In target shooting, the term target refers to a specific area of a shooting range that the shooter is aiming at. The most common type of target used in target shooting is a circular bullseye, which is divided into concentric rings of different colors. The center of the bullseye (the bull) is usually black, and the outermost ring is white. The next inner ring is typically red, followed by blue, yellow, and finally black. There are also other types of targets used for specific types of shooting sports, such as rectangular targets for clay pigeon shooting.
The main purpose of using targets in target shooting is to provide shooters with a visible marker to help them gauge their accuracy and improve their aim. In addition, scoring systems are often used in competitive target shooting events to determine who the winner is. For example, in Olympic-style 10 meter air rifle competition, each shot that hits the bullseye scores 10 points; shots that hit the next inner ring score 9 points; and so on down to 1 point for shots that just hit the outermost ring.