doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com need help - lost depth perception & can't hit anyt

long story, but I officially now have zero measurable depth perception, and it can never be recovered, as tested by my ophthalmologist. and by my insurance agent after my third at-fault accident in parking lots. and by me misjudging a skydiving landing and seriously breaking stuff I REALLY did not want broken.

I also went from a decent wingshot to not being able to hit ANYTHING in the woods and on a skeet range.

even though I 100% have known I lost 100% of depth perception for quite some time, it was just this week that I put 2 and 2 together and realized my shooting problems started immediately after my last brain injury. i do not have a freaking clue of anything i can do to be able to shoot flying again. I would like to ask all of you if you have any knowledge of something that can help me. the human brain is an amazing thing. even thought brain damage hosed up my depth perception, it can surely find a work-around for the problem. with the thousands of years of experience here and all of the folks who are or know shooting instructors, I figured this would be the best place to seek guidance.

so any experience, advice, or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!

skunk out

Skunk out

YES
#1 is to try
#2 is to help you judge distance

1st. Use a Red Dot Scope, easily mounted on Rem 1100
(single sighting plane).
2nd. Get lifesize replicas of your quarry and learn there
visual looks at different distances by SIZE

Word of Encouragement, If you can type you can shoot

Mike

You have my sympathy, although I can offer only unrelated anecdotal evidence. I lost my sense of smell for perhaps two years after getting the mother-of-all sinus infections. I had gone water skiing in a small lake that was running unusually warm that year. Complicating circumstance was the fact I am allergic to most antibiotics. That infection raged for most of a summer, unchecked. Losing the sense of smell is a huge handicap, I had to have my wife sniff food before I put it on the grill to be sure it was OK. I could make out two odors during that time, gasoline, and vanilla, although neither smelled like I remembered them before the infection.
My doctor was of no help. Little by little, I recovered most of it, but, I would guess there is some degree of permanent loss. You can't believe how glad I am to be able to recognize the smell of bad fish or rotting meat, however.
I hope your depth perception makes a comeback. You won't be hitting much while shooting, without it.

Best,
Ted

Is your problem due to a visual loss? By that I mean loss of an eye or eye injury.

You can learn to hit without depth perception, in time. There are many wingshooters with one eye, thus eliminating depth perception for them. One of my best friends has such poor vision on his left eye that he basically has no depth perception, according to him. He asks me all the time if the target is a standard or a midi. He shoots in the 90s regularly at sporting clays.

I am sorry for your loss, but what on earth possessed you to jump out of a sound airplane anyway? I assume by "skydiving" that you meant you jumped of your own free will.

SRH

I have always shot shotguns with one eye closed, essentially eliminating depth perception. I am by no means an expert shot, but shoot well enough to make sporting clays, skeet, and trap enjoyable. Just work at it and, if possible, find a good instructor to help with the learning process.

I can help you, but our locations prevent that. I have several vision deficiencies that have affected my wingshooting, but I persevere with much success. I have a history of competitive International Skeet, NSSA skeet, NSCA registered sporting clays, flyers, you name it, but my deficiencies have limited but not eliminated these pleasures. I shoot crossover guns, guns with sighting accessories, whatever I need to compensate. It isn't over yet, even though I have no depth perception and am all but blind in my normal shooting eye. I wish I were closer to you so we could help each other.

Sent you a PM

I would suggest contacting Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa. I feel they will info. that can help you. Good luck, Pligrim

thank yall very much for the replies.

I lost my depth perception due a concussion I got squirrel hunting, of all things. long story. I ironically, at the time of that concussion I was wearing a full body brace due a broken back I suffered in a different skydiving wreck. I don't know how to explain it because I never could have understood it before it happened to me, but my brain has formed a "work-around" to help with my brain interpreting the visual input I get every day. it is only a partial work-around for static things, and get something moving like a shotgun target and it breaks down

does anyone know any one-eyed shooters, shooting coaches who have worked with one-eyed shooters, or just good shooting instructors in general?

ted - hang in there and keep working on it. I lost 100% of my senses of taste and smell due to a different brain injury. I now have at very best 30-40% of my sense of taste and maaaaybe on a good day 10% of my sense of smell back. however, I listened to a segment on npr not long ago in which a doctor described retraining her brain to interpret smells after she lost 100% of it due to a brain injury. she discovered by accident that she could barely detect certain candle smells and developed a routine to actually exercise the area of her brain that interpreted smells. she has been making steady gains ever since. so keep working on it!!!

Inadvertently, I suspect I have been doing the same thing, but, with more mudane daily pursuits, like emptying and cleaning the cat's box....Whatever works, right? I have made much progress, I would guess I have maybe 80% of what I had before.
Now if we can just figure out how to get our brains to learn to ignore and recover from tinitus, we will be doing great.
Good luck,
Best,
Ted

I have an acquaintance who lost the vision in his left eye due to a wreck. Fortunately he is right handed and was always right eye dominant. After his recovery, he was having trouble hitting clays at first, but within two months he seems as good as ever, and he was nailing the ducks this past season. Just keep at it and give it a little time is my advice.
I can sympathize. I lost 100% of my hearing in my left ear due to a sneeze of all things. The only thing they can offer that has a high chance of success at recovering some hearing is a cochlear implant. But, a lot of people have most of their hearing come back gradually over time, so right now I am waiting and hoping.

Marc
I have a friend who was born with no depth perception, something called a "lazy eye" I believe. I spoke about your problem to him and he said that while your shooting might never be as good as before, with practice it can get better. However, after reading farther into this thread, you may have greater issues than a simple loss of depth perception. Nonetheless, I imagine working with a knowledgeable coach is key.
Steve
PS I had a female friend in college who was a skydiver. I thought of trying it but lost interest after she had a lethal accident. It wasn't her death but rather the reaction of her fellow skydiver "friends" that turned me off to the sport. Her chute tangled and she was too low to deploy her backup chute, BANG! The group of friends she was skydiving with called her ex-husband to fetch her body and then they all promptly left town. What a bunch of cold-hearted bastards. Nobody I want to ever hang with.

May I suggest that rather than a shooting coach (or, in addition to one) it might be helpful to consult a neurologist at a university teaching hospital. You might even find one who shoots!

If it's concussion-based then you might be able to localize the site of injury and depending upon the plasticity of your brain, develop a work-around. A neurologist and a trauma center might offer the best solution.

Good luck!

There is hope! I had an older veteran friend that lost sight in his right eye in Korea. He was a right hand shooter. He learned to shoot right handed with his left eye and was darned good at it!
Never give up!

If someone loses sight in an eye, or closes one eye, the brain can still interpret depth even though the binocular input has been lost. This is very different than what has happened to Marc. In his case, presumably, both eyes are functioning and the binocular signal is getting to the brain but cannot be interpreted. Other depth signals also can't be interpreted. That's why this may not be a case for a shhotgun coach - it isn't an "eye" or "dominant eye" problem.

Again, a neurologist with traumatic damage experience is the person to see.

Binocular vision only matters out to somewhere around 25 - 30 feet; beyond that distance you have about the same depth perception from one eye as with two eyes. Under special issuance regulations the FAA will issue medical certificates to persons with vision in only one eye - including Class I certificates required for the captain of the airliner you last rode in.

sorry for so long for a response. I personally know a lot of folks on this board and for yall, my illness continues to slip downhill. that is why I have disappeared from all internet boards. my illness has been on a mongo flare-up of biblical proportions for the past several days. feeling better today and think I am now on the upswing.

for those who don't know me, I am disabled and have a lot of weird/rare/unique health stuff. the majority of illness produces symptoms exactly like MS. other problems create other symptoms

anyway, thank you very much for so many postings to help me through my problems. will write more tomorrow when I will feel even better. I am also going to start a separate thread about shooting coaches, both general and specific. but likewise, that will have to wait until tomorrow.

thanks again!

skunk out