Nobody really knows who or when the term was first used. As implied by rookieshooter, the term came from live-bird shooting since the birds were released from an enclosure called a trap. Hand-made, home-made traps were constructed for the purpose of releasing birds for both shooting sport and hunting practice. Of course we know the term goes back to at least 1874 because Captain Adam H. Bogardus used it in his book "Field, Cover and Trap Shooting." In the 1820's, 30's and 40's advertisements often used the terms "Pigeon Shooting" and "Shooting Match at Pigeons" informing sportsmen of upcoming contests for prizes such as guns, poultry, hogs, bulls and challenge matches were usually for a sizable purse. In the 1840's a $50 purse was considered very sizable and was likely more than a years earnings. I've found reference to trap shooting grounds in 1848 and the actual sport as early as 1850. Here's a couple of old articles from 1850 & 1851. Hope this helps answer the question. Enjoy Our History ! HB
The source for the specific term "Trapshooting" is not shared, but of interest The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 27, 1920 states the first Live Pigeon competition in the United States was in 1831, but several sources suggest the sport of trapshooting began prior to 1825 http://books.google.com/books?id=ouZPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA16&lpg The first mention of trap-shooting as a sport is found in an old English publication called the Shooting Magazine, issued in 1793, and it is there referred to as being a “well established recreation” of the period. Trap-shooting, both at live birds and inanimate targets, has become one of the most popular of British sports, but is not indulged in to nearly the same extent as in the United States. In the records of the Sportsmen's Club of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the year 1831 is found the earliest mention of trapshooting in the United States. Cincinnati, therefore, appears to be the birthplace and early home of the sport in the United States. Passenger pigeons, and sometimes quail, were used in the sport. The Long Island Club was formed about 1840, and soon after the New York Sportsmen's Club was organized in that city. A B Frost in “The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News” April 6, 1878. The 'traps' are shown in the lower left c. 1882 Ligowski Clay Pigeon TRAP Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 8-13-1887 clearly with inanimate targets https://books.google.com/books?id=jEdaAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA425&lpg
I've always thought the "trap" in trapshooting was from the fact that original trapshooting involved trapped birds that were then released and shot.
A page from The Illustrated American 1894. A little of where it began. Manly Sport of Pigeon Shooting... Trap3
Pigeon shooting is said to have been first established in England around 1790. EARLY TRAP SHOOTING As has been mentioned, shooting in Middlesex, owing to the absence of any large estates and the small amount of game preservation, is not of sufficient importance to require a detailed notice. An exception must, however, be made in the case of one form of this sport with respect to which the county, though not the originating centre, has long occupied a prominent position, namely, pigeon shooting. In the early days of pigeon shooting, which came into vogue about 1790, (fn. 9) 'The Old Hatte,' at Ealing- an inn three centuries old- (fn. 10) appears to have been the chief rendezvous for the sport in Middlesex. (fn. 11) Its head quarters, however, till the middle of the last century, were at the Red House Club at Battersea, which was frequented among others by Lord Winchilsea, Lord Huntingfield, Sir Richard Sutton, Mr. Osbaldeston and Captain Ross, who won the club cup, value 200 guineas, in 1828 and in 1829. As late as 1840 it is described in Colburn's Kalendar of Amusements as taking 'the lead in the quantity and quality of this sport.' (fn. 12) The system of handicapping appears, however, to have been then unknown and it was not until 1856, six years after the closing of the Red House Club, that it was introduced by Mr. Frank Heathcote, in order to place good and bad shots on something like an equality. (fn. 13) It was adopted in some matches shot at Purdey's grounds at Willesden, the handicap running from 30 to 24 yds., and subsequently at the Old Hornsey Wood House. (fn. 14) Among the most noted shots of those days was General Bullock Hall, of Six Mile Bottom near Newmarket. He then commanded the 1st Life Guards, among whose officers were Lord Leconfield, Mr. R. de Winton, Captain (now General) Bateson, and several other shots almost equally good. A match for a large sum of money, shot at Hornsey Wood during this period, between General Bateson and Sir F. Mullock, at twenty-five birds each, 25 yds. rise, and won by the former, attracted an immense attendance, over twenty coaches being on the ground. (fn. 15) A fresh impetus was given to the sport by the foundation in 1860, by Lord Stormont and other well-known shots, of the Gun Club, where many of the most important developments in the science of gun-making have been tested. Among the most celebrated matches at the club were those between Dr. Carver, the well-known American shot, and Lord Walsingham, and between the former and Mr. Heygate, and those in which Capt. Bogardus, another famous American marksman, shot against Mr. Dudley Ward and against Captain Shelley. (fn. 16) A few years after the establishment of the Gun Club the spread of London northward obliged Mr. Frank Heathcote to abandon the Old Hornsey Wood House, and in 1867 he rented the Hurlingham Estate at Fulham for £700 a year. This action was followed shortly afterwards by the formation of the Hurlingham Club, which purchased the property for £20,000. It achieved such success under the management of the Hon. D. J. Monson that for several years prior to 1891 it had its full complement of 1,500 members under the presidency of his late Majesty, King Edward, then Prince of Wales. Of these, however, only 200 were shooting members, many of whom took no part in pigeon shooting. The sport therefore gradually ceased to be carried on under the favourable conditions it had enjoyed at Hornsey Wood and the Gun Club, and owing to the greater popularity of polo, it has now been driven from the scene where it may be said to have attained its zenith. The best shots at Hurlingham and the Gun Club during recent years have been Lord Hill, Lord de Grey, Captain Shelley, Mr. Berkeley Lucy, Mr. Dudley Ward, Mr. Aubrey Coventry, Captain Aubrey Pullen, Mr. H. J. Roberts, and Lord de Clifford. (fn. 17) Footnotes: 9Lord Walsingham and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Shooting (Badminton Library), 343. 10Edith Jackson, Annals of Ealing. 11Shooting (Badminton Library), 356. 12Chambers's Encyclopedia (ed. 1901), Art. 'Pigeon Shooting.' 13Ibid. 14Shooting (Badminton Library), 343. 15Ibid. Another notable match at Hornsey Wood was that between Lord Aveland and Mr. Reginald Cholmondley. 16Shooting (Badminton Library), 343-4. 17Shooting (Badminton Library), 345. From: 'Sport, ancient and modern: Shooting', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 266-267. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22187. Date accessed: 12 February 2008. .
UPDATE: I recently found a couple of earlier reports than those I mentioned above, of the word "trap-shooting." The trapshooting events below took place in Maryland and New York respectively. As I've stated before, it is highly likely that the word "trapshooting" was used for years prior to its appearance in the newspapers and sporting journals. Enjoy Our History ! HB
I've always been of the opinion that it was not . . . . but would change my mind if presented with documentation from the period. I've never found that the hat was used much in the USA. I think I might have seen a sketch of this but I don't recall ever reading it being used in competition in the US newspapers or sporting journals. I can't imagine those well-dressed Englishmen of wealth determining that using their hat for releasing a pigeon was the best idea. I've seen the pictures but I highly doubt it was done much. I've read that birds were hand thrown into the air and released from ground traps which were usually handmade wooden boxes or crates. Later came the post mounted plunge trap that pushed the pigeon into the air and by the late 1890s they had traps resembling two halves of a metal drum on hinges, partially in the ground, and pulling the cord helped scoop the pigeon out and into flight.
I never had a chance to go to a Trap and Handle shoot but 3 of my friends did. I must have been out of town or working. I did however have a “gentleman” come up to me at Hegins one year while we were standing around the truck waiting on the last ten, and say Hey, you ever shot Trap and Handle? I saw you killed the first ten pretty well and I have a proposition for you. I’ll bring ten of my birds over after the shoot and bet you one hundred dollars a bird that you can’t kill them. When my pals heard this they all started shaking their heads no, like, don’t do it, so I politely told him I had already bet for the day by shooting the twenty in the race and I would pass on his offer. After he left they all started laughing and said We just saved you six or seven hundred dollars. That guy there? He raises those birds. When you miss they fly back to his coop. Some of those things have been shot at a LOT and never been hit. One of those guys went on to be the 2004 PA state double barrel champ so I think he knew what he was talking about.
QUOTE="HistoryBuff, post: 120672, member: 331"] I've always been of the opinion that it was not . . . . but would change my mind if presented with documentation from the period. I've never found that the hat was used much in the USA. I think I might have seen a sketch of this but I don't recall ever reading it being used in competition in the US newspapers or sporting journals. I can't imagine those well-dressed Englishmen of wealth determining that using their hat for releasing a pigeon was the best idea. I've seen the pictures but I highly doubt it was done much. I've read that birds were hand thrown into the air and released from ground traps which were usually handmade wooden boxes or crates. Later came the post mounted plunge trap that pushed the pigeon into the air and by the late 1890s they had traps resembling two halves of a metal drum on hinges, partially in the ground, and pulling the cord helped scoop the pigeon out and into flight.[/QUOTE] Late 1880`s American Field Ad... Parker Plunge Trap. $25 per pair... Trap3
Maybe History Buff can clarify this for me. Sometime not long after I started shooting an old timer explained to me that the reason our sport is called (TRAP) is because all the other four letter words were already taken. At times it seems like this could quite possibly be correct and true. Dave Berlet
