By:  Ian Darroch

A topic that was proposed to me by Trap & Field Editor-In-Chief Terry Heeg was the topic of etiquette. While this is something that those of us who have been around for a while take for granted, this is something that occasionally is lost in the shuffle by shooters old and new, so let’s talk a bit about etiquette and a few scenarios associated with it.

The first thing on my list is basic line etiquette. First is pace. While I am certainly not the quickest shooter by any means, it is of poor etiquette to have a personal pace within a squad that is disruptive to other shooters. Unless it is for some reason against your clubs’ rules, you should at the very least have a shell resting in the chamber of your gun when you are waiting for it to be your turn, and should mount and call, again at a reasonable pace after the shooter in front of you. Your whole process of mounting the gun and calling for the target should never take longer than say five seconds or so. I understand every person’s form takes a different amount of time than the person next to you, but you should always be able to keep up the pace of the squad, unless the squad is unreasonably quick. Again, I am all for shooting your pace, but it shouldn’t be disruptive to those around you.

The same thing goes for shooters that I would say are in too big of a hurry. While I again believe that a squad should have a decent pace to it, you should never, ever mount the gun while the shooter ahead of you is still shooting their target, especially in doubles where there are two targets in the air. The first thing that you have to understand is that this is downright rude, and that person paid just as much to shoot that round as you did. When you begin to close, mount the gun, or have any unreasonable amount of movement you can be distracting to the shooter who’s turn it really is, especially if they are right-handed. On the same note if you have a lefty after you, don’t be afraid to pause a second before you open and reload your gun while they shoot their bird, (speaking as a lefty myself) they will probably appreciate the gesture. The other thing that you have to remember about this is that as long as the target of the shooter ahead of you is in the air, even if they miss it, it is not technically a lost target until it hits the ground so if by some miracle it breaks in half a few inches off of the ground it still counts.

Realistically the most important thing about this is the fact that calling too quickly after the shooter ahead of you can be a distraction and especially if you put the gun up on them it is very poor etiquette. Your gun can be closed and ready to go, but it should be well below parallel where the other shooter can’t see the end of the barrel while they shoot their target.

In summary, try to keep your pace reasonable, neither too fast or slow as to not disrupt those around you, and don’t move in such a way that you bother the shooters next to you.

The next topic on my list is getting mad. While everyone takes missing a target differently than others, there are certain ways that you conduct yourself. Another thing that I was taught was for the people watching, if they aren’t looking at the target that you just shot, your body language should be such that they shouldn’t be able to tell if you broke the target or not, it should be the same either way. I will be the first to admit that I am fairly unhappy at myself when I am missing targets and not doing well, but something that I learned a long time ago from my father is that while you can be unhappy when you miss a bird, the anger has to be out of the picture when it comes time to shoot your next target. That is the difference maker as far as turning a miss into a poor showing. Remember, you can have a 99 or 98 in handicap and still win the event, but if you turn those misses in to 10 then you can quickly have an 85 and be nowhere near winning anything.

“It doesn’t matter if it is on a club level or at the Grand American, act like an adult and treat those around you with respect.”

The other thing about anger is that it can never affect the shooters around you. Throwing shells and having a temper tantrum is simply childish. You can never take your anger out on the other shooters on your squad, and should never ever be rude to the puller. Yes, they make mistakes, but they’re human too and should be treated that way. It doesn’t matter if it is on a club level or at the Grand American, act like an adult and treat those around you with respect.

The next item on my list is shootoff etiquette. This is something that I feel is overlooked the most when it comes to etiquette. You wouldn’t believe half of the stories I could tell you about the “games” that other shooters have tried with me in shootoffs, and some of them are many-time All-Americans. I was always taught that when you arrive to a shootoff, you always arrive promptly, on the first or second call at the latest. The longer that you wait to show up, the more that it drags on the evening for everyone else. You will find that some people will intentionally wait until right before the cutoff to check in so that they make the other guy wait around in order to try to get them off of their game, and usually this doesn’t work. The other thing that I was taught was that when you go to your assigned field that you should briefly say hello to the individuals that you are shooting against, then keep to yourself. While I am a fairly social person, some people aren’t, and you should be respectful of that. On the converse to that point, you will experience individuals that will try to talk to you on purpose to try to get to you in order to win often playing what I call “mind games” with you. Like I said, say hello and “good shooting today” then keep to yourself.

Over the years I’ve had shooters try multiple different techniques to try to beat me in a shootoff. Moving around on purpose while I shoot my target, putting the gun up while I shoot my target, shooting a faster pace than usual to try to wear me out, countless mind games, and even as far as throwing empty shells out in front of me while I shoot my target to try to distract me. None of them work, but most importantly they are a sign of an individual who doesn’t think that they can beat you so they go to an extra effort to try to get you off your game. What this really is, is bad etiquette. Believe me, I intend to win every shootoff that I get into, but that simply doesn’t happen. Win or lose I want it to be fair and square.

That last thing that I was taught, and something that Terry mentioned that brought this article to life, is the simple handshake. What my father always taught me was that at the end of a shootoff, win or lose, you always shake the hand of the other shooter(s). Not only is this the respectful thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do. This sport was started as a “gentleman’s” sport, so let’s keep it that way. Remember your etiquette both on and off the line. You’ll appreciate it and so will everyone else. See you on the line, and hopefully on the shootoff line.

Those who have questions about shooting technique for Ian Darroch, please direct them as follows: e-mail: [email protected]