Here at The Big Shoot, we know that Clay Pigeon Shooting can sometimes be a bit confusing, especially for the beginner. To help make things that little bit clearer, we are proud to announce our new A-Z of Clay Pigeon Shooting as we focus on the different disciplines within the sport.
This time around, we will be looking at the various disciplines which span both of the letters D and E in the main three categories of Clay Pigeon Shooting – English Sporting, Trap and Skeet.
Double Rise
We’re going to kick things off with Double Rise, which follows the same layouts and procedures as Down The Line (DTL), which we will cover later on in this blog post. The targets are launched at the same time, but on separate trajectories. However, what does differentiate this discipline from DTL is that the traps for Double Rise launch one target to the left and then another to the right, as opposed to the randomness of DTL. As there are five stands in Double Rise, each shooter fires one shot at each target, which results in two targets per stand. This means that the rounds are shot in multiples of five doubles.
Double Trap
As the name suggests, this discipline sits in the Trap Shooting category of Clay Pigeon Shooting and is similar to the discipline of Double Rise. However, instead of a trap throwing two fixed targets, three traps alternate to throw doubles from any two traps. This Olympic discipline makes sure that the shooters follow set paths which are commonly 35 degrees left and right, as they take one shot at each target.
Down The Line
Down The Line, or DTL if you’re a cool kid, is a variation of trap shooting and is one of the most popular disciplines within the sport. The targets are thrown at a fixed height and distance, within 22 degrees each side of a central line, so the unpredictability of the trajectory is what makes DTL (yes, we’re cool kids) one of the most exciting disciplines! Each shooter gets to shoot at a single target in turn, only moving from the stand when he or she has shot five targets. After this, they move one place to the right, until all 25 birds have been completed. Three points are awarded for a first barrel kill, two points for a second barrel kill and zero points for a miss – brutal!
English Skeet
As the name suggests, this is a branch of skeet shooting – the others being Olympic Skeet and American Skeet. In English Skeet, seven shooting positions are spread over a semicircular arc, as two trap houses fire targets thrown in both single and double format from about 40 metres away from each other. A total of 25 targets are shot from all seven stands, as they are set at particular trajectories and speeds.
English Sporting
It’s the big one, English Sporting! This discipline has the sport’s biggest following, because it’s fair to say that it’s probably the most unpredictable! Almost anything goes in English Sporting, as targets are thrown at a great variety of speeds, angles, trajectories, elevations and distances. This is done to mimic the unpredictability of shooting live quarry. To this day, some of the same live quarry names are still used on Sporting stands such as: Driven Pheasant, Bolting Rabbit, Crossing Pigeon and Dropping Duck, to name but a few. It’s all pretty much the same, but with the big difference being that clay targets have replaced real-life animals!
Final Thoughts
So, that’s it for edition two of our glossary of disciplines in the A-Z of Clay Pigeon Shooting. But don’t worry, we’ve still got plenty of disciplines to cover in future editions so don’t forget to check back soon for these. In the meantime, if you’re feeling inspired by these three different types of Clay Pigeon Shooting, you can try your hand at any one of our Clay Pigeon Shooting grounds located across the UK.