Listener Question Extravaganza - PART 2 - TRAP TALK - E71

Summary

Episode Summary: Trap Talk From The Back Fence - Listener Question Extravaganza - PART 2 (E71)

Release Date: April 26, 2024

In the second installment of the "Listener Question Extravaganza" series on Trap Talk From The Back Fence, hosts Zach Nannini and Richard Marshall Jr. (Ricky) delve deep into a variety of listener-submitted questions, offering expert advice and personal insights into the world of trapshooting. This episode, skipping over sponsorships and intros, focuses purely on delivering valuable content to both novice and seasoned shooters. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key discussions and takeaways.

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1. Understanding Point of Impact

Listener: John from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Timestamp: [04:21] - [10:02]

Question:
John sought clarity on the concept of "point of impact," particularly confused by the ratios like "30-70" or "70-30" percentages in pellet distribution relative to the bead.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach and Ricky interpret John's question as a misunderstanding of sight picture and point of impact. They suggest that John might be referencing the proportion of pellets breaking above versus below the bead when shooting.

Zach (05:46): "First things first, he's saying 30-70. But I mean, is he meaning 30% of his pellets are below and 70% or above and he's just saying it backwards?"

Ricky emphasizes the importance of understanding one's own gun's behavior and adjusting accordingly. They discuss scenarios where shooters might need to adjust their firearms if the pellet pattern is excessively high or low.

Ricky (07:34): "If that's okay, I would really like to be able to answer this question. Foley, Nadeem, you need to, we need to reach back."

Conclusion:
The hosts recommend that John provide more information about his firearm to offer a precise solution. They underline the significance of consistent sight alignment and the potential need for gun adjustments to achieve optimal pellet distribution.

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2. Strategies for Growing State Shoots

Listener: Brad Mayberry from Sparta, Illinois
Timestamp: [10:12] - [18:55]

Question:
Brad, acting on behalf of his state association in Maryland, seeks effective strategies to increase participation in state shoots and attract more event sponsors, especially on the competitive East Coast.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach and Ricky share their experiences in doubling attendance at the Nevada State Shoot by emphasizing consistent promotion and highlighting attractive trophy packages. They advise repetitive marketing to remind potential participants of the event's benefits and enjoyable aspects.

Zach (11:29): "People have to know about your shoot. You have to remind them about the shoot."

Ricky adds that organizing appreciation events, such as dinners or social gatherings, can foster camaraderie and encourage repeat participation. They also discuss the importance of securing sponsorships by showcasing the value sponsors receive through association with well-organized events.

Ricky (17:32): "Your state organization has to raise money if you want to do some of these things. But just look at it as you're in the investment of you're going to do these extra things for the shooters."

Conclusion:
The hosts recommend Brad focus on continuous advertising, leveraging both traditional and digital platforms, and engaging with local shooters to secure small donations or sponsorships. Building a community-centric approach can significantly enhance participation and attract sponsors.

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3. Selecting the Right Shotgun Shells

Listener: Nini
Timestamp: [18:55] - [20:12]

Question:
Nini inquires about the types of shotgun shells used by the hosts during training and tournaments, seeking recommendations for effective loads.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach details his preferences for various shell types depending on the shooting context. He mentions using an 11.45-ounce 8-shell for training at the gun club and a slightly harder shot with an SCS show shell for tournaments. For back fence shooting, he opts for Nitro 27 Alcinate 7 1/2 shells.

Zach (19:09): "I shoot an 11, 45 ounce and eighth, eight. And this is when I shoot for Singles and both shots of doubles."

Ricky adds that the choice of shells can affect shot patterns and the ease of hitting targets, emphasizing the importance of selecting shells that match one's shooting style and the specific demands of different shooting environments.

Conclusion:
The hosts recommend shooters experiment with different shell types to determine which performs best with their firearm and shooting style. They highlight the importance of matching shell hardness and shot size to the shooting context to optimize performance.

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4. Traveling with Trap Guns

Listener: Roland
Timestamp: [19:43] - [27:59]

Question:
Roland seeks advice on flying with a trap gun, having never done it before. He's curious about the logistics and best practices for safely transporting firearms to major shoots.

Discussion & Insights:
Ricky and Zach share practical tips for traveling with firearms, emphasizing the importance of using airline-approved cases, such as Americase or Tough Pet products, to ensure durability and security.

Ricky (21:32): "I use a Tough Pack, and that's an Octagon case that inside I've got foam at the bottom."

They advise packing the firearm securely within the case, including accessories like rain gear and shooting bags. They stress the necessity of declaring firearms and adhering to airline regulations regarding ammunition.

Zach (22:17): "Go to the airport two hours early because you're gonna need ample time for them to check the gun."

Additionally, they recommend using tracking devices like Apple AirTags to monitor the whereabouts of the firearm during transit, ensuring peace of mind in case of delays or misrouting.

Conclusion:
The hosts recommend meticulous preparation when traveling with firearms, including selecting robust cases, adhering to airline policies, and utilizing tracking technology to safeguard against potential issues during transit.

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5. Improving Performance Under Lights

Listener: Quinn
Timestamp: [27:59] - [32:43]

Question:
Quinn experiences a 15-20% drop in trapshooting performance at night compared to daytime. He wonders if factors like depth perception under artificial lighting or cognitive issues are affecting his accuracy and asks for recommendations to improve nighttime shooting.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach identifies that shooting under lights alters visibility, particularly affecting how shooters perceive the bead and the target. He explains that artificial lighting can create glare on the bead, causing shooters to look back at the gun rather than focusing on the target.

Zach (30:48): "There's a lot more visibility on your bead. Because that lights behind you and it's shining on your bead and there's not as much visibility out there on that target."

Ricky adds that muscle memory and consistent eye positioning are crucial. They suggest focusing on the top edge of the target to maintain a clear sight picture without getting distracted by the bead's glare.

Ricky (31:08): "Always look at the top of the target. Never look at the back of the target. On a night target, if you do that, you will see the streak."

Additionally, Ricky recommends getting an eye examination to rule out any vision issues that might be exacerbated in low-light conditions.

Ricky (31:21): "Have you had your eyes checked? If you're struggling at night, that's when it really plays in."

Conclusion:
The hosts advise shooters to adjust their focus to the target's front edge under artificial lighting, minimize eye strain by avoiding excessive focus on the bead, and ensure optimal vision through regular eye check-ups. These adjustments can help mitigate performance drops during nighttime shooting.

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6. Eye Positioning Between Singles and Handicap

Listener: Tyler B.
Timestamp: [32:43] - [35:29]

Question:
Tyler inquires about any differences in eye positioning between shooting singles and handicap shots. Specifically, he wonders if there's a variation in where to focus his eyes above or below the bead depending on the type of shot.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach explains that while the fundamental eye position remains consistent—focusing on the front edge of the trap house—there is an adjustment based on the distance.

Zach (33:30): "When I'm on the house at 16 yards, I'm looking through the beads, maybe a little bit above the beads, and then out to where the target is going to be leaving."

He notes that for longer distances, such as 27 yards, the eyes need to adjust slightly downward to compensate for the increased distance, ensuring the target stays within the optimal sight plane.

Zach (34:12): "When I'm moving back to the 27, I'm looking in the same spot, but my eyes are physically straining harder because it's got 11 more yards to look."

Ricky concurs, emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistency in eye positioning to build reliable muscle memory, which is essential for both singles and handicap shooting.

Ricky (35:22): "I don't change a thing. I Was just letting Zach. I thought he was going to throw in some more. I don't change anything. My eyes are the same."

Conclusion:
While the primary eye positioning remains unchanged between singles and handicap shots, minor adjustments are necessary to account for varying shooting distances. Consistent focus on the target's front edge, adapted slightly based on distance, ensures optimal performance across different shot types.

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7. Favorite Shooting Clubs and Backgrounds

Listener: Brad Mayberry from Sparta, Illinois
Timestamp: [35:29] - [44:43]

Question:
Brad asks about the hosts' all-time favorite shooting clubs outside of their home clubs, particularly interested in environments that offer enjoyable backgrounds.

Discussion & Insights:
Zach and Ricky share their favorite clubs, highlighting aspects such as camaraderie, excellent facilities, and picturesque backgrounds. Zach mentions Spanish Fort for its elevation and blue sky backdrop, while Ricky reminisces about V Town and Atascadero, praising their organization and the friendly atmosphere.

Zach (37:04): "I mean, my favorite background is Spanish fort."

Ricky (37:33): "Every gun club I go to. I mean, in real reality."

They discuss how different clubs offer unique benefits, from scenic views to well-organized events that foster a sense of community among shooters.

Ricky (38:14): "We cook out every night. Dave Mansell's cooking out. We're having, you know, freaking crawdad boils."

Zach emphasizes the importance of the shooting environment's aesthetic and how it can enhance the overall experience.

Zach (40:54): "I think it's hard to disagree with Spanish Fort because you're up at the elevation and you've got a blue sky background."

Conclusion:
The hosts appreciate shooting clubs that not only provide excellent shooting facilities but also foster a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere. Scenic backgrounds and well-organized events contribute significantly to their favorite clubs, enhancing both performance and the overall shooting experience.

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8. Ricky’s Shooting Style: One-Eyed vs. Two-Eyed Shooter

Listener: Jesse
Timestamp: [48:28] - [51:24]

Question:
Jesse playfully questions whether Ricky is a one-eyed shooter, noting Ricky's technique of dipping the gun before taking a second shot in doubles.

Discussion & Insights:
Ricky clarifies that he is a two-eyed shooter, having transitioned from one-eyed shooting after attending a class led by Frank Hoppy. He explains the technical aspects of his shooting style, emphasizing that dipping the gun is not exclusive to one-eyed shooters and is part of his technique to maintain a clear sight picture.

Ricky (49:20): "So I am definitely a two-eyed shooter. Now I started as a one-eyed shooter and for about three or four months and then I took a Frank Hoppy class…"

He elaborates on maintaining eye dominance and proper eye positioning to ensure effectiveness in both single and double shooters. Zach humorously supports Ricky’s two-eyed shooting stance, further debunking the misconception.

Zach (49:58): "I looked over at that, that guy many a times and he's got two big old eyeballs…"

Conclusion:
Ricky confirms his two-eyed shooting style, highlighting that proper eye positioning and technique are crucial regardless of being one-eyed or two-eyed. The playful banter underscores the importance of clear communication and technique in achieving shooting excellence.

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9. Barrel Length Preferences for Doubles

Listener: Brian Weeks
Timestamp: [51:24] - [55:15]

Question:
Brian questions why both hosts, as All Americans, prefer shooting 30-inch barrels for doubles instead of the commonly accepted 34-32 barrel combos in trap shooting.

Discussion & Insights:
Ricky explains his preference for 30-inch barrels, attributing it to personal comfort and the improved movement and responsiveness during doubles shooting. He shares his positive experiences with shorter barrels, noting that they facilitate quicker handling without compromising performance.

Ricky (52:13): "I like the shorter barrel and doubles. You move a little bit quicker and ease smoother for me to that second shot."

Zach adds that shorter barrels offer greater responsiveness, allowing shooters to adapt more swiftly to moving or erratic targets. He acknowledges that while longer barrels are traditionally favored, personal preference and comfort play significant roles in barrel selection.

Zach (54:39): "It's a sweet spot, I think. I think for me, for Rick, there's a lot of guys shooting the 30s now."

They also discuss the influence of barrel material, highlighting Ricky’s use of titanium hangers to reduce weight and enhance movement.

Ricky (54:59): "I use a titanium hanger too. It lightens up the end a little bit more too."

Conclusion:
Both hosts advocate for the benefits of 30-inch barrels in doubles shooting, citing enhanced movement, responsiveness, and personal comfort. They emphasize that while traditional preferences exist, individual adaptation and experimentation with barrel lengths can lead to optimal performance.

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Final Thoughts

Throughout this episode, Zach and Ricky provide comprehensive answers to a wide array of listener questions, demonstrating their expertise and passion for trapshooting. From technical advice on shotgun shells and barrel lengths to strategic insights on growing shooting events and improving nighttime performance, the hosts cover essential aspects that cater to shooters of all levels. Their engaging conversational style, coupled with practical tips and personal anecdotes, offers listeners valuable knowledge to elevate their trapshooting skills and overall experience.

Notable Quotes:

• Zach (05:46): "First things first, he's saying 30-70. But I mean, is he meaning 30% of his pellets are below and 70% or above and he's just saying it backwards?"

• Ricky (07:34): "If that's okay, I would really like to be able to answer this question. Foley, Nadeem, you need to, we need to reach back."

• Zach (11:29): "People have to know about your shoot. You have to remind them about the shoot."

• Ricky (21:32): "I use a Tough Pack, and that's an Octagon case that inside I've got foam at the bottom."

• Ricky (35:22): "I don't change a thing. I Was just letting Zach. I thought he was going to throw in some more. I don't change anything. My eyes are the same."

This episode stands as a testament to the collaborative spirit and informative nature of "Trap Talk From The Back Fence," making it an invaluable resource for anyone passionate about trapshooting.

Transcript

[John]

All right, everybody, welcome back to the question and answer ask us anything extravaganza with Ricky, with Zach. This is part two. Part one was amazing. We're moving into part two. We still got Ricky here, he's feeling better. We still got Zach here. He's firing off the questions, giving off all the good answers. So we're gonna jump right back into it.

[Zach]

Well, Rick, before we get to the show, we gotta take a minute and thank all of our sponsors because we wouldn't be here without them. This show is brought to you by Craig Off.

[Ricky]

Yes, Craig Off. I've shot one since about 2006. Best gun out there. Balance customer service, the people at Craig off. Top notch.

[Zach]

Everything you need to know about a good shotgun. That's for sure. We gotta thank Winick. Winick Stockworks Custom gun stocks in Lincoln, Missouri. Nice hat, Ricky.

[Ricky]

Yeah, I love my Winig. I broke hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hundreds with my winning stock. But in all seriousness, get a hold of Bobby, Luke, Bill, get yourself a stock made. It'll change your shooting.

[Zach]

I want to say thank you to Remington. They've supported the show for since day one and they've supported me for a very long time. Made all America team shoot Nitros & STS's for many years. And we also got to thank Game Masters. If you're looking for a gun, Ricky, you can help them out.

[Ricky]

Yep, get a hold of me at Game Masters 2. Call me, text me, email me, send a smoke signal. I get you any gun out there. We carry about every brand available in the Trapskeep sporting clays. Even carry some hunting guns, some hunting rifles, whatever you need.

[Zach]

I'm going to have to try that smoke signal. I haven't communicated with you that way yet, but that sounds like fun. For the next sponsor, Shot Tracker. We just seen them at Vegas at the shot show and they gave us some great insight on the product.

[Ricky]

Yep, it's. It's like having a coach on the end of your barrel. They got some new updates coming out that'll really change the game with the shot tracker, make it a little easier to set up. So get a hold of them, get yourself a shot tracker and it'll help you.

[Zach]

Want to thank you to Shotguns West Rank Astani for being our Pela sponsor. Where do you get your Pelas from? They're doing a great job. They've got the new frames out. They're sleek, they're modern, they look fantastic. Also really excited about this year's new sponsor, Outlaw Engineering.

[Ricky]

Yeah, Outlaw Engineering. It's Owned by Randy Freston II R2. I've known him and his family for years. His dad's past president of the ata. He does a lot of engineering in the oil field business. So get hold him for all his engineering needs you got and, and he can hook you up.

[Zach]

Big thank you to White Flyer making a great target and a great product. We've been smoking those all over the country, right Ricky?

[Ricky]

Yeah, they, they came out with a new Eco flyer this year so hopefully we can get a shoot them at some shoots. I know we did a lot of testing on them and they are an awesome target. So little alternative to the pitch target.

[Zach]

Looking forward to trying that out. Another thing that I'm looking forward to seeing more of is SOS Clays.

[Ricky]

Yeah, the SOS Clay software owned by Greg Pink. Doing an awesome job. He's taken over the the trap shooting world with his software. It's top notch, you know, get a hold of him for any needs you have in the shotgun world.

[Zach]

And last but not least, we got gun and trophy insurance. Rick, you got to tell me about that.

[Ricky]

Yeah, you can get a hold of Cole or Larry Cushman family owned business and they take care of all my needs on, on gun insurance. They also offer offer trophy insurance for all your wildlife trophies to insure them too. But top notch, get a hold of them and they can hook you up. Literally. It's simple. Get online gunandtrophy.com you can get a policy going I think less than about 10 minutes. Very reasonably priced.

[Zach]

That's awesome. Thank you to all the sponsors. And with that being said, let's get on to the show. With that being said, Trap Talk listeners, if you love everything about Trap Talk, please subscribe to our page. Also throw some likes on the videos that you enjoy. It really means the world to us.

[Ricky]

Yeah. Comment on each episode. We read them, we respond to them with that. Let's get to the show.

[Zach]

Welcome to season two of Trap Talk.

[Ricky]

Brought to you by Craig Off.

[John]

This question is coming in from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. And as in part one, I still can't read out loud. So let's do our best here. Hi Zach and Ricky. I'm an old person and I started shooting trap a few years back. I achieved the. Yep, welcome to the sport. I achieved the handicap city championship in 2022. Great. Good for you. Awesome. Congrats. Yeah, very good. My question, yeah, my question is for basically point of impact. 40, 60, 30, 70, 20, 80, 10, 90 or 100 high the time I pull the trigger. What is my Point of impact. I don't know how to explain it. For example, if my gun is 30 70, I guess we're getting it backwards because it's Canada. Should be 70 30, but we're gonna let it slide. We're gonna. I would have understood if it was.

[Zach]

Mexico, but that's north of us, so, I mean, I, I, they flip flop.

[John]

I don't know.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[John]

All right. 30 70, I have to go over the bird and press the trigger. If 100% high, my bird is over the bead. If you guys could explain this, that'd be really helpful. And we help all new shooters who, using hunting, sporting, and trap guns. Appreciate it. Nadeem from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. All right, Nadim, we're gonna do our best here. I think we're talking about sight picture and point of impact, really.

[Ricky]

If Nadeem could let us know what gun he's shooting. Okay.

[John]

All right.

[Ricky]

What did he say? That he's, when he shoots to break it, he's got to be over the target.

[John]

I, I think, yeah, I think what he's saying is he's trying to understand how that point of impact relates to what he should see. So, for example, I don't know how to explain, for example, if my gun is 30 70, I have to go over the bird and press the trigger. Well, let me just say this, Nadim. If your gun is 30 70, we need you to adjust it because 3070 is definitely going to be rough.

[Zach]

First things first, he's saying 30 70. But I mean, is he meaning 30% of his pellets are below and 70 or above and he's just saying it backwards? I mean, I would think that's what he's saying.

[John]

Yeah, we hope. Yeah.

[Zach]

But, but if he is truly shooting a field gun, like, I've, I've met some people. I've, I've gone out with some lessons at the Gateway Gun Club and had some people come out with some really, you know, nostalgic field guns that are shooting extremely flat. I mean, literally, the pellets are below the point of, of aim. All, you know, almost all the pellets are below. And in that situation, the advice, look at the target and break the target didn't necessarily work. When I was instructing that person, I almost had to tell him, hey, look at that target and then drive that barrel all the way to the 12 o' clock edge and squeeze the trigger. And when you, when you get through the bird all the way, shoot it and it'll break. And in that scenario, they were able to finally hit targets. That's not the way you should or want to shoot trap. I mean, am I right, Rick? I mean, you don't want to train yourself to, to have to drive through birds all the way.

[John]

30, 70 sounds pretty rough. Yeah, 37 sounds pretty rough.

[Ricky]

If that's okay, I would really like to be able to answer this question. Foley, Nadeem, you need to, we need to reach back. Do you have Nadeem's email, John?

[John]

Or, or wait a Dean is gonna watch this and he's gonna send us a follow up here. He's gonna tell us what gun he shoot.

[Ricky]

Yeah, we need a follow up on what kind of gun you're shooting. And then we can fully answer the question because it could be the gun. I mean, and give us a little more information on are you shooting literally going over it and then pulling the trigger to break it? Because if that's the case, I think we got a gun issue and I guess so. I think I do know that some gun dealers in Canada that can hook you up. So.

[Zach]

Yeah, I mean, okay. Ideally, I would say it's never a good rule of thumb to lose sight of the bird. And you've got to figure out how to get the gun in a position to where. Like as I'm shooting a target, as Ricky shooting a target, I've asked him, rick, what do you see? And he says, I just point right at it and I keep pointing right at it. I mean, the target. So you know, it's a constant, like right on it and shoot type of thing.

[Ricky]

Yeah.

[Zach]

If the gun isn't able to get to a point where it breaks that bird, well, then you probably got a gun that's a little too flat.

[Ricky]

Yes.

[John]

Yeah. And so I think if we, if we're reading Nadeem's question here, I think he's, he is just putting it backwards because he does say if I have 100% high pattern, the bird should be over the bead. So I think he's understanding that part of the concept. And you know, when we talk about 80, 20, 70, 30, we're saying 70% of your pattern or 80% of your pattern above the bead, the rest below. Right. That's more in line with how Ricky is talking about his point of impact. What you see as far as the bead bird relationship is a little subjective because some people just say, I just see the bird.

[Ricky]

That's right.

[John]

And the muscle memory is kind of doing the math for you. So, yeah, follow up with us.

[Zach]

Give us some, some more info here for that measure. Spot and saying what you see, then you're probably looking at the bead and the gun too much. Because honestly, I don't see like, hey, I'm at exactly six o' clock on the rock and I pull the trigger. Like you're looking at that bird. You're coming in, you're feeling that shot and you're. And you're shooting. And if you're like saying I Exactly was at 4 o' clock or exactly. Was it 3 o' clock or whatever you think, well, then that tells me you're looking way, way, way, way too much at the gun.

[Ricky]

Yep.

[John]

Right. Yeah. All right, I will keep an eye out, Nadeem, for your follow up. Send us some more information. We'll get you some more information back from the guys here. Okay, moving on.

[Ricky]

Hello, Trap Talk listeners. Today's episode is brought to you by winning custom gun socks.

[Zach]

That being said, a custom gun stock is going to elevate your game to get the same fit every single time.

[Ricky]

And I can attest to that. I broke hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hundreds with my winning custom gun stock.

[Zach]

I haven't broke hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of hundreds, but I did break 100 from the 27 within seven days of getting my stock and broke two.

[John]

More that year and loved it.

[Ricky]

Here. This is okay.

[Zach]

You would take it or me.

[Ricky]

We'd like to thank winning custom gun stocks for supporting trap talking.

[Zach]

That being said, everyone knows winners shoot winning.

[John]

Are we doing the end work? Hi, Ricky and Zach. First off, thank you for doing the podcast. Very nice.

[Zach]

Thank you.

[John]

It's enjoyable to think about trap shooting. Besides, when I'm at the shoots, my question is on behalf of my state association. I am a young guy going through the rotation of officers and want to help grow our state shoot. What are some effective strategies for growing the size of our state chute? Especially on the east coast when there are a lot of other clubs throwing? We have a very good trophy package. How could we market ourselves to get more event sponsors at our state shoot? Thank you. Nick Hughes.

[Zach]

This is a John question.

[Ricky]

What state?

[John]

I promise this question is not from me.

[Zach]

I mean, it should be direct. It should be directed to you, John. I mean, because you've done such a good job of promoting Nevada and I know you're on the board and you've done a great job. I mean, didn't you double that shoot, Zach, we did.

[Ricky]

Shut up.

[John]

No, these are good questions. To answer your question, Nick is from Maryland, so he's up in the Maryland area. Maryland state says yeah, so he says, I'm from Maryland. We normally shoot against Ohio, which limits us. But even trying to target a demographic that won't travel eight hours to go to Ohio and will come closer. So he's, you know, trying to see how he can target that. So, Nick, here's the thing. People have to know about your shoot. You have to remind them about the shoot. You have to constantly tell them all the great reasons why they should come to your shoot. And I will just tell you at a very high level. Repetition is everything. And one of the ways we did double the attendance at the Nevada State shoot was to keep constantly reminding them how much of a great time that they were going to have all the great trophies that they could win. And also. Yeah. That it was happening in October. So just keep reminding them. You'll. You'll do fine. And then hit me up by email. I can give you some more information, too, if you want.

[Ricky]

I will say is. So I'm looking at the dates or our buddy Dave Graham put everything in. In order, you know, Right. Dates for shoot, which is.

[Zach]

Thank you for that, Dave.

[Ricky]

Absolutely.

[John]

Yeah. Thanks, Dave.

[Ricky]

Appreciate it. You know, it's this year you have Minnesota, Nebraska, and Maryland from the 25th to the 30th for Minnesota, the 26th to the 30th for Nebraska, Maryland, that's in June. And then you have California, New York, and the Canadian championships, which are held in Vancouver. So that's a ways away. The only one that's going to compete against you this year in Maryland would be, honestly the New York State shoot. So.

[John]

So that's good. Yeah.

[Ricky]

As you can ask John, I came to Nevada State shoot for the first time ever to shoot at Clark county, and it was one of the best state shoots I've ever been to, how it was ran, targets, everything. And I'm not just saying that because, you know, John's my buddy and student and. And partner in this. In this podcast, Greg Pink, president of the nsta. You know, John, everybody that was there had a part in it. Now, you know John. And I will say this, you know, to pat John on the back, all the little videos John put out and doing all that and, you know, broadcasting the trophy package. You know, those Molly belt buckles, I mean, they're. They're in the office now in my little case. I mean, those were sweet buckles that they had done. Even doing the 200 straight buckle. I mean, that's a cool thing. So if you offer stuff like that and the extra stuff, the. We had the poker tournament, you Know, twice, which was fun. We had meals every night. You know, the free drinks, all those little things count and will help promote and even if it's not every night, maybe try to get together and do a dinner that's just to support the shooters, just an appreciation dinner for the. Everybody that attended. You know, do it on a Friday or Saturday night. That way you'll, you'll get a majority of the people. I know it's going to cost a little bit, but you'll get that back tenfolds. So.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah. And he also camaraderie of the appreciation dinners. I think they could be done well and I think, you know, if you don't have as much money. I've seen associations do like a potluck type of thing where everybody chips in. I've seen, you know, just something where people can spend time together. I think going back to John's point, though, you have to advertise it because you can have all the greatest things. You have the greatest trophies, the greatest food, the greatest attendance, all. All this great stuff. But if nobody knows what you're doing, well, then they're not gonna come. So I think just, you know, you don't want to put the horse, you know, you know, behind the carriage. You want to flip it around, make sure the people know what's going on and then they'll, they'll show up for you.

[Ricky]

Well, look what we did last year. I mean, we did Nevada state shoot on the podcast and we did Utah state shoot, and according to Chris kinder, you know, we did that advertisement for Utah and he said they got like 40 or 50 more shooters that came.

[John]

It helps.

[Ricky]

It.

[John]

It does help. Yeah.

[Zach]

I mean, it's, it's, it's surprising to me that in trap shooting, and I'm, I'm thinking this is, this is changing and we are changing this every day. But it's like one of those businesses where every other business markets and promotes and like not trap shooting, like just, oh, we're just going to throw a shoot and we'll hope people show up and.

[John]

Right.

[Zach]

You wouldn't run any other business that way.

[John]

No, no. Yeah.

[Ricky]

And give John a holler and we can, we can help.

[John]

Yeah, I'll help you out, Nick. You know, but, you know, here's, here's the other thing. Nick is talking about sponsors and I'll just give you, you know, just again, from personal experience. Yes. You know, your state organization has to raise money if you want to do some of these things. But just look at it as you're in, you know, the investment of you're going to do these extra things for the shooters, which gives you more things to talk about, which gives you more reasons to get out there and, you know, advertise and, and get the word out about the shoot. And so those sponsors get. But really the main thing with sponsors, before I came to Nevada not having any sponsors, no one was asking. You just gotta go ask. All they can do, really.

[Zach]

It's.

[John]

Yeah, yeah, it's just, it's. It's time. It's, you know, and all the boards are volunteers, and we've talked about that a lot, but it's just time. You need to get out there and do it. And I'll say this, you may not see the big result in one year, but the next year you will too. Because people, the word will just kind of spiral out to everybody. So, Nick, good luck out there. Ask us.

[Zach]

We see some of our biggest contributors at mta, not from the companies, but just from individuals that really love trap, that see that we're doing good things because, you know, they love the sport. Maybe they're retired. Maybe, you know, they, you know, they have money that isn't going to go to anywhere someday, and they're like, you know what? I love our trap shooting sport. I love the dinner they're doing. And I can support that or I can give a trophy, or I can give a scholarship or I can give something. And so don't, don't ever, like, overlook that because that's a big part of the game.

[John]

Yeah, it doesn't have to be the big local construction company. It doesn't have to be, you know, this big business. It really, we, we had a ton of support from the local shooters and that just wanted to contribute and really just think about it. You know, 10 people out a hundred makes a thousand, right? So you can get small donations and put on a dinner and, you know, so there's a lot of ways you can be creative there. Okay, so, Nick, thank you for the question. Good luck out there. We hope the state shoot goes really well. Keep us informed. Let us help you promote it. Tell us all the cool stuff that you're doing.

[Zach]

Hello, Trap Talk listeners. Zach, Nini here. And I'd like to thank our show sponsor, Remington. And today I would like to go into what shells I use when I'm training and when I'm shooting tournaments. First of all, we start with the gun club. This is a great shell. I shoot an 11, 45 ounce and eighth, eight. And this is when I shoot for Singles and both shots of doubles. The only reason I don't shoot this in tournaments is because I like a little bit of a harder shot, a little bit of a harder break, but it works great. And it's the same speed as this SCS show. So this STS shell a little bit harder shot. Figure 8 Wad column smokes the targets a little bit harder. Also I shoot for singles and doubles, both shots. And then when I go to the back fence and I want to put the smoke on them, I bring out the Nitro 27 Alcinate 7 and a half. It's a 1235 shell. Blast the targets. Works really well. I hope these shells work for you. And I want to thank Remington for supporting trap talk.

[John]

All right guys, we're rolling along here on the ask us anything extravaganza listener questions. Next one's coming in from Roland. Says my name is Roland. Was wondering if you guys could talk to me about flying with your trap gun and how that works. I've never done it before and I'm just, you know, I'm curious about how you travel across the country with your guns to these big shoots coming in from Roland. You guys want to give them the high level here on traveling with your guns.

[Ricky]

You know, if you travel with Zach, he usually takes his private jet. No, I'm just kidding.

[John]

Never checked a gun in his life.

[Ricky]

Yeah, no. So gun couriers is the secret.

[Zach]

Drivers, mules.

[Ricky]

I have traveled probably, I'm gonna guess around 100 flights at least with a fire man.

[Zach]

I was gonna say like 500.

[Ricky]

Rick, why you should drive a lot everywhere? Because I was hauling shells a lot of places until I had the mules.

[Zach]

You know, I've probably flown more than you when I did all those years being a California traveling around.

[Ricky]

No, I mean, I'm just saying. So yeah, I don't. I honestly I couldn't tell you. I mean, hell, well, it has probably been a ton. But I've always traveled with an airline approved case and that was years ago, was an Americase because they were built strong, tough. I used an Amer case. Now I fly with a tough pack and that's an octagon case that inside I've got foam at the bottom. I put my gun in a, in a briley gun sleeve that fits both barrels, receiver stock. I got an extra receiver in there. All my stuff. I put my shoes in there. I put my rain gear. I put my shooting bag which is just a cabela's fold up camo bag that I like to use. And whatever else I want to stick in there, you know, so it's pretty simple. The number one rule, if you're gonna fly with ammunition, which you can fly with ammunition like I can in my tough pack, you have to have it. It can be 11 pounds or less, which is about four boxes of 12 gauge shells. It has to be in the manufacturer's box. Don't fly with extra shells. The, the home, Homeland Security, tsa, and yeah, folks don't like to see an, an extra shell sitting there.

[Zach]

No, I've done it all.

[Ricky]

I mean, I've been stopped before because I, you know, didn't get much sleep and forgot I had this. I always check, like, my backpacks I take as a carry on. I always go through them and make sure because I'm like, I didn't have a pistol in there, did I? You know, you know, so Ricky's on.

[Zach]

A no fly list.

[Ricky]

No, I'm good. I'm pre check, clear, whatever. I got them all. But I would say is get a, a good case. You can fly with your negrini cases about any, any case out there that you like. And, but make sure you go to the airport, got, you know, locks for it, number one. But always declare it. That's your number one thing.

[Zach]

You have to. Yeah. And I mean, so I fly. I know Ricky doesn't because he likes to pick his seats, but I fly a lot of Southwest. Like, when I'm flying Southwest, I've never ever one time had a problem getting my gun to where it's going. But the big secret is, if you normally go to the airport an hour early, go to the airport two hours early because you're gonna need ample time for them to check the gun. You're gonna have to go through the full service. You can't do curbside check in. You got to go all the way to the front of the line. You've got to make sure I, I don't even deal with ammunition because even though Ricky is right on the rules, every once in a while you'll get some hard ass that says you can't have ammo. And then you're yelling back and forth with the guy. I don't ever bring ammo. I just make sure there's no ammo in the case. There's no empty holes. You know, I use an Americase, which has standard keys and a tumbler lock on it. That way I don't have to deal with locks. But I've traveled with some people. I'm not going to mention names on the show. But I traveled with somebody sometime that had a case that you had to put locks on and only brought one lock. Little bit of a problem. You got to have at least two locks.

[Ricky]

Who was that?

[Zach]

At least two locks. I was able to sweet talk TSA into giving us a free lock. But. But, you know, two locks, okay? So you. You gotta have that. If it's under 50 pounds, you're not gonna get charged. If it's over 50 pounds, guess what? You're gonna have to pay an overage, right? So little things like that. And then when you're picking it up on the other end, nine out of 10 airports, or 90% of the time, it's gonna get brought out to you, and you're gonna have to show your id. But I want to tell you this so you're aware of it, so you're not waiting around, and it's a bad deal. There are some airports where they don't have it set up, right? And the damn thing comes flying out on the belt, okay? So be aware that it can come flying out on the belt. And don't just stand over by the baggage pickup area, like, have a little common sense and say, hey, they could probably mess up, because they've messed up a lot. And my number one travel with a gun, tip of the day is buy yourself an Apple Air tag and put it in the freaking gun case and sync it to your phone, because then you're gonna know if your phone made your gun, made it on the plane, and you're not gonna land in another city and worry about where your gun is and when. I have had my gun not make the layover flight. I mean, it wasn't lost, but it just didn't make it on that other flight. I said, oh, crap, it's still in Dallas. I called them instantaneously and said, hey, my gun's still there. And they said, yeah, it's coming on the next flight. We'll have it there in two hours, no problem. But. But that Apple tag works well. I gave one to Rich Bullard. He puts it in his gun case, and he's like, I love it, because I get to look and see if the guns on the same plane with me.

[Ricky]

And you remember last year, Zach, this time we were in Dubai, and weak, folks. So when you go out of the country, a lot of places, you can't touch your gun.

[Zach]

You.

[Ricky]

You get it at the airport. You go to the. Like, Dubai. We go to the police. They look through everything. They keep the gun. We had all our paperwork they kept the gun. And then the next day they were going to have it at the, at the range. And Zach was freaking out. We're. Dre's like. So he kept looking at the airtag deal and he's like, we're still in Dubai, is still on the bike. And it's so funny, I wake up that morning and I look over and Zach's on his phone, our gun still in Vujara. And I'm like, it'll be fine. I looked like 30 minutes later, it's moving along down the highway. I said, sick.

[Zach]

It was. But like, what was crazy about that? It was like 5 o' clock in the morning, the day of the shoot, and the guns were still at the airport. And I'm like, ricky, we need our guns. But they, but they, they, you know, they brought them. But that was the, the cool thing of the apple tag. If you're paranoid though, and you're gonna be looking at it all the time, it could cause some extra stress. So just. Just know.

[John]

Yeah, exactly. But you'd rather, you'd rather know than not know, right?

[Zach]

I mean, I'd rather know than not know. That's my personal thing. And if somebody does grab the damn thing, well, then you kind of know because there's been some people that have had their guns stolen. If you had an apple tag in your case, that's going to give you an opportunity, at least get there in a minute and kind of figure that out. Because most people aren't going to know they stole a gun with an apple tag in it.

[John]

Right?

[Zach]

So.

[John]

Right.

[Zach]

I'm. That's my shameless plug to Apple. If anybody knows anybody up there at the executive team and they want to send some money my way, if we got Apple on, I think we'd be traveling a little bit more.

[Ricky]

We wouldn't have to worry about checking them guns.

[Zach]

I've looked at their balance sheet. They have a little bit extra cash flow.

[John]

Yeah, Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Okay, thank you guys. That was some great information. I think a lot of people don't know how that works, so that's very helpful.

[Ricky]

All right, we're moving on in 2023. Here we have done 37 state shoots, seven of the 11 satellite grants, and we now have, I think it's 241, 242 clubs.

[Zach]

Course of across the country using our system, if a club was wanting to use you, do you have like a base entry level pricing or packages that you advertise, or is it based on the size of the shoots, Greg.

[Ricky]

Our base level price is zero. Our complete package system, you know, the.

[Zach]

Whole enchilada is zero. Zero is a good price.

[John]

Yeah.

[Zach]

The premium members do not pay a.

[Ricky]

Pre squad fee ever. For all year. All year. Can I buy a lifetime membership? Absolutely. Yeah. I want to be number one.

[Zach]

Zach, we want lifetime memberships for me and Ricky.

[John]

So it says. I have a question I'd like to hear. Zach and Ricky address. You've come to the right place. That's why we're here, you know, good job.

[Zach]

I just questioned Zach first. That makes me feel special.

[John]

Yeah, it does happen. Okay, so coming in from Quinn. Quinn says I shoot relatively decent scores in the daylight, but my scores drop significantly, somewhere around 15 to 20% when I shoot at night. Everything feels the same with the mount, the movement. I've just been assuming that maybe lack of depth perception under the lights or something. Gray matter between my ears. I've been missing more birds. Are there any issues at play? And what recommendations would you have for shooters performing poorly under the lights? I'm thinking nightly league up at the club, but I'm also thinking the big show at night at the Grand. I mean, you're shooting under those lights, Ricky, I think, you know, good question.

[Ricky]

So go ahead, Zach.

[John]

He did. He did. He did. I apologize. Zach, please, could you down this road.

[Zach]

I'm glad that this was sent to me first to be addressed because when I started shooting, I started under the lights. My first targets were under the lights. And I shot for the whole first year almost under the lights. What I've noticed about under the light shooting is there's a lot more visibility on your bead. Okay. Because that lights behind you and it's shining on your bead and there's not as much visibility out there on that target. And what ends up happening is you can start seeing some streaks. So what people end up doing is their eyes come back to the barrel and they're just throwing the gun a little bit faster and a little bit heavier on the target. So I've always heard from Ricky and other great shooters and what's helped me hold still a little bit longer and make sure you really see that target well before you make a move on it. And try to push your eyes out past the bead even more than you do during the day because the tendency is going to be to look back at that glowing white bead. That's. That's all I've got. You try that. It should work.

[Ricky]

That's it.

[John]

You don't be even worse it could.

[Zach]

Be even worse because I don't get to go first much. So the fact that I got to go first, I'm gonna pressure fast and just be happy.

[John]

So that's, that's that the pressure was on. The lead up pressure was on. He was squad leading that one.

[Ricky]

I, I have shot a lot of targets at night, been fortunate.

[John]

Hundreds and hundreds at night and hundreds.

[Ricky]

And hundreds years ago. Shooting in Vandalia, a lot of shoot offs under the lights. One quick little tip, okay, is always look at the top of the target. Never look at the back of the target. On a night target, if you, if you do that, you. You will see the streak. So you always want to get out. That's why I always teach look at the front edge. The front edge. The top straightaway is the top. That way you're seeing it, you're seeing a whole target and you can move and yeah, you don't have. It's all black. So you, you want to really. That's when you got to take that extra little bit and focus. Now, the one thing Zach didn't discuss is have you had your eyes checked? If you're struggling at night, that's when it really plays in. That's when I really found out that, man, I'm not. Something's wrong. The lighting, I'm like. And then I went. Got checked, sure enough. So do you wear a prescription? Do you. Don't not. Are you wearing contacts? Are you wearing lenses? That all can play into it.

[John]

Yeah, that's a good point, Rick. When you, when you say don't work.

[Zach]

As well, they're not going to see a target at night, right? Like they, they take in light and focus better. So what was that, John?

[John]

You're having trouble with like your, your night driving. That's another signal maybe that could be affecting your night shooting. But when you say top of target, do you just mean on the straightaway or do you.

[Ricky]

Yeah, I'm looking up at the front edge, which is the top.

[John]

Okay. Okay.

[Ricky]

Here you're gonna see that, that streak in there.

[Zach]

The tail.

[John]

Yeah. Okay. On the lights, right? Okay, great. Well, hey, Quinn, thank you for that question. That question. Zach appreciates you letting him go first. Now, Zach, I, I don't want to make you nervous here, but Tyler's got a question and he says, hey, Zach and Ricky. So again, you're in the first spot. What changes, Tyler? Zach likes it already. What changes with your eyes do you have between singles and handicap? Higher or lower? Above the bead. Assuming your eyes are staying above the ribbon focused farther out into the background or closer on the trap house. Any difference with your eyes from singles to handicap? Tyler B. Zach and Ricky?

[Zach]

Yeah. So for me, and I'll speak to myself at the 16 yard line, I'm looking through the beads, maybe a little bit above the beads, and then out to where the target is going to be leaving. So that front lip of that house at 16 yards. So I'm kind of looking wide and soft for that bird at that distance. When I'm moving back to the 27, I'm looking in the same spot, but my eyes are physically straining harder because it's got 11 more yards to look. So, like, I'm more focused. Like, the. The feeling in the back of my eyeballs is more strain from the 27 than it is on the 16. But I'm still looking at the same exact spot. I want to be right at the front of that trap house, Right at the lip where that target leaves. I would say, if we're talking like a distance above, Since Ricky looks through the gun and I look above the gun, I look a little bit higher above the gun at the 16 yard line, and then I look a little bit lower as I'm getting closer to the 27 because of the geometry of the angle of that target. I mean, for me, I feel like I can look, you know, maybe a quarter or two quarters above the gun at 16, because that target's a lot closer and you've got a lot more distance to get to it. So you can look above the gun without killing yourself. Well, if I look too high above the gun at 27 yard line, I'm looking 3, 4, 5ft above where the target's actually leaving the house, which I don't ever want to do that. I still want to have my eyes, like, if I'm on the house, I want to look at the lip where that target's leaving. I only have maybe a quarter of a quarter or half of a quarter to look above the gun before I get out of the range of where that target is leaving the edge of the house. So, you know, that's the only difference I'm doing is just, you know, equalizing everything for distance. Other than that, it's pretty much the same.

[Ricky]

I concur.

[Zach]

See, I just want you to know something, Ricky. When you have these really good answers, that's what I have to say sometimes. I concur.

[Ricky]

Because what do you say to that?

[Zach]

I mean, here's what I'll say.

[Ricky]

I don't change a thing. I Was just letting Zach. I thought he was going to throw in some more. I don't change anything. My eyes are the same. I look at a target the same. I don't change that consistency. I just want to be the same. So I look into the same spots. I just shoot a little. I'm more deliberate shooting singles than handicap. Yeah, you could strain a little bit harder, but I don't like to strain my eyes, you know, I want them good. So it just you. You want to be the same. If you're changing, that's where you're getting this. All combo related. So.

[John]

Yeah. Okay. Tyler, thank you for the question. All right, let's see. We're moving on here. What is your all time favorite club to shoot at that's not your home club? Keep doing what you're doing. I really enjoy the show. Brad Mayberry sent in that question. Brad Mayberry from Sparta, Illinois.

[Zach]

That's a loaded question. Because, like, there's favorite clubs to shoot for money, and then there's favorite clubs to shoot for trophies, and then there's favorite clubs to shoot for, like easy targets, and then there's like, oh, guys, sorry, sorry.

[John]

I've made a huge mistake here. Brad. I apologize. Brad says correction. I also meant to add favorite background, not necessarily favorite club. So he's giving you an out. Zach, you don't have to call out a club. He's saying favorite background or favorite club. There you go.

[Zach]

I mean, my favorite background is Spanish fort.

[John]

Oh, yeah. Okay. Really? All right.

[Ricky]

Yeah. I mean, when I was younger, I. I haven't shot Spanish fork since I was probably 18 years old.

[Zach]

But that's. That's not my favorite gun club, though, by any means.

[John]

Yeah, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's your favorite gun club?

[Ricky]

Every gun club I go to. I mean, in raw reality.

[John]

I mean, I'm a fan of all.

[Ricky]

Now, honestly, if. If I want to lay out where probably my favorite club to go shoot and enjoy everything. I mean, V Town's really hard to beat.

[Zach]

Vernal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ricky]

Everybody done such a good job there over the years, but Sean has done a wonderful job with just everything. I mean, it's a fun time. We, you know, I mean, you know, I backed my camper in. Justin pulls his in. We cook out every night. Dave Mansell's cooking out. We're having, you know, freaking crawdad boils.

[John]

We're having shrimp with his RV this year.

[Ricky]

Yeah, John's gonna be up there. Hopefully.

[Zach]

It's gonna be great.

[Ricky]

So, I mean, honestly, I love Vernal of course, now, I did break my 4x4 there, but background wise, it ain't the best background.

[Zach]

It is not the best background place to shoot.

[Ricky]

No, but it's great. Now, the Cardinal Center. I love shooting at the Cardinal Center. The Ohio State shoot. The Cardinal Classic. I mean, I broke some massive scores out there, too, and been fortunate to do that, you know. Carmichael's old Gun club, Las Vegas. I want cars. I won money.

[Zach]

I love that place.

[Ricky]

Yeah, I mean, it just honestly, I tell you what, you know, one of the funnest clubs I ever went to was Atascadero.

[Zach]

Mudslide 400. Yeah, I've been to Tascadero. And then, you know, we're forgetting Martinez. If you want more fun to go to a fun club. Martinez.

[Ricky]

Listen, we can't talk about Martinez because you don't play money when you go there. You just break hundreds.

[John]

You just don't play the money and forget to play.

[Zach]

But the perfect 50s did have like 15, 000 in them. So, I mean, it wasn't the greatest day of my life.

[Ricky]

I mean, but yeah, you. I mean, yeah, I broke a 50 straight at Martinez with an 88. And it paid like five grand, you know, with the perfect 50 with the middle 50. Martinez is a great place, you know, for. And when I. When I talk about these places, folks, it's. I don't just look at it as shooting targets. I look as. Listen, we're there for a week. Yeah, we're enjoying the camaraderie of our. Our competitors, our friends, new friends, old friends. And I want to have a good time. So that's why, like, my wife loves going to Vernal. Know, it's one of those. She kicks back, she takes vacation, you know, and it's just. Everything's just. It's laid back, you know, I. I agree.

[Zach]

I think this question can be asked so many different ways because you could say, okay, well, what's the best background? I think, you know, it's hard to disagree with Spanish Fort because you're up at the elevation and you've got a blue sky background. It's also hard to disagree with shooting at Brittany in Illinois because they've got that beautiful background there. I mean, and if, If I was gonna. Kansas. I mean, Kansas is a flat background. I mean, but there's some places with some really flat, clean backgrounds where a target comes out. Huh?

[Ricky]

Iowa State Shoot.

[Zach]

Iowa Gun Club.

[Ricky]

Wisconsin State shoot. Yeah, Cardinal Center. You know, the carnival.

[Zach]

You've got a little bit of chop there. But. But I Mean, it's still a great.

[Ricky]

Shoot, but there's, you know, Pennsylvania State shoot. You got different with the gun club down below. But I every, you know, you go to Florida. I love shooting in Florida.

[Zach]

You know, if I was going to pick one shoot that I went to every year, I'd still pick the Grand. Yeah, I was going to start saying, okay, well, where do I have the most fun other than the grand? I mean, Vernal's definitely in that. In that pick every single year. I have a great time there.

[Ricky]

Yeah.

[John]

Are you gonna come? Are you gonna come this year?

[Ricky]

He's got the U. S Open.

[Zach]

It's hard for me. I got the US Open right over. Somebody's got to represent the U. S. Open. Me and Dan Voidman are over here holding it down.

[Ricky]

He's gonna go get dittoized and voipmanized.

[John]

We'll be thinking about you.

[Zach]

I don't have to hear Ricky talk all week on my squad.

[Ricky]

We can make that happen at the grand too. Like Zach said, it's every, you know, Tucson, great place to shoot. Backgrounds, the same, you know, you, you. We go there, you know, Florida, every shoot I go to.

[Zach]

I mean, Florida is a great place to shoot, but sometimes it sucks. But, like, if you go break a 99 and doubles at Florida, like, you're like, okay, you know, that's cool. Like, Martinez, Martinez, you're not going to go there and say, wow, that's a fun place to shoot because it's so easy to shoot. Like, that's the kind of place that you're going to shoot an 88 or 89. You might be high that day and you'll be like, holy crap, what happened? And I think that the sport needs more of that. I think, you know, you know, you get to the point where everybody's breaking every target and it's like, you know, Martinez, you break a 91 or a Tascadero, the mudslide 400, you break a 94 and you're like a big dog.

[Ricky]

It's like, holy crap. Narrow. When I went there, literally, you see your shot hit the hill, and I was like, man, I ain't seen this except for it. Great, great. Greater. Well, great Eastern gun club was. Was in Ohio that, you know, they didn't have that background, but eastern hills in Ohio, southern Ohio did, and you seen the shot kind of hit. But Atascadero was huge. It was like, what? And I broke nine to nine, the first handicap there, Zach. And I was like, well, this way.

[Zach]

I heard that story. They Said, who's this Ricky Marshall? Why is he down here taking our gold? And I said, oh, don't worry. He'll be fine.

[Ricky]

I did. I was. I shot with the. With the. With Don and Donnie Curtin at that shoot. Yeah. Father, son. But it was a great, great time. You know that club. You go Martinez. We got Pennsylvania State shoot, Ohio State shoot. Iowa, Wisconsin, Brittany Park. You know, Sparta. You know, I mean, it's. Sparta is probably the fairest background across the board. So. Yeah, you know, so it just.

[John]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ricky]

It's great, though. I mean. So, Brad, we love Sparta. You're doing an awesome job down there.

[John]

Yes. Keep it up, Brad.

[Ricky]

Yeah. You know, we appreciate everything. I know it's. It's hard work, but we really appreciate it.

[John]

Yeah. And for all of you who have not been to some of these great places that Ricky is mentioning, we're going to be out there at Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and we're going to get some great footage and share it with everybody. So stay tuned for that. It's going to be really exciting. So, Brad, thank you again for the question.

[Ricky]

Shoot the first one and then loop to the second one and drive through it. Oh, just like that.

[John]

Great shot. Shot two. Great shot.

[Ricky]

We're just trying to help every shooter out there, no matter if you're an expert or a beginner. And this product will take your game to the next level.

[Zach]

Works for any of the discipline.

[Ricky]

As long as it can find a clay in the image, it will figure.

[Zach]

Out how it's moving and how that.

[John]

Shot pattern is going to.

[Ricky]

Now, in that shot, I intentionally shot high, which is most person. People do. Yep. So outside the pattern now, what's it say for the correction of that one foot? Yep, that'd be correct. Now, in this one, I will smoke the target.

[Zach]

If people want to purchase this unit, what's the best way to do it? I mean, is it. Is it through your guys's website? Is there a phone number to call or what's. What's that situation? Yeah, go to our website, take.

[Ricky]

Com and an online store.

[Zach]

We have inventory. We'll ship usually within 24 hours. Huge thank you to Jim and Bob at Taycame Tech for supporting Trap Talk.

[John]

All right, guys, coming in from Doug Weber. Doug says. Hey, guys, I love the podcast. Keep up the great work. Thank you, Doug.

[Zach]

Thank you.

[John]

I have a Craig off KX6 Special with a factory release. I love the gun. KX6 took me from the 24 yard line to the 26 yard line. I'm using a light full Choke. I hit hard, but I wonder if I should open it up a little bit. What are you saying about that at the back fence? That's from Doug.

[Zach]

Open it up. I mean, why not?

[John]

I can tell you where this is going to go. Doug.

[Zach]

Go with the Argler special in that SSF all day, baby.

[John]

Ricky, right now, Zach's talking about tightening up chokes. Is that what Zach's saying? I can't believe it.

[Ricky]

That's a first. That's old speed choke. Nanini.

[Zach]

They. They give me. They. They give me a hard time because I might not break them as hard as old Richard Marshall Jr. But. But I. I've never taken that whole.

[Ricky]

Choke out of my gun or Justin debris. Heck, Wyatt's even spanking you.

[Zach]

You know, Wyatt is an excellent shooter. And what I'll say is he hits them hard, but I hit more of them.

[John]

Shots fire.

[Ricky]

You're gonna poke that bear. And I think that bear is gonna unleash on you at the spring grand.

[Zach]

I want to keep poking him. This is. This is a shout out. I'm calling him out. I want to see what he's got this year. He's got to make that all American team. I think he can do it.

[Ricky]

Wait, wait. You need to. Who you giving a shout out to?

[Zach]

Justin.

[John]

I think that was going right to Justin Debris. Yeah.

[Ricky]

What are you doing? You're calling him out?

[Zach]

I said he's got the talent. He's got to make the all American team this year. Let's see it.

[Ricky]

So is this a call out for the spring grand, too? You were saying you hit more targets than he does.

[Zach]

Well, I mean, we got to see what the bet's gonna be. I mean, I need a little room. I haven't been rusty.

[Ricky]

But we'll figure out.

[John]

Hey, make sure we're recording. Here comes another Zach Nanini bet. Let's make sure we're recording. Yeah, I think you're lucky. I think this might come out after the spring grand so you won't have Justin too upset. The shoot will be over. You're safe.

[Ricky]

No, no, no. It. John, it's okay.

[Zach]

It's.

[Ricky]

It's. It's one of those things. It. Justin, he might find it. But remember, we also got that bet of the.

[John]

The million dollars twice. For a million.

[Ricky]

Yeah, yeah, We'll. We'll see. Listen, we'll see if Justin receives it. I don't know. You know, check. Okay, so I've got text messages, boys.

[John]

Okay?

[Zach]

I've.

[John]

I've got some. I've got some gossip coming in here related to to Ricky Marshall. There's the word on the street about Ricky. Here we go. Jesse sending in a question. Is Richard a one eye shooter or a two eyed shooter? A fellow shooter thinks he is a one eyed shooter because he dips his gun before he moves to the second shot. And doubles versus going straight across. Where is his whole point shooting doubles? Where does he recommend a one eyed shooter hold his gun for shooting doubles handicap and singles. So Ricky, the word on the street is you're secretly a one eyed shooter.

[Zach]

Tricking us this whole time.

[John]

Rick, you've been saying this whole time like that oh the dip is actually a one eyed shooter move, not a two eyed shooter move. And Jesse and his buddy have figured it out and actually he holds a.

[Ricky]

Button say what's that? Sorry, it doesn't say where Jesse's from, does it?

[John]

Jesse didn't have the courage to tell us where him and his buddy are from with this hot goss that he's.

[Zach]

I can tell you he's going to answer his own question. But I can tell you I looked over at that, that guy many a times and he's got two big old eyeballs and they're like this. When a dark comes out he's looking for that thing like I look for sandwiches. I mean there's no, there's no doubt.

[Ricky]

So I am definitely a two eyed shooter. Now I started as a one eyed shooter and for about three or four months and then I took a frank hoppy class and Frank's like well you don't drive down the road with one eye, do you? And I said I don't drive, I will say that I shoot two eyes. I'm on the house because I could see everything. Now that comes from shooting years ago in Missouri back in the old days to shoot the fall handicap there's a lot of money and they didn't throw a target with face, you know, they were flat shoot. So I just on the house and I can see it. The dip is not a one eyed shooter dip. That's so they got you. Because even if you see with your left eye and you come across as soon as the barrel gets there, you're gonna stop, pull the trigger. So if you dip you come up through the target. Okay. So your whole points for doubles, you want to hold on your first target your straightaway in line with it and drive up through it.

[John]

Okay now he said, now he's saying here Rick, he's saying as a one eyed shooter, you know, because obviously that's who you Are you're a one eyed shooter. Where's your hold points as a one eyed shooter? But I think down on the house is good for both. All right, so Jesse, unfortunately your buddy is wrong. Zach confirms Ricky is definitely a two eyed shooter.

[Zach]

Maybe he'd miss some old damn targets.

[John]

But yeah, maybe, maybe we can get him to open. Maybe we can get him to close an eye there and we'll have a shot at the spring grand. We don't know.

[Ricky]

No, I'm coming in. I'm gonna get an eyeball right there for Zach.

[John]

Three eyes. Not even just two eyed shooter. Three eyed shooter. Okay, Kent. Okay guys, this is for both of you. This is coming in from Brian Weeks. Brian is asking can you elaborate more on why you two, both all Americans shoot 30 inch barrels for doubles. It seems that the general consensus in the trap shooting world is that you're supposed to shoot a 3432 combo for trap. Why 30 inch barrels for doubles. Here we go. We can now break this case.

[Ricky]

I will say this. So when I started shooting I shot a 30 inch barrel. Okay. When I started. Now when I got with Craig off I actually have the, the first set of 30 inch trap special barrels that they made and I shot a 16 and a half inch length of pole back then with my barrels they're about the same height as the 32 but now I've shortened down to a 16 inch. I like the shorter barrel and doubles. You move a little bit quicker and ease smoother for me to that second shot. Okay. I'm a big guy, you know, I'm six two, three 50 and I'm, I can move a 32 but I like that shorter move of that 30 and you know, and I broke a few hundreds and doubles with it and hundreds.

[Zach]

And hundreds of them.

[John]

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds over 200.

[Ricky]

But yeah, that's a lot. You know, it's a couple. I just, I think that people overlook that and they go back, well, you should have this. You know I, I just talked to a customer that you know, he had a 30, tried a 32, couldn't hit it, didn't like it, got fortunate to get rid of it and he's like has to be a 30. I just, you know and so a lot of it's preference but try a 30 inch, you'd be surprised. They move. And I've, and I've even talked faster. Another a student of mine, a client that he was like I was thinking about seeing if Craig. I've had a 28 inch and I was and he said, well, I'm older now and I. I want to move the gun not as much and yet use shorter barrel, less movement over. But I don't recommend that 30 inch. You trust me, you'll love it.

[Zach]

It's a sweet spot, I think. I think for me, for Rick, there's a lot of guys shooting the 30s now. There are some people shooting.32s with success. But it just matters how you move the gun. If you want something a little slower and you want to have a little bit more patience in between. Okay, a little bit longer barrel, you want to get there a little quicker. Okay, 30 inch. What I like about a 30 and doubles is if that target, that second target jumps or dips or does any kind of stuff. I feel like I have a little bit more responsiveness with that 30 than I do with the 32. But I mean, at the end of the day, if you shoot anything long enough, you could learn it. So, I mean, it comes down.

[John]

Guys, are these. Are these 30 inch barrels with extended chokes?

[Ricky]

Yeah, well, 30.

[Zach]

And then they're titanium though, right? I mean, they're not really. You don't really see that or feel that on the end of it. I mean, if they were flush, I guess, wouldn't make any difference.

[Ricky]

And I use a titanium hanger too. It lightens up the end a little bit more too.

[John]

Yeah. So I think better than me, I.

[Zach]

Don'T have the titanium hanger. Oh, I just figured the game out, folks.

[Ricky]

Give me a call. Thank you. Thank you for that one.

[John]

Yeah, the secret's out. Titanium hangers. That's what it is. You know, I was just thinking it's not so much about the length of the barrel. This is more of a weight in movement question because.

[Ricky]

Yeah, that's right.

[John]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Not.

[John]

Not length of barrels, more of those two inches. That's less weight. That's more movement. You're getting over to those birds quicker. Hey, that was a great question. We appreciate that question coming in. And we're gonna do one more here and then the extravagance, we're not going to do any more. This is it. We appreciate everybody sending your questions in. If we didn't get to your question, we're going to keep doing videos, we're going to keep answering them. And we really appreciate everyone who is watching the show sending in your questions. As always, if you have questions, send them to ask us traptalkpodcast.com and we'll get these two guys to answer them for you. Thanks, everybody.

[Ricky]

He's got to go try to play with some customers. Thanks, folks.

[John]

Thank you very much. All right, everybody, we'll see you next time. And the Trap Talk podcast is brought to you in part by RM Shooting Clinics.

[Zach]

Have Ricky take your game to the next level. You want to shoot hundreds of hundreds of hundreds, give Ricky a call. Today, Zach Nagi Financial. We believe in putting people first.