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If I don't want to drive to the shooting range (45 minutes) and no on is around to throw clays for mewhat are some other ways for me to get in some target practice? I have a big open field I can shoot in.

Thanks

There's a thrower that has a foot pedal... you can shoot all by yourself. It's lousy practice for the real thing, but better than nothing if you have the itch.

I have forgotten who it is but someone makes and sells a wall chart to help improve your swing. I have read good things about the chart but have not seen one.

You could also practice mounting your gun at home. Consistent gun mounts are an important element in successful shooting for all clay disciplines. The gun mount affects where the eye will be relative to the rib and the likelihood of its remaining in place during swings.

I agree wholeheartedly with Rollin.

The finest game shot I know spend ten minutes of every morning dry mounting on to his weathervane from various angles, and using snap caps, checks his timing.

You can also do some useful dry mounting indoors .... mount on the joint between the wall and ceiling and see how steady and smooth your swing is as you run along the line; you'll be dismayed! Again, using snap caps, check your timing as you lead a drawing pin head on the line; are you stopping your swing or maintaining it after the shot?

Eug

When using the wall joint idea have someone shine a flashlight in the joint and track it across the room. Use your snap caps to dry fire and follow thru with your swing. Good rainy day or off season practice.

It's the Trius - costs about 90 bucks. I've used one for the past 5 years and it is very easy to use and great if you want to take 15 or 30 minutes' shooting. It actually is quite useful for sharpening upland skills but you can't do crossing shots unless there's another person.

You can get an electric trap for less than $400

I have found much improvement with gun mount and swing with a simple mini-mag flashlight in the end of my "UNCOCKED & EMPTY" 12ga. Squeezing The trigger when the sight picture is right while focusing on the target on the wall in relation to the light on the wall that represents the pattern, has worked for me. With the light on all the time throughout the swing I can check for flag waving the gun both up and down and back and forth, not to mention follow-through. By doing this slowly, over and over again, I have built muscle memory and can honestly say "My scores have improved". I can see the leads on targets being; a Teal, varying crossers, a rabbit, battues, chondels, out-going or in-comeing targets and any combination of the above. It really helped me put the shot where the target was going to be when the shot got there.

There is the Clay Delay device that will launch birds on your voice call. You could either use it at the Skeet range when no one is available to pull for you, or you could use it in conjunction with one of the battery operated machines in the big field that is available to you. I personaly like the wireless model.

Clay Delay website: http://www.claydelay.com/

Thanks Pumpster-- I was drawing a blank on it last night...

As mentioned by others, a consistent gun-mount is paramount to shooting well. This assumes that you use a low gun mount, btw.

Indoor practice [i]in the mirror[i] will help you as well. The Mag Lite in the barrel is good, but mounting in the mirror (using your eye as the target), will show you what is good or bad about the mount. You can quickly see if you are off-center or have a wobble in the mount, etc.

Good luck and keep looking for a trap machine with a long cord for the real practice.

I.S.