Shooting School

[HenryHawthorne]

Obviously a shooting method is deeply personal and should be up to the individual. When I started this makeover three years ago, I vowed not to let ego get in the way. In my mind, I decided it was better to miss 100 clays than one Pheasant or Mallard. To that end I have tried to remain open minded and try new methods. Initially, maintained lead had a bad connotation because I believed that is what trap and skeet shooters used. Only when I saw that it could be used as an extension of the Churchill method did I sit up and take notice. RM

Agree that the best method for one may not be for another. I can shoot maintained lead (and sometimes do), but I find I'm thinking and measuring too much.

Normally, I close my left eye just as the stock hits my shoulder and as my finger begins to contract - this is the only way I can maximize the advantage of 2 eyes for tracking and depth perception but not screw up the actual shot. I don't fight that anymore, and wont try again unless/until I get a gun that is fully fitted.

I also agree totally with SJ about focus. I hit clays when I'm focused on a piece of the clay (ridge, leading/trailing edge, etc) but often miss when I "see" the clay. I hit birds when I see the beak, an eye, or a feather... often not when I just see the bird. "Butt, Belly, Beak, Bam" is my reminder both for rhythm and for focus.

 

[RM Anderson]

The thing that I like most about this instintive/maintained lead or Move Mount Shoot, as Bidwell calls it, is that your mind's eye or subconscious is left with a mental picture of what is successful. With swing through or pull away I was never left with any such image of what I did right or wrong. This method also seems to slow the target down since you are matching gun speed to target speed. Kind of like driving on the interstate vs standing along side the highway. Focusing totally on the leading edge of the target is something that I still struggle with so I have shortened individual sessions from 125 rounds to 100 which also gives me another round of practice every two cases. RM

 

[Ed L.]

After 20 some years of shooting I seeked help. The guy told me all I had to do was stop lifting my head of the stock when I pull the trigger! A habit I don't think I'll ever be able to stop!

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

The shooting school that I practiced for many years was Pigeon hunting in the Summer, Dove hunting September, 1st to the end of the season, as far from social dove shoots as possible. My hunting partners and I hunted as many days a week as possible. These hunts got us very much into shooting form for the remainder of the Wing Shooting season for all upland birds and waterfowl. The smaller birds really make me focus on the bird itself and in so many different types of shooting. Plus during those seasons I'd go from IMP CY., Mod. and then Full Chokes as those hunting seasons progressed and the birds habits changed. I used the same shotguns in 20ga.. 16ga., and 12ga. with the shot sizes that worked the best. The shotguns I use fit me well, but as one ages that changes. Gun adjustments must be made. Then one realizes what birds to shoot at and what birds to pass on to prevent cripples with which gun. The days of "Takem As They Come" has passed and that is just fine with me. Older hunters can be selective unlike my younger days.

This worked for me as many of the jobs I had I was laid off from early Fall to mid Winter. That meant I could hunt as many days as I choose to, and boy did I ever hunt a Lot.


my 2 cents

 

[RM Anderson]

Vince,
Agreed, there is no substitute for live birds to become a good field shot. Would love to go to Argentina for a dove shoot. I understand the farmers consider them pests but as one gets older I think it would be harder to shoot living critters simply for target practice. Having spoken with people who have done it, they said your barrel gets to hot to hold at times. RM

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

RM,

In my younger days I wanted to go to Mexico for dove and ducks as I do not like to fly. I have been on hunts where there were lots of birds and shooting lotta days over many weeks. My shoulder can only take so much and yes the gun barrel does get Hot. I despise recoil from lotta shooting cuz then THE FLINCH sets in and man o man does it take awhile to subside. (I had a very good friend that was addicted to trap shooting. He had to go to a Release Trigger to fool his brain not to flinch). A body can only take so much. I have been asked to go to South America to hunt dove, etc. but I have no interest in doing it. My mega shoot days are past, yet I did enjoy them while it lasted.

I doubt that the birds in any South American County are wasted. As long as the birds are not wasted and eaten that I can abide. We did not waste the birds we shot (unless birds so torn up inedible). I went so far as to pluck doves, and roast them whole stuffed with a small piece of Italian sausage like a friend of mine did. We had the time but not the $$$. We pooled our $$ to buy "Bullets & Gas" to hunt everyday that we could.

NY has NO Dove Hunting which is a damn shame. The fastest way to recruit new hunters of all ages Is Dove Hunting. The weather is good and lots of action. Of course NY may not want many new hunters as it seems they do more to Discourage than to Encourage.