356 
FOREST AND STREAM 
August, 1921 
TRAP 
SHOOTING 
HINTS 
PRACTICAL ADVICE TO THE BEGINNER 
AND SOME SIDELIGHTS ON THE GAME 
By JACK FANNING 
Jack Fanning coaching a novice 
HE author of this “introduc- 
tion to trap-shooting” is Amer- 
ica’s premiere shotgun shooting 
coach and gun-fitter. He made the 
world’s long run record on clay tar- 
gets, made at the N. Y. State shoot 
at Utica in June, 1900, and the 
Madison Square Roof record, made 
in March, 1900, of 75 straight, with- 
out stopping to rest and shooting 
alone. 
At Way cross, Ga., in 1901 he 
scored 96 at 50 double targets and 
has made other remarkable scores, 
including one of 99 out of a pos- 
sible 100 live birds — the last bird 
dropped dead just over the bound- 
ary line — in a match for a purse 
of $500 against Dr. W. H. Smith of 
St. Lords, Mo., November 29, 1897. 
—[Editors.] 
A LTHOUGH the sport of trapshoot- 
ing has had many adherents from 
the days when glass balls were 
used as targets in place of the modern 
clay disks, it is not in the pleasure of 
the game alone that its chief value as 
a pastime lies. Perhaps its greatest 
appeal is born of a desire on the part 
of the sportsman to perfect himself in 
the art of wing shooting. As a means 
of preparation for work in the field it 
is pre-eminently the best form of prac- 
tice. 
Not only does the shooter obtain the 
most practical knowledge of how to 
handle a shotgun — the fit and method 
of using the implement to the best ad- 
vantage — but he perfects himself in the 
essential fundamental of field shooting 
— the ab'lity to bring his gun to bear 
on a moving object in the shortest pos- 
sible time commensurate with accuracy. 
As a means for speeding up the shooter 
in the delivery of his shot it has no 
equal. Many are anxious to join this 
growing army of trapshooters, but lack 
a knowledge of the first principles of 
the game and so do not make the quick 
progress they expect. 
T HE first step on the part of the 
beginner is to procure a gun, full 
choke bore preferred, that is, a 
gun that will put about 290 to 305 
No. 7% chilled shot in a 30" circle on 
paper at 40 yards from muzzle of gun. 
Do not have too long or too short a 
stock. This can be determined in a 
general way by grasping the gun by the 
grip and with the forefinger on the 
trigger (the front trigger if a double 
gun is used), place the butt of the 
gun in the hollow of the arm and 
raise the gun to an upright position. 
If the first joint of the trigger finger 
presses fairly free on the trigger it 
may be said that the gun is approxi- 
mately the right length or nearly so 
in most cases. Sometimes the physical 
build of the person makes it necessary 
to have the stock longer or shorter, 
as the case may be, but that will be 
determined after placing the gun to 
the shoulder in shooting position. The 
stock should not have too much of a 
drop, as the target, on leaving the 
trap, travels upward in its flight and 
if shot at quickly there is a tendency 
to undershoot it. In other words, by 
the time the charge of shot reaches the 
place where the target appeared when 
the trigger was pulled it would pass 
under it and of course a miss would 
be the result. 
T HE next step is to stand in posi- 
tion facing the trap so that the 
body is in about a three-quarter 
souare to the trap posture (not exactly 
square) , then have left food turned in at 
about three-quarter square with the trap 
and the right foot back from the left at 
about the same angle as the left, but 
not too close to the left foot. Have 
both feet resting firmly on the ground, 
but most of the weight of the body 
should rest on the left foot, and the 
body slightly pitched forward with the 
left knee bent a little. This is to al- 
low a free and easy swinging motion 
of the body from the waist line and 
also to avoid being thrown out of bal- 
ance when the gun is fired. It also 
helps in taking up the recoil of the 
discharge of the gun by having it 
equally distributed over the body from 
the waist line up. 
When in position to shoot, the gun 
should be grasped firmly with the right 
hand, with the index or forefinger rest- 
ing lightly on the trigger, and the left 
arm extended slightly bent and holding 
the gun not too tightly. The gun stock 
should be placed well inside the shoul- 
der joint and not out on the arm. The 
right elbow should be kept at an an- 
gle inclined towards the body; not at 
right angle from the shoulder as in 
shooting a rifle. 
T HE beginner is now at the firing 
line with the gun loaded and held 
in the manner described. The 
cheek should rest firmly on the gun 
stock and both eyes open, preferably, 
or left eye closed if novice has been 
rifle shooting before taking up shotgun 
shooting at the traps. Sight down or 
along the top of the barrel if a single 
gun and down or along the center of 
rib of double gun. The gun should be 
elevated so that the muzzle or end of 
barrel or barrels is on a line or a lit- 
tle above the topmost edge of center 
of traphouse. The targets to be thrown 
for the beginner should be straight 
away from the traps as they are the 
easiest to begin on, and there is no 
calculation to be made except as to 
elevation, which is a very important 
factor in trapshooting. The novice 
must learn not to shoot too high or too 
low and the only way to learn this is 
to shoot at straight-away targets until 
elevation is learned and until the 
shooter eventually knows that he aimed 
too high or too low. Until he learns 
this he is only guessing where he 
aimed and cannot hope to progress. At 
first the targets should not be thrown 
too swiftly; about 40 to 45 yards is 
far enough. Never allow the beginner 
to shoot very heavy loads; 294 to 3 drs. 
with 1 and % oz. 7% chilled shot, if 
procurable, is enough, as heavily loaded 
shells are apt to cause bruising and 
make the beginner afraid of the gun, 
and naturally divert his attention from 
endeavoring to point correctly. 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 374) 
