Thread: got wasted by young blood

so just had my second ever go at clay birds. took my son (turned 13 a few weeks ago) along to watch and we started throwing them out in sets of 5 using a fairly good swing swinging setup. My first set of 5 i got 3, the three other mates had there turns, hitting 3 or 4 out of 5. One of the blokes looks at my son and asks if he wants a turn so he decides to have a go, his first time ever. He shot a shot gun for the first time just before opening morning last season and that was the only shot of a shotgun he has ever fired EVER!

Well, i'm sure you can work out where this is going. His first set of 5 clays, he turns 4 to dust and missed the last. Next turn he gets all five, two of them were with the second shot at them. Then a third set he got all five again, again a couple of them were with the second attempt.

My scores got progressively worse, last two sets were 0 and 1 out of 5. Jammy little hua i say haha, super proud but super embarrassed at the same time.

Yep

That's happened to me several times........ Got four boys.

Enjoy shooting with your son.

Some of my best memories growing up are Hunting and Shooting with my Dad.

Cheers
Pete

Console yourself with a "that's my boy" Smidey

he did very well, literally the second shell he ever fired turned the clay to dust. He was using an escort semi, I was using my new winchester sxp which i haven't got used to at all yet. More clay birds me thinks should sort that out i hope.

Excellent !

He probably shot well because he didnt over think the whole concept of hitting moving targets. If hes had little to no experience on a shotty his mindset would be simple. Track moving target with bead and pull trigger when lined up. Its the "experienced" shooters who have lots of opinions on what to do/what not to do that seem to have trouble with making good shots.
Ive seen completely inexperienced young ones and old ones shoot really well as first timers, across a number of different shooting disiplines and i can only gather its because they cant mind fuck themselves with bullshit and they keep the whole process simple because they know no better.

That's probably right. And the gun was likely to long for him so he got an awesome look straight down the top of the barrel. He is a useful shot with a rifle but literally only shot one she'll into a lake before today.

if its any consolation mate. I took my new U/O out today. I can see we are going to have a rocky relationship. 3 out of 25 first time up. Starting to think going from a 28 inch barrelled field gun in 20g to a "proper" 12g long barrelled Sporting Clays might be an expensive whoopsie

The most important thing with a shotgun is the eye to barrel relationship .
Get those right and the world becomes a much happier place .

Originally Posted by Ground Control

The most important thing with a shotgun is the eye to barrel relationship .
Get those right and the world becomes a much happier place .

I'm sure I had the relationship right just the bloody ammo supplier forgot to load the shot in the ammo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting. I wouldn't have a clue within reason what my barrels are doing.

They are a blur in my peripheral vision when addressing moving targets.
Target as it should be, is perfectly in focus.


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Originally Posted by R93

Interesting. I wouldn't have a clue within reason what my barrels are doing.

They are a blur in my peripheral vision when addressing moving targets.
Target as it should be, is perfectly in focus.


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And that in a nutshell is my issue, I'm bloody trying to aim like a rifle

Originally Posted by R93

Interesting. I wouldn't have a clue within reason what my barrels are doing.

They are a blur in my peripheral vision when addressing moving targets.
Target as it should be, is perfectly in focus.


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I guess I didn't explain that very well .
What I meant was if the dimensions of the stock don't allow perfect alignment then you are chasing your tail .
I absolutely agree about total focus on the target , but for that to be successful the barrels have to be pointed where your looking .

Ken

Originally Posted by Ground Control

I guess I didn't explain that very well .
What I meant was if the dimensions of the stock don't allow perfect alignment then you are chasing your tail .
I absolutely agree about total focus on the target , but for that to be successful the barrels have to be pointed where your looking .

Ken

TBF Ken, I know you know what your talking about when it comes to shot gunning. My post was directed at other comments related to using beads. So maybe I am the one who should have been clearer Ha Ha


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Originally Posted by R93

TBF Ken, I know you know what your talking about when it comes to shot gunning. My post was directed at other comments related to using beads. So maybe I am the one who should have been clearer Ha Ha


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No worries I also know your no beginner
As you know there is so much spoken and written about shotgunning that you could spend your lifetime studying it and still walk away from a days shooting muttering bad words
I know I do .
I started my clay shooting to improve my game shooting and ended up becoming addicted to clays .
I will say that those thousands and thousands of rounds at clays did have the original desired effect and my bird shooting did improve dramatically .
Another thing that many people don't consider is that changing guns can at times be like starting all over again .
The best shooters in the world can often pick up any gun and shoot well with it , but they probably wouldn't win a world championship with it . They have shot so many rounds through their guns that they are in a symbiotic relationship with their old faithful .
I really struggle with a different gun , and in the last 20 years I've only owned 2 shotguns and that's not at the same time .
I can pick up a rifle and within a few rounds be reasonably proficient with it , but not with just any shotgun .
I'm no expert but always advise people to buy the best gun they can afford , make sure it fits reasonably well , go to a gun club and learn to shoot it , use it for every type of shooting they do ( I'm not a believer in " I don't want to scratch it or get it wet " ) .
Be honest with yourself about how well your shooting . I know many people who get a limit of ducks , but use a slab of ammo to get it ( well not maybe a slab , but you know what I mean ) .
In my mind the better shooter gets maybe a lesser amount of birds but runs at a very low miss rate .
He and his equipment are more in tune with each other . I also know a couple of people that only take easy shots and never try to extend themselves . If you train yourself on clays you can attempt those long passing shots on game with a lot of confidence .