My first trap lesson tomorrow...

[Tahoe]

I've been hunting birds for 30 years off and on finally decided to see if I'm doing anything right.

I talked the guy on the phone last night. He said first we'll see what your dominant eye is, see if you gun is the right fit, etc, etc, etc and then we might get some shooting in. Being the impatient A hole that I am, I said if we aren't shooting half way through the lesson(1 hr lesson 50 bucks), I don't want it.

I understand gun fit and all that stuff is very important, but I kill birds, I just want to improve a little.

I have 2 thoughts ... Some of these folks can only go about things one way...my teacher. Its not like I'm going to go buy a new gun if it doesn't fit me like he thinks it should.....OR maybe I should take a chill pill, relax, listen to what he has to say and pick up whatever I can and move on. I think I'll choose option 2.

I'm going to take my Benelli, Weatherby, Browning and Extrema because 1 of them is bound to fit me to his standards.

As much as I'm already griping about him, I'm looking forward to it.

[AAshooter]

Enjoy your lesson. I would run with the instructor. The fact of the matter is that if you are going to really get into trap you probably will buy a new gun with time.

In the interim, any (almost) gun will do if you will do. Trap is a funny game. Very mental and exacting. Many competitions end up with multiple people shooting 100 birds straight and having a shoot-off to settle the winner.

Depending on the type of hunting you do, you might want to consider sporting clays rather than trap. Seldom do those folks end the day with 100 straights.

[bdarin]

I'm not exactly the poster boy for patience either, but listen to the teach...you might learn something you didn't know before. It's only an hour and you don't have to go back if he's no good. Trap is fun, I shoot for score in the winter league here on Grand Island. Someday I'll even hit more than 22. Actually, I joined the league cuz the banquet has an open bar.:p

[skeeter1]

I was told that my side-by-side double was no good for trap, until I got my first 25-straight (ended up 96/100 that day). If the gun feels right (and only you can determine that), then it's a good trap gun. Trap shooting is great fun, and enjoy using whatever you feel most comfortable with. Don't let the instructor bully you around.

[Tahoe]

It actually went pretty well. I've never shot a shotgun with both eyes open. He said its a must. So opening both eyes I couldn't hit anything. He couldn't figure it out, I said it felt like I was looking at 2 barrels. He told me to close my left eye and I hit 2 in a row so he went in got a piece of tape and covered my glasses with tape..left eye only and told me to keep it open. I started hitting targets...I think I hit the last 9 in a row. And thats good for me.

He was relieved to get me back on track.

He has me shouldering the gun much higher than I ever have, makes me lift my right elbow, relaxed my grip on the forestock, put my pointer finger straight out, etc. I just went with what ever he said. And erasing 30 years of shooting isn't easy. Bring the gun up and shouldering it, in a different way is hard and will take time, but I'm going to go with it.

I'm prolly going to shut my left eye opening day on Friday, but that it. I'm prolly going to take another lesson so friday will be my last day with a shut eye.

Anyway, no earth shattering news but since I started the thread I thought I should finish.

Thanks for replies too.

[Tahoe]

Had another lesson this morning. It went pretty well. He noticed I was leaning instead of twisting(might not be the right word). By leaning my head and body was moving away from my stance and I was not as stable. He had me pivot so my head stayed fairly stable over my stance. I never knew I did that.

I'm really glad I took these lessons. Even and old fart like me can learn something...as long as you are willing to learn.

The instructor had some pretty decent patches on his vest. He had this one that had 410, 28, 20, 12. Proficient in all and he was also on the Olympic team...unfortunately in 1980. Carter was a 4 letter word to him.

[mswestfall]

Men are hard to teach. Women and children tend to listen better.

[fairview mick]

My trap shooting consisted of many, many guns and nearly 100,000 targets. In my opinion, if you want to kill more birds, Sporting Clays is the way to learn that game. First, in trap, your gun is mounted before calling for the bird. Second, the gun fit for trap is much different than field shooting. A quick mount and lower stock is usually the way for hunting, while a 14&3/8 and longer stock is the norm for trap. Also the comb on a trap gun is usually a "Monte Carlo" while your field gun is not. If you have hunting clothes in cooler weather, you'll never mount a trap gun quickly. There's much more, but this is just some of my thoughts.
Hope I helped.
MIckey