I have a question for you trap guys. I mainly hunt pheasant and grouse. I recently started shooting trap with a freind of mine who is a non hunter and only shoots trap and has never been hunting and would like to try it. My question is he only has his trap guns. He has a Browning BT-99, Browning BPS trap and a Remington 870 Clasic Trap. Would it be feasable for him to hunt with one of his pump trap guns. Thanks for any advice.
Hunting with a Trap Gun ????
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Sure....why not. If the gun is set with a high POI, he may want to lower it to 60/40 or 70/30.
Hy favorite duck gun is an old beat up from the duck blind Citori I named 'Ol Zulu. The reason I like this gun and hit well, is that it came with a higher than average comb in a field stock configuration. Trapshooting tends to set preferences in gun fit and sight picture, so your buddy will already feel comfortable with the higher POI and be familiar with the gun. LOP may be a little long for heavy clothing and a trap pad may not help his field gun mount, getting a scatch in the stock likely, but go for it.
Maltzie
Hy favorite duck gun is an old beat up from the duck blind Citori I named 'Ol Zulu. The reason I like this gun and hit well, is that it came with a higher than average comb in a field stock configuration. Trapshooting tends to set preferences in gun fit and sight picture, so your buddy will already feel comfortable with the higher POI and be familiar with the gun. LOP may be a little long for heavy clothing and a trap pad may not help his field gun mount, getting a scatch in the stock likely, but go for it.
Maltzie
Years of trapshooting result in a definite preference for a high-shooting gun. I can assure you that his trap guns are EXACTLY what he wants to hunt with. He is used to a "target above barrel" sight picture and would not shoot as well with a field gun.
I've hunted with trap guns since I was 10 years old and I am now past retirement age. I mostly used a Winchester M12 trap, but later on, I used a Remington M32. There have been others, but they all worked and performed well. All were full choke. In the last few years, most of my hunting has been quail, so they don't get as much use as they once did. Don't be put off by todays "wisdom". Just help your friend go and have fun.
Johnpe
Johnpe
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1,995 Posts
Trap guns are the best guns. With the high POI you always keep the prize in sight without "covering it up". johnpe tell us about your Remington M32. It is my second favorite shotgun model. I have a M32 TC (great for squrriels in tall trees!) and a M32 skeet gun that I just got to use on rabbits this winter. Even the skeet gun shoots about 60% / 40% on paper.
Doug
Doug
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2,166 Posts
Just as hunting/field guns are not the most effective tools to use for trap, neither are trap guns the most effective tools to use in hunting. These two activities present different types of targets.
Of course your friend can use his trap gun for hunting. He may miss a few shots with it that he'd have made with a field gun, but few keep score in the field.
He's better off using a gun he's very familiar with, than to try to re-learn hold points with a new gun. (Long-term he's better off with a hunting gun for hunting, but short-term have him use one of his pumpguns. :wink: )
Of course your friend can use his trap gun for hunting. He may miss a few shots with it that he'd have made with a field gun, but few keep score in the field.
He's better off using a gun he's very familiar with, than to try to re-learn hold points with a new gun. (Long-term he's better off with a hunting gun for hunting, but short-term have him use one of his pumpguns. :wink: )
I did go hunting once with my XT trap. I just grab a O/U and up it in a case and left the house. The time I got to the hunt and woke up I said dam I got my trap gun.
The other guys though it was funny and said you are going to hit nothing. Wrong I hit very thing I went after. The only trouble was the gun got heavy after a few hours.
So yes a trap gun can work for hunting just the added weight over a field gun can get you tired.
The other guys though it was funny and said you are going to hit nothing. Wrong I hit very thing I went after. The only trouble was the gun got heavy after a few hours.
So yes a trap gun can work for hunting just the added weight over a field gun can get you tired.
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Here's one that still brings a tear to my eye...
fifty-odd years ago a local man acquired the most beautiful Model 12 Trap Gun (pigeon grade???) I have ever seen.
He took it dove hunting and MUTILATED the birds.
So he had that wonderful
30" barrel chopped and put on a Cutts Compensator so he could hunt birds without tearing up meat.
The pain still hurts my heart...
///olde pharte///
fifty-odd years ago a local man acquired the most beautiful Model 12 Trap Gun (pigeon grade???) I have ever seen.
He took it dove hunting and MUTILATED the birds.
So he had that wonderful
30" barrel chopped and put on a Cutts Compensator so he could hunt birds without tearing up meat.The pain still hurts my heart...
///olde
pharte///
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2,166 Posts
I don't think anyone was contemplating hunting with the BT-99.WGB said:
fm said:
I have an arsenal of BPS field and trap stocked (MC) guns, some choke tubed, some fixed choke. I have a better bird per number of shots ratio with my trap models than with my field models, and I've owned the field models at least twice as long. Only took 2 pheasants for me to stop "crouching over the gun" when I made the switch. I prefer the trap guns in the field or on the river.
I read a magazine article about this topic within the last 12 -18 months. It was written by a guy from the UK. He argued in favor of trap guns (MC stocked/high stocked shotguns) for hunting. I wish I could remember (or find) the article as he covered pros and cons well. Thought I saved it, but I can't find it.
The only thing that kept me away from using my Win 101 Trap for bird hunting 30 years ago was fear of messing up that nice wood by dropping it in the drink while wading a river duck hunting, scratching the heck out of it in the mesquite while chasing quail in NM, and the such. And affordability is a factor too.
Would I take a $9,000 Perazzi hunting? No. A $600 BPS Trap? Yes! My friend's wife uses her Rem 1100 Trap for all clays games and for all hunting. She says her "kill count" improved when she put her field grade Savage o/u to rest.
The only thing that kept me away from using my Win 101 Trap for bird hunting 30 years ago was fear of messing up that nice wood by dropping it in the drink while wading a river duck hunting, scratching the heck out of it in the mesquite while chasing quail in NM, and the such. And affordability is a factor too.
Would I take a $9,000 Perazzi hunting? No. A $600 BPS Trap? Yes! My friend's wife uses her Rem 1100 Trap for all clays games and for all hunting. She says her "kill count" improved when she put her field grade Savage o/u to rest.
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