Up and away

Elliot Roberts and friends have great fun and some challenging sport with the new portable clay trap produced by Danish company Nordic Clays

With the game season over and spring upon us, it is time to hang up your tweeds and look forward to warmer days ahead, along with perhaps the opportunity to visit some of the country’s many fine shooting grounds to smash some clays and hone your skills.

Clay shooting will always be a great way to socialise, get outdoors and indulge in some light-hearted – or not-so-light-hearted – competition. But if access to a shooting ground is not easy, or the cost of going with a larger group on a sim day proves to be prohibitive, there could be a solution. I recently discovered an innovative product from Copenhagen-based Nordic Clays.

The Trapmaster is a portable, versatile and compact clay thrower, ideal for practising your technique for the next game season or having an impromptu clay shoot with friends. I had the opportunity to get out with a few of my own and put the Trapmaster through its paces to see if it was just another fad or a game changer for shooters.

A closer look

The Trapmaster shares the appearance of a hunting lamp, but don't let that fool you. This compact device delivers some immensely challenging and thrilling throws. The first thing to note is the packaging. The Trapmaster is housed in a sturdy plastic casing with a moulded foam lining that contains the thrower itself and its accessories. In the box is one Trapmaster, an instruction manual, carry strap and multiple chargers (including a car charger).

The design of the Trapmaster is clean, solid and intuitively straightforward to operate. I also took delivery of a few boxes of the company’s uniquely designed biodegradable clays and a clay magazine, offering easy over-the-shoulder carrying of additional clays when out and about.