Ready, aim, FIRE!

On call, a bird takes flight. No one knows for sure in what direction, least of all the person with the shotgun in hand.

In a span of no more than two seconds, the shooter must swing the shotgun in the direction of the bird in flight, anticipate the angle of impact, aim and shoot at a target that appears, as it flies away, to be no larger than a quarter.

But that's the attraction of trapshooting — it's not easy. In fact, there are inherent features built into the sport to make it more difficult, like the direction of flight, wind, lighting and a black disc with a neon-orange top taking instant flight at 65 miles per hour.

But it is an opportunity for hunters to improve their shooting skills, and for others to shoot without hunting, all of which has made the sport more popular in recent years, explained Brent Epperson, with Top Gun Inc., which represents a group that only recently took over the Lee Kay Center's shotgun ranges from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

"As fewer and fewer people are hunting these days, more and more of them are taking up shooting sports," he said. "They no longer choose to hunt, but they still want to shoot.

"I'm also seeing something out here that really surprises me. I'm seeing more and more families — dad, mom and the kids — coming out to shoot. That's nice to see. Trap shooting is something the entire family can do together."

Trapshooting, next to target shooting, is probably one of the oldest of the shooting sports.

It is reported that the lead-in to trapshooting started with commercial duck hunters challenging each other to see who could knock down the most ducks.

The first competitive shoots involved live birds, everything from pigeons to sparrows, and sometimes it was reported they shot bats. Birds were placed in cages in front of the shooters and then released.

The first competitive shoot was said to be at the Sportsman Club of Cincinnati in 1831.

In an attempt to establish consistency in the sport, glass balls were introduced in the late 1860s. Shoots were not particularly popular, however, because equipment only allowed the glass balls to be thrown in one direction — straight.

The next step in the evolution of the sport was placing three throwers in front of and hidden from the shooter. Any one of the three could throw, which put more challenge into the shoots.

The first clay target was introduced in 1880.

Over the years, there have been a number of advancements in the sport, not the least being better throwing devices and better targets that can be broken with a single BB.