# Improving shooting accuracy.



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Being a 23-year veteran of upland game hunting I am ashamed to say that I still suck at accuracy with the shotgun. Things seemed to only get worse when I made the switch from the classic A5 that I owned for about 15 years to the SBEII. That raised rail made it very difficult. BUt, then one night around midnight I saw this infomercial that changed my life....j/k. You won't believe what I found to finally work. I seemed to get worse and worse the more I practiced as I focused too much on the aim rather than the feel. This last season I went from maybe getting 40% to not missing a single bird and actually seeing a lot of birds this year for the first time in years. Here is the secret located at your local Wal-Mart, bowling alley, CAbela's or theater. Big Game Hunter! I play it as often as I see one and I can't believe how much it has helped in feeling the aim rather than focusing so much and straining to the point of getting worse. Just look for "POO" in the record high scores at the theater in Bountiful and the Wal-Mart in Price. 
I am just addicted now, anyone else experienced this?


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

"Not aiming" has always been my method when it comes to birds and trap. Getting the gun to the same shooting position relative to my body has been my priority for years. After that it is strictly feel because the angle and speed of the target varies from shot to shot. Once the shotgun is in position I just let my eyes lead the body to the target area and shoot it. I am not big on the bead. Never have been. For the most part I never even see it and have shot just as well without them at all.

I have played a bit of Big Game Hunter with my son and it is a pretty fun game. I just don't play games hardly at all. I could see how it would help though.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

I have a laser pointer on the table next to “my chair”. I “shoot” with it until I can hit whatever I point at first try. I’m always amazed how fast my brain and hand link up. I haven’t been up to walking up birds lately but it definitely makes me faster and more accurate with a handgun.


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## sittingbull (Feb 1, 2008)

Good trick. I've decided to tackle this problem myself and get real good before next season. I picked up a bb gun after reading about it online. Removed the sights with a hacksaw and lengthened the stock with rags and duct tape. So far, it has helped a lot to learn to shoot where I look rather than trying to aim. BB's travel slow enough that you can see them and know exactly where you are shooting. Turns out, when I try to look down the barrel, I shoot too high. Also, you can practice in your backyard without bothering the neighbors (unless a bb ricochets and hits there window).


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

One tip I was given a very long time ago was to point the index finger at the target while on the stock. I completely forgot about it until I read your post Cooky. I think I have just shot that way for so long that it is just something that I do without realizing it now.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

No question that the best shotgunners do not "aim" as you would with a rifle. BUT, instinctive shooting is predicated on a proper fitting shotgun. The most common "missed" shot is shooting high caused by either not mounting the gun correctly or, in many cases, a gun with too high of comb. Try this, snap your gun up to shooting position with a target...a spot on the wall or fence or what ever, and then without moving the gun, look down the barrel and see your sight position. If you see any of the top of the barrel or rib you will shot high. If you do this several times and you always see barrel, your comb is too high and the shotgun either needs to be fitted better to you (lowering the comb) or replaced with a gun that fits better.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Try this, snap your gun up to shooting position with a target...a spot on the wall or fence or what ever, and then without moving the gun, look down the barrel and see your sight position.


Good point BP. I'll take it a step farther and say close your eyes first. Then bring your gun up nice and slow and deliberate. This keeps you from making "visual" adjustments while you mount the gun. Only after you have the gun mounted and in what "feels" like the right place do you open your eyes and see what's up. I'll agree with BP's idea of the correct sight picture to a certain extent. But a good rule of thumb is look down the barrel. If you have any rib showing under the front bead you have what we call a "wing shooters" sight picture. BP is a turkey hunter so I wouldn't expect him to understand...  :mrgreen: This sight picture is what you want to see when you're shooting at a rising target like so many flying birds/clay targets do. On the other hand, if you want to hit dead on your point of aim, like if you were shooting a turkey in the eye at ten yards, you'd want to see a sight picture with NO rib showing. A "mid-rib" bead is a huge help when it comes to acquiring the right sight picture. You can hold your head a little high to achieve the "figure eight" sight picture with the top bead riding on top of the mid-rib bead. This will allow for a rising target and help you hit more birds that are flying up and away. For shooting turkeys or pass shooting ducks, you'd want to "bury" the mid-rib bead behind the front bead giving you a flat sight picture down the barrel causing you to shoot dead on where you're looking. Notice I said "looking". You dont aim a shotgun, you POINT a shotgun. You dont squeeze a trigger, you "pull" a shotgun trigger. Not "aiming" is one of the hardest things to teach when getting someone in the right frame of mind to start really killing stuff with a scattergun.

Establish flight path, Point, Swing, Pull, BANG, fallow through.

Oh, and BTW, NONE of this crap makes any sense at all if you dont know where your loads are hitting. *PATTERN YOUR GUN!!!*


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## BigMac (Feb 12, 2012)

All good points. Make sure you focuse both eyes on the target & use your porifeal vision to tell you what lead you need. Another old sayin is eye on the rock head on the stock. As some have said most misses are shooting high. Rember a shot gun shoots high by desien. They are supose to shoot high. You must float the target some, how much depends on gun fit to each shooter. Also remember that your eye is the rear site on a shot gun. Only use the beed for proper gun fit. If you look at the beed and not the target it is almost always a sure miss. Look at the target & your eyes will make your body move the gun to be in the proper place.


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