As far back as I can remember, September 1st has always been a beginning. It’s time to go hunting.
Dove season opens in the north and central zones on the first with early teal and south zone dove later in the month. At this writing, we have not had a hurricane hit us, but you never know. It seems in the Houston area where I live, on opening day if it’s not a hurricane, the afternoon thunderstorms manage to scatter the birds. Oh, well. Control what you can and enjoy the rest. You know you are relaxed when you enjoy the scenery on a detour!
Speaking of controlling what you can, it is never too late to go out and get in some practice at your local clays range. I know it’s hot, but you can always go in the morning. Nothing takes the place of practice.
I’m sure all of you know somebody who is just a “natural shot.” Well, I’m here to tell you that there ain’t no such animal. There is nothing natural about learning to become proficient with a shotgun. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Once learned, however, it stays with you for life. The heck of it is that you could improve your percentages in the field just by practicing your gun mount in your living room at home – or even the night before you go hunting or at your hunting camp.
We have talked about the OSP flashlight drill in this column before, but it deserves mentioning briefly again.
This exercise is to be done with an unloaded gun. Place a mini-mag flashlight (AA-size for 12-ga or AAA-size for 20 or 28-ga) into the muzzle of your shotgun. Focus the light down to its’ smallest beam. Standing about 10 to 12 feet away from the corner of the room and facing it, shine the light into the corner of the room where the walls and ceiling meet.
With the gun in the ready position, (gun butt under your arm like you would carry it in the field) position the light in the corner. Mount the gun without the light coming out of the corner. It is not as easy as it might sound. Make the mount slowly.
The first few times you do this you will notice the light will move up and down as you mount. Do the drill until you can mount the gun without the light moving out of the corner. Once you master that (or get bored with it) turn and face the wall. Again, position the light beam in the corner, but this time begin to move the beam along the seam where the wall meets the ceiling. Mount as you move the beam along the seam, and at the same time keep the light beam on the seam. Don’t mount and then move the light along the seam. Mount the gun to your face and shoulder as you move the beam along the seam. Do it until you can make your move and mount so smooth that the light beam stays on the seam.
This drill is designed to train your hands to move and mount the gun in one smooth motion, and at the same time point the gun just ahead of the bird you are shooting at.
The most frequent mistake we see hunters make in the field is they mount the gun first and then chase the bird with the muzzle. The muzzle is waving around like a paper bag in a tornado. The one thing that creates consistency both on the clays range and in the field is being able to mount the gun into the lead in front of a bird, rather than mounting and chasing the bird with the muzzle. The goal is to have the muzzles and the bird moving in the same direction and at the same speed when the shot is taken.
When done properly, the muzzles simply merge in front of the bird as the mount is completed, like a car on a freeway. This enables the shooter to take the shot as they finish the mount because they are inserting the muzzles into the lead, as opposed to mounting and chasing the lead.
Perhaps the most common misconception we see in shotgunning is that you never look down the barrel of a shotgun. Think about it. You must focus on the bird, right? The gun must be ahead of the bird, right? Then how can you look down the barrel if you are focused on the bird and the gun is ahead of the bird? You are always looking off to the side of the muzzle of a shotgun. This is why the gun mount is SO IMPORTANT. It is important that the gun come smoothly and consistently to your face and shoulder each and every time.
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