What is Clay Pigeon Shooting?
Clay pigeon shooting, formally known as ‘Inanimate Bird Shooting’, is the art of shooting at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay targets, normally with a shotgun. The sport has evolved over the years from its live pigeon shooting roots; through glass balls and feathers; up to the modern day where it is now a respected Olympic Sport. It is interesting to note that the 'target' today is neither clay nor pigeon!
The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often still relates to times past, when live pigeon competitions were held. Although such competitions were made illegal in the UK in 1921, a target is still sometimes called a 'bird', a hit is sometimes referred to as a 'kill', a missed target might be described as a 'bird away' and the machine which projects the targets is known as a 'trap'.
Who Started It? - Early pioneers
One the most famous of the early ‘sharp-shooters’ was Annie Oakley - probably one of the United States’ finest ‘marksmen’. Born in 1860, Oakley's shooting skills were developed early in her life and when she was age 21 she met her future husband, shooting champion, Frank Butler by defeating him in a match. They toured as a team for some years before he retired to manage her career. She joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1885 and performed as the star of that 19th century show for more than 16 years. She astonished Americans and royalty across England and Europe with her amazing skill.
She was injured in a train accident in 1901 that ended her career with the Wild West. After she recovered she went on to shoot in charity events to help orphans, widows, and underprivileged women. She campaigned for women's rights to hold paid employment, earn equal pay, participate in sports, and defend herself in her own home and on city streets.
Other early Pioneers
Doc Carver http://www.traphof.org/inductees/carver.htm
Captain Bogardus http://www.traphof.org/inductees/bogardus1.htm
The Competitive Side
Clay pigeon shooting has at least 20 different forms of regulated competition called disciplines. These can be roughly divided into three main groups: Trap shooting; Skeet Shooting and Sporting Clays.
Trap shooting
There are many versions of Trap Shooting including Olympic Trap, Double Trap (which is also an Olympic event), Nordic Trap, and several national versions such as American Trap. The layout of modern trap shooting is recognised by the fact that there is only one house that releases targets and the shooters only move through 5 different positions. Trap shooting has been a sport since at least 1793 when it used real birds, usually the then extremely abundant Passenger Pigeon. Fake birds were introduced around the time of the American Civil War as the Passenger Pigeon was nearing extinction and sufficient numbers were not reliably available. Clay targets were introduced in the 1880's.
Targets are thrown either as singles or doubles from one or more traps situated some 15m in front of the shooter and are generally going away from the firing point at varying speeds, angles and elevations. The most common disciplines in this group are:- Down-the-Line (DTL) Single Barrel, Double Rise, Automatic Ball Trap (ABT), Olympic Trap, Double Trap and Universal Trench.
Skeet shooting
Skeet was invented by Charles E. Davies, an avid grouse hunter, in 1915 and evolved to its current setup by 1923. As with Trap shooting it originally used live pigeons but eventually the use of clay targets replaced the more traditional target as a cheaper, humane and more reliable alternative - one reason they are also called clay pigeons. In 1926 a contest was held to name the new sport, and Gertrude Hurlbutt named it skeet, which is derived from the Scandinavian word for "shoot". During World War II, Skeet was used in the American military to teach gunners the principle of leading and timing on flying targets.
Skeet is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks flung into the air at high speed from a variety of angles. The main disciplines in this group are English Skeet, Olympic Skeet and American (NSSA) Skeet. For the American version of the game, the clay discs are 4 5/16" in diameter and 1 1/8" thick, and fly a distance of approximately 60 yards. The international version of skeet uses a target that is slightly larger in diameter (110mm), shorter in cross section (25mm vs. 1 1/8"), and has a thicker dome centre, making it harder to break. International targets are also thrown a longer distance from similar heights (over 70 yards), resulting in a faster target speed.
The event is in part meant to simulate the action of bird hunting. The shooter shoots from 7 positions on a semi-circle, and an 8th position halfway between stations 1 and 7. There are two houses containing the traps, about 40 metres apart, one at each corner of the semi-circle. The traps launch the targets to a point 15 feet above ground and 18 feet outside of station 8. One trap launches targets from 10 feet above the ground ("high" house) and the other launches it from 3 feet above ground ("low" house). At each of the stations the shooter shoots at a combination of single targets launched from both the high house and the low house and at some is then required to shoot a double, where the two targets are launched simultaneously. This uses 24 shells (3 per station). If a target is missed it must be reshot with the 25th shell, or if no targets are missed, the shooter must shoot his 25th shell at the low house station 8. This 25th shot was once referred to as the shooter's option as he was able to take it where he preferred. Now, to speed up rounds in competition, the shooter must shoot the low 8 twice for a perfect score.
The firearm of choice for this task is usually a high quality shotgun although many shooters of American skeet and other national versions still use inexpensive semi-auto and pump action shot guns with great success.
Sporting Clays (shooting)
Sporting Clays is often described as golf with a shotgun and is probably the most challenging of the three types. It differs from skeet and trap shooting in that it involves shooting clays at various locations which are launched at different velocities and angles. The original idea behind sporting clays was to create an experience that more closely reflects actual hunting conditions. Whereas top-tier skeet and trap professionals may have hit ratings nearing 100%, the best sporting clay shooters hit their targets only about 85% of the time!This discipline also has the sport's biggest following. While the other disciplines only use standard targets, in Sporting almost anything goes! Targets are thrown in a great variety of trajectories, angles, speeds, elevations and distances and the discipline was originally devised to simulate live quarry shooting, hence some of the names commonly used on Sporting stands: Springing Teal, Driven Pheasant, Bolting Rabbit, Crossing Pigeon, Dropping Duck, etc.
Clay Pigeons / Targets
The targets used for the sport are usually in the shape of an inverted saucer, made from a mixture of pitch and chalk designed to withstand being thrown from traps at very high speeds, but at the same time being easily broken when hit by just a very few lead or steel pellets shot from a shotgun.
The targets are usually black, but other colours such as white, yellow or fluorescent orange are frequently used in order that they can be clearly seen against varying backgrounds and differing light conditions.
Clay pigeons are made to very exacting specifications with regard to their weight and dimensions and must conform to set international standards.
There are several types of targets that are used for the various disciplines, as follows. However, only the standard 110 mm target is used in all of the trap and skeet disciplines. Sporting shoots feature the full range of targets (except ZZ) to provide the variety that is a hallmark of the discipline.
Standard: The most commonly used target of all, must weigh 105 grams and be of 110 mm overall diameter and 25-26 mm in height.
Midi: Same saucer shape as the standard but with a diameter of only 90 mm.
Mini: This target is sometimes likened to a flying bumblebee at only 60 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height.
Battue: A very thin, flat, wafer of a target of about 110 mm diameter which flies very fast and falls off very suddenly.
Rabbit: A standard sized (but thicker) flat target in the shape of a wheel designed to run fast along the ground.
ZZ: This is a plastic, standard sized target attached to the centre of a 2-blade propeller of different colour designed to zig-zag in flight in a totally unpredictable manner.
Naturally, the simplest method of throwing a clay target is by hand, either into the air or along the ground. This is of course how it all started but over the years a multitude of devices have been invented or appropriated to make this task safer and more reliable - see below. Clay targets are ‘thrown’ after the shooter calls "pull," or something similar. This convention is not only for safety, but also allows the shooter to prepare for the moving target. The two primary methods of projecting clay targets are airborne and ground (rolling.) Rolling or "rabbit" style is usually considered the more difficult.
The Traps
These days the Traps are purpose made, spring loaded, flywheel or rotational devices especially designed to launch the different types of targets in singles or pairs at distances of up to 100 metres. These machines vary from the very simple hand cocked, hand loaded and hand released types to the highly sophisticated, fully automatic variety which can hold up to 600 targets in their own magazine and are electrically or pneumatically operated.
Modern shooting ranges will usually have machines that throw the clay targets in consistent arcs at the push of a button. Target release is by remote control either by pressing a button or by an acoustic system activated by the shooter's voice. With modern machines target speeds and trajectories can be easily modified and varied to suit the discipline or type of shooting required.
Clay Pigeon Shooting at the Olympics
Clay pigeon shooting is a multi-discipline modern National, International and Olympic sport at which the various British teams have successfully competed at the very highest level for many years. Our game shooting has been the best in the world for at least 200 years.
Olympic Skeet has had Olympic status since 1968, and, until 1992, was open to both sexes. After that year, all ISSF events have been open to men - females were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Skeet competitions. This was somewhat controversial due to the fact that the 1992 Olympic Champion was indeed a woman, Shan Zhan of China! However, women had their own World Championships, and in 2000, a female Skeet event was introduced to the Olympic program. In Olympic Skeet, there is a delay of between 0 to 3 seconds after the shooter has called for the target. Also, the shooter must hold his gun so that the gun butt is at mid-torso level until the target appears.
Britain’s Richard Faulds won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 in a sudden death shoot-out in the final of the men's double-trap clay pigeon event. Faulds was lying fourth going into the final round at the Sydney International Shooting Centre but hit three of the four clay targets to clinch the title from Australia's Russell Mark, who only hit two. Faulds, who learnt to fire a shotgun on his father's Hampshire farm at the age of 10, became the first Britain to win a shooting gold since Malcolm Cooper in 1988. In the same year Ian Peel got Silver.
Clay Pigeon Sooting Experiences
Take part in clay pigeon shooting yourself !
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Breaking Clays: Target Tactics, Tips and Techniques
This clear and concise book offers a distillation of the best tips and techniques that really enable you to improve your scores and give you the knowledge to develop your full shooting potential.
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