doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com So, how poorly do 'most' hunters shoot?

'Most', or 'Average' hunters take quite a beating on threads concerning choke selection and usage thereof.

I don't hunt that much. When I do, I do OK.

All the target shooting on an annual basis doesn't hurt, but I don't set the world afire in the field. I'm at least in the 'competent' category, but I do my share of missing.

The folks I hunt with do OK too. They don't practice near as much as I do, but I don't see gross incompetence or the inability to use a full choke when conditions require.

What are your observations?

Do 'average' hunters suck as badly as some people seem to indicate?

Yes. Rifle users worse. My buddy and I mounted scopes and sighted in rifles for decades. Few customers had an inkling of trajectory. We're a sorry bunch.

most of us are recreational hunters not obsessed Olympian hopefuls.

In my case, I can account for myself quite well 'most of the time', but I struggle on the highest incoming birds, not through any deficiency in gun, choke or cartridge, but because I find it quite hard to give sufficient swing/lead. A crosser at the same height - and I'm in with a good chance, but a straight incomer frequently defeats me. I suspect part of the problem is a rather stiff back from a combination of years and 'mistreatment' (e.g. poor lifting technique of heavy items etc by me) over many years. The trick is to take it very early, but as we all know, its easier said than done!

"Punch" (London) 1910

First Dog (hired for the season). "That's the fifteenth time running he's missed."
Second Dog. "None too safe either; let's chuck it."




In 1918 �Badminton Magazine� said that a man might consider himself a good shot who killed 40% of the birds he fired at. Lord Walsingham reduced this to 30%. Judging from typical game books of the time, these assessments in many cases were very generous.

My game shooting vastly improved when I got a good dog.

JohnfromUK... a couple things to consider on the incoming bird. If it's going to be truly overhead, the longer you wait the easier the shot is! This assumes that you can indeed swing the gun to a high elevation, but if you wait until it's near overhead the gun has a maximum amount of built in lead. They're also closer at that point, and they have a bigger profile.

Shotguns have built in vertical lead at high elevations. Look at the angle made by the bore and the rib. This is to compensate for drop caused by gravity.

When shooting overhead, that need disappears.

The real trick is to swing from behind, overtake, and as soon as the bird disappears from view (covered with muzzle), shoot and keep swinging.

If you see the bird when you pull the trigger, you've missed behind. If the barrels block the view you're in front and you have a chance.

It's my favorite target.

All shooters have almost a universal lack of range estimation ability. Everyone should be able to kill game within 20-25 yards. If not hunting is not for you. Most people drop off very quickly beyond that point. Have you measured 35, 40 or 45 yards and then seen how small a bird looks at those distances? Different backgrounds make ranges even harder to judge. If you can correctly figure the range to within two to four yards you can then figure out the correct amount of lead. If not you are just spot shooting and any long range shots are pure luck.

Just like most 250 yard deer shots pace off to only 175 or so yards most 40 plus yard shot shrink when measured. Worse is that many figure it from where the bird is recovered which may be a long ways from where shot. Range is a tricky thing to some and a real mystery to others.

Nash Buckingham wrote that practice on game was the only way to become a really competent game shot and that with the reduced opportunity today we could never expect to develop the competency of shooters from another time. Maybe so, but he had no idea about Argentina!

I went to SA every year for many years beginning back in the '80s. Whenever I'd return and dove season arrived in GA I practically could not miss a bird. Now I've returned to my "normal" degree of expertise and am streaky, subject to slumps, and occasionally brilliant on the dove field.

Tragically my brilliant days are not as much noticed as my poor days...Geo

I'm a pretty fair game shot on upland birds. I've found that fatigue really causes my shooting to drop off, for example after strenuously climbing a hill and I'm out of breath, I might as well throw rocks. And I'm not even going to mention what a HO will do.....