doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vision Challenges related to age

Wingshooting is wholly dependant on your ability to see and then completely focus on your target. Hunting this past October started out fine but became somewhat challenging as I noticed that my shooting eye (my left eye) wasn't my dominant eye anymore. Debris from previous PVD (posterior vitreous detachment ) episodes in the last 2-years has clouded that eye to the point where it was 20/30 in my latest eye exam, done last August, my right eye is still 20/20. I know that there may be surgical options (vitreous removal/cleaning & perhaps even others) but I'm guessing that I'll go with the corrective lense option first. My next pair of shooting glasses will have a mild correction for that deficiency in my left eye.

I know of several folks here that have suffered serious vision challenges and I also know that my situation could be much worse (this isn't me complaining). Targets don't seem to be the same problem as the background is usually the sky, but upland hunting provides all sorts of backgrounds for your shots and I'm struggling to see my game over the rib on my doubleguns. Birds that would normally have been brought to bag aren't always these days and I am troubled by that.

I'm not really interested in relearning to shoot off of my opposite shoulder (too old to change now) so I was wondering if anybody here had some better insight into the subject?

I would go the corrective lens route if it brings your vision back to 20/20 or to an acceptable level. It's the most inexpensive route. I wore soft contact lenses for 25 years and then my eyes started rejecting them. I wasn't a candidate for lasik because my corneas were too thin. So I found myself in glasses for the first time in my life. I absolutely hated them. At first, it was like looking through a fish bowl. After about 3 or 4 months I finally got used to the idea. I am a competitive skeet and sporting clays shooter and avid upland hunter. I don't have a separate pair of shooting glasses. I have transition lenses that darken or lighten depending on the conditions. I know I am in the minority but I do not like the colored lenses of yellow, orange, purple etc. To me it makes everything look artificial. I like a natural looking background. You can get ICL surgery where they put lenses behind the eyes. Most people wait until they develop cataracts so it is covered by insurance. I hope you get it sorted out. Seeing clearly is everything....especially the target!

Lloyd, I am not sure that a lens correction will help with the clouding. I still get cloudy floaters in my non-surgical eye occasionally when getting ready to call for the bird , in which case I just pause and blink for a few seconds until they clear, then make the call. Of course, you cant do that on a flushed bird. I had a vitrectomy 11 years ago for a detached retina in my left eye and it was an aggravated healing process only because of the retinal detachment. If its just a vitreous replacement, you shouldnt have to go through the keeping your head in one position 24/7 to keep the pressure bubble under the repaired spot. I was fortunate because my detachment was on the left side of the retina, so I only had to lie on my right side constantly to keep the gas bubble up against the repair. For two weeks--until the bubble was absorbed. If the detachment had been on the bottom of the retina, I would have had to stand on my head, or hang from my feet to keep the bubble in place--or so the retinal guy told me. I say this only to suggest that getting the vitreous replaced, while any ugly procedure to watch on You Tube, shouldnt be that bad of a thing absent a retinal repair. Talk to a board certified Retinal specialist to get the full story. Ordinary ophthalmologists are out of their league. And I may be 11 years out of date. Good luck! Mike

I tried a few cures, all involving the guns with offset sights, and dots on my glasses. Years ago, I settled on crossover guns and found that was the ultimate solution. I still try dots occasionally, but the crossover cures all ills. End of story.

The retinal surgeon who pieced my left eyeball together after the injury was not all that keen on replacement of the vitreous, during, or, after the surgery. He left the decision to me, but, warned me it was invasive as hell, and there were few guarantees that came with it. He breathed a sigh of relief when I declined it. My vision out of the left eye can only be corrected to 20/30, and that simply isn’t good enough to shoot with.
Changing shoulders and eyes was my only option. I haven’t practiced as hard or long as I should, and I have a few sessions with a shooting instructor left. I truly do struggle with my mount, but, I believe I can practice my way into improvement with that, it just isn’t going as fast as I’d like. My life has many commitments that get in the way of my personal projects, which, always take the back seat.

I need to work on that, too.

Best,
Ted

I have just had my last treatment/lock in after having both eyes operated on to remove cataracts. I opted for the Light Adjustable Lens, because it was the most likely to get 20/20 vision. Not sure it was the best choice. My right eye is 20/20 and my left eye was adjusted so I can read most print without glasses and could get 20/20 with eye glasses. The reason I say it might not have been the best choice is the adjustment procedure is extremely uncomfortable, way worse than the surgery. My eyes are extremely sensitive to light , which they say will get better. Also my brain has to learn when to use the left eye for reading and the right for all else. As my friend say, getting old isn't for sissies.

I had cataract surgery 20+ years ago when it was a hospital stay. My right eye is more like 20/40 without glasses and I can shoot a shotgun just fine. I did have double vision for a couple years after the surgery and missed the first 16 ducks straight that first season. Imagine my surprise when I closed one to try and aim and half the ducks.disapeared. For m what has been explaining ned to me that it took my .ind a couple year to bring the images together. By then my competitive skeet down the tube.

Now if your eye dominance changed due to the surgery you have your work cut out for you.

I can shoot rifles without glasses as the focus on the scope can correct my vision same as the glasses. The place mage in the scope looks like crap to others though. When I'm hunting coyotes I can pick up coyotes faster without my glasses my left eye has no correction but the glass lense seems to make it harder, driving at night I can pick up things better with out glasses.

Lloyd, did your eye dominance actually change or does your dominant eye just have weaker vision than your right eye. My vision is far worse in my right eye, but I am still right eye dominant. I know that some people do experience dominance shift, but I understand from my ophthalmologist that this is uncommon. I have a good friend in the Lone Tree area who is a fantastic optometrist (also a serious hunter and master-class sporting-clays shooter). He helped my shooting greatly, just by tweaking some glasses options. If you want a reference, pm me and I’ll give you his info.

Regarding the floaters issue, I’m going to suggest the same thing Ted did. I have suffered through more eye issues Including going blind in my right eye four times - correctable thank God. I have had more than 30 laser retinal surgeries and an equivalent number of injections in both eyes. have enough floaters in both eyes that most of my vision is like looking through a screen. You can get to the point where you ignore it. My ophthalmologist recommended I not look into the vitreal fluid replacement as it was not successful enough in his opinion. I know others recommend otherwise, but he didn’t. After talking with him about it, I ran into two acquaintances who had had the procedure and both were left with far worse vision after the fact.

The next time you find yourself in North Carolina, touch base. I would be glad to meet you somewhere to go shoot. I am barely in South Carolina and all of 10 minutes away from one of the best sporting-clays courses in the southeast.

Tom:

It seems like forever since we last had a chance to chat. We need to do that soon. I'll ping you on the PM system here for your ophthalmologist's contact information.

Tom, what is the name of that "one of the best sporting clays courses in the southeast?