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.
The Knack of Hitting a Flying Target
When shooting at clay targets, or at a flying bird, allowance must be made for the swiftness of flight and the distance from the shooter to the game, or in other words, the shooter must calculate the speed of the flying target and allow the probable time it will take for the shot to reach its mark. To make a quick snap shot at the flying target, the gun may be directly thrown at the mark and discharged as quickly as possible, or the gun may cover the mark and be quickly swung ahead and the charge sent at the point where the swiftly moving bird will be found when the shot gets there. Snap-shooting is only possible when the birds are flying straight away or quartering, and as the shooter fires point-blank at the rapidly moving bird, the shot must be delivered so rapidly that only a very quick and responsive trigger and a fast man back of it can hope to score even a fair percentage of hits. A more certain way of aiming a snap shot is to throw up the barrel below the bird, then rapidly swing it to the proper elevation ahead of the moving target, and throw the shot at the point where the line of the aim and the flight of the bird intersect. For shots at quail, woodcock, and partridge in the brush, the quick snap shot often must be taken, regardless of the chances of missing, for to delay even a second will lose the bird. When a bird rises near the shooter, no allowance of lead or elevation are required, and the charge is thrown directly at the bird.
The rapid swing, however, is the most accurate manner of using the shotgun, at all angles and at any distance within the killing zone of the weapon. To make this shot, the gun must be thrown up behind the bird and then rapidly swung ahead of it, throwing the charge without checking the swing of the arm. In this style of snap-shooting, the elevation of the gun must be identical with the flight of the bird, inasmuch as the gun follows it, and if the gun is swung about three times as fast as the bird is traveling, plenty of allowance for the time necessary to press the trigger and deliver the shot at the determined point will be made.
To swing deliberately and cover the bird with the sight, then shove the gun ahead to give the proper lead, is all right for duck shooting where the game is usually seen approaching and thus remains within range for a longer time. But this deliberate style of handling the gun is far too slow for the uplands, and since the rapid swing is the only accurate manner of cutting down the fast bird, and usually useful for wild fowling, the novice should confine his practice to this practical style of wing shooting.
Stationary-Target Practice
The first great mistake the novice is likely to make is the natural one of supposing that he must take his gun to the field and learn how to handle it by practicing at flying game. This is by no means the best method, and there is scarcely a poorer way of becoming a wing shot, because the gunner is intent upon bagging the game and forgets to observe the many little points of gunnery, shooting high and low, and making the hundred and one mistakes of judgment he would not be guilty of when practicing at a stationary mark. Snap and wing shooting is the last word in shotgun handling, requiring quickness in throwing the gun, as well as a trained eye to calculate the distance from and the speed of the flying target. To acquire confidence in using the gun, begin by shooting at a fixed mark. A good target may be made by obtaining a dozen, or two, sheets of stout wrapping paper and painting a 4-in. circle in the center of each sheet. Tack it up on a board fence or on a board hung on a tree, measure off 60 ft., and try a shot. The shot will not spread very much at this short range, and it will be an easy matter to determine the result of your skill in holding a dead-on to the large mark. To avoid flinching and other movements of the head and body, caused by the recoil, begin your first practicing with a light powder-and-shot charge, say, about 2 dr. of bulk measure, or its equivalent in smokeless, and ⁷⁄₈ oz. of No. 8 or 9 shot. There is no advantage in using a heavier charge, and the recoil of the gun will appear much greater in deliberate shooting at a target than is likely to be felt during the excitement incidental to shooting in the field. A dozen shots at these targets will enable the gunner to make a good score by deliberate holding, and when this can be done without flinching, snap and wing shooting may begin.
The Forward Hand may Grip the Fore End at Any Point, but a Well-Extended Arm Gives a Better Control of the Gun