Shoot them in the head?

Crossing shot

Crossing shot

New member
I used to hunt with a guy who never missed. He said he hardly ever leads a quail/pheasant. Focus on the head and pull the trigger.

For years, I shot with one eye closed. Always too slow. Mainly shot at tail feathers. Many quail flew off with a leg dangling.

Now that I use both eyes, I focus on the head and pull the trigger. I will lead a little on a long crosser. Never block so all these shots are on birds that get up within shootable flushing distance.

I would expect to lead a lot more if I waited for pheasants to fly by.

Watching go-pro videos makes me believe most guys mainly shoot them in the head.

Do you lead most of the quail/pheasants that flush in front of you?

Thanks.
 
For me it depends on the angle and the range of the flushing bird. On a close crossing shot 10-20 yds I'll swing out in front of the beak of the bird. Longer crossing shots do require a lead if you want to hit them in the head. I hate straight away flushes because there isn't a great angle on the vitals, particularly with pheasants and results in the dogs hunting down cripples. Both eyes open is the only way to shoot a shotgun IMHO.:thumbsup:
 
Providing it isn't a straight going away shot, one should always focus on the head or in my case, the white ring around the neck seems to really stick out the best. It doesn't always guarantee a head shot, but insures that you will at least be in the neighborhood and a head, neck or body shot is usually the result.

A long crossing shot such as the kind one might find in hunting waterfowl, i will use a pull away method whereas I mount the gun to the birds head to match it's speed for a moment, then pull or streeetch...... away slowly and trigger the shot in one fluid motion without hesitation.
 
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I put the bead on their front half/heads then pull the trigger. Though I'm a lefty/right-eye dominant shooter so what works for me may not work out for others.

Nick
 
I close both eyes and let the force be with me. That seems to work as well as the way I used to shoot.
 
Trying to figure out how to help newcomers to the sport. Right now I would say focus on the bird's beak when you can see the beak and the bird is not a crossing shot. In other words, if the bird is quartering, focus on the beak. If that doesn't work, try a small lead.

Start with a six inch lead on crossing quail/pheasant, assuming the bird has just flushed within 40 yards. I say six inch because my lead is about the length of the quail.

Thanks for the responses. I am not trying to get a pellet in the head, although that would be great and happens more than you would think. My goal is to focus on the head. The centering of the pattern might be better with a tiny lead, however it is easier to just focus on the bird's head.
 
Being someone who learned to shoot a rifle before a shotgun, I shoot with one eye open. Old habits die hard. But I've noticed two things: 1) When I take a breath before shooting I am 100 times better, and 2) The phrase "Think beak, the tail's just a decoy" really helps me.

Otherwise I just pull the trigger and kill birds without much thought about leads.
 
Never think about lead. When the gun hits my shoulder... It goes off. Most time the first shot is my best chance at hitting the bird. If I miss on the first shot, then my brain kicks in and I start to think about where I went wrong, and it typically gets worse for the second shot.
 
When I miss I am usually leading them too far. I always have to remember that they are generally not going as fast as a clay target.

One eye open and one eye just a little squinted for me. It helps for me, otherwise my left eye likes to look also... Ammo companies would love for me to shoot with both eyes fully open, and birds would probably appreciate it also.
:laugh:
 
I wish I could use both eyes. I'm cross eye dominant and too set in my ways to change my shot (shoot southpaw???? YUCK!)

If I think about lead I miss...period. I know that I usually miss behind a bird (esp. waterfowl) so I just tell myself to be patient on the swing through.

Like anything else in life...practice practice practice.
 
mutthunt said:
If I think about lead I miss...period.
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I'm in the same boat. Heck, if I think about the shot I miss:confused: I have to let my brain do it's thing without putting much thought into the shot. As long as I do that it's all good.:)

Nick
 
I am with reddog. I have been hunting roosters for 40 years in all kinds of conditions and situations. I would like to think i don't miss but i do on occasion. My misses are usually to do with my footwork. If I am stepping towards, I let my instinct take over. If I am unbalanced or rushed, I tend to miss. I even saw eagle eye jonnyb go through a tough streak a couple years ago.:)
 
I teach the youth shooters in the spring and summer at our local Sporting clays range. Many are rank beginners. The one thing that I have found is you really can't tell them how much lead to give a given target in say inches or feet. Each of us sees a given distance differently. A hypothetical 2 ft of lead may look completely different from one person to another. Also, is the 2ft of lead at the end of the barrel or is at the target? See what I mean..

Lead is more of a feel than anything and the feel comes with experience. The biggest mistake i see beginners do is trying to measure a certain lead. When this happens it tells me that their eyes now have come off the target (Pheasant if they're hunting) and has come back to the end of the barrel. As soon as that happens your gun speed diminishes and you shoot behind in almost all cases. the eyes are what you MUST rely on the most. The eyes are the key and here's why. The gun will ALWAYS go to where the eyes are looking, providing your gun fits you reasonably well. ALWAYS !

An analogy I use with some of my beginners is playing catch with a baseball. Someone throws you the ball, you are 100% focused on the ball and yet your glove hand automatically knows where to go to catch the ball. You certainly don't look at your glove as the ball approaches do you? Your eyes direct your glove just as your eyes direct your gun when shooting a moving target with a shotgun. That being said your glove or in this case your barrel is in your peripheral vision or what we call in the shooting world "soft focus" the target being "hard focus". :cheers:
 
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carptom1 said:
I am with reddog. I have been hunting roosters for 40 years in all kinds of conditions and situations. I would like to think i don't miss but i do on occasion. My misses are usually to do with my footwork. If I am stepping towards, I let my instinct take over. If I am unbalanced or rushed, I tend to miss. I even saw eagle eye jonnyb go through a tough streak a couple years ago.:)
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I think that's what keeps it fun. I had a year (in college) when every time I went out I shot my limit. Didn't miss a single bird that season. That was the year pheasant hunting became boring to me. Thankfully, I haven't had a year like it since:).

Nick
 
Crossing shot said:
I agree with the footwork. Instead of taking two shots, I move my feet and take one shot.
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It's been a long day, my brain is tapped. I can't make heads or tails of what that means. lol Time for bed.

Good night fellas.:cheers:

Nick
 
birdshooter said:
An analogy I use with some of my beginners is playing catch with a baseball. Someone throws you the ball, you are 100% focused on the ball and yet your glove hand automatically knows where to go to catch the ball. You certainly don't look at your glove as the ball approaches do you? Your eyes direct your glove just as your eyes direct your gun when shooting a moving target with a shotgun. That being said your glove or in this case your barrel is in your peripheral vision or what we call in the shooting world "soft focus" the target being "hard focus". :cheers:
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This makes an incredible amount of sense to me.
 
1pheas4 said:
It's been a long day, my brain is tapped. I can't make heads or tails of what that means. lol Time for bed.

Good night fellas.:cheers:

Nick
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I used to bang away as soon as I saw the bird. By the time my second shot was on the way, I usually looked like a corkscrew in a wine bottle.

At home, I put a bird feeder in the yard and turned my back. I would practice turning and acquiring the target, setting my feet, mounting and swinging. Other than keeping both eyes open, this practice had the greatest positive effect on my shooting. I never shoot twice.
 
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