Every clay target discipline is scored the same fundamental way: one point per target broken, nothing for a miss. There is no partial credit and no bonus for a hard target — a 24 in trap and a 24 in skeet are both 24 hits out of 25. What changes from one discipline to the next is how many targets you shoot, the order you shoot them in, and how the card is laid out.
This guide covers how scoring works in each discipline — trap, trap doubles, skeet, sporting clays and five stand — and how to keep score without a paper card.
What counts as a hit
A target is scored "dead" (a hit) when the referee sees at least one visible piece break off it. Dusting a target counts, as long as a piece comes away. If the target lands whole, it is scored "lost" — a miss. A target that breaks leaving the trap, or is thrown wrong, is a "no bird" and is re-thrown rather than scored either way.
That is the whole scoring system. Every card below is just a different way of arranging the same one-point-per-target count.
Scoring at a glance
| Discipline | Targets | Scorecard |
|---|---|---|
| American, Wobble, Handicap & Bunker Trap | 25 | 25-target card, 5 stations of 5 |
| ATA Trap Doubles | 50 | 25 pairs (two targets at once) |
| Skeet | 25 | 8-station high/low house card |
| Sporting Clays | 50 or 100 | Station-by-station presentations |
| Five Stand | 25 (varies) | Station presentations (like sporting clays) |
How trap is scored
A trap round is 25 targets. A squad of five shooters lines up across five stations, each shooter takes five targets from each station, then everyone rotates one station to the right until all five have been shot. Targets are thrown away from you at angles you don't know in advance. One point per target broken, for a maximum of 25.
American Trap, Wobble Trap, ATA Handicap and International (Bunker) Trap all use the same 25-target card. What separates them is difficulty, not scoring — handicap moves you back from 16 up to 27 yards, wobble adds vertical movement, and bunker throws faster from a bank of traps in front of the squad. The card and the maximum score are identical.
Scorers traditionally mark each of the 25 boxes and subtotal after every station. The digital trap scorecard keeps the same five-by-five layout and totals it as you go.
How trap doubles is scored
ATA Trap Doubles throws two targets at once, so the round is worth double. You shoot five pairs at each of the five posts — 25 pairs in all — and each target is scored individually. That makes a doubles round 50 targets, with 50 as a perfect score.
Because both targets are in the air together, each pair is recorded as two separate results: you can break both, break one, or miss both.
How skeet is scored
A skeet round is also 25 targets, but shot around eight stations arranged in a half-circle between two trap houses — a high house on the left and a low house on the right. Unlike trap, the target paths are identical every time; the challenge is the changing angle as you move around the arc.
Each round is made up of:
- A high-house and low-house single at every one of the eight stations — 16 targets.
- Doubles (both houses at once) at stations 1, 2, 6 and 7 — 8 more targets, bringing you to 24.
- A 25th "option" shot — traditionally your first miss, repeated immediately. Shoot the first 24 clean and you take it as the low house at station 8.
That is why a skeet card is laid out by station and house rather than as a flat row of 25 boxes. The digital skeet scorecard follows the same NSSA layout, tracking every target as high or low house.
How sporting clays is scored
Sporting clays has no fixed card. Every course is different — targets are thrown through trees, across water, along the ground — so the card is built as you shoot it. Courses usually run 50 or 100 targets across ten to fifteen stations, and your score is your total hits out of however many you actually shot.
At each station you shoot a presentation, which is one of four things:
- Single — one target on its own.
- Report pair — the second target is launched at the sound of your shot at the first.
- True pair — both targets are launched simultaneously.
- Following pair — the second is launched immediately after the first, without waiting for your shot.
Each target in a pair is scored on its own, so a true pair is worth two points. Keeping score means recording the presentations at each station as you go — which is exactly what the sporting clays scoring app does, station by station, with a running total.
How five stand is scored
Five stand is sporting clays compressed into a single field: five shooting stands with a bank of traps throwing across all of them. A menu card at each stand tells you which targets you'll get and in what order, so — unlike a sporting course — you know the presentations before you shoot them.
Scoring works exactly as it does in sporting clays: singles and pairs from each stand's menu, one point per target. A round is usually 25 targets, five at each stand, though menus vary by club.
Keeping score without paper
A paper card works, but it has to be carried, kept dry, totalled by hand and then read back later — and only one person in the squad can hold it. ClayTrack is a free digital scorecard that opens in any phone browser with nothing to download. It carries the correct card for each discipline above, adds the round up as you shoot, and syncs live so every shooter in the squad sees the same score on their own phone. Rounds are saved, so your averages build up over time instead of ending up in a drawer.
If you'd rather stay on paper, the free printable scorecards cover every discipline on this page as print-ready PDFs.
Score your next round on ClayTrack
ClayTrack is live and free — open it in your browser and score trap, skeet, and sporting clays with your whole squad. No download.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a hit in clay shooting?
A target counts as a hit — scored "dead" — when the referee sees at least one visible piece break off it. Anything less is a miss, scored "lost". There are no partial scores and no points for a near miss: every target is worth exactly one point, so your score is simply your number of hits.
How is trap shooting scored?
A standard trap round is 25 targets: five shooters rotate through five stations, shooting five targets from each. One point per target broken, for a maximum of 25. American Trap, Wobble Trap, ATA Handicap and International (Bunker) Trap all use the same 25-target card — handicap only changes how far back you stand, not how the round is scored.
How many targets is trap doubles?
ATA Trap Doubles is 50 targets — five pairs at each of five posts (25 pairs), with two targets thrown at once. Each target is scored individually, for a maximum score of 50.
How is skeet scored?
A skeet round is 25 targets across 8 stations. Each station has a high-house and a low-house target, with doubles at stations 1, 2, 6 and 7, plus a 25th "option" shot — traditionally your first miss repeated, or the low house at station 8 if you are straight. One point per target, for a maximum of 25. See the full skeet scoring guide.
How does sporting clays scoring work?
Sporting clays is scored station by station, and the card is built as you shoot. At each station you shoot a presentation — a Single, Report Pair, True Pair or Following Pair — and mark each target hit or miss. Courses vary, but a full round is usually 50 or 100 targets, and your score is your total hits out of however many you shot.
Do you have to keep score on paper?
No. ClayTrack is a free digital scorecard that runs in any phone browser with no download. It carries the right card for each discipline, totals the round as you go, and syncs live so every shooter in the squad sees the same score. Printable PDF scorecards are also available free if you prefer paper.