EYE FOCUS before taking the shot for trap

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Gasanwu

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Hello expert trap shooters out there,

My trap gun has a fibre optic front sight and when the weather is good, it's really bright. I tend to focus on the sight before I call a shot, but when the pigeon comes out I find my focus switching back and forth between the F/O sight and the clay target, which causes me to miss quite a few targets.

Is there anyway to fix this? I shoot with both eyes open btw.
 
What I've observed over 10 or so years of shooting competatively and listening to a lot of people's theories on this has led me to believe the following;

Everyones eyes work different. What will work for one person may not work for another person.

As a 'for example'; I also shoot two eyes (usually skeet rather than trap, but this doesn't really matter). I suffer from cross dominance. Some times my right eye is dominant, other times it is my left eye. As to when which eye will take over is always a mystery. I wear a small patch on my left lense to help me with this problem (and it works very well). Now, I've had people say that if I concentrate harder on the bird (and a few other suggestions) because it worked for them. I've tried and it doesn't work no matter how hard I try. Point being, what works for one person may not work for another.

On to your problem, generally in shotgunning you don't want to get stuck looking at your bead when shooting moving targets. Some people will tell you not to look at the beads at all (I can't do this but try and find a happy medium). Ideally you want to focus hard on seeing the bird, and when you find it, and move your gun to it, you should be looking right down the barrel and pull the trigger when you are on it.

If you are focusing on the bead you won't get as good of a look out at the bird.

As I mentioned, maybe this can help you, maybe it can't, it is something you can try though.

Brad.
 
Gasanwu said:
Hello expert trap shooters out there,

My trap gun has a fibre optic front sight and when the weather is good, it's really bright. I tend to focus on the sight before I call a shot, but when the pigeon comes out I find my focus switching back and forth between the F/O sight and the clay target, which causes me to miss quite a few targets.

Is there anyway to fix this? I shoot with both eyes open btw.
Click to expand...
It's a very easy fix. Lose the glow stick. If your eyes are tracking back between the bird and your front sight you are not swinging smoothly. Replace it with a small bead if necessary and use the bead to line up your gun before you shoot. After the bird is in the air your visual focus should only be on the bird with your barrel in your peripheral vision. Bead checking leads to lost targets.

Eye on the rock, face on the stock and keep your gun swinging.
 
I tried that too, but I fount that removing the fiber optic sight cnages my position on the stock as well. More missing targets.
This is why the trap bbls have that high rib.......
Do youguys check to see if only an inch or two of the rib are visible before the call?
I shoot a regular 870 and it's hsrd to adjust to the straight stock.....
 
What Claybuster said.

If you find that the abscence of a bead "changes [your] position on the stock", then I would surmise either, a) that your gun does not fit you correctly, or, b) that you need to do a lot more work on achieving a consistant, repeatable gun mount. If the gun fits properly, you really don't need a bead at all ... because you are looking down the the rib dead centre at the correct height in the first place !
Applies to all clay target sports. Hard focus on the target ... start staring at the bead and measuring the targets you'll hear "Lost" a lot more frequently than you'd like".

Notwithstanding a fibre optic bead can be a help when shooting against very dark backgrounds ( i.e., they can help you distinguish where the end of your barrel is when the background is dark ... like Sporting Clays back in the trees) but for the most part, a small conventional bead works best. A large bead can actually make you shoot "under" with a gun that otherwise fits.
 
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