TrapperReady
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,732
Yesterday, I found myself up at my "home" sporting clays course all by my lonesome. I could have hung out in the clubhouse for a while and joined with another group, but I decided to practice on my own.
When I practice, I go around the courses and shoot only those presentations which give me problems from time to time. I'll stay at a station and shoot the targets until I am hitting them reliably (usually running from 6-10) in a row. On targets like springing teal, I will warm up hitting them at the top, and then work on hitting them on the way up, just after they crest, and just a few feet off the ground.
Anyway, practice was going well (with the minor exception of a very close rabbit target
), until I got to my nemesis. It's a long shot from the top of a hill, with the thrower located about 30 degrees to the right, at the bottom of the hill, probably 30 yards from the shooting box. It's kind of like shooting trap from station #1, with the house at the bottom of a hill and the clay thrown hard left about 50% higher than normal. Make that trap from the 30 yard line.
All that being said, I KNOW I can hit these targets. On a typical round, you will have 3 report pair thrown, and I usually hit at least 1/2 of them. But, I've been very inconsistent on this station for several years.
So, I stepped into the box, pressed the button and shot... missed... pressed button... missed. Did it again with more lead. Hit one (broke in half), missed one. Tried more lead. Missed both. Tried less lead. Missed both. Tried shooting a little higher. Missed. A little lower. Missed. Tried shooting earlier. Missed.
Stopped and scratched head. Tighter chokes? Nope. I was running Heavy Mods, which give me plenty of range on all but the very longest shots. I threw a couple targets without shouldering the gun... just watching the flight and focusing on the front edge. At the distance, I couldn't actually see the spin, but I pretended that I could.
Then I dropped a couple shells into the tubes, pressed the button and shot. Bang. Hit. Pressed button. Bang. Hit. Neither of the breaks were chippy, the clay was well centered and came completely apart... not dust, but lots of little chunks. I threw two more. Two more solid breaks. Two more... missed the second one of the pair, no chips, but it moved. Ran four more straight and decided to call it quits on that station.
In retrospect, I think that I've been trying to "solve that problem" too analytically. I was looking at the target, but trying to shoot it by measuring the lead and "dialing in" the elevation. On all the other stations, I watch the target and shoot it... but this one had gotten inside my head. I think then length, the angle and the fact that it's thrown into the clear blue sky made me try to solve it, instead of just shooting it. When I really focused on the target and trusted my shooting, there was no problem in shattering those birds.
I seem to remember someone around here saying "If I can see it, I can fell it."
Sound like good advice to me.
When I practice, I go around the courses and shoot only those presentations which give me problems from time to time. I'll stay at a station and shoot the targets until I am hitting them reliably (usually running from 6-10) in a row. On targets like springing teal, I will warm up hitting them at the top, and then work on hitting them on the way up, just after they crest, and just a few feet off the ground.
Anyway, practice was going well (with the minor exception of a very close rabbit target
), until I got to my nemesis. It's a long shot from the top of a hill, with the thrower located about 30 degrees to the right, at the bottom of the hill, probably 30 yards from the shooting box. It's kind of like shooting trap from station #1, with the house at the bottom of a hill and the clay thrown hard left about 50% higher than normal. Make that trap from the 30 yard line.All that being said, I KNOW I can hit these targets. On a typical round, you will have 3 report pair thrown, and I usually hit at least 1/2 of them. But, I've been very inconsistent on this station for several years.
So, I stepped into the box, pressed the button and shot... missed... pressed button... missed. Did it again with more lead. Hit one (broke in half), missed one. Tried more lead. Missed both. Tried less lead. Missed both. Tried shooting a little higher. Missed. A little lower. Missed. Tried shooting earlier. Missed.
Stopped and scratched head. Tighter chokes? Nope. I was running Heavy Mods, which give me plenty of range on all but the very longest shots. I threw a couple targets without shouldering the gun... just watching the flight and focusing on the front edge. At the distance, I couldn't actually see the spin, but I pretended that I could.
Then I dropped a couple shells into the tubes, pressed the button and shot. Bang. Hit. Pressed button. Bang. Hit. Neither of the breaks were chippy, the clay was well centered and came completely apart... not dust, but lots of little chunks. I threw two more. Two more solid breaks. Two more... missed the second one of the pair, no chips, but it moved. Ran four more straight and decided to call it quits on that station.
In retrospect, I think that I've been trying to "solve that problem" too analytically. I was looking at the target, but trying to shoot it by measuring the lead and "dialing in" the elevation. On all the other stations, I watch the target and shoot it... but this one had gotten inside my head. I think then length, the angle and the fact that it's thrown into the clear blue sky made me try to solve it, instead of just shooting it. When I really focused on the target and trusted my shooting, there was no problem in shattering those birds.
I seem to remember someone around here saying "If I can see it, I can fell it."
Sound like good advice to me.
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