Is it me or is there are real difference in shooting the two. I went 20 for 50 at a charity skeet shoot today, first time in 20 years I have shot skeet, but usually hit birds on the wing (all kinds) at about 85-90%. what gives???

Perry

I see your from south Texas, as am I. If you hit 85 or 90% on whitewing doves, my hat is off to you, sir. I've never seen anybody come close to that on an average.

We get a lot of practice, lots of birds with little to no pressure.

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Is it me or is there are real difference in shooting the two. I went 20 for 50 at a charity skeet shoot today, first time in 20 years I have shot skeet, but usually hit birds on the wing (all kinds) at about 85-90%. what gives???

Perry

Wow! 85-90 percent is truly amazing on dove and such, at least it would be for the guys I shoot with.
That said, I seem to shoot sporting clays at a slightly higher percentage then I do live birds. Now I don't pretend to shoot either one as well as alot of you guys here do.

I don't think it's just you. Your difference there doesn't really sound unexpected.

I went about 20 years too between skeet shoots. And 20 for 50 or 10 for 25 isn't bad IMO at all if you haven't done it in that long. Skeet's kind of interesting in that once you get down the angles and timing you can run the table. You can do that because it always does the same thing the same way. Trap on the other hand is quite diffferent and that's why some prefer it. With trap you don't know what angle.

90% at doves is very good especially if it's an average over many hunts.

I find that I get either of two kinds of percentages at doves. One is where I just plain want to shoot my gun, and blast away at many that there's only a marginal chance at...like off balance, off the left shoulder and very long range stuff. The other is when I'm low on shells and have to take only close shots where I get a really good look. That yields a whole different kind of percentage. In other words you can kinda pick the type percent you want.

I can see 85% on ducks and geese over decoys or slow passing shots, and also on pheasants providing one gets lots of practice. On pen-raised quail I would EXPECT 80% plus, but on wild quail a lot less.

The reason for high percentages is that I shoot a o/u Beretta 410. I know its limits and am very conservative on the shots I take. The shooting is usually over a stock tank so the birds are dropping in or passing low. With ducks it is jump shooting them on stock tanks as well so we are shooting them on the rise at relatively close, 25 yards, distances. I use a Win. sxs 20 for that, again being very conservative with my shots. On quail we are walking the birds up after we have seen them, again being conservative on the shots you take and since we are not using dogs if I hit one on the first shot I am walking straight to it not shooting again. I often only shoot 1 bird per rise and usually on two per covey due to the fact that after two rises in brush they are pretty scattered.

Perry

The conservative disciplined shooting will do it. I used to hunt quail walk up mostly w/o dogs too. Didn't need dogs to find them. Fact is I hunted so much I KNEW exactly where the coveys were. If I flushed one in a different spot I almost wanted to say "hey, what are you doing there..today you're supposed to be at (wherever)". I too ignored others and went straight for the one or two that fell. You can't shoot the whole covey anyway..that guarantees a miss.

Ducks I always thought were easy. The name of the game is lucking into the right spot. If pit hunting, you get a feel for which position and one end always seems to get the first shots. That's not just by chance. For instance, at one club I've had good luck on east ends with prevailing winds from the west at your back. Many pits are set up east-west, maybe because of that or some other reason. Then you just watch out that end for birds approaching into the wind for a landing.

Frankly I find it's hard to screw up those kind of shots. If you run into a lot of shells, it's usually when there're no dogs and there's a lot of shooting at cripples.

Just out of curiousity what kind of Win sxs?

Shack

Model 21, 3 bbl set. It has been passed down through the generations from my great grandpa. I don't hunt in salt with it though.

Perry

I've got one of those in a 20 ga skeet/skeet. I've actually used it for skeet but mostly quail preserve shooting. Got my last wild one with it. Wanted to take it pheasant hunting, but I'm not willing to trust airports with it.

Almost bought a new condition custom shop model 21 locally...but $4K seemed kinda steep...in hindsight probably not all that bad a price..

I love mine! When I was little my dad would pull it out with my grandpa and I would get to hold, "see", my gun. I shot it exclusively through high school for every thing. When I found out what it was worth I started keeping a closer eye on it and pulling out the 1100 on rainy day hunts.

Perry

That's same as me. I have similar feelings about mine. Been going to gun shows since the '60s and only rarely see 21s locally and never 20 ga let alone in good condition...then one day this one shows up and I just had to have it.

For serious meat hunting I use the 11-87, the 1987 variant of the 1100.

quote:

Originally posted by swampshooter:
I see your from south Texas, as am I. If you hit 85 or 90% on whitewing doves, my hat is off to you, sir. I've never seen anybody come close to that on an average.

We grew up hunting, and were always made aware that each shot counts.

The first time I was in Texas, and got invited to a dove shoot, I got 49 with 50 shells. My grandad would have been disappointed that I had missed 1!

I find skeet much easier though, and gave up shooting it with anything larger than a 410.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to practice.

And I hope I am not offending anyone with the following. But I have found that some people tend to be exceptional wing shots, while others do get to be good, they never get to the same level of being exceptional.

We grew up hunting, and were always made aware that each shot counts.

The first time I was in Texas, and got invited to a dove shoot, I got 49 with 50 shells. My grandad would have been disappointed that I had missed 1!


Growing up we, my siblings and I, all used the same cut down LT 1100 20ga and I never really thought about NOT using all 3 shells in the gun every time a bird came over. My family owned a wholesale sporting goods supply so ammo was served up in cases not boxes. While on an invite to a friends ranch in 6th grade his father had a single shot HR .410 he kept around the house for snakes. I asked if I could use it for dove and he said sure. it was at that point I realized every shot count, I went 10 for 12. After that trip I started using my SxS 20ga, picking my shots and taking the time to make them count. Today all I use is my o/u .410 and same theory holds true, pick your shots, ESPECIALLY with ammo at 13.99/box.

Perry

The Win. "Texas Heavy Dove/Quail" 12 ga loads I bought for opening day were with tax right at $6.00 a box at Bass Pro. So I bought two cases. They had several pallets of them and I asked how long they'd last, and the guy looked at his watch and said til about noon. It was 9 a.m.

But I know what you mean and I try to pick my shots too no matter what they cost.

I find that wing shooting's a little like riding a bike, once you get it down you don't forget how, even from one gun to another.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
[And I hope I am not offending anyone with the following. But I have found that some people tend to be exceptional wing shots, while others do get to be good, they never get to the same level of being exceptional.

I think that is a very logical statement, some people are just naturally going to be better then others given same amount of practice and same intensity level. I think that is the case in any sport be it shooting, golf or anything else.
I think I am a good example of the other side of that, while I have been shooting a fair amount of sporting clays the last couple years, I see people frequently who I know practice quite a bit less then me, have been doing it a similar amount of time and are noticeably better shotgun shots then me. Just one of those things, ever since I was a kid, being pretty decent with a rifle was relatively easy to me but a shotgun, not ashamed to say that is a skill that I have had to work at to even become respectable with one.

Justin, one example of that at work..the winner of one of our club trap tournaments was a 12 yr old member's son. He'd only shot a few times before and because of his size the only thing that fit him was an 1100. His score? It's been a while but it was either 99 or 100 straight. His prize was a silver belt buckle. And some of the adult members spend literally thousands on custom guns, lessons and daily practice rounds and will never do that. That sort of thing is quite amazing really.

As for shotgunning I think given time most people can get to be better than average shots. Not gifted, but very good. What does it take? A real love for guns and hunting is the most important (desire and motivation), plus plenty of opportunities to hunt, and really good places to hunt, together with at least average strength/stamina, eyes, hands and nerves.

Some also think certain types of physical builds have an edge.

Perry,

Do you load your own shells? If so I can PM you data for an absolutely outstanding 1/2 ounce Hevi shot load for 410 using #9. It will blow your mind what this load will do to ducks and even geese out to about 30 yds!!!

Andy

Drew
I don't but that doesn't mean I won't start. Send it on.

Perry