Summertime Bullet Points To Help You Be Ready For This Fall

Below are a handful of bullet points and their meanings to remind you what and how to practice this summer so that the beginning of the next season is not wasted on refreshing your memory. Along with your occasional recreation shoot, practice these empty gun routines at home. The small amount of time it will take will make a huge difference this fall.

Are You Fit?

There is that one gun in my safe that is my go to gun. Don’t get me wrong I have several guns that I love to shoot and shoot well, but that one gun, I shoot the best. It comes up easier and smoother than the others and I never feel like I have to make a subconscious adjustment before I squeeze the trigger. My guess is you have that go to gun as well. It is your go to gun because it fits you the best.

Peeking

"Peeking" is an expression used by wing shooters for lifting the head and looking high over the gun just before shooting. As the eye raises over the breach of the gun the muzzle subconsciously follows. This creates a gun that is pointing higher than the eye is looking. Although the movement might be slight, over distance it can be greatly exaggerated. A lift of a 1⁄4” will result in a miss of feet as the line of sight and line of bore intersect and move farther away from each other down range. The reason why it is difficult to stop lifting the head is because "peeking" is usually a symptom and not the actual problem.

There Are No Trees

Woodcock hunters are keenly aware of the trees and obstacles that comprise ideal coverts. The style of shooting that accompanies thick covert has evolved into a method of poke and hope. A quick snapshot is taken when the blurr presents itself in that small narrow lane on which the shooter is focused. This type of shooting is a low percentage game of luck. When hunting woodcock we need all the help we can get, and a preferable method is called “there are no trees”.

In Search of the Holy Grail

To various people, the Holy Grail of guns can mean many things. The driven bird shooter desires a break action with long barrels like a clays gun but stocked like a game gun. Dove shooters love their nimble sub-gauge auto loaders especially with the three round capacity. And, of course the waterfowler needs the recoil taming and durability of a synthetic stocked cannon. Since here in the north, the first real feather season is woodcock, which have a here today gone tomorrow tendency, this article will discuss finding the perfect woodcock gun.

To the woodcock hunter the holy grail is a shotgun that is as dainty and acrobatic as is the little whimsical bird itself. Coverts filled with alder, hawthorns, popples and other similar growth make the birds behave in a particular way. Woodcock are light and quick and can easily change direction, so our perfect woodcock gun needs to have the same attributes.