LEXINGTON, Va. Jan. 24, 2024 — The long gravel road winds around to the back of McKethan Park. From the first turn, you may see a large flagpole with a red flag flying. It signals that there’s shooting in progress at the outdoor range. 

Lucas Wood ’24 grew up hunting and target shooting, but it wasn’t until he became friends with Virginia Military Institute’s Trap and Skeet Club cadet in charge that he shot a clay. 

“I grew up shooting but never like this," he said. “I tried it out and I just really enjoyed it and figured it out." 

He’s now the cadet in charge (CIC) for the club, which practices twice a week at McKethan Park in Lexington. He said the club is a good chance for cadets to step out of the confines of who they know in their class and create bonds with the rest of the Corps involved.  

“VMI is very separated by class. You’re friends with the people who are in your class. But the clubs give an opportunity for all the classes to come together and get to know each other,” he said. “When you're spending five hours a week out on the range with somebody that's a year younger than you or two years older than you, whatever it might be, it’s really good to know a large variety of people.” 

Most of those in the club either grew up shooting or have experience with a gun. Bryant Falk ’25 also grew up shooting.  

“You all kind of have a certain similarity," Falk said. “Some people will go and hunt together with people in the club or we'll go shoot together with people in the club." 

But not everyone needs to be an experienced shooter to join the club. Wood said there are a number of members who have never shot before.  

“It's really interesting to see them as they progress … start to figure out the basics of it,  and then really become some good shooters,” he said. 

It’s the comradery of the team that keeps them engaged in the club. During practice is the time when they can shine individually, though.  

“We get competitive because when we go out somewhere to compete, it's as a team,” Wood said. “But then when we're out there practicing is more individual, like what your individual scores are. So I like the competitiveness within the team. We kind of like egg each other on, so it's always a good time just to be out there.” 

Practice is also a time to hone your skills and aim for perfection. The perfect score in skeet is 25, and Wood has shot that once while at practice.  

"A tradition within the skeet shooting community is that when you shoot your first 25, everybody that you're shooting with shoots the hat that you’re wearing,” he said. “You take your hat and throw it over and everybody that you're shooting with, shoots your hat in the air.” 

Wood, although ecstatic he shot that perfect score, was a little bummed to have one of his favorite hats ruined.  

“I got it at one of the competitions we did,” he said. “So you’ve got to be mindful of what hats you're wearing.” 

The difficulty of the sport is what draws Wood in, he said.  

"We'll shoot multiple rounds or multiple matches while we're out there at practice. And in one round, you can shoot a 23 out of 25 and the next round you only hit 16 of the 25. It's literally hit or miss,” he said. “It gets aggravating. That's what keeps us coming back." 

Falk said he enjoys the excitement of knowing twice a week he’ll be out there shooting.  

"You get excited to go out and shoot because you get away from this place for a little bit. And you're not doing like military or anything like that,” he said. “It's a fun thing to do. But it's also difficult at the same time. It's challenging, because you want to shoot as good as possible.” 

Falk said when he started, he could barely shoot an eight.  

“Over time, as we kept going, we kept shooting more and more and more. And we just keep going back because we want to shoot better and better and better.” 

How trap and skeet works 

It’s easier to see and experience than it is to explain, Wood warns.  

Trap and skeet are two different type of shooting sports. With skeet, you rotate through for a total of 25 targets from eight different stations. Skeet is shot in squads of up to five shooters, who move from station to station around the half-moon, ending up in the center, at the end of the round. 

"The target is farther away from you and it's moving,” Wood said. “When the wind starts flying. it'll push targets either super-fast or slow or the wind can push them way up.”

In trap shooting, you stand in stations on a crescent shape behind the trap house, which is in front of the posts. Each trap house is equipped with a mechanical trap that throws clay targets into the air.  

One of the main differences between these shooting sports is skeet is a rotation of shots that you have to get to each station, despite any timing of when the clays are thrown. In trap, the shooter yells, “pull,” for the clay to be released.  

In trap, each shooter takes turns until everyone has fired five rounds at their post, then they rotate to the next post to do the same. They do this rotation until each shooter has hit the five different stations, shooting five shots at each station.  

 The club is open to everyone but rats, who can join once they’re 4th Class cadets.

Laura Peters Shapiro
Photos by Lexie West
Communications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE