Instinctive ahooting

[Bill Holcombe]

I have been reading several turn of the century writers, and many of them speak of shooting instinctively, not putting the gun to your cheek but more or less letting your hands aim the gun.

I know this changed in the 30s or so I believe, but was just curious if any of yall have ever tried or actually do shoot this way?

[greg conomos]

Sure....though I use the term to refer to 'shooting without thinking'. The purest form of shooting. Back when I could see a lot better I never gave any thought to how I held the gun, what the LOP or DAH was, or what chokes the gun had. I didn't worry about when to pull the trigger or orange tinted shooting glasses, hats, or the dreaded shooting vest. I just looked at the target and let instinct do the rest.

Was the gun at shoulder or cheek? Who knows? Did it recoil? Who knows?

The best shooting happens without conscious thought.

[Eric Eis]

Sure....though I use the term to refer to 'shooting without thinking'. The purest form of shooting. Back when I could see a lot better I never gave any thought to how I held the gun, what the LOP or DAH was, or what chokes the gun had. I didn't worry about when to pull the trigger or orange tinted shooting glasses, hats, or the dreaded shooting vest. I just looked at the target and let instinct do the rest.

Was the gun at shoulder or cheek? Who knows? Did it recoil? Who knows?

The best shooting happens without conscious thought.

I only watch the bird, when someone asks me what my lead was,I don't know, as I don't see the bead when I pull the trigger... maybe if I did I would be a better shooter. :rolleyes: My father taught me to look at the bird and not the bead, the gun was my finger (as if I was pointing it at something) pull the trigger and follow through and shoot. He shot a Ithica 37 that never had a front bead on the barrel, and he always came home with his limit if the birds were there ! I wish I was as good....

[Steve Havener]

Sure do shoot instinctively. Usually at surprise targets or last bird of a double. Back in the late 60's the Army taught instinctive shooting with daisy BB guns with no sights and targets as small as pennies tossed in the air.

[Dean Romig]

Sure....though I use the term to refer to 'shooting without thinking'. The purest form of shooting. Back when I could see a lot better I never gave any thought to how I held the gun, what the LOP or DAH was, or what chokes the gun had. I didn't worry about when to pull the trigger or orange tinted shooting glasses, hats, or the dreaded shooting vest. I just looked at the target and let instinct do the rest.

Was the gun at shoulder or cheek? Who knows? Did it recoil? Who knows?

The best shooting happens without conscious thought.



That's the camp I'm in Greg.

I know for a fact that when I let my instincts and reflexes take over the butt never touches my shoulder and my cheek never touches the stock. I am often amazed how I can kill birds or break clays this way... but if I try to think about doing it this way I'll miss more than I hit. It helps tremendously to be in a very relaxed frame of mind too.





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[Bill Holcombe]

By instinctive I am meaning more the not putting your mounting the gun with your cheek along the stock. Col Askins wrote about this a lot in his books. Not even putting the gun to cheek or looking down the barrel.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

My daughter in law shoots that way. On Sunday afternoon after church the whole family would show up at the farm for skeet shooting she would not shoulder the gun till the bird was in the air, then she would point the gun and break the bird almost every time without aiming, darndest thing I ever saw! Gary

[Drew Hause]

Bill: there is almost as much mythology regarding shooting styles as with damascus barrels. Lots of information here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c7UkkNyMTZ9NAztILpzjSLKvgIneAw5i7eqkZ3d3Eno/preview

Bottom line is that the gun must be pointed where you are looking, and where the target/bird is going, however one mounts the gun. "Instinctive shooting" usually implies letting our eye-hand coordination work, and that's a good thing.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/21690841/389143469.jpg

[chris dawe]

I wholeheartedly agree with this ,a surprise bird more often then not gets put down ...walking up on a point expecting to raise a covey ? well, i'm better off carrying rocks than a gun!

[David Dwyer]

I grew up as a bird hunter, mostly pheasant and latter quail. Walk through fields, low gun, focus on the bird and just shoot. When I got into sporting clays was taught to pre-mount, and follow the line of the target and pull through. That worked up to a point. I sought out an instructor to work with, John Higgins, and he converted my style back to shooting the way I hunt birds, instinctively. I have a low gun. hard focus on the bird. and just shoot. His instruction taught me that my mind knows how to hit the target so just focus on it and let my mind control the shot. It took a little while to convert back but my scores moved up 20% or so.
David

[Richard Flanders]

If you read "Churchill's Shotgun Book" that is precisely what his method teaches. Everything is done low gun and by pointing with the left hand vs the shooting eye, usually the right. I decided, after a few too many decades of barely being able to hit a bird perched on a fence post much less one flying, to try his method and the results were astounding. When I'd find myself missing I'd stop and just go back to his basics on foot and hand positions and stance and bingo, I'd start hitting again right away. You do exactly as he prescribes and your shooting score will improve instantly. For me it was a true epiphany. My field and range scores jumped dramatically, at least for a while. Well, now I have a right eye issue that has me trying to shoot left handed and, guess what? I can still shoot live birds and clays right handed, despite my right eye barely working at all, but only if I do exactly as Churchill prescribes. My best pheasant shot in S Dakota last fall was shot right handed. I also hit a couple left handed but it's still very awkward for me. I don't shoot near as well right handed these days but if I could practice enough could likely shoot that way for all my hunting and do acceptably well. With enough practice I could also just shoot left handed all the time and mostly not embarrass myself too much. Switching is not easy but is also not as hard as most would think as long as you get it into your head that "I can do this" and just do it. I'd strongly advise everyone to acquire and read Churchill's book no matter how or how well they shoot a shotgun. It's my bible, period.

[David Dwyer]

Richard
I completely agree!! I attended an Orvis shooting school and that is what they teach and it works.
David

[scott kittredge]

For the most part, when my gun hits my shoulder ,I am shooting. some times it works and some times it doesn't. :) but when it does ,watch out. :shock:
scott

[Dean Romig]

He's not lyin' - I've watched Scott shoot... and he breaks a lot more clays than most shooters do.





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[CraigThompson]

In my competitive skeet shooting days there was a gentleman at Fairfax R&G named Willie Finch who I am sad to say is no longer with us . Anyway many many times I saw him stand at station four on the skeet field usually bare footed I might add , holding the gun on his hip he'd call for a pair and shoot the pair with the gun on his hip 90% of the time breaking the pair I might add .

I could do it fairly regularly at stations 1 , 2 , 6 and 7 . But not so much in the middle stations or on 8 .

[Bill Murphy]

Willie Finch was a legend. He shot all over and always had a good time. A field at Fairfax is named for him. What is the silly game he played? He shot trap and skeet. What a great guy.

[Dave Noreen]

Ahh.... Fond memories of Fabulous Willie's Station Nine!!

Back in my college days I watched Jim Gregg, then the manager at Seattle Skeet & Trap Club at Redmond, Washington, go 23 out of 25 in a round of skeet never bringing the butt of his Model 12 above his elbow.

http://jimgregg.net/index.html

[Bill Murphy]

Dave, not "Fabulous Willie's" but "Famous Willie's". When you visit back East, you and I and Kevin should visit Fairfax Rod and Gun and go over old times. Yes, I can get us in.

[Dean Romig]

There's a seventy-odd year old fellow who shoots at my skeet club sometimes. He shoots an old 20 ga. Model 32 from the hip. I've seen him clean the course about five times. The other times he dropped one or two. He says there's nothin' to it... course, he's been shooting skeet since he was fourteen.





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[CraigThompson]

There's a seventy-odd year old fellow who shoots at my skeet club sometimes. He shoots an old 20 ga. Model 32 from the hip. I've seen him clean the course about five times. The other times he dropped one or two. He says there's nothin' to it... course, he's been shooting skeet since he was fourteen.





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By no means am I trying to make less of your friends accomplishments with his Remington 32 but I failed to mention it in the other post . When Willie shot doubles at 4 from the hip 9 times outta 10 he was shooting a 410 . I agree with your friend about it being "relatively" easy on the end stations but my hand to eye coordination kinda left me a bit in the middle stations and on 8 !

[Chris Travinski]

For the most part, when my gun hits my shoulder ,I am shooting. some times it works and some times it doesn't. :) but when it does ,watch out. :shock:
scott

It's true! Watching Scott shoot is like watching a kid pointing a stick and yelling bang, except he breaks a lot of clays!! Purely instinctual, very fast and very effective.