To aim or point?

I consider myself to be a crack shot with a pistol especially. I am pretty good with a rifle, and was awesome with a shotgun.

I think my lack of shooting these last two years has really brought me off my game.

So my question to you all is do you aim or point your shotgun at moving targets?

I do mainly upland, very little ducks and turkey hunting ever year I am drawn.

Turkey hunting I have no problem. A full choke, a stationary target, you can point/aim, both or one or the other and hit your target.

Now, upland… That has really had me struggling these last two years. I use to shoot a lot of clays, and everything came natural, I didn’t have to think about anything, I just naturally hit most of the time.

Now with me missing shots I should have never missed it got me wondering. What am I doing wrong. After reading tutorials/reviews. I have came up with the situation that I am Aiming, not pointing the shotgun.

I am trying to shoot a shotgun at a moving target like I was using a rifle or a pistol. Do you think this is my cause of fault?

When in reality I should be just using the bead to find my target, then immediately focus on the target, not the bead and my target?

Thoughts on the proper way to shoot at a flying target?

Many shooting instructors that I’ve read articles from have different takes on a common theme. They describe forming a picture that includes both the target and the orientation of the barrel(s). The point is to be able to clearly visualize this “snapshot” so that you can repeat it.

The way I interpret and try to apply this, it means that you don’t aim a shotgun because there’s nothing to aim at. You’re not picking out a specific point in space to shoot at as you are with a rifle.

You’re trying to swing the shotgun to orient it to the target (or bird) such that your view of both target and barrel orientation matches a mental picture that you establish through practice and repetition.

Grouse

When I’m “ON”, which doesn’t happen often anymore, I don’t even see the end of the barrel. My focus is on the target and my reflexes move my body to the target.

Shot a cottontail last week that spooked as the 3 of us walked back to the house. Instincts kicked in, just point and boom. My buddy who is a really good shot commented how he was surprised by my success. It was slightly more derogatory, but you get the picture. BTW, we weren’t hunting over dogs obviously.

For me, the less my brain gets involved, the better I shoot. When I miss, I’m behind birds and stop swinging. Too much rifle hunting in me I guess.

I never really stoipped to think about it until now. When i did a lot of grouse hunting, “instinct method” was probably the most used form of muscle memory. That quick draw up and hitting the “window” was the key.
A lot in shooting firearms is similar to archery. The more consistent your form, cheek placement, and having everything fit you, you naturally do better. My old 870 wingmaster is a perfectly fitted stock compared to my Ithaca. blindfolded, i can draw that up to a shooting position and will have a perfect view with the barrel being in the bottom edge of my sight. From there, its a matter of target placement within the box or window.
My dad taught me to keep the gun moving through my shot with the bead either on or in front of my target based on the direction of flight of the bird. So for me, is a case of aiming for a part of the window in relationship to the window of the target. Though, I have to admit all the rifle shooting in the last couple years has rusted up my shotgun skills….and yet my rifle skills on moving targets is very good because of my shotgun skills.

I think of it like a throwing a baseball. you should not be aiming. Enough practice and it becomes second nature that requires no thought.

I think it is tough to be really good at both rifle shooting and shotgunning. I am sure there are people out there that are, but they are really different ways to shoot and completely different methods to shoot something.

Interesting way to put it JT. Baseball to shotgunning. I like it. And I will try this weekend at Pitching some lead at some pheasants and come back with a report!

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Interesting way to put it JT. Baseball to shotgunning. I like it. And I will try this weekend at Pitching some lead at some pheasants and come back with a report!

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Clicker, I hope you hit a home run!

Well, my initial plan was to shoot some pheasants this weekend. I have a friend who raises birds for training his dog. His dog tore her ACL so he has a bunch of birds. I took 9 of them, to use for my 17 week old puppy and his training. Turns out, birdman couldn’t deliver this weekend.

So instead of pitching lead at pheasants I ended up down on the river pitching jigs at walleyes! Caught a couple dandy fish, but it was slow. Maybe this weekend I will have a report on bird hunting.