Anyone else do what I do?

[WinchesterAA]

I'm a strange guy, I'll be the first to admit. Upon first glance I look a lot like anyone else. Act a lot like anyone else, and behave a lot like everyone else. However, there's always something along the way that gets pointed out though, in just about everything I do, but I come up with the same conclusion..

Ex - Driving. Parked front in with 2 cars on my side, I need to back out.. I first look at my steeringwheel to see which way my tires are aligned, then I see how much space from the car I'll be steering towards, THEN I look behind me. Most people I've met though, check (if at all) to see if any cars are coming, then start backing out and watching the car they're steering towards.

The result is the same, back out and nobody gets hurt, but mine looks like I just drove out carelessly. A lot of the time, my attention to detail is chalked up to incompetence, while others are applauded for it.

Something noticeably peculiar comes in in the world of explosives and things that put holes in things at a distance. There really is no process, there really is no system for shooting that I know (meaning, literally, that I know, abide by, believe in, etc etc)

Try as I might, at the range or wherever that the object is to shoot without the intent of killing, I look like a professional rookie. My form is good, my control is good, but my groups are quite pathetic at practice.

However, when someone throws a can in the air, or when a deer runs out, or when a bunch of ducks take flight, or when a squirrel moves just enough to catch my eye, all of what I try to do at the range becomes null and void. All that time and effort, and the method I chose instead was simply killing.

It's weird, and something that's always perplexed me and reminded me of when I try to think about how infinity could be possible as far as how impossible it all sounds, you know, but it's there..

My thoughts when trying to shoot a target include a wide range of different factors that are actually accurate, but I'm routinely limited by the ultimate lack of significance in what I'm doing that it serves more for fun than anything else, and indeed it is quite fun =)

But, when the games on, when food or money is on the line, all of that goes away. There's no moment of pressure, there's no "everything's aligned, fire at will", it just happens.

Perhaps even more interesting is that in the event the actions were wrong to begin with, before I shoot I freeze.

Ex, last weekend I went hunting. I was catching a nice nap in the stand before daylight, and when I awoke I gazed downrange tword the feeder. At about 180 yards I saw a little movement so I got my gun ready just incase. A deer stepped out JUST PERFECT broadside. That same thing that always seems to happen happened again. Previously, in a situation like this that deer would have already been dead, but not this time due to that stupid 13" spread law. I dunno why I stopped, glad I did though cuz I'm pretty sure its antlers weren't going to make the cut, but I got a little glimpse of just what the hell goes on in my head when this kinda thing comes up.

I was aiming perfectly at that deer's neck, and in a way that if he'd moved in almost any direction before that round got to him he'd have still been dead. I was impressed.

What is that, though? How do I perform so poorly at the range, but as soon as it becomes real it's like I've been doing it my entire life?

This is something I want to try and incorporate into the design of my firearms. Despite how "special" I feel, I've seen the same stuff from some other people in very limited doses, but then again, my philosophy differs drastically from a lot of people, so maybe certain elements of that play into how I handle firearms, but curiosity calls me to ask more and more people if they do things the way I do..

So, to phrase it more sanely...

Have you ever taken a great shot that you couldn't explain?
Have you ever taken a shot that felt more like a reflexive action than anything else?

Why do you think it happened, and is it reproduceable? Is there a way to enhance or degrade the effectiveness, or incorporate a form of training?

I dunno if this is related to what I'm trying to figure out or not, but it's important to note that the same very weird little trick buck fever plays on you where when you squeeze off the round you don't hear it (I forget the name of what I'm talking about, but there's a site somewhere that describes it in detail that I read about while browsing here).

What it all means, I don't know, if I can always rely on it I don't know, but for my entire life so far it's always been like that, and I'd like to know more about why I do that, and how I can make sure I always do it.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Anyone ever walk up on a lake full of ducks, spook em a bit, and then feel like a sentry turret programmed to kill the limit?

 

[siglite]

For hunting this philosophy/style might be fine. But for self defense, you won't rise to the occasion as you say you do when hunting. You'll default to your training.

Though, I can relate to the "zen" effect when the pressure's on. Pressure being the deer, the duck, the squirrel, or even in an SD situation. I've had to draw in SD, and a front post never crystallized so clearly as it did in that moment. So necessity can drive focus, but training applies it.

 

[glass]

yes I think you are talking about your rythym, your zone, the force, zen, chi, kharma, groove... whatever you want to call it. When you think about it or try to hard it comes out awkward at best. When you let things flow it all comes together nice and sweet?

I do that myself... did that.... now I just let things flow. If I move that way... I (just) move that way... and simply inject my own focussed action when everything lines up. When the arm moves up and the sights are aligned I break the shot rather than try and fight to keep the sights hard on the target...

I don't think I am explaining it any better but basically I try not to over think it too much, let my reflexes deal with the moment and concentrate my mind on focusing the action at the right point of the movement. Having an audience is also difficult at times.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I have a good friend who is that way. If it's moving it's dead but if it's sitting still it has a fighting chance. He shot at a raccon out by his chicken coop one night while it was sitting still. After the bullett whizzed by, the 'coon took off running. He smacked it right in the chest with a second shot from his 223.

 

[DWARREN123]

I have found that i am more accurate shooting at smaller targets. I know it sounds strange but the smaller the target (I can see) the better my groups.

 

[boredelmo]

Thats, def not weird. Small targets = better groups. It should be the norm.

I can point shoot well, but if you tell me to line up the sights and try to make it, im not too sure if i can make the shot. I chalk it up to ADD or ADHD or EBDTDAAPOP (extreme boredom due to shooting at a piece of paper.)

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Ever notice that when you think about what your feet are doing when you go down a flight of steps, you're more likely to trip up?

Just do it.

 

[geophysicishooter]

maybe you should try wearing a garter belt to the range ala Eppy Calvin "Nuke" LaLouce in Bull Durham. You know, align your shakras, keep your brain slightly off center which is necessary for pitchers and artists. Fernando Valenzuela used to breathe through his eyelids. Primal Eye. Don't think, meat, just throw.

Golfers talk about this all the time. The best ones can't hit water falling out of a boat unless there's somthing on the line. It has a calming effect on your system. Lee Trevino, or was it ChiChi, used to tell a story about a reporter that asked him about the pressure he felt coming down the stretch to win a big tourney. He said 'pressure? That's not pressure. Pressure is being a mexican in 1960 at the Dallas Country Club and having to hit an 18' put to win a $500 bet and you haven't got a dime in your pocket. That's pressure.'