be 8-10' to the right.
3. After shouldering the weapon and prior to calling for the bird, I aim the weapon at the top edge of the Trap House. For station #1, I use the top left corner as the aim point. Station #2, I aim about 1/2 way from the left corner & center. Station #3 is center and so on.
4. By using these set-up tips, it reduces the amount of rotation needed to get on target. The idea is to eliminate the need to twist the entire body. The body should rotate, as much as possible, only at the waist. The upper body (head and shoulders) should not rotate and the lower body (legs and hips) should rotate very little. If you rotate the shoulders to the left, it pulls the weapon in tight against the face and rotating the shoulder to the right pushes the weapon away from the face. Neither is a good situation.
5. With both eyes open as the target leaves the Trap House. Locate the target, follow in behind it, catch up to it and follow through it as you press the trigger. This should be done all as one smooth, fluid motion.

I hope this helps and, MOST of ALL, enjoy your time with your son.

If you position your stance at the center of the Trap House, as you can see, from station #1, a hard right bird is actually a straight away and a hard left bird would require twisting the body to the extreme left, thus causing poor form and , most likely, a missed target. The same is true, only in reverse, for station #5. I hope this all makes sense.

If you google "proper stance for trap shooting", you can find several sights that address that topic.

 

[dads81-DL]

Weather permitting, we'll be back out Sunday and put your knowledge to use. Again ..... Thanks for the tips.

 

[dads81-DL]

My son ,Eli, passed his Boy Scouts board of review. He has made Scout Second Class. ( now doing my happy dad dance)

 

[greyhawk50]

You, sir, have reason to be proud.
An indication of a responsible and loving parent.
Well done.