At each station, clay pigeons are thrown in
pairs, five or so pairs to the station. A course consists of several stations,
usually five to ten, where 100 birds or more may be presented over the course.
Sometimes birds from the same traps may be shot from different positions, so
the gunner sees the same target from entirely different angles, which creates
entirely new shooting problems. An area presenting pigeons to several stations
from a single trap is called a field.
With variations in trap position, trap speed, shooting position, and flight paths of different types of clay pigeons, targets can come through the trees, from under your feet, straight down, over your head, quartering, going away, left to right, right to left, and in any path a real bird might choose. The key words are unpredictable, variable, and sometimes bordering on impossible.
As in golf, the rules of sporting clays become more specific, and therefore more restrictive as the level of competition increases. There are a few basic rules, however, that define the sport:
- The shooter may start with a low gun or a pre-mounted gun when calling for the target.
- Only two shells may be loaded.
- If doubles are tossed and both are broken with one shot, both are counted as kills.
- A malfunction of the gun is counted as a lost bird under the rules; the National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) allows three malfunctions per day without penalty.
- Chokes or guns may be changed only between fields. A field is one or more shooting stations serviced from a common trap. The NSCA permits chokes to be changed between stations.
Wingshooting with a shotgun had its origins in England in the mid-eighteenth century. The next century saw live pigeon shoots become popular, reaching their peak toward the end of the Victorian era, when one's ability to handle a gun had definite social implications. American inventor George Ligowski invented a replacement for live birds in 1880 made of baked clay and modeled after the clamshells he used to skim across water. Ligowski's clay pigeon quickly replaced feather-filled balls, the only other alternative to live birds, and just as quickly replaced the real thing.
The first clay pigeon game, which imitated live pigeon shooting, was called trap, after the device used to hold and release live birds. Next, a new shooting game called skeet was developed in New England which was designed to approximate the fast, close-range shooting found in that area's grouse coverts.
Meanwhile back in England, the demand to perform at estate shoots on driven game gave rise to a number of shooting schools. These schools, in turn, adapted Ligowski's clay pigeon to use on practice fields of targets that approximated the flight of live quarry, as the English like to call it. Sporting clays was born.
Although the British Open, England's premier sporting clays competition, dates back to 1925, sporting clays has made its greatest gains in popularity in England within the last 20 years. Meanwhile it took a while for the sport to make it to America. In 1985, the Orvis Company hosted the first national sporting clays championship at its Houston facilities, for which the company established the Orvis Cup. Sporting clays had come to America.
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 pellets shot from a gun.
The targets are usually black, but other colors such as white, yellow or fluorescent orange are frequently used in order that they can be clearly seen against varying backgrounds and/or 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 which are used for the various disciplines, as follows. However, only the standard 110mm 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 which 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 90mm.
Mini: As it's name indicates this is like a flying "Aspirin" at only 60mm in diameter and 20 mm in height.
Battue: A very thin, flat, wafer of a target of about 100mm 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
"Howdy Partner"