Ever talk yourself out of a target?
I got really good at that.
You have elucidated your thought process well. There is also a certain amount of pure reaction involved in this and i find it helps to have a fairly blank mind when the targets appear.
I limit my analysis to a general 'window' for each target. It helps of course to watch the other targets and I do watch every bird even at trap, even if it's just to call a dead bird for a fellow shooter.
The more you repeat something, the more basic elements become nearly autonomic. I recall trying to learn instrument flying and then later teaching it. At first, it seems like a great deal of things need to be perceived at once and the information processed. It takes near all your conscious thought and is exhausting... until you've done it bit and then basic airplane control takes up less of your mental processor time and you can start to devote more of your attention to the host of other tasks that need to be done. It's a process, like learning to shoot.
Once you have sufficient experience at it, stuff just happens of it's own accord. I've flown with pilots so good that the airplane just starts responding to them as if the guy was part of the machine. It's fun to watch.
It becomes like that with a shotgun and i know you've experienced it. That's kind of why we persist isn't it?
