I was at a major shoot last summer and a big storm hit. When the lightning got close the shoot was halted. The shooting was not halted simply because it was raining. When the lightning was gone and there was only rain the order came to go back to the line. What if you refuse to finish the event? I am not complaining but I might want to keep a rain gun handy on bad weather days. tia
If anyone went back to shooting then I think that the scores should be counted with the remainder of the 100 as losses if someone refused. I have watched one group walk off the line at several different shoots while others shot in the rain. One was a GAH champion.
I've shot in rain so hard it's difficult to see the targets. As long as there's no lightning, keep shooting or get a bunch of losses.
We were shooting at one event and it started to rain after the first post, by the last post my bottom row of shells were underwater. Still went off.
As tournament director at Cardinal shoots I was always watching the radar and had the trap line help watching the sky. If lighting was anywhere in the area we shut down the line, safety first, rain on the other hand was more a call that I made depending on things. What event in the days rotation, how hard the rain was, was it going to stop anytime soon, did I think we had the time to delay and still finish. After many years I got comfortable making the day to day calls that a tournament director needs to make so the shoot would run smooth and at a shoot the size of the CC shoots it is doubly important. I was very lucky that I got to work with a CC staff that stayed relatively intact for the whole time I was there, after a few years a lot of the time they new what I was thinking and going to say before I did myself. I had as much fun doing the TD job as I did shooting. Brad
I was at one shoot where we just kept on shooting when a big clap of thunder hit our area. Scared me you know what.
I wish I would have had a small camera with me one day at the GRAND in VANDALIA. I could show you what the INSIDE of trap house 28 looks like. Flyersarebest
Back in 97 I shot the Hawaii State shoot which was held on the Big Island. The shoot was scheduled to start each day at 9AM but each day it was a lite rain until 11AM. Shoot management held off starting the shoot until the rain stopped at 11. With the number of shooters being a low number it really did not matter. I have also shot in rain so hard you shot at what you thought was the target. The only thing there was the score keeper had a hard time seeing them also.
I have worked on a couple of sites. If you saw lightening you shut it down no questions asked. Trap shooting should be the same.
When the bug first gets you it doesn't matter what the weather is, rain, snow, wind, it never stopped me from signing up. After about 15 years or so I kinda hung out in the clubhouse on those kind of days. Helped in the office or kitchen and waited to see if it got any better. Flyersarebest
Im not a big fan of shooting in the rain either, I have got caught in the rain a couple times while shooting. It was miserable and not enjoyable at all. To get back to the op question is there a written rule concerning this matter? Rick
The rule is below. If you voluntarily withdraw make sure to finish the sub event, 25 or 50 (in the case of 10 to a post or doubles). If you only shoot 1 post you score would be whatever you broke on that post, the last 20 would be scored as lost. If the shoot is cancelled it is handled differently as explained below. 4. When a contestant voluntarily withdraws from, or is otherwise disqualified, and takes no further part in a sub-event after having fired at 1 or more targets of a sub-event and does not fire at all the targets in the sub-event, the referee/scorer shall rule all targets not fired upon “LOST” targets and they shall be scored and reported accordingly. When the shooter is prevented by reasons beyond his/her control from completing a sub-event, the scores for that partial sub-event shall not be recorded or reported. Example: shooters have shot 61 targets of a 100-target event when a storm permanently stops shooting. The management should report the scores for the first 50 targets only
The 3rd Annual Shootout for (Boy) Scouting, held at Miramar/SD Shotgun Sports in 2007, was shot in a driving rain. The wind nearly took the luncheon canopy away. It was bad; cold (50 degrees) all day. Nobody quit. We finished absolutely soaking wet and shivering...even those with "rain gear". Was it fun shooting? No. Did we shoot good scores? No. But my team took First Team Overall. (It was a combo of Trap and Skeet/Doubles) That made it fun....once we were again warm and dry. Would I do it again? No.
If a storm does occur, go to your vehicle or the club house, NOT the trap house. This picture is of a trap house at the Indiana State Shoot several years ago. The loader had just left, made it to the shelter and wham! He would be dead it he had been in the house. The bolt roasted the Pat Trap.