Milestones

[Bill Murphy]

Congratulations, John. Tell us more about your trap field, brand of trap, controls, etc.

[William Woods]

Congratulations Mr. Davis.

[John Davis]

Bill, the trap field was built in an old borrow pit near I-75. Rather than going down with the trap machine, I went up with the shooting posts. Sixteen yard posts are permanent, handicap posts are wooden stools one yard square that can be moved to the appropriate yardage mark. There are actually two trap machines. An Atlas AT-250 on an oscillator for singles and handicap and a Champion Doubles trap machine. Both are triggered with a foot petal. These are some old pics.

[Bill Murphy]

John, I have to think that your scores would go up if you changed the foot pedal for a voice release.

[John Davis]

Bill, you may be right. However, it's all just practice on my field and none of it counts towards my ATA yearly averages. My singles/handicap machine does throw a harder left and right target than ATA dictates. My theory has been that practice should be more difficult than competition and I really haven't felt much of a disadvantage with the foot pedal but who knows.

As an aside, the Parkers finished the 2023 ATA target year with a Singles average of 97.13% out of 2650 registered targets, a Handicap average of 90.29% out of 2100 registered targets and a Doubles average of 91.95% out of 2000 registered targets. This left me at number 3 in the State for the second year in a row. And I owe it all to Parker Brothers of Meriden, Ct. and a little practice.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by John Davis

Bill, you may be right. However, it's all just practice on my field and none of it counts towards my ATA yearly averages. My singles/handicap machine does throw a harder left and right target than ATA dictates. My theory has been that practice should be more difficult than competition and I really haven't felt much of a disadvantage with the foot pedal but who knows.

As an aside, the Parkers finished the 2023 ATA target year with a Singles average of 97.13% out of 2650 registered targets, a Handicap average of 90.29% out of 2100 registered targets and a Doubles average of 91.95% out of 2000 registered targets. This left me at number 3 in the State for the second year in a row. And I owe it all to Parker Brothers of Meriden, Ct. and a little practice.

I go along with practicing at a wider arc then necessary . It also reminds me of stories about the hotdogs of the time when everyone was still using White Flyer traps , seems those guys wouldn’t shoot if the WIN traps were in the hole that allowed movement out to the legal arc so to speak . These guys wanted the arc lessened .

[Jim DiSpagno]

Outstanding John. You humble us mere mortals. Keep up the good shooting.

[Randy Roberts]

Neil Chadwick and or one of his associates from Long Range will make you up a voice controller for a few hundred bucks that you would like. Transmitter would clip on your belt while the microphone can be clipped to your vest or t-shirt. They work, and it would be a lot easier than dragging a foot controller around.

[J. Scott Hanes]

Brilliant set up on your range, John!! I have traveled around the country to all sorts of clubs but have NEVER seen a trap range setup like yours. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense; easier to load and work on the machine. I have seen a few "private" clubs that set up their field just like the "standard", recommended setup; a lot of time and $$ to do it.

I am blown away by the ingenuity! Well done.

[Stan Hillis]

John, while I've never competed in trap at all I did spend a considerable part of my life actively competing in NSCA events, and working hard to improve through "home practice". I was loaned an old Comet brand automatic trap and wireless remote. The machine could be set for a time delayed release. I would clip the remote on my shirt, position myself at the predetermined location, to get the presentation I wanted to work on, then press the button. I had sufficient time to mount my gun with my usual pre-shot routine before the machine threw the bird. I would dearly love to get that machine back from him and make it my own by purchase. It's the only one I've ever seen.

I practice I would set it up in the field somewhere on my place, then begin walking in a big circle, as if "running the bases" on a ballfield, only with many more locations than 1st, 2nd and 3rd. This way I would see all the normal presentations (except vertical and rabbit) ....... L to R crosser, quartering at all angles, incoming, R to L crosser, and going away. I'd shoot four shots at each location. If I ran all four I'd move to the next station. If I missed I'd stay and keep shooting until I ran four straight.

The confidence I'd carry away with me to a big tournament was well worth the trouble, and I punched into Master class at the 2010 U.S. Open by using this practice technique. I no longer pursue the big shoots because of the time away from home, and the desire to spend more time at home with family (read grandkids ). But I can appreciate the effort and time you put into being a winner. Well done!