Trap shooting - Definition and Overview

Trap is a clay pigeon shooting sport, one of the ISSF shooting events. It is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use a shotgun to attempt to break a clay disk flung away from the shooter at high speed. The modern game of trap is in some ways a replacement for a game where the targets were live pigeons. Indeed, one of the names for the clay targets used in shooting games is clay pigeons.

Trapshooting has been a sport since at least 1793 when it used real birds. Fake birds were introduced around the time of the American Civil War. Clay targets were introduced in the 1880's.

The layout of modern trap shooting is different from skeet shooting, in that there is only one house that releases targets, and the shooters only move through 5 different positions. Shooters generally shoot from 16 yards behind the house. The house releases targets that will fly to a distance of 48 to 52 yards from the shooter. They can be released at any angle within 45 degrees of straightaway.