Pack It In?

[Torian]

Eye fatigue can set in pretty quick for me (left eye dominant, shoot right handed). Once my shooting starts to suffer, I usually sit back, light up a stogie, and shoot the breeze a bit.

Once I'm relaxed, I'll usually resume shooting.

 

[jakk280rem]

Oh yeah. I have off days. Usually I'll get fatigued if I sit behind the scope too long. Eyes and neck start to go leading to a tension headache. I used to try to metan up and power on. I realized it's just a waste of ammo to do so. I usually change disciplines. I get up and do dome move and shoot exercises or something if I get off. Usually if I just do something different I can come back and give it another go and get better results than trying to power through.

 

[gspn]

Having an "off day" is the perfect time to not quit! There is no better time to practice than when you have to fight through something to focus and get good hits.

The only place I quit when I'm "off" is on the reloading bench. If I make a mistake I correct it and refocus...if I make a second mistake I quit and come back the next day.

 

[hemiram]

Last time I went shooting, I gave up after a short time, because I was just beyond bad and I couldn't see wasting ammo by continuing. I was very shaky that morning, and I have no idea why. I picked up my S&W 4006TSW with a laser on it, and I was all over the place. The next morning, I was rock solid. I have no idea what was going on. It's happened a few times over the last 10 years or so, and always seems to be in the morning, a time of day I hate as I'm a total night owl.

 

[rduchateau2954]

I take my frustration out on steel plates with .22s when I have a bad day. No way to tell what kind of groups I'm getting, just satisfying "ping" after satisfying "ping"

 

[MattShlock]

Keep Calm

Carry On.

 

[xfyrfiter]

On good days when the pain is low, I find that I can ride my bike or shoot my guns equally well . Bad days though it,s anybodys guess where the rounds will strike or if I can ride 35 miles or 3.5.

 

[RBid]

When I'm having an off run, I correct it. When I hit a rough string, I slow down, and focus intently on fundamentals. I don't walk away.

 

[mstreddy]

Generally an off day is a time to refocus on the basics. If that doesn't tune me back in, then it's time to take a breather. See what other people are doing, bs, take a drink, etc... And then get back in the zone.
One really bad day wasn't the shooting, but was mechanical issues with nearly everything I brought out that day. 1st - the 2 new surplus Thompson mags would not lock into place in the receiver. Had to either hold mag up in place or set bottom of mag into bench. 2 - the batch of 45 ACP LSWC I had loaded last year and neglected to plunk-test did not plunk into the Storm lake barrel on the Kimber. Had to push the gun into battery for every shot. After 20 or so I got fed up and put it up. Had not brought any more factory ammo. And -- 3 that was the day the Walther P22 decided to crack the slide in 3 places. So, that was the day I just packed everything up and said -- time to go home. I didn't even pull out the G17 cause I was thinking what else can go wrong today?
As others, when one gun has issues I just change to another one. But that was not a good day at all.

 

[*NOVA*]

...1st - the 2 new surplus Thompson mags would not lock into place in the receiver. Had to either hold mag up in place or set bottom of mag into bench. 2 - the batch of 45 ACP LSWC I had loaded last year and neglected to plunk-test did not plunk into the Storm lake barrel on the Kimber. Had to push the gun into battery for every shot. After 20 or so I got fed up and put it up. Had not brought any more factory ammo. And -- 3 that was the day the Walther P22 decided to crack the slide in 3 places...that was not a good day at all.

Can we nominate this as the UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR?
Holy Moses! mstreddy, I bet my next paycheck you won't let anything like number 1 or 2 happen again. Number 3 you could not predict would happen, that was just terrible luck!

Not wanting to steal this thread - I needed to express some sympathy for this poster and hope I never have a day that bad. But for anyone not knowing what a plunk test is (I've only been into guns for a few years and still learning) - here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdJLNox1hpk

 

[clutch]

If I feel distracted, not really paying attention, I leave. I want and need to be safe, even if it is only me out there.

 

[peacemaker45]

Why practice shooting badly? To shoot well, you have to practice shooting well. Go home and mow the lawn, or do something else. When you're shooting well, shoot a lot. When you're not, go do something more productive.

 

[Hunter125]

I usually either start shooting larger targets or switch to .22 so I can still have fun and not care about how much ammo I'm wasting.

 

[Zach S]

Depends on what I'm shooting, how I'm feeling, how crowded (loud) the range is, or a combination of the three.

Normally, I pack it in.

 

[TRX]

As long as the gun goes "BOOM!" when I pull the trigger, I'm happy. Hitting the target is nice, but the boom and recoil are the fun part.

I can empathize with the "serious shooter" types, but I shoot for fun, and I'm easily pleased...

 

[History.Doc]

Well, I had a pretty terrible day yesterday and I just kept right on shooting. I think I should have packed it in though.