754 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Nov. 18, 1911. 
such a balk, and it is a strange thing how certain 
shooters will persist day after day in making just this 
very mistake. It is only proper to note, however, that 
none of the experts are guilty of such foolishness. 
It is also a good plan not to call “Pull” when the 
shooter ahead of you has missed a target, until that 
target has reached the ground. It might happen that 
your target took the same flight as the previous one, 
and thus your eye would be liable to see both targets, 
and your calculations be disturbed. The same caution 
could profitably be observed when, although the pre¬ 
vious target was broken, a large piece was left sailing 
through the air. This may seem a small matter, but 
small things count when you are trying to make a 
straight score. 
THINK OF ONE THING ONLY. 
At the risk of seeming to repeat advice given pre¬ 
viously, the caution to think of but one thing when at 
the score must be reiterated. Concentrate all your mind 
and all your energy upon the one thing to be done, viz., 
the breaking of the target. Do it every time it is your 
turn to shoot; never let up until the last target has been 
shot at. Avoid above everything' paying attention to 
what your companions are doing, for nothing is so in¬ 
fectious as a miss coming after a series of breaks. Time 
and again, under such circumstances has a single miss 
spoiled what seemed likely to be a squad record by 
bringing several other zeros in its train. The explana¬ 
tion is easy. All the men were keyed up and shooting 
in fine time. Then came the missed target, and some 
member of the squad temporarily forgot his work 
through thinking of the spoiled look of the score sheet, 
and he dropped one as a result of his neglect. And so 
it went on. This used to happen quite often, even with 
the experts, but they have learned better now, and by 
dint of schooling themselves to disregard the scores 
others are making, and by paying strict attention to the 
business in hand, the solitary goose egg seldom causes 
the wreck in their scores that it used to do so often. 
It would perhaps be well to say a few words about 
the possibility of trying too hard. It happens quite fre¬ 
quently that a novice after he has had a bit of practice 
starts out well in an event, breaking six or seven straight. 
Then all of a sudden he “blows up” and cannot locate 
the right spot with any success the balance of the event. 
The cause may generally be traced to the fact that he 
was elated at his success, began to figure on how he 
was going to break a straight and determined that he 
was not going to lose a target this time for want of 
trying. The result is that he gets keyed up to an un¬ 
natural extent, and probably in his effort to aim ac¬ 
curately, gets slower and slower in his time, until the 
deed is done and he misses. Then it’s all off, and unless 
the shooter realizes what he has been doing, collects 
his wits and quickens his time, the score credited to 
him is far from what it might have been after the good 
start he had made. 
Watch keenly for your target every time, and when it 
shows up go after it and get it as quickly as you can. 
STUDY LOCAL CONDITIONS. 
It is always advisable to study local conditions, such 
as the lay of the ground, how the wind is blowing, etc. 
If you watch out for these things, you often happen to 
strike on some peculiarity which will save you an im¬ 
portant target or two. 
If the targets are thrown up hill—that is, if the back¬ 
ground slopes up—remember that the targets do not 
look to be going as high as they really are; if you fail 
to realize this, you arc liable to undershoot. If, on 
the other hand, the ground slopes down from the trap, 
the targets will seem to be thrown higher than ordi¬ 
narily, and overshooting is apt to cause you sorrow 
when you look at your score. 
Sometimes poor scores result from failure to notice 
how the wind is affecting the flight of the targets, 
simply because the club house may be protecting you 
from the blast and you don’t realize how hard it really 
is blowing out where the targets are. A good tip to 
novices is the advice to watch the grass and weeds out 
beyond the traps; see how the wind affects them, and 
take the hint so offered. 
The very shape of the clay targets causes their flight 
to be readily affected by a strong wind, but not to any 
great extent in the first ten or fifteen yards, on account 
cf their weight and the speed with which they leave the 
trap. Further out they jump, duck, scoot and do all 
manner of strange things, so that when the wind is 
blowing strongly it is “good medicine” to shoot even a 
little quicker than usual, all of which means keying 
yourself up to a little higher tension. Of course, you 
will miss a few targets, but it is a sporty game, and the 
other fellows will miss a whole lot, too, especially if they 
don’t quicken their time to meet the exigencies of the 
conditions. 
Remember that a following wind—that is, a wind from 
behind the shooter to the trap—bears the targets down 
and causes them to duck and keep lower in flight than 
they should. An incoming wind makes them jump and 
soar. A strong cross wind from left to right will cause 
feft-quartering targets to soar and retard their flight, 
while it will keep right-quarterers down and accelerate 
their speed somewhat. A wind from right to left makes 
the same targets act in just the reverse manner. 
A strong wind drifts a load of shot to an extent little 
dreamed of by a novice. Let him prove it for himself 
by going out on a windy day, pacing off forty yards, 
and placing an object on the ground (an empty cartridge 
box will do if weighted down). Then let him come 
back to where he started from and aim right at the box, 
taking note where the load strikes. This will show that 
some allowance for the drift of the load must be made 
on straightaway targets, by holding slightly to the right 
of them when the wind is blowing strongly from right 
to left, and to the left when it blows from left to right. 
The pellets of shot are so much lighter and smaller than 
the heavier and larger target, that they are much more 
easily deflected from their line of flight. 
When a quartering target is thrown against the wind, 
a little more lead than usual is also necessary, so as to 
allow for and counteract the drift of the shot; but when 
a target is thrown down wind, about the same amount 
of lead as usual will be found to be sufficient, the drift 
of the shot equalizing the slightly accelerated speed of 
the target. 
“flinching.” 
No greater misfortune can befall a trapshooter than 
to be attacked with a case of what is known as “flinch¬ 
ing.” The term refers to what seems to be a temporary 
paralysis of certain nerves, producing an inability to pull 
the trigger at the psychological moment. While it is 
not painful except to one’s self-esteem, it is most annoy¬ 
ing and is fatal to good scores. Anybody who can offer 
a sure cure for it would earn the hearty thanks of regi¬ 
ments of trapshooters throughout the country. 
It does not specially attack novices; in fact, it seems 
to take hold rather of more mature shooters. Even 
experts are liable to be seized with it, but why it comes 
and how it goes appears never to have been satisfactorily 
settled. 
The main trouble, however, seems to be located in the 
trigger finger, which cannot be persuaded to pull the 
trigger at the right moment. This applies to “flinch¬ 
ing” proper, not to the flinching, or, rather, the jerk¬ 
ing away of the butt of the gun from the shoulder due 
to the fear of pain caused by the recoil of the gun on a 
sore shoulder. 
The curious thing about the real flinching is that it 
comes upon you suddenly and without any warning. The 
first thing you know is that you have got it. 
The next thing is how to get rid of it. Columns have 
been written on the subject, and any number of cures 
suggested; but we do not seem to be any nearer a 
solution of the problem than we were ten or fifteen years 
ago. The following, however, seem to be the best sug¬ 
gestions to make to persons afflicted with this misfortune, 
with a view to having them given a trial as a possible 
means of cure: 
(1) Stop shooting for a while, so that if it is the 
nervous system that is out of joint it may be given a 
chance to become normal. 
(2) Examine the grip of your gun and take hold of 
it firmly; in fact, grip it as you would when shooting. 
LAYOUTFORTRAP SHOOTING 
