As has been related in other, previous blogs, there are a lot decisions one needs to make in coming to book a trip at our famed Closaway Outfitters’ – San Jose Lodge. We offer world class, mixed bag wing shooting for high volume ducks, pigeon, dove and perdiz, all with excellent service, at the most affordable, all inclusive price. Done deal, drop the mic, right?
Well, the other major variable is of course, how good of a shot are you? Do you have shooting inconsistency? It’s like my old football coach used to say, “I can dress you out, but I can’t get you across the goal line.” At San Jose Lodge, we see everything on the spectrum, when it comes to shooting abilities. This includes everything from first-timers to master class trap shooters. In any case, myself included, I’ve never met a serious wing shooter who was happy with their then current level of shooting.
First timers are my favorite. They generally have low expectations, so it appears to me they enjoy the experience more than most. Given the volume of shooting they experience, most leave the Lodge having gotten the general hang of things. The most difficult are master class trap shooters. I’ve yet to meet one that wasn’t cocksure of their abilities, all you had to do was be patient and they will let you know (apologies to all the master class folks out there). I’ve always believed God created perdiz just for master class shooters. Most the time, they don’t cut a feather for the first thirty minutes. Only then do they humbly ask what they are doing wrong. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s simply that their gun mount is too slow for these little pocket rockets. Now once the master class shooter figures it out, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.
I didn’t grow up wing shooting. My father wasn’t into it, and I didn’t have access to wing shooting. I grew up on a small farm, so I made the best of the situation with the occasional dove or quail that made the mistake of passing through. In my mid-twenties, I finally started having the means and access to Southeastern wing shooting and boy did I fall hard. As I grew up without a lot of experience, I had to accept the fact that my shotgun form was severely lacking. Enter Gil Ash of OSP shooting school.
Learning from the Masters:
Gil and his family are, in my opinion, the GOAT’s of shotgun shooting. They really have it wired as to the science, geometry, and physiology of shot gunning technique for greater consistently. Gil and his family are very generous to offer a great deal of free information online; however, if you really want to be a consistently accurate shot gunner, I highly recommend you enroll in Gil’s OSP school. A great deal of this blog is what I have learned from Gil’s efforts, sprinkled with my own considerable personal experience, and as an outfitter. Gil’s online information would take up 500 blogs on our website, and I couldn’t begin to do the matter justice, when compared to a man who has absolute subject mastery. Suffice it to say, do yourself a favor an avail yourself to all things Gil Ash.
Another excellent tool I’ve found helpful is Robert Louis’ Ultimate Practice Shooting System. Robert is another stalwart of the shooting industry and he has a vary affordable laser system that fits in the various gauges of your firearm. This is an expansion of Gil’s “flashlight drills” and can really help you develop gun mount memory muscle. Robert also has a “wobbler,” that throws a laser light across a room. Combined with his laser system, you can clearly see the impact of your sight picture and form relative to target.
The common theme is that these gentlemen provide excellent psychology and practice routines that can make you a better shot from the comfort of your home. While my job as an outfitter is to put a client on the game, those clients that are weaker shots inevitably seek assistance with “what am I doing wrong.” While I make no claims to be an instructor, I have many hours watching clients make repetitive mistakes that I’ve learned to avoid through Gil, Robert and yes, lots of time behind a shotgun. Younger clients have the youthful gift of excellent hand-to-eye coordination, and tend to be great shots. However, as we age and the hand-to-eye fades, the sins of bad form habits begin to show, and I see clients frustrated on the field. This is often exacerbated in that many clients don’t have routine access, or don’t make the effort, to shoot live birds in their home area. Maybe they shoot dove a couple of times per year. They book with us, and then are frustrated when they are shooting dove next to a guy that hits the range regularly. The better golfers I know avail themselves to all the online knowledge, lessons, range time and time on the course. It’s a mystery to me, but I don’t see why clients see any difference in golf and shot gunning. Knowledge and practice are the key.
Sight Picture is the Key:
The other big issue we see with clients is what they commonly call “lead.” If I had a dollar every time I’m asked “how much did you lead that bird,” I wouldn’t need to be an outfitter! I don’t mean to demean any clients, but they sincerely are asking me if was “leading” the bird some specific distance, such as six feet, etc. Again, Gil is the expert, but I will opine my own experience, together with some expert advice from master such as Gil. Establishing “lead” has a great deal to do with math and geometry. You can research and learn such issues as the speed of the bird, it’s direction and the ability of your eyesight to comprehend fast moving targets such as perdiz. The misnomer is trying to determine the distance in front of the target at a given distance, as this would be impossible to be accurate, and would be a guestimate at best. Instead, I encourage clients to develop what is commonly known as “site picture.” Site picture is what your eyes and brain “see” before, during and after the shot, from the perspective of the “picture” of the target and your barrel. As you learn to recognize the site picture of a target traveling in various scenarios, left, right, coming, going away, pulling the trigger, follow through and connecting with the target become instinctive. I see many clients that over think their shots, or they mount and track their target, such as dove, a long way out, using their shotgun to try and “track” the target. In my experience, the more consistent shot gunners shoot instinctively and look very relaxed and confident when they do. Fast moving birds, like dove, perdiz and ducks, often move in frames per second that exceeds a human’s ability to see and relate to the brain when to pull the trigger. Developing a consistent site picture develops an instinct that one doesn’t have to try and do the mental math to make happen. Don’t believe me? I’m sure almost everyone has thrown a baseball to a catcher, or a football to a receiver. Let’s imagine you meet someone who has never done either and want to know how to do it. How would you explain that? I don’t think, beyond the general concept of throwing something, you could. These two concepts, that most of us learned at a young age, are in fact instinctive. I can still remember, as a young tike, the trial and error of throwing a baseball or football and missing the target. Over time, I “learned” how to do it and it became second nature. I submit that instinctive shot gunning is no different.
While site picture is the critical foundation to consistent shooting, it isn’t the sole “cure” to consistency. How you maintain your sight picture and your follow through are equally critical. Remember, I am using sight picture as synonymous with “lead,” and we have established that there are various sight pictures for how your target is moving relative to yourself. This various sight pictures are what you see, when your brain instinctively causes your finger to pull the trigger. But, before you develop a sight picture, you must decide how you will bring your barrels in position for the proper sight picture. Generally, the two preferred methods are “pull through” or “sustained lead.” I am not advocating that only one is correct. I have witnessed excellent shots in both methods. Personally, I lean towards sustained, but use pull though for certain shots, such as approaching over-head. Pull through involves coming from behind the moving target and pulling ahead, until your site picture is aligned. Sustained lead involves your eyes gauging the speed of the target and your instinctive gun mount places the barrel in front of the target, on speed and with your site picture constantly maintained. With sustained lead, you can pull the trigger when you prefer as you are always “on target.”
Follow Through Matters:
Regardless of your method, you also must develop a corresponding follow through. Follow though matters in almost anything we do, and tends to become instinctive with time. For example, when you turn the steering wheel of a vehicle, your follow through is how you instinctively return the steering wheel to neutral. Golf, archery, rifle shooting, etc. all have a follow though component. With the pull through method, I’ve witnessed that most shot gunners have an exaggerated, often violent whip of the barrel as they pull the trigger. While it works, I’ve noticed that subsequent target acquisition is difficult. With sustained lead, your follow through is already established as you have matched the speed of the target. All you must do is maintain this barrel speed after the shoot. It also has the advantage of making secondary target acquisition relatively easy.
So, we’ve developed a method of sight picture and follow through, so we’re world class now, right? Well, yes and no. Two other significant concerns I see clients struggle with are stopping their barrels and moving their eyes rapidly and repeatedly from the bird to the barrel. For clients that stop their barrel, this is simply that they haven’t committed to a method of follow through, even thought they may have developed an instinctive sight picture. They may do well on first shot connections, but they will rarely shoot doubles or triples. The obvious cure is to develop, trust and practice a follow through. The barrel to bird, bird to barrel dilemma arises from an undeveloped, or untrusted sight picture. It’s not uncommon when one is developing their site picture reference, but it should go away with a committed and practiced sight picture development. The key to these two common problems is that if you are doing them, it’s clear indication that you haven’t mastered sight picture and follow through.
Making it Happen:
At Closaway Outfitters’ – San Jose Lodge, it’s clients commonly comment that they have more shot opportunity and shoot more in a few days, than they will in an entire season at home. This is especially true when it comes to world class duck hunting in Uruguay. Inevitably, less practiced shooters go home better than they arrived; however, if there’s not a commitment to practice at home, they inevitably loose that newfound instinctiveness and return to us the following year right where they originally started. Consistent, instinctive shot gunning is a perishable skill that must be maintained.
In closing, please know that at Closaway Outfitters’ – San Jose Lodge, we are not the shotgun police and no one is “keeping score.” We have many repeat clients that are not accomplished shot gunners and don’t care to be, which is perfectly fine of course. Nevertheless, we do have many clients, “in the middle,” that are not satisfied with their results and want to shoot more consistently. We hope that our comments will prove helpful and we look forward to assisting you in any way we can. Good luck and good shooting!
