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NEED INFO ON TOKEN SYSTEMS FOR TRAP FIELD

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#3 ·
Both the clubs I'm a member at have Brileys. In fact, other than a very rudimentary system I ran into a half dozen years ago or more, every other club I've been to that uses a token system uses Briley boxes, and I highly recommend them.
 
#5 ·
Exactly.

Most clubs without them are getting robbed blind, either by thoughtless (let me have another one x6 per round, or talking with the voice release on), forgetfulness (I "think" I shot 3 rounds), or outright theft.

Every club I've shot at gives you 27 per round, and it's never an issue, and you nearly always have a pretty good accumulation at the end of the day on the box. It is sometimes a little bit of a pain when you're shooting by yourself, and you burn through your first 3 or 4 rounds of spares (6-8 targets) just getting the targets set, but I either toss another token in, or skip a station if I have to to make up for it. If you're shooting with someone else, or multiple people this is never an issue.

Any club that THINKS they are doing OK on the honor system isn't keeping track of how many targets are getting thrown vs how many targets are getting paid for. Guaranteed. Unless your club only has about a dozen members, you're "leaking" somewhere.

We had one club locally which is one of the biggest clubs in the state and the northeast that was getting paid for LESS than 50% of their targets thrown, mainly on the sporting clays field b/c they were so far away from the clubhouse nobody could see them. People would go back there all day and shoot, and never pay for a bird. Coin boxes on the trap and skeet fields, and counters on the sporting clays field turned them around for near bankruptcy to probably the most successful they've been in 30 years.
 
#7 ·
The Cardinal Center went to a Promatic card system two or three years ago for their practice traps. You can load as many targets as you want, but at $5.00 per 25. You get 27 at the start of the rd, and each person has to swipe their own card.

They disable the system for the registered shoots and go to a token system with someone watching the traps all day.

Normally you'd find that a lot of shooters at an "Honor System" setup do not have much honor.
 
#10 ·
You get two spares per round.

If the machines are throwing more than two broken targets per round, you need to stop, and if qualified, rectify the problem, if not qualified, notify someone who is. No pressing the button a dozen more times hoping the machine fixes itself...

As a side benefit, it tends to greatly increase the quality of targets thrown, as management doesn't want to constantly be giving away free tokens b/c the machines are throwing tons of broken birds, and they don't want to be dealing with complaints and issues on a daily basis.
 
#12 ·
trap.skeet.sporting said:
Have you found it the general practice that the accumulated targets are shot at the end of the round or session?
Click to expand...
Yes. A few club members (managers) get upset by this (depends on the club), but looking at the big picture, what is the club losing if the spares are shot, in comparison with no system in place other then honesty.
 
#14 ·
Some of the members at our club will shoot the extras. Some other, more honest members, will click the extras off the counter when they build up to a tempting number. I click them off whenever a group leaves a field, to eliminate temptation for the next squad.
 
#17 ·
skeet_man said:
It is sometimes a little bit of a pain when you're shooting by yourself, and you burn through your first 3 or 4 rounds of spares (6-8 targets) just getting the targets set,
Click to expand...
I would call that more than a pain. I could see where tokens would be fine IF the club had targets set before the squads get to the fields. Setting targets shouldn't come from 'token targets'.

As far as getting help when you start getting broken targets? Well, that would depend on if the the Emperor of the Traps happens to be there when needed, and if he could be bothered.
 
#18 ·
I always shoot on off-hours, and usually am the first one to shoot since the last time I shot. Usually major adjustments are not required, and my first few rounds of "spares" cover it. If the weather is fairly calm, and I think I'll get decent targets off the bat, I'll shoot the first station and make adjustments afterward if necessary.

Luckily the clubs I shoot at have well maintained traps, and out of 10 rounds, I MIGHT have 2 broken targets. I can also fix most issues if they arise myself, or if it's something I can't, I can switch fields.

Too often when a trap starts throwing broken targets, people will just keep hitting the button over and over and over (I've seen literally dozens of times in a row), which rarely solves the problem, and sometimes damages the machine. If you can't fix the problem, or find someone who can, it's time to either switch fields, or call it a day.
 
#19 ·
trap.skeet.sporting said:
Have you found it the general practice that the accumulated targets are shot at the end of the round or session?
Click to expand...
If I pay for 27 targets, shoot 25, pay for another 27, shoot 25. etc. etc. etc. until I have 26 targets on the counter who 'owns' those targets? I buy tokens 20 or 40 at a time. I practice as if I were shooting an event. I build up 'unshot' targets. When I build up a 'free' round I shoot the damn thing or donate it to another shooter if I have shot my usual and customary flat of shells and am tired.

If I load up and drive away while there are targets on the clock I don't care whether the club resets to zero or joe blow shoots a few free practice targets. The club sells tokens with 27 targets. The club also sets targets on the club's account because, at least at my club, management knows that well set targets keeps targets in the air and customers coming back. Club sells targets and flying targets being shot by customers pays the bills. My club is a lot like a candy store. Shoot until you get sick of shooting that day. The more the merrier. The club also knows who comes out and shoots a lot and who comes out and shoots a few very sloooowwww rounds. The club knows personalities and who is going to use up a lot of the employee time demanding 'perfection' on days when it is not possible due to wind conditions and who will just look to see that the targets are reasonable for 40 MPH out of the West and shoot as best as you can.

Don T
 
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#20 ·
skeet_man said:
You get two spares per round.

If the machines are throwing more than two broken targets per round, you need to stop, and if qualified, rectify the problem, if not qualified, notify someone who is. No pressing the button a dozen more times hoping the machine fixes itself...

As a side benefit, it tends to greatly increase the quality of targets thrown, as management doesn't want to constantly be giving away free tokens b/c the machines are throwing tons of broken birds, and they don't want to be dealing with complaints and issues on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
So it appears the bottom line is:

So as long as the club has good machines and staff on duty to keep machines in top condition, then it appears tokens are not an issue.

Conversely, a club with bad machines and ill trained staff should not contemplate tokens until their ducks are in order, otherwise it will be a disaster.

And Don brought up my next question... Accumulation of unshot tokens. Without breakage or "seeing one", especially for practice, it looks like you could get a free round in theory every 12.5 paid rounds.
 
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