The History of Skeet Shooting

Series Summary

Skeet shooting is one of the three major types of competitive shotgun shooting at targets, with the others being trap shooting and sporting clays. Skeet is a recreational and competitive activity where participants attempt to break clay disks (or clay pigeons) flung into the air at high speed from a variety of angles. The gun of choice for this task is usually a high quality, double-barreled shotgun, although many shooters of American skeet still use inexpensive semi-auto and pump action shot guns with great success.

Even if you're a beginning skeet shooter, these advanced skeet shooting tips will benefit you. With these video instructions, you'll learn the history of skeet shooting, as well as how to select a shotgun and ammunition for target practice. You'll also find out how to stand and mount your shotgun for shooting, as well as how to approach both high and low house targets from a number of stations. Our expert will take you to a number of stations on the skeet field, and soon you'll be shooting like a pro!

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Don Snyder, the Executive Director of the National Skeet Shooting Association, and I am here on behalf of Expert Village to give you a little of the history of skeet shooting. Skeet shooting is an American game, started circa 1920 in Andover, Massachusetts, and it was developed by outdoors sportsmen that enjoyed upland bird hunting. And it was a game originated primarily to hone their skills on the off-season. It basically started by being able to launch clay targets. I'll give you some examples of clay targets, which were thrown in the air at various and different angles, and it was called shooting around the clock. And there was a point in the center where a trap was located, and it launched targets in different directions, simulating what you would experience in the field. It turned out to be a very successful game. There was a contest in outdoors magazines, and the person from Montana who named the game skeet, which is a Scandinavian word meaning "to shoot." The game has progressed over the years and has become a very competitive game, but still skeet fields are used to hone your skills for the hunting season and can be used during the off-season to hone those skills."