I Am Such A Shit Shot!!

[miroku moocher 140]

yo right mate clays in my opinion are not good practice for shootin real pigeons 2 totaly differant games. i used to overthink the shot 'focus to hard on the bird and tense up,,and miss then overthink the miss and miss somemore just relax 'stay loose 'and enjoy.. it will come good and remember ''dont shoot were it's been''shoot were it's goin..

[brucemyster 75]

Can't hit clays to save my life but when it comes to pigeons and crows I'd class myself as an average shot and have found I'm outshooting others who have better than average scores on the clays, I think it's because I have less time to think and am shooting instinctively, I tend to shoot sitting down when I'm decoying and I'm not fighting to get my stance sorted, used one of those swivelling pigeon chairs last time I went and loved it, not quite enough padding though, arse ache the next day!! I'm of the opinion that you need a fairly open choke when decoying, the ranges aren't massive and I use my Remington 1100 skeet for the job, furthest I've knocked one out of the sky is about 45 yards and that to me is it's maximum range and TBH most shots taken are easily within 30yards

[bird 9,873]

Can't hit clays to save my life but when it comes to pigeons and crows I'd class myself as an average shot and have found I'm outshooting others who have better than average scores on the clays, I think it's because I have less time to think and am shooting instinctively, I tend to shoot sitting down when I'm decoying and I'm not fighting to get my stance sorted, used one of those swivelling pigeon chairs last time I went and loved it, not quite enough padding though, arse ache the next day!! I'm of the opinion that you need a fairly open choke when decoying, the ranges aren't massive and I use my Remington 1100 skeet for the job, furthest I've knocked one out of the sky is about 45 yards and that to me is it's maximum range and TBH most shots taken are easily within 30yards

 

blloody hell you just tit the nail on the head there mate. with getting up and get the mount right with gun, and then when your on the bird its more of just aim at it, by then youve stopped your swing and shot behind, its hard to shoot natural(snap shoot) when youn not mounted your gun right from the 1st place . Iknow its deff that feck me up, because if i was standing say doing clays in the cage, doing going away or crossers, i would prob it a good 70%, and thats not bad shootiing, so in comparsion should hit alot more live stuff(pigeons) . ive been shooting 30 years, most clays, rough,roost, few phessy beater day when iused to beat. So iknow i can shoot not to bad with abilty. Its trying to get it all together from sitting down, trying to judge where to kill the bird unless its on the end of me gun lol, and trying to feel comfy and stand right to aim. Ithink its just pure (technigue) how to shoot from a hide,and blokes like me who (dont) do alot of it will always struggle at 1st, till you do it on a regular basis , like i used do the clays.

[engraver 44]

I will shoot a few rangey birds to begin with to build the pattern up but once you get going it should be a matter of building your pattern so they are landing 25-30 yards in front of you that is the key part of the field craft involved to pull the birds to you like a match fisherman pulls the fish to him.

 

At 25yrds you should be more or less straight at them, shoot them as they do the last few flaps before they land not at 45 degrees and 60yrd high not until your a confident doing it.

 

I find too many people don't shoot a tight enough choke or use a pokey enough cartridge, I use 3/4 choke and a 32grm shell at least.

 

Its totally different to clays as you must read the bird and shoot it where you fancy it, don't shoot unless you really think its shootable or you will waste shells fast.

 

also a clay is decelerating at a different rate to a bird that can change direction in seconds and accelerate plus dip in the wind.

 

I found of all the shooting Ive done which is competitive clay shooting, pheasant partridge, woodcock and snipe, that woodies can simply fool the best of them, that's why I think a good pigeon shooter will eat pheasants for breakfast, also why I find woodies my favourite sport of all Im out 5 days per week at this time of the year, but its a learning curve for all newcomers or ex game or clay shooters but an exiting learning curve, I rate the woodpigeon the best bird on the wing period.

Edited August 27, 2013 by engraver

[bird 9,873]

I will shoot a few rangey birds to begin with to build the pattern up but once you get going it should be a matter of building your pattern so they are landing 25-30 yards in front of you that is the key part of the field craft involved to pull the birds to you like a match fisherman pulls the fish to him.

 

At 25yrds you should be more or less straight at them, shoot them as they do the last few flaps before they land not at 45 degrees and 60yrd high not until your a confident doing it.

 

I find too many people don't shoot a tight enough choke or use a pokey enough cartridge, I use 3/4 choke and a 32grm shell at least.

 

Its totally different to clays as you must read the bird and shoot it where you fancy it, don't shoot unless you really think its shootable or you will waste shells fast.

 

also a clay is decelerating at a different rate to a bird that can change direction in seconds and accelerate plus dip in the wind.

 

I found of all the shooting Ive done which is competitive clay shooting, pheasant partridge, woodcock and snipe, that woodies can simply fool the best of them, that's why I think a good pigeon shooter will eat pheasants for breakfast, also why I find woodies my favourite sport of all Im out 5 days per week at this time of the year, but its a learning curve for all newcomers or ex game or clay shooters but an exiting learning curve, I rate the woodpigeon the best bird on the wing period.

 

very true, clays is no where like shooting pigeons, and i think you have forget about clays, and look at pigeon shoot as new sport, and try improve at it as you go along. not compare it to clays.

[brucemyster 75]

I will shoot a few rangey birds to begin with to build the pattern up but once you get going it should be a matter of building your pattern so they are landing 25-30 yards in front of you that is the key part of the field craft involved to pull the birds to you like a match fisherman pulls the fish to him.

 

At 25yrds you should be more or less straight at them, shoot them as they do the last few flaps before they land not at 45 degrees and 60yrd high not until your a confident doing it.

 

I find too many people don't shoot a tight enough choke or use a pokey enough cartridge, I use 3/4 choke and a 32grm shell at least.

 

Its totally different to clays as you must read the bird and shoot it where you fancy it, don't shoot unless you really think its shootable or you will waste shells fast.

 

also a clay is decelerating at a different rate to a bird that can change direction in seconds and accelerate plus dip in the wind.

 

I found of all the shooting Ive done which is competitive clay shooting, pheasant partridge, woodcock and snipe, that woodies can simply fool the best of them, that's why I think a good pigeon shooter will eat pheasants for breakfast, also why I find woodies my favourite sport of all Im out 5 days per week at this time of the year, but its a learning curve for all newcomers or ex game or clay shooters but an exiting learning curve, I rate the woodpigeon the best bird on the wing period.

 

Not the most experienced shooter and I agree with the use of a decent cartridge, I use a 32g 6 as this cycles my semi auto nicely and stops everything I have the opportunity to shoot at, but is a 3/4 choke at 25/30 yards a little on the tight side? I stand to be corrected (and often am!) everyone has their own preference and confidence with what your shooting with is 90% of the battle, I have a fixed skeet barrel and find it perfect for decoying although I have to admit I do think twice about those high or long range birds, but again this is partly confidence as I have folded these at a decent range before. I've seen the debates on shot patterns, chokes and their merits but at the end of the day you've got to be chucking your lead in the right place irrespective of your choke!

By the by I'm not trying to dis your choice of choke or the way you shoot just asking a question I don't really have enough experience to answer myself !!

[trigger2 3,143]

the only trouble with shooting alot of clays is a clay starts to slow at a certain distance and becomes easier to hit. where as the old pigeon can change direction and speed so is harder to hit.

 

alot of people who do laods of clay shooting often struggle to shoot pigeons. beter off being out there doing it, theres no substatute for the real thing.

[bird 9,873]

the only trouble with shooting alot of clays is a clay starts to slow at a certain distance and becomes easier to hit. where as the old pigeon can change direction and speed so is harder to hit.

 

alot of people who do laods of clay shooting often struggle to shoot pigeons. beter off being out there doing it, theres no substatute for the real thing.

 

[bullx100% 681]

yo right mate clays in my opinion are not good practice for shootin real pigeons 2 totaly differant games. i used to overthink the shot 'focus to hard on the bird and tense up,,and miss then overthink the miss and miss somemore just relax 'stay loose 'and enjoy.. it will come good and remember ''dont shoot were it's been''shoot were it's goin..

like the old saying ........."if you want to go out and shoot pigeons and want to do the biz shoot were its going to be and not were it is........

[engraver 44]

 

I will shoot a few rangey birds to begin with to build the pattern up but once you get going it should be a matter of building your pattern so they are landing 25-30 yards in front of you that is the key part of the field craft involved to pull the birds to you like a match fisherman pulls the fish to him.

 

At 25yrds you should be more or less straight at them, shoot them as they do the last few flaps before they land not at 45 degrees and 60yrd high not until your a confident doing it.

 

I find too many people don't shoot a tight enough choke or use a pokey enough cartridge, I use 3/4 choke and a 32grm shell at least.

 

Its totally different to clays as you must read the bird and shoot it where you fancy it, don't shoot unless you really think its shootable or you will waste shells fast.

 

also a clay is decelerating at a different rate to a bird that can change direction in seconds and accelerate plus dip in the wind.

 

I found of all the shooting Ive done which is competitive clay shooting, pheasant partridge, woodcock and snipe, that woodies can simply fool the best of them, that's why I think a good pigeon shooter will eat pheasants for breakfast, also why I find woodies my favourite sport of all Im out 5 days per week at this time of the year, but its a learning curve for all newcomers or ex game or clay shooters but an exiting learning curve, I rate the woodpigeon the best bird on the wing period.

 

Not the most experienced shooter and I agree with the use of a decent cartridge, I use a 32g 6 as this cycles my semi auto nicely and stops everything I have the opportunity to shoot at, but is a 3/4 choke at 25/30 yards a little on the tight side? I stand to be corrected (and often am!) everyone has their own preference and confidence with what your shooting with is 90% of the battle, I have a fixed skeet barrel and find it perfect for decoying although I have to admit I do think twice about those high or long range birds, but again this is partly confidence as I have folded these at a decent range before. I've seen the debates on shot patterns, chokes and their merits but at the end of the day you've got to be chucking your lead in the right place irrespective of your choke!

By the by I'm not trying to dis your choice of choke or the way you shoot just asking a question I don't really have enough experience to answer myself !!

 

It can be but what some guns call a 3/4 choke can be equal to a half on another they all differ slightly and remember a lot of old fixed choke game guns have a lot of wear so a 3/4 choke may be 1/4 on a new gun.

 

I find 3/4 or half kills far more convincingly especially in wind as your spread can open up a lot at 30yrds, if its gale force so a long shot string feeding into a bird is going to give you the best chance of a clean kill.

 

If its a hard day and birds are not convinced having a tighter choke allows you to shoot at those 45-55 yrd crossers just to build your pattern.

 

When you get really experienced you can shoot the birds so they drop where you want in the pattern, don't let them get 25yrds if your smashing them to bits as feathers in the pattern can put birds off.

[zx10mike 137]

swing through bum belly beak bank unless there close then poke them with a bayonett or aim straight at em that said i'm not the best

[bullmastiff 615]

Had exactly the same a few weeks ago, couldn't hit a barn door! missed every bird coming into the pattern, the more I missed the more I faffed about with my mount, swing, lead etc. even let a few land and shot at them and still missed!!! lol.

So I stopped, had a fag, coffee and went for a walk in the wood to let the dogs have a run and went back 10-15mins later.

A couple of pigeons jumped up from the pattern and I killed the first, and winged and dropped the other with the second shot.

I think I must of been concentrating on my technique so hard I was putting myself off. Once I had a couple in the bag I relaxed a bit and started shooting more consistantly.

 

Something I read the other day seems to of helped a bit too. 'Actually look at the bird'.

Don't just see it as a rough pigeon shaped target at the end of your barrels that needs x amount of lead. By making you focus on the bird itself it seems to help you keep swinging with it.

[GameDealer7412 2]

Your probaly stopping the gun, just look at the bird and let yourself do it properly

[Luto 0]

When I shoot pigeons I put about 12-13 foot leed. One thing I would recomend is go shooting for one day but use plastick wads so you can se where you are missing from. A better way to do this would be to film the bird as you shoot it (get a friend to do this) and then watch the film in slow-motion. This will help se if you are shooting in front ore behind thus showing how much lead to put on the birds. Hope this helps.

[engraver 44]

When I shoot pigeons I put about 12-13 foot leed. One thing I would recomend is go shooting for one day but use plastick wads so you can se where you are missing from. A better way to do this would be to film the bird as you shoot it (get a friend to do this) and then watch the film in slow-motion. This will help se if you are shooting in front ore behind thus showing how much lead to put on the birds. Hope this helps.

12-13 foot Jesus!! At what range????

 

If you asked 10 men on here mate what 13 foot was at a given distance there would be a fair old variety of answers, a bit like an eyesight test.

 

you got some fast woodies around there mate, don't you think every shot is different?

 

A wise man setsup so the birds are coming up wind towards you and dropping 30yrds in front of your pattern, even my 6 year old can hit them as there is no lead required at all its point and squeeze, and the day works out cheaper on shells.

 

Shooting 60yrd high birds in gale force maybe mate but the art of decoying is using your fieldcraft to set up so you don't have to be shooting 60yrd crossers with 13 foot lead, You shoot a lot more mate doing it that way bud, if actual results is what your after.

Edited September 8, 2013 by engraver