10.58am
This final pair have battled it out for overall champion. Albemarle has won and will be presented with a ‘Family Trap Cup’ as the crowd gathers round, cheering on the winner and consolidating Harriet. Harriet graciously accepts defeat and congratulates her uncle.
10.56am
Shots are more accurate and a score of 62 is made.
10.19am
Albemarle’s loader reloads his gun and proivdes him with it to take further shots.
10.01am
Albemarle approaches the stand and repeats the Harriet’s programme of shots.
9.16am
Harriet continues with shots on black clays until 25 clays have been released. She scores 56, a respectable score and a challenge to her competitor, her uncle Albemarle Cator.
9.14am
Two more clays are released in black, making it harder to see them, adding more of a challenge. She misses the first but scores a direct hit on the second.
9.12am
Harriet changes guns with her loader who reloads her previous gun. The crowd hold their breath. She calls ‘pull’, bringing her gun up to her eye as she calls out, looking in the direction of the trap. The clay pigeons are released, with one slightly behind the other.
She moves her gun with the first clay, following the trajectory of the clay until the clay is in her barrel. Her gun is ahead of the momentum of the clay to anticipate hitting of the target.
Lightly ahead of the clay the shooter takes a shot within milliseconds, aiming her gun. The gun releases the cartridge and the spray of the pellets hit the target. Within milliseconds the second clay is released and she fires again, this time she misses. She swiftly changes guns and tries again.
9.08am
The practice shot occurs. Harriet calls ‘pull’, bringing her gun up to her eye as she calls pull, looking in the direction of the trap. The orange clay pigeon is released. She moves her gun with the clay, following the trajectory of the clay until the clay is in her barrel.
The gun is ahead of the momentum of the clay to anticipate hitting of the target. Lightly ahead of the clay the shooter takes a shot within milliseconds, aiming her gun. The gun releases the cartridge and the spray of the pellets hit the target. Happy with her warm up, she signals to have her double trap released.
9.06am
Harriet clips up barrels and cocks gun, positioning it in her right shoulder. She prepares for a single clay release to get the feel of the weather. The crowd wait in anticipation.
9.02am
Harriet approaches the stand with ear defenders on correctly and is accompanied by a loader to load the second gun when she has finished. The gun is broken over her arm as she gets to the stand and makes herself comfortable.
9.00am
It’s early on Saturday morning. The air is cold and crisp, and there is a crowd of onlookers ready to watch the event, being held here at the Cator Estate in Woodbastwick. Today’s event is Trap Shooting, derived from Clay Pigeon Shooting, held on private grounds with permission from the police for Section 11 (6) Firearms Act 1968 to use the guns required.
The rules of the game are simple; the shooters at the stand will call for a target, and shout ‘pull’, whereby a target (the clay pigeon) is then shot at using any double barrelled shot gun. Guns used include an over and under rather then a side by side gun, (12Bore), which uses two barrels for two shots and each shot uses between 24-32g of lead.
The aim is to hit a clay with one shot, providing a score of 3 points, with a second shot scoring 2 points, and a miss no points. 25 clays are then released from the trap and shot at, and shooters can score a maximum of 75 points in each round. Machines that release the clay pigeons are called traps and propel clays out to a sweep of 120 metres. Each clay is 110mm in diameter and made from pitch and limestone, coming in different colours for preference and difficulty levels.
There are three disciplines that can be used in competitions; Down the Line, involving 5 shooting positions in an arc, Following a Pair involving releasing two orange clays at a short delay between them, and a Simultaneous Pair, involving releasing two orange clays at the same time so the shooter has to hit both targets, one after another another. Such disciplines occur in a set order of releases and form a combination of releases within the competition.
Shooting pairs are drawn out of a hat to fix up competitors and the highest scorer from each round moves onto the next round.
Harriet Cator (47 years) is the niece of Albemarle Cator (71 years), and the pair regularly enter into competition with each other.