Renting a Clay Trap

Cass

Hey all,

Looking for a bit of help. I am organising an open clay shoot for the small game club i am in. We only have 30 members (by design). I intend to organise a clay shoot for the members and anyone in the area who fancies coming along. Everyone must bring their own gun.

Problem is as we are a small game club most of our money goes into buying/raising birds for release and general upkeep of the lands we shoot. We have two manual traps (bowman) which for a fun day of clays is grand. I would ideally like to rent an automatic trap (6 loader) possibly over a weekend sometime in late August, early September. I need prices for rent and sources to rent from.

I am contacting NARGC/Countryside Alliance for details of insurance cover for non member shooters and already have a few boxes of clays and shells got. More will be bought from now till the day of the shoot. I am buying (and begging) for spot prizes for the day and think i have all bases covered. If i'm missing anything please post with advice as i have taken part in numerous shoots but never organised one and don't want people turning up to realise i've forgotten something basic/essential.

Thanks in advance.

foxshooter243

Getting a loan of a trap shouldnt be a problem as lots of shoots are run up our way with loaned traps, the N.a.r.g.c will give you a one day insurance cover if your a nargc affiliated club , the cost is something like 18 euro and you need to give notice, it used to be 2 weeks im not sure about today..chris gavican of nargc will best advise to this.

remember your insurance will only be for one day and the shoot will have to go ahead rain or shine so plan accordingly, youll also need god refs who will all be reading of the same hymn book for rules on the day.

Cass

The club is NARGC affiliated. The shoot is just a fun shoot. Its not going to be strictly rules, regulations etc. There will be organisation from the point that it will be ran as a shoot with prizes and winners etc, but its not going to be a serious competition. Its hard to explain. Myself and maybe 3 other lads are into clays but the rest only shoot game. The 4 of us will be running the traps on the day and trying to organise food, drink, non alcoholic of course (until that night) and anything else that is needed. Its going to be more of a fund raiser day and as long as everyone enjoys the day and all is done correctly and safely i'll be a happy camper. As i said i think i have most bases covered its just 2 manual traps will be a strain to use all day.

Thanks fs243 for the info on the insurance. i'll leave it till as close to the day as possible to ring the NARGC about cover. As you said try to get it on a good day.

homerhop

Once there are prizes at it there will always be serious competition, Ya be surprised how agitated lads can get even over a box of cartridges lol.

You need to give yourself a bit of time on the insurance, its not just a case of phoning them. The owner of the land you are shooting on has to sign the forms from the Nargc and as far as i can remember it takes up to 10 days to come through. The county safety officer if he is doing his job will come down to inspect on the morning to make sure all is OK even though it is not a serious competition.

Last time I was doing one the things they commented on were as follows. Make sure your traps are set up a good distance from the ditch you are firing towards and be able to tell him if there is any live stock in the next field. With the manual traps keep the boxes of clays on the left hand side of the trap, the reason being when you lean over to pick the next 2 clays and the arm goes off your head wont be in the line of the swing. Make sure all traps have a red flag and trappers are well out of view with something fairly solid at their backs, a couple of round bales will do the trick. They won't stress enough basic safety so make sure you have plenty of signs up regarding the breaking of guns etc. A first aid kit on site and have the local doctors number close by.

To make life easier for yourself use pencils for marking, if it is raining pens can be a right pain in the ass and have a couple of clip boards handy. I will make a few enquiries over the week might know where i could get a loan of an automatic trap, only across the border from ya in kildare.

Cass

Thanks for the advice HH. Was in contact with the N.A.R.G.C. and got the lowdown on all the details. Just as you said. Shoot is not for 6-8 weeks. Will be talking to land owners over the next few days. No problems anticipated as we already have permission to shoot the land. Have all the gear needed to fence off required areas, bales as blockers etc. I'm already trained as a first aider and have a good supply of equipment (hopefully all going well it'll be unnecessary).

If you get any info on those traps please pass it on. All help appreciated.