Instinctive ahooting
 

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?

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....

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.

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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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.

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

Bill: there is almost as much mythology regarding shooting styles as with damascus barrels. Lots of information here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...3d3Eno/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/VOL.../389143469.jpg

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!

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