Improving Success on Live Birds

Successful clays shooters sometimes find that their skills on the sporting clays course or skeet range don’t translate to dead birds when they’re hunting. If that’s happening to you, chances are it’s a matter of where you are focusing.

When shooting at a live bird, look at its head, specifically at its eyes. Your eyes will naturally want to go to the fastest moving part of the bird, its wings. Then your eyes naturally go to the back of the bird. Since the gun functions as an extension of your eyes, guess where the gun will go? Behind the bird. That is why you see so many feathers falling without the bird going down.

Make your eyes go to the front of the bird, then the gun will follow. Start practicing by looking at birds you see flying around home, and see where your eyes go. Practice having laser focus on the bird’s eye, and you’ll see your success on live birds improve.