There is a bit of Zen to trap shooting.
Focus. But don’t overthink. Make sure your body is in the correct posture, but don’t obsess. Hope your muscle memory will do much of the work on autopilot, while your eyes and brain concentrate.
In other words, be in the zone.
And be able to instantly shrug off mistakes while on the firing line.
“When I miss it, I can’t get it out of my head. … It’s kind of hard not to think about things,” said Caleb Holm, a member of the Haines school shooting team.
The team heads to Juneau this weekend for the second annual Southeast Alaska Trap Tournament. This is the Haines team’s second year to attend the tournament, tallying six medals in 2015.
Team members and coach Shane Horton believe they can break the six-medal mark this year.
However, Horton played up improving personal scores instead of a team win. A team member shoots at 25 flying targets in a round, with the winner posting the best-out-of-25 score.
“I don’t care what the score is as long as you’re improving,” Horton said.
The all-male team is nurturing two young girls for future competition – 11-year-old Grace Long Godinez and 9-year-old sister Ari’el Long Godinez. The girls have hunted with their parents.
Ari’el Long Godinez was in her third practice session with the team last Saturday. “I kind of like shooting a shotgun and hitting a target,” she said.
Right now, the 9-year-old is trying to find a perfect spot to fit the shotgun into her shoulder when she shoots.