Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Orvis Sandanona Chronicles Part II

This shooting tip originally appeared in the Shotgun Life free weekly e-letter. You can sign up for it at http://shotgunlife.com. You can download this tip to your iPod, Blackberry or other Web-enabled PDA and take these lessons anywhere.


The Orvis Sandanona Chronicles Part II

Shotgun Life’s Sandanona Chronicles were developed at the luxurious Orvis Sandanona Shooting Grounds (www.orvis.com/sandanona) in Millbrook, New York. On September 13th and 14th Orvis Sandanona hosted the 4th Annual Shotgun Classic and the 2008 Orvis Cup.

Shotgun Life was invited to attend the instruction areas of the Shotgun Classic. The event focused on the teaching skills of wingshooting by top instructors from around the world, including Chris Batha, Keith Lupton, John Higgins, and Roddy Watson and Alan Rose from the West London Shooting School.

We are privileged to offer you notes from these esteemed instructors over the coming weeks. In this issue of the Sandanona Chronicles we focus on Bruce Bower.

Bruce, along with other Orvis instructors, used the method of having a student shoot a few targets. After each shot, Bruce would talk with the student, his conversation an object lesson in the fine art of wingshooting for the small group in attendance.

Bruce’s class consisted of six students. It took place in a leafy grove on a station that threw a crosser and an outgoer.

Here are excerpts from Bruce’s session:

On an outgoer, your muzzle should be closer into the target, about 15-20 feet in front of the trap, so you can see the target earlier.

If you use the Churchill Method of Instinctive Wingshooting, it will let you swing the gun naturally and take you through the target as you shoot it -- the natural swing enhancing your ability to focus on the target. It should be an easy delivery.

If you shoot the target in the same spot, you begin to shoot it by rote, reducing your chances of missing the target.

Your eyes should grab hold of the target and not let go.

Don’t let your eyes get distracted by the gun barrel.

Let your eyes and hands work together.

Most American shooters assume a wide rifle stance. By contrast, your feet should be slightly narrower than the width of your shoulders when shooting a shotgun.

The shooters instinct is to move the gun quickly. Do that and you’ll pass the target. The results are that you’ll “slam on the brakes” and have to wait for the target -- meaning that you’ll stop the gun prematurely during your swing. That’s called “hop and stop.”

Your left hand should be held out to the end of the forearm of the shotgun for maximum control.

Don’t look down the barrel.

Don’t beat yourself up when you miss a target.

You can arrange a private lesson at the Orvis Wingshooting School at schools@orvis.com or by calling 1-800-235-9763. You can also visit the Orvis Sandanona web site at www.orvis.com/sandanona.

For more information about Shotgun Life, please visit http://www.shotgunlife.com.

Monday, January 26, 2009

The Orvis Sandanona Chronicles Part I

This lesson originally appeared in the Shotgun Life free weekly e-letter. You can subscribe to it at www.shotgunlife.com. Shotgun Life is the first online magazine dedicated to the best in wing and clays shooting.

The Orvis Sandanona Chronicles Part I

Shotgun Life’s Sandanona Chronicles were developed at the luxurious Orvis Sandanona Shooting Grounds (www.orvis.com/sandanona) in Millbrook, New York. On September 13th and 14th Orvis Sandanona hosted the 4th Annual Shotgun Classic and the 2008 Orvis Cup.

Shotgun Life was invited to attend the instruction areas of the Shotgun Classic. The event focused on the teaching skills of wingshooting by top instructors from around the world, including Chris Batha, Keith Lupton, John Higgins, and Roddy Watson and Alan Rose from the West London Shooting School.

We are privileged to offer you notes from these esteemed instructors over the coming weeks. In this issue of the Sandanona Chronicles we focus on Keith Lupton.

Keith conducted his lesson on the wobble trap field that threw long shots of 30-40 yards. As it turned out, his session was attended by seasoned shooters looking to fine tune their skills (including one gentleman who shot a vintage .410 quite successfully).

Keith started with a few warm-up shots, primarily to determine the skill level of his students. As part of his warm-up, he would hand-throw a target and have the shooters follow them up and down with their index finger to improve their focus. Keith noted his instructions were for two-eyed shooters.

There were six students. Keith’s approach was to have them shoot different targets and then comment on their performance for the entire group. Each shooter’s success or failure became a topic of discussion and served as an object lesson in the fine art of wingshooting.

Here are excerpts from Keith’s session:

The biggest part about hitting a target is the approach -- how to focus on the target.

  • You only have to take your eye off the target for a split second before it gets away from you.
  • When shooting low gun, by the time your gun hits your shoulder it should get you synchronized with the target. You should be close to the target but not above it.
  • There is no best way to succeed at upland shooting. The successful shooter will incorporate all three of the primary methods: swing through, sustained lead and pull-away.
  • When presented with a pair of targets, always shoot the straight-away first. The straight-away is the hardest target to come back to.
  • When you miss a target, you tend to think you were above it because the target drops. However, you’re probably behind it or under it.
  • On a report pair, you can drop your gun down a couple of inches to use your peripheral vision to establish the second target -- with your eyes looking over the shotgun.
  • Where your eyes go, so goes the muzzle of the barrel.
  • Regarding your stance, leaning forward makes you feel more aggressive. Don’t slouch.
  • In pairs, you need to break one target at a time. Focus on that first target before moving to the second. Don’t let the first one get away because you’re thinking of the second. Trust your ability to focus on the target.
  • When mounting the gun, many shooters make the mistake of raising it with their right hand. By doing that, as you move the stock to your shoulder, you also tend to drop the muzzle. Your lead hand should be the left one, with the right placing the stock to your shoulder instead of driving the stock to your shoulder.
  • If you’re “thinking” about the target you’re missing it. Wingshooting should be instinctive.

You can arrange a private lesson at the Orvis Wingshooting School at schools@orvis.com or by calling 1-800-235-9763. You can also visit the Orvis Sandanona web site at www.orvis.com/sandanona.