Rising straight away shot

Labradinger

Labradinger

Well-known member
Been having trouble shooting under birds lately. I know damn well Im shooting underneath them, and is worse when im not expecting a flush. Starting to mess with my mind. What do you do mentally to remind yourself to essentially cover the bird and shoot without seeing it?
 
That1uncle1776 said:
Have you shimmed your stock to have more drop?
Click to expand...
This has happened with a couple guns. One ive shot for 23 years. The other I just got done dropping-it’s new. It seems like a mental thing that I’m not recognizing the rise in the bird. I didnt miss today, but bird wasnt dead and wasnt found. Young dog isnt seasoned on finding downed birds. Have had a knot in my gut since.

I should say I didnt miss on my 3rd shot…
 
Labradinger said:
Been having trouble shooting under birds lately. I know damn well Im shooting underneath them, and is worse when im not expecting a flush. Starting to mess with my mind. What do you do mentally to remind yourself to essentially cover the bird and shoot without seeing it?
Click to expand...
I can't say it makes me do what I want to do every time, but I periodically try to visualize what I am going to do on the next flush, as I am hunting. And, if I am thinking clearly, I do it when I expect a flush too. I figure the more I remind myself, the greater chance my subconscious will listen if I shoot instinctively. What I'd rather do is have more conscious control when I shoot, but it doesn't always end up that way in the heat of the moment.

I have a harder time with close, going away birds, and shooting under them, too. Part of that is not covering the bird and part of it is my gun shoots lower than the point of aim.
 
Labradinger said:
Been having trouble shooting under birds lately. I know damn well Im shooting underneath them, and is worse when im not expecting a flush. Starting to mess with my mind. What do you do mentally to remind yourself to essentially cover the bird and shoot without seeing it?
Click to expand...

A straight away shot is pretty rare for me, almost always they are going to one side just a little. But just come up on the tail, then cover the whole bird with the barrel and squeeze it off while you are still rising above it. Knowing if your gun shoots 60/40 50/50 40/60 is important too. With most benelli guns you can point the bead at the back and kill it every time, they tend to shoot a true 60/40 or even higher.
 
Bird wasn’t dead, bird wasn’t found, then I missed. My fault. 16yd station 3 trap, gun down and shoot the head off the clay. When I am hunting, I throw the gun up often, like every 5-10 minutes. Helps to get mad at the rooster, then kill it. Good advice above.
 
"More drop" makes the gun shoot lower, so I would not recommend that. I routinely have to reduce drop to make my guns shoot where I look. What ruins most straight-away shots is trying to see the barrel's (or bead's) relationship to the bird. Best way to make yourself shoot under them there is.
 
I shoot 5 different guns,so I don't shoot consistently well at times.My go to gun is a 12 ga.1187 made in 1997. I'm really good with that gun, IC choke. My favorite gun is a 1958 sweet 16.Now that's a classy gun,full choke.Sometimes I shoot well with it.
 
Strait away rising and strait incoming is basically the same sight picture. You need to cover the bird with the sight. easier said than done most of the time.
 
A simple way to raise your colm is a piece of mole skin. I think someone makes a pad with different shims also. But strait away clay pigeons will do it also. I think I seem to focus on the movement of the wings and not the head a lot, giving me infamous ass shot.
 
Quailnerd said:
I hit my first 4 quail today and was feeling like John Wayne, then missed 9 shots in a row.. I’m no help
Click to expand...
My buddy and I were just talking about that yesterday. I was bragging about my shooting prowess, then proceeded to miss the next two and kill the next one on the second shot. And the time he shot 5 quail strait, then missed the rest of his shots the rest of the day. You know the moral of the story!
 
It's more likely you're shooting over the bird. You might want to pattern your gun. Most guns, such as my Browning 625, pattern 60% over and 40% under the aim point. Thus, if I can see the entire bird over my bead, the bird will be pretty much right in the middle of the pattern. If I can't see the bird, then my pattern is high. The problem isn't the fit of your gun but your aim point. Keep the bird fully in sight right at the top of your bead assuming your gun patterns 60/40 or in that neighborhood. All this has nothing to do with height of comb and other fit issues unless the bird is not visible because of the fit of your gun. Based on your post the bird is not visible because of where you're aiming.
 
Last edited:
When you pull the trigger, you make that commitment to the bird to kill it. Not half dead, not half alive. Kill it or don’t take the shot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top