Trying to get my nephew a bird

A few years ago, I started having some old man type shoulder pain. About that time my grandsons were starting to REALLY like to shoot, so I decided instead of screwing up my shoulder pulling the old pigeon thrower I broke down and bought an electric one. I wish I would have done It years ago. It's easy and good practice. Have him just shoot straight aways until they get confidents.
 
jackrabbit said:
It's not good enough, they must be wanting the 71 F150 that is white with rusted trim and a shotgun hole in the floorboard.
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The biggest problem with the old pick up, is its not great on the highway, and it is a gas hog
BigRand said:
Take a day or two in the off-season and go shoot some sporting clays. 100 rounds a couple times a year can do wonders for shooting performance. Also, I've seen people that can bust clays all day and when it comes to hitting birds they are blowing holes in the sky. Might be he is taking his head off the gun to look at the bird subconsciously.
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I try to let him figure things out. I think with some people, it takes a long time to get birds. I wish I could get him behind a pointer.
 
Goosemaster said:
The biggest problem with the old pick up, is its not great on the highway, and it is a gas hog

I try to let him figure things out. I think with some people, it takes a long time to get birds. I wish I could get him behind a pointer.
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Maybe shoot trap with him rather than skeet or sporting clays. I've found trap to best simulate wild pheasant hunting behind a dog. I have a Brittany so that's different than your situation.
 
Frank C said:
Maybe shoot trap with him rather than skeet or sporting clays. I've found trap to best simulate wild pheasant hunting behind a dog. I have a Brittany so that's different than your situation.
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I agree Frank c.
If you can break a hard right on station 5, or a hard left on station 1. That's all you need for pheasant hunting. Even behind a flusher. I hunt behind both.
 
Frank C said:
Maybe shoot trap with him rather than skeet or sporting clays. I've found trap to best simulate wild pheasant hunting behind a dog. I have a Brittany so that's different than your situation.
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We only have one older lab between 3 of us, so alot of times my nephew is not near the dog. He does get shots, but he isn't aggressive.
 
He may need to practice/ clay shooting. He needs to put away his phone when he's in the field and keep up with you & the dog while hunting.

I have a buddy that sometimes brings along his grandson on the hunt. Once he's in the field, if we don't see anything within 45min-1hr. He gets bored and lags behind. Anything that goes up at that point he's too far behind to even get a shot.
 
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Mak44 said:
He may need to practice/ clay shooting. He needs to put away his phone when he's in the field and keep up with you & the dog while hunting.

I have a buddy that sometimes brings along his grandson on the hunt. Once he's in the field, if we don't see anything within 45min-1hr. He gets bored and lags behind. Anything that goes up at that point he's too far behind to even get a shot.
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Sometimes I think his best chance will be when I'm not around. Just turn him loose on 200 acres of cattails.
 
Do not rush the shot and focus on follow-through.

For me having only one shell in my gun helped because it forced me to take my time and focus,
not rush with the knowledge that I had a second shot in case I missed the first.

Mentally "follow-through", "follow-through" "follow-through" with each flush.
Even after a miss, follow through focus and know why the miss occurred...shot over bird, no lead, etc.
A miss should not be a mystery, it should be a learning experience.
 
AKSkeeter said:
Do not rush the shot and focus on follow-through.

For me having only one shell in my gun helped because it forced me to take my time and focus,
not rush with the knowledge that I had a second shot in case I missed the first.

Mentally "follow-through", "follow-through" "follow-through" with each flush.
Even after a miss, follow through focus and know why the miss occurred...shot over bird, no lead, etc.
A miss should not be a mystery, it should be a learning experience.
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I'm almost positive he shoots low, and behind every single time. He shoots a cheap pump. He usually wears gloves.Checks his phone every 5 min.
 
I call Bravo Sierra on this original post. A person who has hunted as a kid would not forget that sight plane and not be able to connect with a bird for over a decade. Unless his closest shots hunting behind the flusher is 30 to 40 yards, but I doubt that too.
 
Miforester said:
I call Bravo Sierra on this original post. A person who has hunted as a kid would not forget that sight plane and not be able to connect with a bird for over a decade. Unless his closest shots hunting behind the flusher is 30 to 40 yards, but I doubt that too.
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I think he needs a different gun. He's still shooting that 24 inch barrel pump.Ill just let him use my 1187 12 guage, 28 inch.Thats a big gun for a 5 ft. 6 guy.
 
My Nephew got his first bird!!! True city boy. Said he hadn’t shot a gun in two years. Was blocking, dog had run up a draw and had pointed a bird in some horse weeds. I was waving to tell him the dog was on point when the cock flushed. I said crap, the boy ain’t even gonna shoot, when crack. One shot the bird falls! Long shot, I’m pretty sure it was over 40 yds. 20 ga. 3 in. shell. Amazing! 45 min later a cock flew at him, 5 shots, no bird! I said “welcome to pheasant hunting”. There is nothing better than getting someone a bird! Well remember every part of that day for the rest of our lives. The way the wind was blowing, how it flushed, the guns we had, what we had for breakfast. Man, I love shooting birds!
 

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4shot said:
My Nephew got his first bird!!! True city boy. Said he hadn’t shot a gun in two years. Was blocking, dog had run up a draw and had pointed a bird in some horse weeds. I was waving to tell him the dog was on point when the cock flushed. I said crap, the boy ain’t even gonna shoot, when crack. One shot the bird falls! Long shot, I’m pretty sure it was over 40 yds. 20 ga. 3 in. shell. Amazing! 45 min later a cock flew at him, 5 shots, no bird! I said “welcome to pheasant hunting”. There is nothing better than getting someone a bird! Well remember every part of that day for the rest of our lives. The way the wind was blowing, how it flushed, the guns we had, what we had for breakfast. Man, I love shooting birds!
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I think I would be more excited if he got a bird, than he would. My nephew is kind of a nerdy, big city kid.He likes the outdoors, and I think he likes bird hunting. He hunted when he was 15, and 16.Then didn't hunt until he was 23.He doesn't have a dog, and is 600 miles from pheasant country. I'm just trying to turn him into a pheasant hunter, but I'm not sure if he will take to it.He likes to spend money on fly fishing stuff. Both of his parents are granolas.Big city people.
 
Bob Peters said:
I'm an adult onset hunter, getting my first pheasant wasn't easy. I shot a lot of clays but would always miss the rooster. As long as he's shooting a gun/choke/shell that is appropriate, try to take the pressure off him. Tell him to mount the gun, take his time, and shoot. If he is persistent, it will happen. When he drops his first rooster on the season take him out for a PBR and a bacon cheeseburger. If he keeps at it none of them will be automatic, but they will become easier.
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One thing he does a lot of, is checking his phone.Thats really annoying to me.He's kind of odd acting.
 
Goosemaster said:
Yeah, he's constantly checking his phone while he's hunting, and if his battery gets low, he heads back to the car. I've tried everything I know, to get this kid a rooster.He isn't very aggressive, and that's part of it.
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I know just what you're saying. Some guys just don't have that killer instinct. Pheasant hunting happens fast. A person has about three seconds from nothing to the bird being out of range. From hearing the wings, to seeing the flush, identifying the bird, taking the safety off as you pull up, draw a bead and then shoot, it happens so quickly that if you don't have that intrinsic desire to put the bird in the vest, it's a much more challenging endeavor than it is for those of us who seem to have some bloodlust locked away.
 
Golden Hour said:
I know just what you're saying. Some guys just don't have that killer instinct. Pheasant hunting happens fast. A person has about three seconds from nothing to the bird being out of range. From hearing the wings, to seeing the flush, identifying the bird, taking the safety off as you pull up, draw a bead and then shoot, it happens so quickly that if you don't have that intrinsic desire to put the bird in the vest, it's a much more challenging endeavor than it is for those of us who seem to have some bloodlust locked away.
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I agree, and that's a good point.You have to have that drive, to get birds.I can remember outshooting my dad and his buddy consistently when I was 16. To me, it was important to get birds for my dog, and to validate my sportsmanship. My nephew is sort of off kilter a bit.
 
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