AGWSR Trapshooting
About Trapshooting
The Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) is a team-based youth development program that uses the clay target sports of trap, skeet, and sporting clays to instill life skills such as discipline, safety, teamwork, ethics, mental focus, self-discipline, and self-confidence in Iowa's youth. The program uses these shooting disciplines to teach hunting skills through the safe use of hunting equipment including firearms and their relationship to hunting situations. Athletes from grade school through college may participate in any or all of these clay target sports. The International games of International Skeet and International Trap are also available in Iowa.
In Iowa, the Department of Natural Resources serves as the State Advisor for the SCTP program, and is responsible for providing assistance to new teams, training coaches, overseeing competition leagues, and the state championships. In 2015, nearly 3,200 athletes across Iowa participated in the Scholastic Clay Target Program.
Participants may choose not to compete in the clay target sports, but most of the athletes compete in head to head competitions throughout the season, as well as attend the State Championship events in May and June.
Singles and Handicap Trap
Each competitor shoots at five targets from each station at the 16yd line. The trap machine oscillates left to right within a 54 degree arc (up to 27 degrees right and left of center), and at least a 34 degree arc (up to 17 degrees right and left of center),and the competitor does not know where in that arc the target will emerge.
Handicap is much the same other than shooters lining up on the 25yd line.
Doubles Trap
In doubles, the machine does not oscillate, but throws two targets simultaneously with each competitor shooting at five (5) pairs (10 targets) from each station.
Sporting Clays
It’s often said that sporting clays is akin to “golfing with a shotgun.” Similar to golf, sporting clays rounds are shot on courses, no two of which are the same. Also similar to golf’s individual holes to play, a sporting clays course has “stations,” where again no two will be the same. Indeed, a sporting clays course setup is only limited by the imagination of course designer and the surrounding terrain.