Do You Close Your Eye(s) at the Shot?

Demonical

Demonical

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I've got a little 'twitch' that kinda bothers me.

Almost every time I fire a rifle, I find that my eye(s) close involuntarily. There's the odd time that I know my shooting eye has remained open, as I've shot a bear or moose or whatever, but usually I suffer that annoying 'twitch'.
In spite of myself, I don't seem to be able to stop doing it.

It's not affecting my accuracy whatsoever, but maybe follow-up shot acquisition is reduced.

Well I watch a lot of baseball; I watch pretty every Jays game. I've noticed something over the last while. It's amazing how many times, big league hitters, in a home run swing, close their eyes, right at impact.

See it time and time again, in slo-mo replays. Which is pretty much the same thing, as when a rifleman touches off a round; that momentary 'blink'.
Talking specific players, Troy Tulowitzki and Edwin Encarnacion pretty much always blink their eyes, right as they crush a long ball. Weird.

Joey Bats is a rare player that never seems to blink at impact with the baseball.

Today, I'm watching Wild TV and just saw an ad for a crossbow, and as buddy releases the shot, his eyes blink also. And show after show, when you see guys shoot (accurately), you see that right at the shot, their eye(s) blinked.

So I'm kinda curious: How many guys can honestly say their shooting eye never twitches/blinks momentarily, when they pull the trigger?
 
Me ole pah tawt me not to close me eyes when shoot'in.
How else you gonna see if you hit it?, he would say.
So I practise this concept religiously and I t'aint awll dat religeeous.
Might help to better control this habit with shooting a 22.
Oar bring sum tewthpicks.
Jest an eye-deer mind you.
 
Handgun, rifle or shotgun, I never close an eye. I am righthanded with a dominant right eye. If your dominant eye is the left one, apparently things are different.
 
Superbrad said:
If you are closing your eyes that means you are anticipating the shot and likely slapping the trigger...... Neither are good things.....
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No, it's as the rifle fires, not before. And it's not causing me to miss. So it's not some stupid, violent flinch.

I am far more likely to keep my eye(s) open, when shooting at game. Maybe I'm zoned in or something?
 
Demonical said:
No, it's as the rifle fires, not before. And it's not causing me to miss. So it's not some stupid, violent flinch.

I am far more likely to keep my eye(s) open, when shooting at game. Maybe I'm zoned in or something?
Click to expand...

A reflex reaction to noise maybe?..... I never notice noise or recoil when shooting at game......
 
I notice me heart beat changes.
And sometimes I can't git me capella back
awn me tete.
Buddy says me head gits pretty big some days......................:cool:
 
Superbrad said:
If you are closing your eyes that means you are anticipating the shot and likely slapping the trigger...... Neither are good things.....
Click to expand...

This is very true. I'm working on accuracy issues with my nephew now that I have identified exactly this behaviour when he pulls (yanking hard is more accurate) the trigger. I'd guess that if it hasn't affected your accuracy to this point, you've been very fortunate.
 
Blinking is a form of flinch, as has been pointed out. I catch myself doing it occasionally during range sessions, and have to fight it. I don't ever remember blinking shooting at game.
 
Chuckbuster said:
This is very true. I'm working on accuracy issues with my nephew now that I have identified exactly this behaviour when he pulls (yanking hard is more accurate) the trigger. I'd guess that if it hasn't affected your accuracy to this point, you've been very fortunate.
Click to expand...

What is he shooting Chuckbuster?...... I taught my kids to slowly pull the trigger and that the rifle firing should come as a surprise to them...... Of course, after a while, they have learned the rifle and know when the trigger is going to break, but by then they had already developed good habits....
 
Fortunately no. Early on I trained myself to keep my eyes open as part of the follow through of the shot be it with a stationary shot or moving shot, rifle, shotgun or handgun. Another part is shooting guns that fit you properly. If they don't you're getting hurt whether you care to admit it or not and the subconcious habit of developing a flinch starts to manifest itself. The number of times I have seen new shooters do this in anticipation of the recoil is incredible. It's going to be a tough learning curve if you are scared to pull the trigger right from day 1!!
 
Superbrad said:
What is he shooting Chuckbuster?...... I taught my kids to slowly pull the trigger and that the rifle firing should come as a surprise to them...... Of course, after a while, they have learned the rifle and know when the trigger is going to break, but by then they had already developed good habits....
Click to expand...

Right now, he is shooting a 7-08. I started him on a .22, manual then autoloader. From there, we went to cast loads ahead of Unique out of a .30-30. He was always slow to load, get the shot off and repeat, but he seemed to be able to do what was required and hit the target regularly. But, now with the 7-08, I've noticed a sharp drop in accuracy and so stuck a dummy round in the rifle; which allowed me to see the Mel Gibson effect when he pulled the trigger. So...we have gone back down to .22LR, and he is now doing things correctly again and hitting the target. I am going to give him light cast loads again next.
 
I don't think I blink at the shot but it's possible. So long as it lands where I ant it to I'm not that concerned. Perhaps more 308 and less 458 Lott would be a good idea?
 
Superbrad said:
Cool..... My oldest isn't at 7-08 level yet..... He shoots my .223 comfortably and I will be trying him on the .243 shortly.....
Click to expand...

What I will likely do this time, though is search up a reduced hunting load for him to use out of the 7-08...despite his being 16 and built like a linebacker, he may just be more recoil sensitive than I expected.
 
Chuckbuster said:
What I will likely do this time, though is search up a reduced hunting load for him to use out of the 7-08...despite his being 16 and built like a linebacker, he may just be more recoil sensitive than I expected.
Click to expand...

One thing I did with both kids when I started them shooting a new to them caliber was to let them for off a few rounds without aiming, just pointing the rifle down range shouldered head up and pull the trigger to get used to it....... Of course, this was done at the gravel pit and not the range where such things are frowned upon....
 
Ok, so I've read that shooting snap caps can cure a fella...

Maybe a guy needs to stack the mag with some live rounds and a couple snap caps and cycle through a mag.

Learn to keep the eyeballs open that way...
 
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