Shooting with Both Eyes Open
To handle the weapon well is the desire of every sportsman, and this knack is not difficult to attain, providing the novice will make a good beginning. First of all, it is necessary to hold the gun correctly, and while the forward hand may grip the fore end at any convenient point, a well extended arm gives a better control of the gun when aiming, by giving free play to all the muscles of the arm; hence the gun should be held in a manner natural to the shooter, rather than in imitation of the style of another.
The old manner of aiming the shotgun by closing one eye and sighting along the rib is fast becoming obsolete, for better shooting may be done by keeping both eyes open. Doctor Carter was the first great exponent of binocular shooting, and while but few men can hope to approach this famous gunner’s skill, every one can learn to handle a shotgun more quickly and with greater accuracy by following his common-sense method. It may appear a bit strange at first to disregard the sights and keep both eyes open, and aim the gun by merely pointing it in the desired direction, but to sight along the rib and attempt to see the bead on the muzzle end can only make a slow and poky shot. This old-fashioned method may be good enough for making patterns on a stationary target, but it is not much of a success for wing shooting. For fine rifle shooting the left eye is invariably closed for target work, but for snap-shooting both eyes are kept open, the sights are disregarded, and the aim is taken by pointing the gun at the object to be hit. Of course, there are many good gunners who shoot with one eye closed, but the novice who is anxious to become a good wing shot should make it a point to practice with both eyes open. Vision is always clearer, and the objects more accurately judged with both eyes open than with one, and when this is done, and one eye controls the line of aim, the shooter is not so likely to make mistakes in estimating the distances and the rapidity of the flight of his game. In shooting, the right eye naturally governs the right shoulder, and vice versa, and this is so because habit has trained the eye to do this. To find which is the master eye, hold a pencil out at arm’s length and point it at some small distant object with both eyes open, then close the left eye, and if the pencil still points to the object, the right eye controls the vision, and is the master eye. Should the closing of the left eye alter the aim, the right eye must be trained by practice until it becomes the master eye, or else the gun must be shot from the left shoulder, which is many times more difficult. The modern way of mastering wing shooting is to point the gun where both eyes are looking, and after a little practice this may be done quickly, and the charge thrown more accurately at the object than by closing one eye, or sighting along the barrel in the old manner.