Aiming or not

[captainhastings]

Is it just me? I find with the shotgun when I give it no thought and look at the bird and just swing I shoot really well. The second I put some thought into it and start trying to sort out lead or just try too hard I miss badly. 
In the summer on the pigeons I get the chance to warm up a bit or shoot ok straight off for me anyway. But in the winter or at least this year on the ducks because shots are few I find my self putting thought into and missing. If I snap out of that and just look at bird mount the gun and don't try I am fine. So frustrating at time. I missed an easy duck this morning straight over my head because it was accelerating I thought about lead and missed.  I shoot a winchester 23 sxs which is my favourite gun as I shoot well with it most the time and it feels so natural. But it does have a bead on it which I might remove. Sure it catches my eye

Edited December 10, 2021 by captainhastings

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, leave the bead and go shooting without complicating matters, eye on bird, gun in shoulder, pull through, press trigger, after over 50 years with shotguns I to miss 🙄😁

[enfieldspares]

In one sense you do "aim" in that if the gun is bespoke fitted to you (or if you fit the off the peg standard stock gun you are using) your eye is the backsight and the muzzle end of the barrel the frontsight. So you are "aiming" it's just that as there's no backsight as such you don't realise it. One of the easiest guns to shoot as it does have a notch in the front of the action that you use as a rearsight.

[Ultrastu]

Remove the bead .remove the bead .and once more remove  the bead .

 

 

[captainhastings]

Cheers folks. I will say it is an eye catching bead. All I know is when the gun doesn't come into the picture literally I do great also even if I don't get my head down on it things go well. Yet the second I start trying it all goes to cock. Also just chilling out makes a big difference so may be I shouldn't be here harping on about it 😄

[oowee]

7 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Remove the bead .remove the bead .and once more remove  the bead .

 

 

^^^^^^^ This. Not sure why they are even on there unless to fill the little hole that is there when they are not.

 

[captainhastings]

He talks about the bead here

 

[Docleo]

What if you try aiming at clays? Do you miss? 

[captainhastings]

2 minutes ago, Docleo said:

What if you try aiming at clays? Do you miss? 

Never shot clays. I sort of know the issue. Don't aim I am fine but let the gun catch my eye and aim and I miss. Just need to make a mental note don't look at gun don't look at gun 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, if you can take the bead off easily try without just use your eye to rib sightline , me I'm a brass bead aficionado 🤔😁

[Ultrastu]

I feel that your concentration should be 100 % on the bird .judging  the line ,  distance speed etc . As soon as you think of something else (gun mount ,bead , your breakfast  etc your success rate drops massively  

[London Best]

3 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, if you can take the bead off easily try without just use your eye to rib sightline , me I'm a brass bead aficionado 🤔😁

There is no “eye to rib sight line” unless you are looking at it! And you shouldn’t be.  If the gun fits you have no need to look at the rib or bead at all to make sure your eye is in the right place. Use a gun that fits and look at the bird.

If I shoot clays I tend to start “aiming” and leading and consequently shoot much worse than I usually do on game.

[Scully]

Maybe you’re just giving yourself too much time on the birds? 
Some folk on pdriven days stand with the gun closed and ready, others stand with the gun broken, waiting. 
A lad I used to shoot with when stood at a peg, would stand with his gun broken, and as soon as he saw a bird heading his way would glance down at his feet before closing his gun and then addressing the bird. He reckoned it made his shooting much more instinctive. 🤷‍♂️

[Jim Neal]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:08, captainhastings said:

Just need to make a mental note don't look at gun don't look at gun

... and that's the problem!  It's like being a Jedi, this shooting lark.  If you've got anything on your mind, any conscious thoughts, then they are interfering with your unconscious ability to just do it naturally without thinking!

Clear your mind, you must! Hmmm!

Hands up who didn't read that in the voice of Yoda

[captainhastings]

6 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

... and that's the problem!  It's like being a Jedi, this shooting lark.  If you've got anything on your mind, any conscious thoughts, then they are interfering with your unconscious ability to just do it naturally without thinking!

Clear your mind, you must! Hmmm!

Hands up who didn't read that in the voice of Yoda

You are bang on though when I shoot well i am on auto pilot and don't even remember what I did 

[London Best]

7 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

... and that's the problem!  It's like being a Jedi, this shooting lark.  If you've got anything on your mind, any conscious thoughts, then they are interfering with your unconscious ability to just do it naturally without thinking!

Clear your mind, you must! Hmmm!

Hands up who didn't read that in the voice of Yoda

Sorry, what’’s a Jedi? 
Or a Yoda?

[WalkedUp]

43 minutes ago, captainhastings said:

You are bang on though when I shoot well i am on auto pilot and don't even remember what I did 

Similar, but I blame the Port not the space cowboys. 

23 minutes ago, London Best said:

Sorry, what’’s a Jedi? 
Or a Yoda?

This explains it best:

*DELETED EMBEDDED VIDEO DUE TO SWEARING*

Just google “The Thick of It, Space Cowboys”

Edited December 14, 2021 by WalkedUp

[Benthejockey]

I don't get chance to do enough shotgun shooting so when I do get a days shooting I normally always think myself out of hitting stuff! Bum, belly, beak, bang....********! Had a day out the other week and the first drive I had so much time to pick my bird, line up, swing through, think about how I was holding the gun, how my feet were placed....and miss! Second drive was much more fast and furious snap shooting with birds appearing quickly over some conifers and being gone almost as fast and i shot really well there with no chance to think myself out of hitting them. 

[Smokersmith]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:08, captainhastings said:

Just need to make a mental note don't look at gun don't look at gun 

If I could offer a different internal commentary ... think "look at the bird, look at the bird"

Whenever your brain hears don't do something, it does ... don't think about tits on an elephant .. see !!

One of the better books on shooting is called "you gotta be out of your mind" ... and you have!

As LB intimated on clays v game .. with a gamebird, often you're picking one out of a flush and they're on you quickly .. and I too find it easier to not engage my brain at all. With clays, the biggest challenge is keeping your internal voice quiet, and giving your subconscious the space to just kill the birds on autopilot.

 

 

[captainhastings]

1 hour ago, Smokersmith said:

If I could offer a different internal commentary ... think "look at the bird, look at the bird"

Whenever your brain hears don't do something, it does ... don't think about tits on an elephant .. see !!

One of the better books on shooting is called "you gotta be out of your mind" ... and you have!

As LB intimated on clays v game .. with a gamebird, often you're picking one out of a flush and they're on you quickly .. and I too find it easier to not engage my brain at all. With clays, the biggest challenge is keeping your internal voice quiet, and giving your subconscious the space to just kill the birds on autopilot.

 

 

Again your right and I can't wait for Saturday to have another go. I have also started mounting the gun in the evenings  lol

[London Best]

Might be just a personal thing with me, but I find the trouble with “bum, belly, beak, bang” is that I can’t say it fast enough, or even think it fast enough, to match it to the speed I ( that is, my eyes ) go through a bird.