I shot quite a few rounds of trap last summer, so I expected to be a better shot this fall. Was I in for a surprise.

Trap, with its shots that are mostly straight away or slightly crossing, can aid in dealing with flushing upland birds, which tend to fly directly away. However, on incoming shots, like those encountered when hunting ducks or doves, trap is of little help.

I found that all of the time spent trap shooting may have actually hurt me come September. It was time for a change. I needed a quick tune-up.

So, one cool but humid Sunday afternoon following church found me out at Heartland on the sporting clays field. I'd been wanting to get back out there for over a year, but couldn't talk anyone into going with me.

Today, however, my dad agreed to tag along to watch and keep score. He was also supposed to help carry my ammo, although for some reason I still ended up carrying all the ammo, my gun, camera, and target counter, while he walked along merrily with only the score sheet and pencil in his hands.

I really appreciated having him along when, after nailing the first target of the first pair, he called out, "HIT!" I managed to hold it together and break the second target, but afterwards I asked him what he was doing. "Well you hit it," he replied simply. In the clay games hits aren't called out, only misses, and then only after the shooting is over, and definitely not during the middle of an attempted pair.

After informing him of the etiquette of the game, I proceeded to show him what an expert I was by missing both targets of the next pair.

Sporting clays targets vary greatly from station to station. There are right to left and left to right crossers, straight aways, and targets that fly right towards you. Most are pairs. A common pair would be a crossing target followed by an incomer.

Because of these varied presentations, one's choice of choke becomes quite important. Previously, I used a single-barreled Super X2 semi-auto that allowed me only one choke choice at a time. Frequently, I used a skeet tube, occasionally switching to modified for longer shots. As a compromise, I often just used light modified.

In a previous article, I wrote that I felt a double barrel would be better suited to sporting clays, so a more open choke could be installed in one barrel for close targets and a tighter choke in the other barrel for longer shots. I took my own advice and this time armed myself with a 12 gauge over/under. I also took a nearly complete set of Carlson's chokes along - skeet, light modified, a couple modifieds, and even an improved modified.

Most of the time, I kept the skeet tube in the top barrel and light modified in the bottom. Depending on the presentation, I would either fire the top barrel first if the first target was close and the bottom barrel second, or flip the selector and fire the barrels in the reverse order if the first target was long and the second was a close incomer. Only once did I install both of the modifieds when at Field Six both targets were tall.

It should be pointed out that the double kicked considerably more than the semi-auto, especially when firing the bottom barrel first. Unlike doubles or pumps, semi-automatic shotguns absorb some of the felt recoil by virtue of using the gases or recoil expended in firing the shell to work the action. In a future article, we'll look at various ways target shooters can reduce the recoil of their firearms.

As mentioned, most targets in sporting clays are shot in pairs, and on this particular course all of them were presented as pairs. There are two forms of sporting clays British sporting clays, which is frequently shot in the United States and involves pairs on each stand, and international sporting clays, which frequently throws singles. Singles are seldom thrown in the British version.

International sporting clays is referred to as FITASC, which stands for the initials of the French organization that governs the game, Federation Internationale de Tri aux Arms Sportives de Chasse.

The British version, however, allows for different ways in which the pairs are launched. There are true pairs, where targets are thrown either simultaneously or trailing one right after the other, and report pairs, where the second target is launched after the first shot has been fired.

Last year, we shot the round as report pairs, and I did quite well. This time, I unwittingly shot the more difficult trailing pairs. As a result, my score suffered. I'd like to say I hit more than I missed. Yes, I would really like to be able to say that.

Over all, though, it was a profitable outing. I gained some practical field practice during a time when not much else was flying. As if they were thumbing their beaks at us, we did spot a couple doves flying around the course.

For today, they were safe but there's always tomorrow and there's no better way to get ready for tomorrow's hunt than by shooting sporting clays.