SOLON— Trapshooting is a sport dating back centuries, literally. According to the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA), the sport started in England in 1750 and came to America in 1831 with first official records kept at the Sportsmen’s Club in Cincinnati.
Shooting sports, including trapshooting, continue to be popular among all age groups.
“Nine year old boys shoot alongside 90 year old men. Many 70-year-old’s have been in the sport (for) 55 years and some began just two years ago. Trapshooting’s participants include millionaires and hourly wage earners, inventors and businessmen, former sports figures in other fields, professional men, farmers, truck drivers, musicians, actors, students and housewives,” said the ATA on their website.
Since 2012, Solon youth have the opportunity to compete in the sport through an organized club, the Solon Trapshooting Team.
Trapshooting is a good, fun way to instill gun safety, said Melissa Ressler, co-head coach with husband Tim.
The Spartans have 14 shooters on the roster between the middle school (Spencer Michels, Ethan Ressler, Allen Shima, Caden Stull, Ryder Laing and Aaron Greco) and high school (Seniors Cole Birky, Jack Howsare, Landon Hummel and Sam Kunkel; juniors Ryan Bilskie and Ian Ressler; sophomore Gabe Nicholson; and freshman Carter Moen), and previously included as many as 20-30 members. At that time, the team often practiced at a local farm and the landowner wanted to build a trap house for the team, a structure housing the device launching the clays. However, Johnson County officials wouldn’t permit the construction.
“So now we have to go up to Otter Creek (NW of Hiawatha) and that’s a lot of travel back and forth,” Melissa said.
The Otter Creek Sportsman Club is the Spartans’ home, as well as being the home for teams from Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Xavier Catholic.
Melissa believes the long and frequent travel for practice, in addition to meets, is a key factor in the membership decline.
New and returning members must attend an annual safety meeting, and new members are taken to Otter Creek for more in-depth orientation, including an introduction to trap shooting. For at least the first few practices, a parent physically hands their kid each round until it is ensured they’re safe with the gun.
Students are able to join in the sixth grade. The family must provide the shotgun and pay for the ammunition. The club’s sponsors; Jay Proffitt Construction Inc., Crop Tech Seeds Division, KW Legacy Group, Bridge Community Bank, FJ Krob & Co., Rubber Ducky Car Wash, El Sol Mexican Cuisine, Scheels, Ellison Insurance Agency Inc., Hair Styling Chalet, and Ruzicka’s Meat Processing and Catering; paid for the birds (clays) as the club must pay Otter Creek and tournament sites for every clay shot. The club also pays Otter Creek to use the facility and membership fees to the ATA, the sponsors also covered this year’s membership.
The season starts at the end of March with the State Trapshooting Tournament in June. For shooters seeking more opportunities, a fall season kicks off in September.
Shooters compete in three distinct disciplines during tournaments: singles, doubles and varsity handicap. In singles, the shooter is 16 yards away from the center of the trap house and shoots at random targets flying at varying angles. Shooters are grouped in squads of five with five positions. After each shooter fires one shot, they rotate to the next position for another shot. This continues until each fires five times for 25 shots in total or one round. A typical meet has each shooter going two rounds (50 shots), special meets and the state meet go four rounds (100 shots each). Additional rounds are used to break a tie.
In doubles, the shooter has two targets to contend with launched simultaneously and flying in opposite directions.
Handicap levels the playing field, somewhat, by having shooters, based on their age, standing farther back from the trap house, based on past performances, and ranging from 18- to 25-yards back.
Ian Ressler said he joined because it’s fun. For several years, he watched his cousins compete and wore the team’s sweatshirt, courtesy of his cousin, long before joining the squad in seventh grade.
“I like how it’s an individual sport but also a team. I’m not relying on everybody else to carry me to victory, it’s more myself.”
The sport is similar to cross country which he’s also involved in.
“I just really enjoy it. It’s entertaining, it changes pretty much every time. The weather can determine what happens, the way you shoot can determine what happens, there’s a lot of things (including the shooter’s mindset) that can change what happens.”
Ressler said his best moment, so far, was hitting his first 25- knocking down all 25 birds in one round.
Ethan Ressler, an eighth grader, started in sixth grade after seeing how much his brother and friends enjoyed the sport. Shooting and spending time with his friends are keys to his enjoyment of trapshooting. He would encourage anybody interested to give it a try.
“It’s really fun, there’s different things you can do.”
Ethan has also shot a perfect 25.
Ryan Bilskie, in his second year with the squad, said his friends, the Resslers, drew him into the sport.
“It’s like archery, but cooler.”
He’s shot a straight 50 (two perfect rounds) with his little $600 gun (the used shotgun he started out with).
Shotguns for trap shooting can be rather expensive depending on make, model, and type.
“It’s an individual and a team sport. I think it’s a lot of fun being able to shoot guns and bust clays. The hardest part is getting started and getting into it (costs, ammunition shortages, finding the right gun and getting used to the recoil). I think it’s a fun sport, it’s pretty exciting, and I like how you really just focus on yourself to do good.”
Safety is the overarching concern in all aspects of the sport. Hearing and eye protection are mandatory, all spectators are kept well back from the shooters and the shooters themselves are not allowed to chamber a round until ready for a clay to be launched.
“Sore shoulders, that’s the only injuries we’ve had,” Melissa said. “We had 2,800 shooters at State and nobody got hurt. They really emphasize safety (and responsible gun handling).”
For more information about the club, contact Melissa at 319-310-2988 or through the website, www.solonshootingsports.com. The club also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SolonTrapshooting.
The team has two upcoming meets at Otter Creek. They compete in the Cedar Rapids Kennedy invitational on Saturday, April 23, and the Jefferson J-Hawk 100s on Saturday, May 14.
The team defeated Cedar Rapids Xavier Catholic Saturday, April 9, in a dual meet at Otter Creek. Ian Ressler won with 95/100, Cole Birky was second with 93/100 and Ryan Bilskie was third after two rounds of tie-breaking shoot-offs with 92/100. Jack Howsare shot 85/100, Sam Kunkle and Landon Hummel both posted 83/100, Ryder Lain shot 79/100, Ethan Ressler had 77/100, Allen Shima scored 75/100, Caden Stull hit 71/100 and Gabe Nicholson scored 39/50.