The game of Skeet was invented in Massachusetts in 1920 by a man hoping to improve his wingshooting abilities. There have been many refinements to the game of Skeet since that time, and typically American Skeet is the variety played in the United States.

A skeet field has 8 shooting positions and two traps.  Participants attempt to break clay targets thrown from a high house and a low house.  These “houses ” are simply structures that hold the traps, or target launchers, which throw the targets in a distinct flight path.

In Skeet, only one shooter holds the shooting position at a time, and shoots a sequence of birds from 8 stations from a “high house” and a “low house.” Skeet also has a format where different gauge shotguns are used. Using 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge and .410 bore guns lends a great deal of variety to the game.

A round of skeet consists of 25 targets, with 17 shot as singles and 8 as doubles. The first miss is repeated immediately and is called an option. If no targets are missed during the round, the last or 25th target is shot at the last station, low house 8.

Skeet is shot in squads of up to five shooters. They move from station to station around the half moon, ending up in the center, at the end of the round.

Any gauge shotgun may be used, of any type, as long as it can fire at least two shots. The preferred shot size is #9, but nothing larger than 7-1/2 should ever be used. Since strength is not a factor, women are able to compete equally with men. Left handed shooters do just as well as right.