Home > List > Shooting > Clay Target > Trap Shooting

Trap shooting is one of the variants of shotgun shooting at clay targets. Trap shooting was made to augment bird hunting and also as a form of practice for bird hunters. This dates back to the 18th century where real birds were used for shooting.

Targets are thrown either as singles or doubles from one or more traps situated some 15 m in front of the shooter, and are generally going away from the firing point at varying speeds, angles and elevations.

Trap shooting is usually used with a 12 gauge shotgun. You can either shot single or double target penetrations. Some of the accessories used are vests that will hold 25-50 shells for single or double events; shooting glasses are also used, it can either be eyeglasses or sunglasses; hearing protection is also important as trap shooting creates loud noises.

The Olympic trap version of trap shooting is one of the shooting events at the Olympic Games.

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Other Clay Target Shooting Disciplines

• Clay pigeon shooting — the umbrella term for shooting sports involving clay targets - the shooters try to shoot flying targets like clay pigeons
  • Skeet Shooting — participants will attempt to break clay disk flung into the air using shot guns.
  • Sporting Clays — the objective is to shoot a randomly flying target.

Related Sports

• Metallic Silhouette Shooting — players compete to test their skills by shooting at silhouette metal targets.
• Hunting — an activity that involves tracking and killing animals with various weapons (not a sport?).

Related Pages

• Shooting at the Olympics
• About Shooting Sports — many events involving shooting at targets using guns like pistols and rifles.
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports