Introduction to Trapshooting

A recent graduate in business and art and design from the Ringling College of Art & Design, Alex C. Forstrom is based in Sarasota, Florida. When he is not working as a loan assistant intern at Citizens Alliance Bank, Alex Forstrom enjoys trapshooting.

Trapshooting is a type of clay target shooting, a sport that involves shooting at a flying target known as a clay pigeon or clay target with a shotgun. In trap shooting, targets are thrown in either singles or doubles (one immediately after the other) from traps, the boxes that contain the machines that throw the targets, which are located about 15 meters away from the shooter. The targets are thrown at varying speeds, elevations, and angles, leading to multiple disciplines within trap shooting such as down-the-line (DTL), Olympic trap, universal trench, and double rise. Trap shooting can be distinguished from other similar types of shooting such as skeet shooting and sporting clays in that the targets are generally launched from a single machine. Trap shooting is typically done with a 12 gauge shotgun, but can be done with other gauge shotguns as well, both single and double-barreled.