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Straight-away targets

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Discussion starter · #25 ·
Anton H said:
One of the reason that you are having a harder time with straight targets over angled, is that it is easier for you to see the target when you are coming from it from the side and moving through it . This is because your gun Poi is 50/50 . When you are having to shoot a straight target, you are now shooting at something you can no longer see when it is time to pull the trigger. In order for you to make the shot on a rising target you must cover the bird or shoot above it. You should not see the break until you lower your gun if you have done it right. Make sure you stay in the gun and follow through the target. Do not be anxious to drop the barrel immediately after the shot , to see the break. Stay in the gun. You have plenty of time to see that smoked target. Hope this all makes sense to you and helps you break more targets. Good luck and keep your eyes on the bird , and off of that front sight. (No aiming, just pointing).
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This makes a great deal of sense and is so clearly explained even I can understand it! So - if I understand correctly - point up and through the target and pull the trigger the moment I can no longer see it. And follow through. And stay in the gun. I'm anxious to get back to the range and try these suggestions.
 
#26 ·
I wish I had your problem. I'm a beginner too and struggle with stations 1 and 5 with hard left or right targets. Even when I get hits it always seems to be because I match the trajectory and feel like I'm throwing the shot stream at the target without looking and following through on the correct trajectory. Sometimes I do the same thing, but I miss because the curve of my swing is off. Whereas the only straight fives or tens I've gotten were with 2+3 or 3+4. I set my gun to shoot high and I just feel like on 3 I simply lift the gun up and swing under, pull the trigger as the gun is almost to the target and continue the upswing. I only seem to have troubles with 3 if I got to shooting 1 and 2 well, but then find it hard to adjust my mindset for 3.
 
#27 ·
People forget that a "straight away" is a quickly moving target that's moving upward and away from the shooter at 42mph. It's a quickly rising target that when looked at over a gun barrel, gives the illusion of shooting at a bullseye, causing the shooter to aim at the bullseye with a stopped gun...... and miss. Set the gun up the right way; set it so that you can touch the bottom of the target edge with the bead and the gun will place all of it's hot core where that target is going to be. Keep the eyes on that leading edge.
 
#28 ·
Rainbowbob said:
This makes a great deal of sense and is so clearly explained even I can understand it! So - if I understand correctly - point up and through the target and pull the trigger the moment I can no longer see it. And follow through. And stay in the gun. I'm anxious to get back to the range and try these suggestions.
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I generally tell people to put a head on the bird and shoot it off . This gives them an idea of were to point in order to shoot the target. Also you need to get a firm and solid stance , with a firm grip on the gun .Very important!!!! This doesn’t mean a death grip, but a ( “controlled “ ) grip. This will keep you locked in the gun and make it so that the recoil doesn’t rock your head backwards making you lift your head off the stock . There are two ways to achieve this. First is to rotate from the waist by simply leaning back , and the other is to slightly push forward on your front foot as you insert the barrel into the target. So now that’s you know how it’s done go out there and Smoke some targets .
 
#29 ·
Pareto said:
I wish I had your problem. I'm a beginner too and struggle with stations 1 and 5 with hard left or right targets. Even when I get hits it always seems to be because I match the trajectory and feel like I'm throwing the shot stream at the target without looking and following through on the correct trajectory. Sometimes I do the same thing, but I miss because the curve of my swing is off. Whereas the only straight fives or tens I've gotten were with 2+3 or 3+4. I set my gun to shoot high and I just feel like on 3 I simply lift the gun up and swing under, pull the trigger as the gun is almost to the target and continue the upswing. I only seem to have troubles with 3 if I got to shooting 1 and 2 well, but then find it hard to adjust my mindset for 3.
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Make sure you are not canting your gun especially if you are shooting the bottom barrel on a OU . Most of the time right handed shooters have hard times with right hand targets. This is generally do to swinging to the target with their arms , pulling the gun away from the face.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
Timmer92 said:
Are you a one-eyed or two-eyed shooter? Where are you holding your gun in relation to the house?
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I shoot both eyes open. I wear monocular contacts (i.e., left eye reading and right eye distance). My vision will improve next week when I get Rx "shooting" contacts.

At 3 I hold the gun on top of the house or a little higher and just to the right of center.
 
#33 ·
Rainbowbob said:
I shoot both eyes open. I wear monocular contacts (i.e., left eye reading and right eye distance). My vision will improve next week when I get Rx "shooting" contacts.

At 3 I hold the gun on top of the house or a little higher and just to the right of center.
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There are many reasons suggested already, and it's hard to say without seeing you shoot. At times when missing on straightaways it is because your sight picture is impeded and your initial acquisition of the target is late, impacting your normal swing and shooting process. If this is the case, it can be for two reasons. 1) Your mount is covering the house where the target comes out. In this case you need to move your hold further left or right depending if you are left or right handed 2) You are mounting above the house and looking out above your gun. In this instance you need to consciously look down through the gun to where the target comes out before calling for the bird.
 
Discussion starter · #35 ·
hillbillyjr57 said:
Your straight away is very easy to take a peek at especially with a flat shooter, sounds like your really staying into your gun on the angle's and maybe your peeking on the straight aways
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That could be. I am learning here that staying hard in the gun and moving from the legs and torso to the target, and covering it with the barrel of my flat shooter before pulling the trigger are the things I need to work on.
 
#37 ·
Lots of great advice. Sometimes when I'm trying to sort out where I'm missing I'll purposely try to miss, high, low, left or right until I at least chip the bird. that way I can sort out my error. A quicker way is to get a qualified instructor to watch and tell you where you're missing
 
#38 ·
Rainbowbob said:
I'm a new shooter. I find it easier to break the extreme left and right targets - and I have a much harder time with the ones that go straight up. I'm guessing this may be simply because I have more time to get on the angled shots. Does anyone here have suggestions for those straight-away shots?

FWI, I'm using a Remington 1100 field gun, which by all accounts is a pretty flat shooting gun. As an experiment, I added a pad to raise the comb of the field stock. I haven't shot enough to know if that makes much difference.

In any case, I can't figure out if I'm shooting under or over those straight-aways.

Thanks for any help.
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Welcome to Trap shooting --- great sport.

2 simple solutions.

(1) Get a lesson -- it's almost impossible to tell what you are doing wrong by yourself.

(2) Use a practice fields and shoot entire boxes of shells standing on post 3 until your eye / hand coordination results in breaking in the 20s. That's why they call it "practice".
 
#40 ·
saintcraig said:
I have the same problem with straight away clays, but rarely miss pheasants that get up straight away. What am I doing right on pheasants that is wrong on clays?
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Don't know about clays problem, but the Pheasant isn't ordinarily moving 60 mph as his feet lift off the ground. You have plenty of time to see the head and the line as you're bringing your shotgun to your face. Same for a high speed crossing shot even though defelction comes into play. Did I mention the diference in target size? Most misses in field are because the first shot is made before the gun hits your cheek. Most clays are missed because a.) face off the stock, b.) swing with shoulders, and c.) because you "aim" and stop the swing. BTW most straight away targets "aren't"- traps usually not perfectly level, slight breeze will cause a drift that you may not see - in either case you have a slight curveball.
 
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