Shoot

Last weekend, Scott asked if we were interested in doing "Skeet and Trap".

"Huh? What's that?"

As I found out, it involves shooting. With a real shotgun. And flying targets.

Okaaayyyyy... I immediately thought "No way!" The thought of holding a real gun gave me the creeps. Being such a klutz, I will be probably be endangering the lives of those around me. Not keen of being charged for manslaughter in the US...

But after some persuasion (if 18-year-old NS men, I mean boys, can do it, I should have no problem right...), I relented, and off we go to the shooting range...

So on a hot Sunday afternoon, six of us drove down to the range, me bring the only girl. Scott brought his own shotgun and ammunition, while the rest of us rented shotguns and bought shells from the range. One round has 25 shells, meaning we will each have 25 tries.

I looked at the row of rifles and wondered which one to choose. Picked one up, and gosh it was much heavier that it looks! Scott helped me to ask the guy for the lightest one. But it wasn't that much lighter anyway. So I lugged the rifle outside and await further instructions, all time time pointing the rifle away from anything and everything...

Scott demo-ed a round of Skeet for us to see. The targets, called clay pigeons (though they are really in the shape of a round discus and not a bird) will fly out of a wooden shed (computer-programmed to do so), and you will have to try and shoot it. Skeet is more difficult than Trap because the target flies horizontally, from left to right or right to left, as opposed to Trap, where the target just flies away from you.

Scott was pretty impressive, shooting most of his targets and making it look sooo easy. And then it was our turn, and the remaining five of us chose to do Trap instead.

Xuan Yao in black and Scott in white. The two pros shooting away, while the rest of us decided that one round is enough for the day. The guy in brown from the range, and he is a real sharp shooter!

See the brown shed in the middle? The red clay pigeons fly out from there, towards the trees. The four black sticks at equal intervals are actually voice-automated thingies. Just shout into it, and your voice will activate the shed to shoot out a flying target for you to shoot. So each us stood by one of these thingies, and the shooting begins! We have to do it one by one, for the safety of everybody and also because only one target can fly out at any one time.

It took me quite a while to get used to the shotgun. Not as easy as I thought. Have to hold it in a certain way on the shoulder, cheek resting next to the stock of the gun, finger on the "safety" button, then aim first, before I can press down the safety button (only then can the gun be shot... it is a safety feature) and press the trigger. The first shot was a real surprise! Of course, it did not hit the target. So I had to re-load the gun. Pull down a lever, slide the ammo in, push up the safety button again so that the gun does not misfire... I had to constantly remind myself to do all the steps correctly, but sometimes I forget to press or un-press the safety button... oops...

After goodness knows how many failed shots, I was beginning to think that I am going to score a big fat egg in this game. The guys managed to shoot a few, which I thought was pretty good. (Since the clay pigeon is really small and fast!) After I got the hang of firing the weapon, I was taught how to aim. Have to try and get it when it is trending upwards; that is when it is the easiest. And have to project where the target will be when the shots reach them... Needs a lot of practice!

I only had a few shells left, when I finally shot one! Woohoo! I attribute it to 99% luck and 1% skill. The guys clapped for me, like it is a huge achievement... hehe...

Final score: 1 out of 25, and a bonus of two days of muscle ache around the shoulder and cheek region.