Too many wingshooters buy a new shotgun, bring it home, and just let the gun sit on the shelf until opening day with the expectation of shooting it well. Then, when the first mallard of the season cups in or a rooster flushes, they whiff the shot. A second, and third opportunity to kill a bird comes, and they strike out again. That’s frustrating. However, if you haven’t practiced in the off-season, you really don’t have a right to be pissed off. We’re all busy, but if you want to have success this fall, you need to carve out some time at the range during the summer to get your shotgun game on point.
Pattern Your Shotgun
Knowing how your shotgun patterns is essential to improving shooting accuracy. Cut a piece of butcher paper (at least 35 by 35 inches) and staple it to an OSB board or some other solid backing. Draw a circle in the middle of the paper with a marker for a target. Then use a rangefinder to make sure you are 40 yards (this is the industry standard set by Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute) from the target.
Screw in the choke of your choice and load your shotgun with the shotshell you intend to shoot this fall. Shoulder the gun, click over the safety, and fire, aiming right for the center dot you made with the marker. Find the core of the pattern—where the majority of the pellets struck—and use that as your center point to draw a 30-inch circle. I cut a tailor’s tape to 15 inches and affixed a marker to it to do this. You can also measure and cut a string.
Repeat the process five times to confirm your shotgun’s pattern. Then you can start swapping chokes and shoot at different distances (25, 30, 50 yards, etc.) to find out more about your shotgun’s capabilities. Patterning will show you where the shotgun is shooting so that you have a point of reference when breaking clays or hunting. Every shotgun will pattern differently depending on the load and even the shooter due to gun fit, so it’s worth heading to the pattern board.
Remove the Bead From Your Shotgun
Taking the front sight off your barrel can improve shooting accuracy. A shotgun is not meant to be aimed unless you are turkey or deer hunting, so there’s no real advantage to keeping the bead on the barrel for wingshooters. Since you want to keep both eyes open and look at the moving target before pulling the trigger, the sight is only a distraction that can draw your attention away from the bird. Removing it puts the focus solely on the intended quarry you’re trying to kill.
Duck Hunters Need to Shoot Skeet
American skeet closely mimics many of the shots you will take on waterfowl. Sporting clays and five-stand are slightly better for duck hunters, but they are typically not as readily accessible as a skeet range. Start your round by mounting the gun, but keep your head off the stock—this will teach you to bring your face to the stock of the gun. If your cheek is already on the stock, your tendency is to pull away from the stock as you pull the trigger to see the clay break. Having your head up also provides a better field of vision, so you can find the clay quicker and react accordingly.
Once you're breaking upwards of 15 clays per round, try shooting low gun. Hold the shotgun around your midsection, call for the bird, mount, and shoot. This is how you will shoot ducks from a blind, so it’s great practice. Plus breaking clays this way is harder than connecting on a bird hovering over the decoys. If you make practice shots harder than the hunt, it will pay off in more clean kills this fall.
Upland Hunters Should Shoot Trap
Shooting trap is much like shooting a pheasant or chukar because the clay is thrown out in front of you, mimicking the flush of an upland bird. As with skeet, start with your head off the stock and then move to low gun.
As you improve, take a friend to the range to pull for you. Stand right behind the trap house (you will need to be the only shooter and get permission from the range attendant to do this) and have the puller throw the bird randomly without you calling for it. During a hunt, you won’t always know when a bird is going to spring from cover, and this drill will have you ready for those times. You can even walk up to the trap house—like you would in a pheasant field—and have your buddy throw a clay bird at random.
Shoot Clays Without Shotshells
If I am dropping too many targets on the skeet or trap range, I’ll leave the action of the shotgun open and shoot a ghost round, mounting the gun and pulling the trigger, but never loading the gun. This gives me more time to think about what I'm doing incorrectly. It also takes the pressure off. All of us want to break 25 targets every round, but that can sometimes get in the way of becoming a better shooter because the focus is on the task at hand, not the development of good shooting habits. Or, if I know the mistake I am making, such as riding the target too long, I can work on that by finding the leading edge of the target and pulling the trigger immediately.
