If I can get the birds to all fly right to left I look like a world class shooter. Thought seriously about ignoring the others! There is a significant difference between shooting skeet and clays, with a pre-mounted gun especially, and live birds. Clays start fast and lose speed during their flight. Live birds are accelerating the whole time and actually fly much faster than clays. I am able to focus intensely on birds - much more than clays. Think it is probably the adrenaline bump I get with birds. I have had a few days where I went 12 for 12 on Huns and on Gambels quail. One Stellar day was 12 for 12- all doubles on Huns and there were no easy ones in the bunch. I can not shoot a 12ga - bock on the trigger frequently. Always shoot 20ga 3/4Oz loads or 16ga 7/8oz loads to prevent further damage to my recoil issues. Especially good with a 20ga Parker VHE on birds.