THE REVIEWExpert instructionAdamCalvertisa freelanceshooting
instructorwitha globalreputation,
offeringbespokeshootinginstructionin
addition to being a Fabbri ambassador.
Beforeyouselectyour
secondbirdyoumustbe
sure the fi rst bird is dead.Q
Whatarethekeythingstoremember
whenpickinga partridgeoutofa large
covey?I wantcleankills,neverbrowning
thecovey,andalsotoachievea few left and
rightsif possible, this season.
A
Thefirstthingweneedtoremember
whentryingtoshootanybirdoutofa
covey,flockorpackiswhytheyfly insuch
a formation,whichisobviouslytoconfuse
theirpredators– inthiscaseus.Theybend
andweaveinflight,makingit hardtofocus
ononeparticularbirdanddifficulttoshoot.
Withthisinmind,thefirstquestionI ask
whenpractisingthistypeofshootingiscan
theclientactuallyseewhatishappening?
“Ifyoucan’tseeit thenyoudefinitelycan’t
shootit”isa mottoI frequentlyquote.
Ifoureyesightisnotoptimisedthen
thisvisualconfusioncanbecompounded.
Wemayfindit challengingtomaintain
a hard,consistentfocusona bird,and
it canmakethetransitiontothesecond
almostimpossible.Inaddition,ourabilityto
differentiatea targetfromthebackground
is termed our ‘contrast sensitivity’.
Asoureyesgetolderthelensesinside
losetranslucency,andwemaystrugglein
low-lightenvironmentsoragainsttricky
terrain.Fortunately,therearelensfiltration
systemsdesignedtoenhancethisthatcan
bebuiltintoourshootingglassesand give
usthatimportantvisualedge.
Eyesrequirespecialistskillsand
I workverycloselywithEdLyons(akeen
Shothimself)whoisa visualperformance
consultant.A visittohimcanresultin
massiveimprovementsinyourshooting
ability,andofteninanareawheremany of
uswouldnotevenconsiderlooking.
Assumingallthebasicsareright– we
canseewell,thegunfit isgoodandsoon–
thisleavesourtechnique.Theactofpicking
outa birdinanapproachingcoveyis
probablythemostimportantthing.Thereis
usuallyoneparticularbirdthatiseasierto
focusonthantheothers,perhapsslightly
apart,higherorlower,or maybe one that
justappealstoyou.
Youcantrytolimityourchoicesby
perhapsrulingoutalltheeasylowbirds(or
not as the case may be) or the birds thataren’tyours– anythingthatcanhelpyou
reducethenumberofchoicesisa bonus.
Thenextstageistoengagetheselected
bird.Thesecrethereistomakesure you
don’tleaveit untilit’sdead.
AlltoofrequentlyI seeshootersin
multiplebirdsituationstryingtoshoottwo
atonce.Beforetheyhavecleanlykilledthe
firstbirdtheyarealreadylookingforthe
nextbirdtoshoot.Thisresultsinmissing
thefirstbirdastheshot goes somewhere
betweenthetwo.
Asa result,I alwaystrytopersuade
peoplethesecondbirdisa bonusandnot
toleavethefirstbirduntilit isdead.
Interestingly,I findthelessyouthink
aboutthesecondbirdthemorelikelyyou
aretokillit.Thismaysoundoddbutthe
biggestproblemwithshootingthesecond
birdishesitatingtomakesureyoukillit.I
thinkit isbecauseyouhavekilledoneand
youaredesperatetokillthenextone.
Getintoa routine.Checkthebasics,pick
a birdandremainfocusedonit untilit is
dead.Then,andonly,thenpickanother bird
and shoot it without hesitation.