[ASGMAG.COM] AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE 71‹ Above: When
you’re shooting a
shotgun with open
sights from the
standing position,
a spotter is good to
have. Your range
partners can make
you a better shot
and improve safety
while you’re at the
range.DRESS FOR SUCCESS
To replicate a real hunting situation, I practice
while wearing the same clothes I would be
wearing on a hunt. It is one thing to be able to
do everything right while wearing just a T-shirt,
but how about with a jacket or coat on? By the
time the fall hunting season arrives, because
I have been practicing all summer, I am able
to do all the steps in one fluid motion, almost
without thinking about it.
Some areas where I hunt are regulated as
shotgun only. In preparation for those times I
put the rifled barrel on my shotgun and then go
through all of the steps I do for my rifles. I am
committing all of the movements to muscle
memory, which enables me to replicate this
with every firearm I use, whether it is my .22 for
small game or my .30-30 and shotgun for deer.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Another thing that I do is use the same ammo I hunt with on the range, and that goes for my ri-
fles and my shotguns. Many times I see people on the rifle range and on the sporting clays course
using the cheapest ammo that they can, or they use target rounds. That doesn’t cut it with me. I
am trying to duplicate a hunting scenario as much as possible. I want everything to be as it would
be on the hunt. If I wouldn’t use the ammo on the hunt, I am certainly not going to practice with
it. A good example is preparing for a waterfowl hunt. I will use non-toxic shot on the clays in
preparation for that hunt. More expensive, yes, but lead shot shoots differently than non-toxic
and non-toxic is what I am using on that hunt.
For me, practicing with my firearms is like the person going to the gym. At the gym you develop
a routine of working out; one day you work one set of muscles and the next day you work another
set. I do the same with shooting. One day I will spend the time on the rifle range and the next I
will head for the clays course with my shotgun.
While large game will fill my freezer quicker, I have to admit that small game and birds, both
upland and waterfowl, often are the majority of the meat that sustains my family. For that
reason I have to make every shot count and, as with my rifles, to get this done takes constant
practice. As soon as I can, I head to the clays range, where I will practice hitting birds in flight.
Crossing right, crossing left, flying overhead or away, you just never know what birds will do so“TOBESUCCESSFUL,WHETHERYOUAREHUNTINGLARGEGAME
ORSMALL,WATERFOWLORUPLANDBIRDS,TAKESPRACTICE.YOUR
FIREARM, WHETHER IT IS A RIFLE ORASHOTGUN,NEEDSTOBEAN
EXTENSION OF YOUR ARM.”