A shot rings out, still heard through all the earplugs and earmuffs, and the bright orange clay disk soaring through the air bursts into small orange fragments. The gun recoils in the shooter’s hands, they wait a few moments, keeping their stance, then they put their gun down as the next shooter readies themselves for the next pigeon.

“I like the satisfaction of when you actually hit a [pigeon]—it feels nice when you see it explode,” beginning shooter freshman Cole Staples said.

When asked about what she liked about trap shooting, sophomore Taylor Rients said, “Getting outside, being with others who enjoy the sport, and watching the targets break!” No doubt, there is an all around satisfaction with exploding clay pigeons in trap shooting.

Trap shooting is one of three clay pigeon shooting sports, the other two including skeet and sporting clays, where contenders shoot at moving clay targets. When it comes to this sport, you either hit or you miss.

The sport itself isn’t too difficult to understand. The simplest description to begin with, is that a shooter uses a shotgun to shoot at clay “pigeons” or disks made of clay that are thrown into the air from machines at unknown varying degrees of arc that are inside “trap houses”. The trap house is located 16-27 yards away from each position at the station. There are five different positions at a station and shooters shoot five times at each position in a competition. Unlike skeet, the clay pigeon is shot away from the shooter. Shooters are only allowed one bullet for each pigeon, and scoring is out of 25 (five pigeons at five positions), and the goal is to hit the most pigeons out of 25. In the Minnesota State High School League, a team is only allowed a limited number of scoring players, who’s scores are added up to give a team score. The team with the most points wins. For scoring, the MSHSL follows a system called “True Team Scoring™”.

“It’s the safest high school sport. At least in [the Minnesota State High School League] there have been no injuries. Well, no one’s broken any legs,” senior Carter Rients said. Often times, guns are associated with violence, but trap shooting is a game of skill and focus, hardly giving room for any opportunity to get injured.

“I started trap shooting back when the group started when I was in ninth grade,” Carter Rients said, “The biggest improvement, I’d say, is that the numbers have grown [since 2011].” The team has seen an influx of team members over these past years, especially from the middle school.

Now on its fourth season, the trap shooting team is looking forward to success. “As a team, I hope we can win our conference,” Carter Rients said.

Like many other spring sports, they are also hoping for better weather, “I hope the weather is drier and warmer than last spring,” Taylor Rients said.

The MSHSL Clay Target League Championship is from June 6th to 9th at the Alexandria Shooting Park in Alexandria, MN.

Upcoming meets:
May 3, 10, 17, and 24 at 10am @ the Minneapolis Gun Club