Spring Training: Correcting Shooting Mistakes

Don’t put away your upland or waterfowl shotgun just yet. Spring and summer are the best times to visit the clays range to work on your shooting skills. If you had frowns and frustrations in the waterfowl blind or dove fields last season, suck it up and get to work.

Practice the way you hunt by using the same shotgun, though you can store the duck and goose ammo—target loads will be fine for your range sessions. Remember that off-season practice is an investment, so don’t skimp by going just one or two times. If it seems like you could use some extra help, leave your ego at home and take lessons from a certified instructor.

Make practice sessions enjoyable. Go with friends. When you’re having a tough day, stop and reset. Remember to watch the target, not your barrel. If you focus on improvement and have fun, you’ll be more successful. And don’t just practice the same couple of shots over and over. Work on a variety of tough ones that many hunters miss.

LEFT-TO-RIGHT CROSSERS

This natural motion for right-handed shooters is so intuitive and easy that it often results in tail feathers on the first shot, followed by a rushed second shot and frequently ending with the next guy getting the job done. Overconfidence is often the culprit. Work on this shot through all its phases: identifying and following the target, mounting the gun and pulling the trigger when your cheek hits the stock and you insert the barrel at the break point. Be smooth with your flow, don’t rush. If you’re a lefty shooter, work on the right-to-left crosser first.

RIGHT-TO-LEFT CROSSERS

For right-handed shooters, this one can be challenging because it goes against the normal flow. Moving to the right is easy; moving left, not so much. Swinging against your body while focusing on a speeding target often sends your brain into overdrive. In a Southern duck blind, you’ll likely encounter this move while pass-shooting teal or woodies. You must get in front of the target or bird on this one or you will be chasing and missing all day long.

The key to executing this shot successfully is to follow, insert the barrel, get the lead and fire. Chasing the target from “pull” to “bang” can be a fool’s game. The clay target (and often the bird) is moving faster than you think. Be smooth, mount, get ahead a little and shoot. Repeat this until it’s rote.

INCOMING

Rarely does a duck or goose come straight at you. For this shot, we’re thinking about it quartering slightly but still coming toward the blind. It sounds like a chip shot but often ends as a chump shot. The bird may be landing, feet down, and slowing more than you think.

At the range or in the blind, get ready for this bird by watching and picking a spot for the shot on its way down. Your cheek should hit the stock with your eyes on the target just before or at the point of impact. If this is an easy shot for you, it could be a good warmup and confidence builder. Shoot a box each of left- and right-incoming birds before going to another station.

GOING AWAY

Imagine you’re in a blind watching birds decoy. Someone hisses, “Take ’em!” and guns blaze. A few birds start to escape, flying away, but you are overly excited and miss. Hey, it happens. However, this is an easy cover-and-drop situation, and after some practice you shouldn’t fail to hit the target. Only a slight lead is needed; usually getting on the front edge of the bird and firing does the trick. The bird or clay target may appear to be hanging in the air, but it’s moving, so you have to keep moving, too. At the sporting clays range, this often is an overhead, going-away bird. If you have access to a trap range, stand at Station 3 and practice this shot until it’s second nature.

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FLUSHING BIRDS

Quail hunters and those who venture to the Midwest for pheasants, grouse or other flushing birds may find it tough to hit a low, rising target going away. Wait too long and the bird could zoom out of range. Mount and follow too long and you may miss underneath because the bird is rising quickly. Station 6 and even Low House 7 at the skeet range can help. At station 6, targets will be slightly crossing and going away. At station 7, they’ll zip almost straight away. The low-house target begins rising immediately. Do not chase either target. Identify your breaking point, get a good stance, call for the bird and follow, mount and shoot.

PICK THE RIGHT RANGE

Know the different clays courses to choose the one best suited to your needs.

Sporting Clays: Every sporting clays course offers unique stations and shot opportunities. Some even have two or three different stance positions at each station to offer different looks at the bird. Most have one or more stations over water. If you’re a duck hunter, take advantage of this to help your mental focus.

Skeet: You can expect eight stations in a semicircle, with high and low houses that spit targets flying at particular speeds on specific paths. Movement between stations gives you different looks at the clays. To work on crossing birds, shoot stations 2 through 6 and ignore the frustrating zoomers at stations 1, 7 and 8—at least to start.

Trap: A trap range has five stations with multiple stance possibilities. You’ll be 16 yards from where the clays are launched at the front of the field and 27 yards at the back. Start at the front to build confidence. You need to smash clays consistently, not be a barrel smokin’ hero. Once you have warmed up and are feeling good, move around for different looks at targets flying away.