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Clubs with coin/card operated traps

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7.1K views 35 replies 28 participants last post by  Exhibition Grade Wood  
#1 ·
My club is discussing the option of switching to coin or card operated practice traps. Our current system utilizes purchasing practice tickets from the clubhouse and paying trap kids to load targets and score. Some of the problems we have with our current system is that our trap help is variable so there are times when we don’t have enough help to run the voice calls and to score, so we sometimes send a squad out to shoot without a scorekeeper. Without a trap kid out there we run into the situation of naive shooters moving voice calls around or talking between shots so all the while the machine is throwing targets. Obviously the cost of the coin or card operated systems isn’t cheap and it would take a fair bit of targets to eventually recoup the cost of said system.

For those clubs who have switched to a coin or card operated system, which one did you end up going with and are you happy with it? Are there any systems to avoid because of unreliability or servicing issues? Any other thoughts?

Thank you for any input!
 
#4 ·
SanRemo32 said:
Your scenario is a common and very expensive problem for all clubs.

I think the coin system is the most accurate as you only get 27 birds.

As for the card system people behind the counter will just put more on the card than they need to.

Either way will pay for itself in the long run.
Click to expand...
My club uses the card and the cashier loads however many rounds ( 27 targets each) that you want. One round is deducted each time you insert the card and the system tells you how many rounds you have left on the card.
 
#3 ·
I belong to two clubs, one that uses the coins and one uses the card. I think the card is better, no coins to inventory etc.
The goal is to get paid for every target you throw. If shooters can't figure that out that's their problem. Both clubs use the traditional puller/voice calls for registered targets.
Also, you will be surprised to see how many targets your club is throwing that you aren't getting paid for.
 
#8 ·
So we do ours for the sporting course but it works well. You get a 10% add to the card for broken birds or messed up traps. As a member I buy 550 targets (500 + 50 for the mess ups): if you have a problem with a trap you can just let the club know and they’ll fix it and add a few more birds to your card if it’s above the 10% added. The course for non-members is the cost of 50 targets and the card comes with 55. I think if you guys did 27 or 28 on the card it would work well. It also allows us members to shoot on days that the club is closed so you get a lot more days to shoot.
 
#9 ·
You can run a number of traps with just one worker to reload the machines and trouble shoot any card issues. The shooters keep track of their own scores. It is quite common to offer a discount for buying larger numbers of targets on the card. Also, you need cards that you exchange for a drivers license for shooters who don't buy in bulk or aren't members. A desk person and trap line worker can keep 4 - 6 traps running easy. Each round of trap deducts 26 targets from the card at Ben Avery, it is common for the shooters to shoot the extra targets if they are not used for broken birds. If a machine has a problem, the trap line worker has a card to add some targets back onto the reader to reimburse the shooters.

it sucks to lose your card after you put on a few hundred dollars so you have enough to finish the season.
 
#10 ·
You will find having a card system will pay for itself. We have the ProMatic system and it works well. Most members are honest, but some will take a few extra targets and spread over a year it costs the club money. Also you know how many targets have been shot and also members will soon let you know if there are problems with a trap and not waste a whole pile of targets trying to get good targets.
Guests pay a refundable deposit of $10 for use of a card. Members buy their own card.
Devonian.
 
#13 ·
We use the Briley Token system at WSRC. 30-40% reduction in target usage. A little less than $900 a field for the boxes, plus tokens. Briley has stood behind their product for us with any issues we have had, which were only minor and mech related. No attendant necessarily needed as the have a dispenser they sell as well. (we don't have one.. yet) some of my heavier used fields in theory have already paid themselves off in a year an a half. 100% target accountability, once again 100% accountability for public/school shooting. The boxes don't lie. We give 29 targets for the first coin and 27 for each after. The good or bad thing about tokens is that people can loose them or misplace them, good for the club, bad for the shooter. The only complainers I have were the ones I knew, but couldn't prove were shooting extra rounds. We have skeet overlay fields as well so they are serving dual purpose. By far one of the best investments to cut waste and theft.
 
#16 ·
Thank you to everyone who has responded! It sounds like a good thing to look into. I know we probably lose more targets than we know about with our current system. I’m going to contact the different companies to see about getting a system, or two, at our club. Thanks again!
 
#19 ·
This probably will sound like a Stupid question to many of you, but I have been out of commission for a spell, and wonder how these readers work?

Do you insert your card into a receiver at each station ?

OR, do you just do it once at the trapper's stand ?

If the latter, once inserted, how does the reader know which shooter you are.

I have never seen these, so really naive with the workings.

Thanks for the anticipated replies.
 
#20 ·
If using the card, you can punch in as many targets as your want. Using the Promatic, Insert your card into a card reader, usually mounted behind the 27 yard line. You will see a display that tells you how many targets are on the card. Push the center button that reads ”Credit“ and hold it for a second or two. You will see the target count drop by 25. Remove the card from the reader and you will see 26 targets as credit. Reader does not know which shooter you are. You can dump as many targets from your card as you want at one time, but most shooters do just one round at a time.
 
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#21 ·
The Briley system accepts either a special proprietary coin or card from each shooter before their round which loads a predetermined amount of target pulls for each shooter, typically 27. Then it basically counts down from the allotted number every time a voice release (or push button release) is triggered. People will learn real quick that if they’re jaw-jacking between shots or posts it will cost THEM targets and not the club. One downside is the wind. On windy days the wind can trigger the release of a target that will count against the shooter. The machine will also count a broken target thrown as still a target thrown. Or, if you get someone who has failure to fires and keeps calling for a new target that will ultimately come at the expense of taking targets away from the other shooters because the coin or card machine doesn’t care who called for a target, wind or shooter, a pull call is a pull call to it.

One system I used in Utah once had the shooter wear a microphone transmitter on his shirt and it would count every time that shooter called pull and the shooter would then pay for that number of pulls (targets) after he was done shooting. Problem with that system was that a simple bump of the microphone would sometime count as a target.

The most popular system I see out here is the Briley coin system that has the card option on it.
 
#24 ·
At the Ft. Worth Gun Club, they use the ERAD System. It works pretty well. My problem is the buttons on the controller and my technological handicap. I read the instructions, and still screw it up. I just go to the clubhouse, and Seth the manager, gets me fixed up! Of course, I apologize every time I do this. I think he has gotten used to my ignorance. LOL!
 
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#25 ·
Preloaded cards. Purchase as many or as few as you want. $5 buy for the card. Load lines on card, walk out to post next to station one, set card by sensor, push the big yellow button, watch your target count go down 25 and the targets loaded go up by 27. Easy, peasy. Two bonus birds per person for broke targets etc. Turn the controller on and shoot. I've shot way more lines without a score keeper than with. Volunteers load the houses at times or paid trap kids if available or when a league is going on. We had too many people taking advantage of the honor system of sign up and shoot, pay for however many lines you shot before you leave. It was mainly a few charter members taking advantage after hours. They're no longer welcome.
 
#26 ·
Card system you can prepay as many rounds as you want. Each round has 27 targets to allow for breakage. The mentally challenged had problems accepting the system, but it was common knowledge that these were the same shooters that weren't paying for all the targets they threw. The numbers tell the true story in the number of targets used
 
5
#29 ·
Shot (practice) where they had card system. Each shooter gets 27 birds. I started on station 5 most of the time. I don't look at others targets and 3 times When my last target was called for the machine was out of targets. Also watched the same guy shoot 27 targets everytime he practiced alone and if with others he would shoot until the counter was depleted of targets.
 
#31 ·
If 26 or 27, you are still paying for all of them. They are not going to price 25 birds to you then give you 1 or 2 free ones.
 
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