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Missing so many birds (part 2)!!


yidoharry
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Terry, my golf swing is a bit ropey these days and I'm also having trouble with my lawn..... Can you help?

I can help with both of your problems.

 

LAWN

 

Tarmac it over, sorted.

 

GOLF SWING.

 

Sell the clubs and buy a Shotgun, sorted.

 

Now this is where I step in :good:

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Listen to Fenboy. Everything that you've said indicates that you're "poking at it" or stopping the swing. If Terry brings his pattern board, you're very probably going to see the benefit of how the shot prints at 16 yards. Having said that, if all (gun, chokes, cart's, etc, etc) is as per how you shot with Terry last time, then Fenboy has in all probability nailed it.

 

Edit: Thinking about it, you don't mention if you shoot while sitting in the hide.

Edited by wymberley
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Listen to Fenboy. Everything that you've said indicates that you're "poking at it" or stopping the swing. If Terry brings his pattern board, you're very probably going to see the benefit of how the shot prints at 16 yards. Having said that, if all (gun, chokes, cart's, etc, etc) is as per how you shot with Terry last time, then Fenboy has in all probability nailed it.

 

Edit: Thinking about it, you don't mention if you shoot while sitting in the hide.

Shot sitting down for the 1st time last time out with me.

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Listen to Fenboy. Everything that you've said indicates that you're "poking at it" or stopping the swing. If Terry brings his pattern board, you're very probably going to see the benefit of how the shot prints at 16 yards. Having said that, if all (gun, chokes, cart's, etc, etc) is as per how you shot with Terry last time, then Fenboy has in all probability nailed it.

 

Edit: Thinking about it, you don't mention if you shoot while sitting in the hide.

No I always try and stand and shoot unless one catches me by total surprise at the last minute!

This is why pigeon watch is soooo good! Helping out each other, unconditioned...

As I said last time I posted the "part 1 " of this....I was overwhelmed by the amount of advice and encouragement I was afforded....really appreciate it guys cheers!!

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Guest cookoff013

OP,

its not the choke,

its probably not the cartridges. as you say you are missing 20 yarders, any clay shell could get them.

 

what i would do is take bakerb up on his offer, ask him to check your mount, wiith poi / poa, on a pattern board.

 

i went through a real bad patch, i couldnt even hit daylight, it was awful. i ended up having to do a self diagnostic, via pattern plate.... this told me "things were not good". i have no - eye dominance, so any of my eyes could take over and cause much confusion. i ended up shooting well by closing my left eye, the sight picture was improving.

 

i had poi issues with my MK70, that was my fault though, my mount wasnt right and i needed to adjust the LOP slightly, this made everything come together, after that naturally the shooting got better, good enough to start shooting trap with decent experiences, learning proper skeet shooting , and sporting targets, i say decent experiences because i dont keep score, and shot way more than i miss.

 

the normal "soft" targets are usually obliterated, once you are confident enough on the soft stuff, then you can start to push what you can...

 

1, diagnose problem

2, fix problem

3, shoot some stuff,

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I found this topic interesting after struggling recently on a day clay shooting with my eldest son. I gave up SGC many years ago and have done nothing but sub 12 air rifles for pest control and entertainment on the garden range.

On the day out I tried various clays but found that when I knew where the target was coming from I invariably missed them, I was trying to aim as I would with a rifle. On one stand we had a choice of about 8 possible clays, getting despondant I said to just let them go from anywhere but not let me know where from, suddenly instinct kicked in and I started to hit clays, without time to think I was mounting the gun, following and firing without thinking and that made a difference.

That took me back to duck shooting on the levels nearly 40 years ago when dusk shooting in low light meant you only picked up on a bird in the last seconds, I could hit them but miss easier shots coming from a long way out in daylight.

I think mastering a shotgun is more about instinct and reaction rather than aiming and concentration.

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I found this topic interesting after struggling recently on a day clay shooting with my eldest son. I gave up SGC many years ago and have done nothing but sub 12 air rifles for pest control and entertainment on the garden range.

On the day out I tried various clays but found that when I knew where the target was coming from I invariably missed them, I was trying to aim as I would with a rifle. On one stand we had a choice of about 8 possible clays, getting despondant I said to just let them go from anywhere but not let me know where from, suddenly instinct kicked in and I started to hit clays, without time to think I was mounting the gun, following and firing without thinking and that made a difference.

That took me back to duck shooting on the levels nearly 40 years ago when dusk shooting in low light meant you only picked up on a bird in the last seconds, I could hit them but miss easier shots coming from a long way out in daylight.

I think mastering a shotgun is more about instinct and reaction rather than aiming and concentration.

Again, everything that you've said indicates that you're poking at the 'easy' ones or those you see coming from a mile off. Also, you were doing great until your very last word. We all have instinct and can react due to a natural hand/eye co-ordination. We harness this together with a good gun fit and consistent correct mount for success eventually building up a series of sight pictures in our memory bank. This takes care of the 'aim'. With regard to concentration, a skeet shooter will not score 25/25 and neither a trap man, 99/100 unless they concentrate. Concentrate on keeping the swing is not bad advice.

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Again, everything that you've said indicates that you're poking at the 'easy' ones or those you see coming from a mile off. Also, you were doing great until your very last word. We all have instinct and can react due to a natural hand/eye co-ordination. We harness this together with a good gun fit and consistent correct mount for success eventually building up a series of sight pictures in our memory bank. This takes care of the 'aim'. With regard to concentration, a skeet shooter will not score 25/25 and neither a trap man, 99/100 unless they concentrate. Concentrate on keeping the swing is not bad advice.

Perhaps concentration was the wrong choice of word, I was more relaxed with the surprise clays, alert yes but not tensed up as much. Shooting was therefore more intuitive.

We're going to have another go soon so hopefully I can practice what I learnt last time.

Regards

Tim

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Perhaps concentration was the wrong choice of word, I was more relaxed with the surprise clays, alert yes but not tensed up as much. Shooting was therefore more intuitive.

We're going to have another go soon so hopefully I can practice what I learnt last time.

Regards

Tim

When faced with this problem, there's an old saying, 'don't mount the gun until a couple of seconds after you first thought you'd pull the trigger'. Not to be taken literally, of course, but you get the idea.

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Are you moving your feet? I always step forwards into a birds flightpath if given the chance.

On a clay ground you have the chance to get your feet 'right' before calling for the bird; not always possible when shooting in the field.

You need to step into the path of your target by moving your front foot forward to intercept the bird on its flight line (much easier to demonstrate than explain) which aids swing.If presented with a r to l crossing/quartering bird, step forward and slightly left with your front foot as you begin to bring the gun to your shoulder; reverse it for l to r crossers and lean into incoming targets.

If you shoot targets with static feet you impede your natural rhythm and swing, and in extreme circumstances lose your balance. Even those directly overhead birds are addressed by leaning forward into their path, and then transferring your weight onto the back foot as it zooms overhead. The 'transferring' part happens naturally after a while, so don't make a conscious effort to do it, and take your time to get that mount right. All this means jackpoop if your mount is wrong, so you may as well slow down and get it right.

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its just a thought, but, if you are missing a few you may be lifting you head from off the stock as you pull the trigger, almost seeing if you hit it as you pull the trigger, if so you will almost certainly be stopping the gun swing resulting in missing behind

Interesting thought.......Thinking about it I seem to be doing this in anticipation of missing so I can get a second go at it. Maybe its this coupled with me being so keen to get the bird!

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Again, everything that you've said indicates that you're poking at the 'easy' ones or those you see coming from a mile off. Also, you were doing great until your very last word. We all have instinct and can react due to a natural hand/eye co-ordination. We harness this together with a good gun fit and consistent correct mount for success eventually building up a series of sight pictures in our memory bank. This takes care of the 'aim'. With regard to concentration, a skeet shooter will not score 25/25 and neither a trap man, 99/100 unless they concentrate. Concentrate on keeping the swing is not bad advice.

With regards to the perfect gun fit, how should this be? I know its sounds like a silly question but how do I know when its a perfect fit.....what should this look/feel like......I'm so eager to get the answers I know but I cant stop thinking about shooting at the moment....every week I'm counting down to the weekend praying that the weather holds out so I can get back out there full of excitement only to get lots of chances and miss the opportunities and get down!!! Arggggh so frustrating! :unhappy:

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With regards to the perfect gun fit, how should this be? I know its sounds like a silly question but how do I know when its a perfect fit.....what should this look/feel like......I'm so eager to get the answers I know but I cant stop thinking about shooting at the moment....every week I'm counting down to the weekend praying that the weather holds out so I can get back out there full of excitement only to get lots of chances and miss the opportunities and get down!!! Arggggh so frustrating! :unhappy:

my simple imput here is this;with a rifle you have sights and aim,with a shotgun your body is the gun turret and the whole point of gun fit is to get the mounted gun pointing where you are looking as you do not 'aim' with a shotgun but move/ point/estimate/ fire...........dummy mount your gun on the corner of your ceiling a few times..then shut your eyes and mount it again..open your eyes are you there or thereabouts?.......is the gun comfortable and does it feel a reasonably natural part of your turret?If yes gun fit is good enough!If not do something about it...

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ps to above having now read the threads have you been out with Baker boy?...cannot beat having someone see what you are doing who knows what they are looking for?..'perfect gun fit' helps but is not the answer on its own!...also forget choke/cartridges bit too without doubt the least important........what has bakerboy said to you??

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Couple of good points raised: Lifting your head and foot movement. When you're all set up and before you start shooting stand up and place your feet applicable to a mount for a target over the decoys and make a note. Then, when shooting do not mount where the bird is but stand as noted and move on the bird from the hips, then when you swing on the bird over the decoys you're correctly positioned for the shot. Also, you mention that your big problem is the 20 yarders. If you have any degree of choke, even, say, 1/2, the consequences of this cannot be totally ignored. At that range with that choke 10" off centre and you've missed. Old saying; "give it lore".

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Well Sunday came and me and Terry met up at a local Filling station en route to my chosen farm.....The weather didn't exactly seem the best as we drove down the mist/fog seemed to be getting thicker! On arrival I was put at ease by Terry as he felt the mist would lift in due course and he was right. We proceeded to get the equipment out of the 4x4 and Terry was quick to point out that setting up the way we did would give me a good chance to get a few as I knew where they would be coming from. After explaining a few issues I raised regards the gun fit he asked me to raise the gun and assured me the gun was fine for me but noticed I was tilting my head so went to his truck and came back with a plastic "comb" (I think that's what he said) and attatched it to the stock. Now try mounting the gun he said......I raised the gun gun and it was perfect!! We sat back and waited, chatting about all manor of things from our different lives........suddenly and without warning a couple of obliging woodies came through the pattern exactly as Terry said they would but I snatched at the shot and sadly missed behind! Terry assured me there would be other opportunities and around 20 mins later another few came across the same flight path.......this time I acted more on instinct and lifted, mounted and took my shot without too much of a thought process and down came the first bird of the day......a nice shot for me and Terry was kind enough to collect the bird, as he came back he said "35 yards that one" I was pleasantly surprised and sat back down eager for more action....after a short wait the second bird of the day came my way and at 40 yards gave me even more confidence.......The action then slowed before a small flock of around 15 birds came from the opposite side but I was unfortunately pre occupied by a couple in the opposite direction and panicked a little which resulted in a miss. The day then slowed down and the birds were obviously more interested in another area far to the left of us as we saw huge flocks rising in unison every so often. The day petered out and there wasn't too many other chances to add to my total but spending time with someone with such a wealth of knowledge was invaluable for me. Lunchtime came and Terry decided to shoot off which was fine to let me tackle them on my own......I ended the day with 7 woodies in all and some decent shots which has given me renewed confidence......I have to say that I feel it would be hard to find someone like "Bakerboy" who was willing to give up he's Sunday morning and come and sit with me all to help me along in my pursuit of become a better shot. He really should be considered as one in a million and a true gent.......Thank you again Terry for all your help and guidance.....your a top instructor and man!!! :good:

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