Our Final Hunt of the Season
- Thread starter walk213
- Start date
Chessie 67
Well-known member
Way to go Walk, you certainly put in your miles! It seems to me that late season roosters always challenge us. Thanks for sharing!
walk213
Active member
Thanks for watching, Chessie. To be clear, I was gassed multiple times during the day. I even got my truck stuck in a snow bank, and I needed a farmer to yank me out. I thought that I was in good shape for an old guy. Perhaps I am not. My shooting has to get better. I must capitalize on my limited opportunities.
Matt D
Well-known member
That right there is key. First year or two in SD bird numbers not like they are now but we still had our chances daily T limits but when only hitting 60-75% the numbers of birds you have to flush increases. The last couple years some days only took 6 flushes in range for us to be done and many days we were 6 for 7. Make a big difference for sure. Get out and shoot sporting clays. That has really helped along with taking that split second to make sure where you want to be before you pull the trigger.
walk213
Active member
You're right. I didn't practice before the season and my shooting sucked. This was a difficult year to get on birds. The drought negatively impacted so many areas. I have to be better.
Uplandhunter67
Active member
Glad you got out a few more times before season closes up.
Practice your gun mount in the off season. You can do that without ever leaving the house. Start slow and progressively increase your speed until it just flows. Then throw on your gear and keep practicing. After a while it will be muscle memory and will help your shooting. Inconsistent gun mount is a primary cause of missing.
The other thing that affects shooting is gun fit. It certainly changes from clothing changes. Length of pull, drop, and cast can be in question. You can find if any of your gear changes the fit is to tape a drinking straw to the top of the rib over the receiver. Mount the gun and see if the front bead is in your line of sight ( tip from Roger Pace). You may need to either adjust your gear or possibly your gun. I used to change recoil pads when I would go to heavier cold weather gear.
Great video as always. Great dog work.
Matt
Practice your gun mount in the off season. You can do that without ever leaving the house. Start slow and progressively increase your speed until it just flows. Then throw on your gear and keep practicing. After a while it will be muscle memory and will help your shooting. Inconsistent gun mount is a primary cause of missing.
The other thing that affects shooting is gun fit. It certainly changes from clothing changes. Length of pull, drop, and cast can be in question. You can find if any of your gear changes the fit is to tape a drinking straw to the top of the rib over the receiver. Mount the gun and see if the front bead is in your line of sight ( tip from Roger Pace). You may need to either adjust your gear or possibly your gun. I used to change recoil pads when I would go to heavier cold weather gear.
Great video as always. Great dog work.
Matt
One other suggestion would be to put a small mag light in the end of the barrel (May have to take the choke out to allow it to fit) to find out where the gun is actually pointing while practicing gun mount. Works great in a semi dark room! I practice mounting the gun, flipping the safety off and then swinging the gun along the joint where the wall meets the ceiling. Maybe we will run into one another in Eastern CO sometime.
Jim
Jim
walk213
Active member
walk213
Active member
H
Thank you for watching and providing me advice. I think that you are spot on. A poor mount absolutely lead to multiple misses this season. I almost dropped my shotgun in one instance. I think that I will ask a pro for some help this off-season. I don't like how I hunted this year. I had limited opportunities and I failed to capitalize on too high of a percentage. I do think that layers and gloves can undermine my performance. When I put liners in my gloves, or my fingers are numb, I struggle. I must replicate these shooting conditions in order to gain both precision and confidence.
I will keep you updated. Be good.
Ross
Hi Matt,
Thank you for watching and providing me advice. I think that you are spot on. A poor mount absolutely lead to multiple misses this season. I almost dropped my shotgun in one instance. I think that I will ask a pro for some help this off-season. I don't like how I hunted this year. I had limited opportunities and I failed to capitalize on too high of a percentage. I do think that layers and gloves can undermine my performance. When I put liners in my gloves, or my fingers are numb, I struggle. I must replicate these shooting conditions in order to gain both precision and confidence.
I will keep you updated. Be good.
Ross
walk213
Active member
Hey Jim,
I will give that a try. As I told Matt, I am not mounting the shotgun well. Time to get to work.
I also need to practice on clays. Practice earns confidence. Confidence generally creates success. Let me know when you head east next season. I would like to meet up. My dogs are performing well. Let's hope that the farmers and ranchers get rain this spring.