I am an upland hunter....

[ScenicRoute]

And I suck at shooting! 

[Brdhntr47]

6 minutes ago, ScenicRoute said:

And I suck at shooting! 

Can’t be you.  It must be gun fit, LOP, drop at comb, drop at heel, pitch, barrel orientation, single trigger, double trigger or your mount. No one on UJ is a poor shot, it’s always the gun.

[Brad Eden]

You are in good company. 

[hobbes]

Welcome to the club.

 

I was convinced that I'd left an extra full choke in my gun after my poor shooting on opening morning.  I was disappointed to find that it was the same improved cylinder that I always shoot.  I finally got my act together.  I guess it was just cobwebs.

 

I've never been a great shooter, but I've never spent time trying to improve either.  My shooting actually improved when I lost the front bead and stopped trying to think about lead or the barrel.  If I ever think about it, I'll probably miss.  I'm much better off if I just keep my eyes on the target and shoot without trying to plan where my barrel is in relation to the bird.  I'm still not what I'd call good, but I do better that way on pheasants and sharpies.

[Jack L]

On my recent prairie grouse trip I grabbed the wrong shells the first morning and found the 7 1/2 's I had grabbed were not enough on wild flushing sharp tails.  Once I changed to 6's I had better success.

 

Of course the day I saw the most sharp tails?  Yup the day of the 7 1/2's.

[RMH]

That was why I used a light 12 with open chokes and 1 1/8 oz. loads before the shoulder went to heck. Wide filled out patterns.

[finsfurfeathers]

I'll join the SS anonomus group. Hello my name is David and I suck at shooting. Would always consider myself a decent instinctive shooter. The more time I have to "plan my shot the more likely I'll miss.  

[ESetterSage]

You need a semi auto get rid of that o/u or sxs no good. 

[dogrunner]

Easily fixable nowadays but you got to be willing to seek out a solution and put in the work. 

[Alaskan Swamp Collie]

I practice, practice and practice, yet is always the same. I do really well(sort of) and then hit a slump where I miss several in a row. I just can't figure it out. Been thinking of getting that new analyzer that tells you where your shot is going in relation to the clay , but than have a good day. Some days I think I should just throw the shell at the bird, maybe the dog will bring them back k to use again.

[TimJ]

As the great philosopher Curly once said "If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking until you do suck seeds."

[Treerooster]

A gun that fits (hits where you are looking) and a consistent mount are they 2 basic keys to good shooting IMO. There is a sticky on here somewhere on how figure out where your gun is hitting. That and concentrate on the bird. Like hobbes said, you shouldn't even see the bead.

 

After that it is shooting style/method and that's beyond me to explain properly.

 

I consider myself a decent shot and I work at it...a little. Could/should certainly do a lot more. My main problem is I get too excited...but I'm not sure I want to cure that. 🙂

 

Missing a lot is just too frustrating for me. So I have worked at it. It is just too much work to finally get a shot to just blow it again and again. 

[Brdhntr47]

2 hours ago, Brdhntr47 said:

Can’t be you.  It must be gun fit, LOP, drop at comb, drop at heel, pitch, barrel orientation, single trigger, double trigger or your mount. No one on UJ is a poor shot, it’s always the gun.

To the above we can now add.  Wrong gauge, wrong choke, wrong bead, wrong shot size, wrong shot weight, and lack of practice.

 

See I told you it wasn’t you.

[tomato can]

I thought I was the only one.  And my ball busting friends are naturally good shots.  I could never track down a fly ball either.  

 

[Chasin'Chukar]

I resemble that comment.