Pennsylvania Game News - March 2013 - 63

because it got the jump on you. These
scenarios eliminate the uncertainty
about the target’s ﬂight line and direction, again, allowing shooters to
concentrate on basics.
It is impossible to emphasize enough
the importance of focusing on the target. Some instructors refer to this as a
hard focus, but focus a shooter must.
The shooter should not see the rib or
bead on the shotgun, just the target, so
he or she needs to focus. This is why
gun ﬁt is important.
Actually, that is a lot to do in a
short period of time, yet each of those
basics must be accomplished to break
the target. Removing the possibility
of having to “chase” a strongly angled
target with the barrel allows new shooters to concentrate on breaking targets
without concern about chasing them.
Honestly, it’s a huge difference.
After a shooter has practiced from
this ﬁrst shooting station successfully,
and done so 20, 30, 50, 60 or 100 times,
he or she is ready to change positions,
but only slightly so the resulting angle
remains mild.
The following anecdote remains the
best example I know of about learning
to shoot well by repeating basics until
those basics are owned by the shooter.
Years ago a friend surprised me with
his shooting history. The short version
is that after shooting for some years
with only modest success, he was determined to excel in shooting. He bought
shotshells by the case, and loaded two
or three cases into a wheelbarrow per
outing so he could move his shells
easily around a skeet range. At station one he shot two or three boxes of
shells, being conscious of sticking with
the basics. He then moved to station
two, always concentrating on basics.
MARCH 2013

Because of demands on his time he
often shot at only three or four stations
per outing, all the time concentrating
on basics. He did this once a week and
often twice weekly, starting where he
left off at his previous shooting session.
Interestingly, he previously shot
right handed. Finally he learned that
he was left eye dominant and was never
going to excel at shooting unless he
changed to shooting left handed. With
multiple cases of shells and multiple
weeks and months of shooting, all the
while concentrating on basics, he did
excel. This gentleman is strong willed,
but a strong will is needed to excel in
anything. In addition to changing to
shooting to his dominant eye side, all
he really did was return to, and stay
with, basics, and practice often.
Any shooter can do the same thing
my friend did, starting where I suggested and sticking with the basics.
Determine the dominant eye by
making a triangle with the thumbs and
index ﬁngers of both hands, extend
your arms to full length and sight a distant target through the hole formed by
the thumbs and index ﬁngers. Slowly
bring the hands toward the face, allowing the hands to drift toward whichever
eye seems natural. More often than not
the dominant eye will be determined,
which means the gun is mounted on
that side of the body.
New shooters are entering a truly
enjoyable hobby that is a lifetime
activity. At 12 to 16 years old that
might not seem important, but when
you are 40, 50 or 60 you are unlikely
to spend much time playing baseball,
soccer, football or basketball. Smoking
clay targets with a gas operated 20- or
28-gauge semi-automatic in your later
years provides satisfying recreation.
63
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2013

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