Teaching a bow hunter to shoot pistols

[peteinct]

Hi everyone, A co worker of mine is a serious hunter. He uses mainly bow, but will use a rifle or shotgun when he has to. He is a meat hunter and will bring home at least 1 or 2 deer every year.

He said he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a pistol and asked me if I could spend a day with him and give him some pointers. Sure, I said any excuse to go shooting is a good one. I am not a hunter or an archer and don't know the skills involved. So what concepts do you think are the most important for a beginning pistol shooter?

Here are mine.

Safety. 4 rules and a reminded of much easier it is to cross yourself with the muzzle with a pistol than a rifle.

Grip and gun "fit"

Stance weaver vs isosceles

Breathing and trigger squeeze

Sight alignment and front sight focus


I'll bring my kadet kit (22 cal upper) as I think shooting 22's helps develop good form.

Any more ideas? We won't go untill it gets a little warmer outside but I would like to hear from anyone.

pete

 

[f4t9r]

I recently went with a hard core bow hunter to shoot pistols , he caught on pretty quick. was shooting the 1911 45 in no time after starting with a 9mm

Hes going to get a pistol but bow hunts from opening day till end , morning and evening

 

[Roundeyesamurai]

Hi folks, this is my first post on this forum (but some folks reading this will probably recognize me from elsewhere).

Allow me to recap, just for clarity: The person in question is at least sufficiently proficient with a bow to prefer it for hunting (then again, I don't know too many bowhunters who are merely "sufficiently proficient"), but "can't hit the broad side of a barn" with a handgun?

To me, this sounds like he's overthinking something in the process of aiming the pistol.

In considering how to teach him to shoot pistol, consider what he already does: He has considerable experience in focusing on a target and referencing the arrow to the target. In other words, being a proficient bowhunter, he has good target-focused ("pointshooting") skills already developed- namely, the necessary body alignment, alignment of the weapon to the target, and focus on the target rather than the weapon- and can apply these skills to a (frequently) moving target within a respectable range.

I would suggest that you forgo teaching him sighted fire, initially. It sounds like he already has the skills needed to pick up on a pointshooting platform very quickly.

Do you mind if I ask where you're located (I'm assuming Connecticut, judging by your handle)? A day or two with a good instructor in this field would probably do wonders for your friend.

 

[Preacherman]

Just remind him (gently) that he doesn't have to draw back the slide and release it in order to fire a pistol...

 

[Roundeyesamurai]

Just remind him (gently) that he doesn't have to draw back the slide and release it in order to fire a pistol...

Well hey, maybe we could incorporate Israeli Method into his training regimen, so that he'll feel more accustomed to the pistol!

 

[peteinct]

I'm surprised too

Thanks everybody for your replies. I don't know why he says he can't shoot a pistol. I think part of it is that he never tried. Another part of it is he is a small guy and his gun may not fit him well. Lastly I think he may have too high expectations of himself due to his bow skill. I think it is way harder to shoot a pistol well than the movies show.
Round eye I agree that a good instructor would do wonders for him it would do wonders for me too! But I 'm the resident gun nut at my job so I'm elected.
pete

 

[bigmike45]

peteinct,

I am a bowhunter here in Texas and a guy I hunt with had the same problem. I went with him once to give him some pointers and found out that he was trying to learn with a 44mag that belongs to his brother. Thankfully I had taken along my .22 Browning Buckmark Target. Ruger Redhawk in .357mag and had a bunch of .38 specials and my Ruger Redhawk in .41mag. Once I taught him a proper sight picture, I gave him the .22 with one shot at a time until he was able to hit what he shot at. I did the same with the other guns going from small to large calibers. By the end of a great 3 hour shooting session he was actually shooting the 44mag he had brought with decent accuracy.