Over the weekend, I competed in a charity trap tournament to benefit Patriots’ Path Foundation, which raises funds to help veterans settle back into normal life.

The event was a lot of fun with entertainment by Julie Ingram and special appearances by Col. Oliver North, Edward J. Land Jr., NRA Secretary, Ty Brown—my wife said he was on some reality TV show and is now singing country music—and Cpl. Dakota Meyer of the Marine Corps, who will be awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011. Seeing a real American hero right before shooting my highest trap score ever was just great. But of course, none of that is the purpose of this blog, which is that you can, and should, train everywhere.

While standing on the trap line with my team awaiting my turn to shoot, I realized that I was missing an excellent opportunity to train on single-shell reloads with my 870. From then on, I kept the shell in my left hand and when my turn arrived, I would drop the shell into the open chamber by going under the action, run forward the breech and aim in one fluid motion.

A shotgun is an excellent self-defense firearm, but most only hold five rounds max. So, being able to reload quickly is an important skill in an extended situation. And if you’ve ever watch 3-gun shooters, you’ve seen that after they run the shotgun empty, they reload one shell at a time, and they do it really quickly.

Next time you’re loading up your shotgun try popping the shell in without looking using your support hand while going up on target. This can be done on the dove field, in the squirrel woods and on the trap line. What are some more ways that you can implement training into other activities?