A SPORT FOR LIFE — TRAP AND SKEET SHOOTING

By Peri Gardner

Trap and Skeet Shooting is a combination sport where the athlete uses a shotgun to shoot moving clay targets. The difference between trap and skeet shooting is in trap shooting the clay pigeon is flying away from the participant, and in skeet shooting the point is to hit two clay pigeons that are crossing one another. Trap shooting was created in the 1800s as a replacement for live pigeon shooting that simulates bird hunting; hence, the reason the clay targets are named clay pigeons. Skeet shooting was invented in the 1920s by a grouse hunter and there are two different kinds of skeet shooting: American and International. International skeet is also known as Olympic Skeet because it follows the Olympic format for the sport. The shooting sport is one that takes a lot of discipline and involves many moving parts including angles, height, distance, and speed, and also promotes the importance of safely handling firearms.

Maury County resident, Cara Dobbs, at 15 years old, is one of the top Trap and Skeet Shooters in Tennessee. At just four years old, she was gifted her first gun by her father, a pink rifle and the two would go shooting together. Dobbs being so small and young, would lay prone on the ground to shoot targets. Fast forward to age 10, when Dobbs entered her first competition on the Zion Christian Academy Trap Team. “I was small and super weak, and really didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. “It was freezing cold, and I was soaking wet from the rain. It was not a good experience at all and then I cut my finger on the chamber during the shooting, so I just quit.” Little did she know she was only just getting started.

Trap and Skeet Shooting is an individual and team sport made up of squads and teams. Cara explained, “For a trap squad there are five people, skeet squad it’s three people, and for a sporting clay squad there are three people. Altogether, the squads create the team.” Her father, Jimmy Dobbs, chimed in stating, “It’s a skill that is good to have in life because it’s a discipline that requires safety and technical abilities as well as concentration. But in terms of a sport, it’s a team sport and individual sport, plus an opportunity for college scholarships.”

In April 2022, Dobbs competed and won the women’s gold Medal in the Junior Olympics in a tense shoot-off. “We were told that she is the first middle-school- aged girl in the state to win the Gold Medal in the Regional Junior Olympics, which includes high school and college-age competitors,” said Cara’s mom. Her dad explained, “The other competitors dismissed her because she didn't do well the first day, but she totally came back from behind and won by quite a bit, so you know it wasn't a fluke. That was really exciting to watch.”

At the SCTP Regional Championships held in Nashville in June 2022, Dobbs medaled in all three disciplines: winning first in trap with an almost perfect 98 out of 100, second in sporting clays, and second in skeet. With these victories, she was set to compete in the 2022 Tennessee State Championships later in June, SCTP National Championships in Ohio in July, and National Junior Olympic Championships in Michigan in late July. However, Dobbs broke her shoulder playing soccer the weekend before State Championships and unfortunately was out for the rest of the season.

After many hours of physical therapy, Dobbs was finally given a doctor’s permission to compete again in late September 2022. And compete she did! After getting the green light, her first time to shoot in over 4 months, she handily won first place in the women's division and her team also took first place in the Shoot for the Cure event on October 15, 2022.

CARA AND HER FIRST COACH — COACH KERCE.

It’s safe to say that Dobbs is a brilliant shooter. Entering her 5th consecutive year of competing she is constantly leveling up and continuing to become one of the best shooters in the United States, even at such a young age. With her 12-gauge Beretta 694 shotgun, gifted by her grandfather, Dobbs sets her eyes on future competitions and even a possible Olympic journey.

PERI GARDNER is a wife and a stay-at-home mom to two young girls. She enjoys writing, pop culture, and current events, and in another life would have been a famous food blogger.