First Time Shooting Sporting Clays.

[marinville]

I'm going to shoot sporting clays with some guys from work tomorrow. Not only have I never shot sporting clays before, I have also never shot trap or skeet. In fact, I have probably put less than 50 rounds through a shotgun ever. Tomorrow I will be putting 100 through one.

I have heard to:
Keep both eyes open
Bring the gun up to your face and not your face down to the gun.
Follow through
Decide on an ideal break area
Find your focal point (where you first see movement)
Find your hold point halfway between your focal point and your break area


Any other tips for a new jack?

I'm using a Mossberg 590A1 with a 20" BBL and no choke. I bought Estate brand #8 target loads. I know my shotgun isn't ideal, but I've got my fingers crossed that I won't go 0 for 100.

[Pkspawn]

I didn't see Be Safe and Have fun in there.. Be sure to add those near the top of your list.

It's not like shooting a rifle. Bring the shotgun up to your face, right into your cheek and line up the barrel with your eye.. Which ever one you are using. Only use the sights on the shotgun to line up your eye.. Once you got that.. stop focusing on the shotgun sights/bead if it has any.

If using a trap house.. Look right above the center of the house.. If using a manual thrower.. Just pick a spot out in front of you..

Now, when you turn your head.. Move the shotgun with you. So where ever you look. the shotgun is pointing.. So after calling Pull.. LOOK for the bird.. once you see it.. fire.. Dont stop following the bird though with your eye/shotgun. If your other eye gives you trouble, cover it.

What a lot of people do is, as soon as they see it, they stop and try to get the bead on the bird. Sometimes it works.. most times it doesn't.

You'll have as much fun missing as you will hitting.. If you are fast enough, hitting them sooner is great, but it is more of a matter of how quickly it takes you to locate it and fire.. If they don't change up the direction the thrower is going.. You could just pick the spot it is going to be in and time it.. Try not to do that.. I normally reset to a position and try looking for the bird.

It's fun and could get addictive very quickly..

[marinville]

I didn't see Be Safe and Have fun in there.. Be sure to add those near the top of your list.

Absolutely, and thanks for the info.

[Skullz]

You have most of it down. It's actually a lot to try an remeber in the few seconds you have to hit the bird.

The only other things I would recommend are: keep 80% of your weight on your front foot. Point your front foot where you think you'll break the target. You point a shotgun, you aim a rifle

Have fun. And a word of warning, shotgun sports are addictive. Between trap, sporting clays, skeet, and live birds, I fired a little more than 13,000 shells last year (my chiropractor thinks everyone should shoot shotguns, he'd be a billionaire).

[Rainier42]

Most important thing to remember is to have fun!

[WVBob]

All that has been said and relax. It's a game of movement of you and the gun. You can't move and it can't move, you need to move as one.

Don't try to over think it.

When you can't see the clay, pull the trigger.

And have fun and be safe.

[johnfritz]

You are going to have soooo much fun!

Make sure to take your shot while the clay is ascending. Once the clay starts to fall it becomes much more difficult to get the hit.

Any other advice I have has already been covered above. I will repeat though, don't over-think it. I suspect you'll find your groove quickly.

A 20" barrel is a tad short for clays but you should still be OK. I've never shot clays using anything shorter than a 26" (my Browning Lightning) but I've read a lot of posts on forums where people report success using shorter barrel shotties.

[Remington788]

I've only shot trap up till now. Would love to try sporting clays to see the differences.

I find that kinda like golf, there is a lot, I mean a LOT, of mental concentration involved in shooting those little clay disks as they dart across the sky.

Last week I had a streak of 15 birds in a row after the first 3 stations. I get to the 4th and something broke my concentration. 5 birds lost. Then the final station I took a long deep breath and closed my eyes as everyone else shot, and got 5 hits in a row.

Like golf, you can recover from a bad drive or a lousy putt if you get your head back in the game and don't get discouraged.


Let us know how it went.

[marinville]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I just got back from the event. I didn't do all that great, but I did have a lot of fun. I hit 29 of 100 birds. The experience definitely makes me want to practice/learn more and get better. It was a blast. It's a great feeling when you know you have one dead to rights and get to see it obliterated.

[Remington788]

It's a great feeling when you know you have one dead to rights and get to see it obliterated.

That cloud of dust IS pretty cool to see.