First left-handed whitetail...
- Thread starter jjohnwm
- Start date
Good for you, I've been shooting both ways since I was younger and had blunt force trauma to my shooting eye that happened just before fall. Now I shoot of either shoulder depending on which way the animal, ducks come or which hand I'm holding the gun at the time..
Nice job. Totally understand what you went through. My hunting buddy ended up in hospital with swine flu. Then had a stroke while in the hospital. Lost a good part of the vision in his right eye and taught himself to shoot left handed after shooting right for over 50 years. Probably been shooting left handed close to 10 years now and still enjoys hunting and shooting as much as he ever did.
Wow...I will remember this if I ever start to bellyache about my bad luck to have cataracts. It sometimes requires a look at someone with real problems to put your own in clearer perspective. Glad to hear he was able to adapt and persist.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
I think shooting with the weak hand is something all hunters should try and master. I'm hunting with a crossbow, as gun season was a bust. If an animal approaches you from the wrong side when you are hunting from the ground where movement must be minimal, and you can't twist around that far, a weak side shot is the only real way.
Yes, I have done it, it feels very unnatural, but not terribly difficult, if you don't have to hold in that position for long, you have a rest, and the shot is crossbow range. Longer (rifle) ranges would definitely be a challenge.
It seems all my friends that are my age are having their eyes done for cataracts. Thus far, the doc says mine are much better than expected, he says barely visible cataracts. So, fingers crossed, I don't have to go down that road for years.
Yes, I have done it, it feels very unnatural, but not terribly difficult, if you don't have to hold in that position for long, you have a rest, and the shot is crossbow range. Longer (rifle) ranges would definitely be a challenge.
It seems all my friends that are my age are having their eyes done for cataracts. Thus far, the doc says mine are much better than expected, he says barely visible cataracts. So, fingers crossed, I don't have to go down that road for years.
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
This is exactly what people need to be a bit more well rounded, even just practice with a rimfire rifle offhand will do wonders. I honestly think LH people have a leg up on you guys, as we grew up with everything on the wrong side, so this is our normal. I've actually only shot one deer right handed, when it snuck in on a spot I thought it would never come out of.
My wife was reminding me how much of a PITA shooting was for me last year, using my left eye/shoulder...which prompted me to update this thread. I got a call in January regarding a cancellation that had left an opening for two surgeries, one month apart, to get the lenses replaced in both eyes. I could wait for my existing appointment near the end of 2022...or I could come in for the first surgery at the end of that week! Well, duh...
Fast forward a couple months, and I had shiny new lenses in both eyes. Vision continued to improve for several weeks after the surgeries. I am now better than 20/20 in both eyes, and can even get by without reading glasses for casual purposes, although if I sit down to read a book for awhile or need to read a print at work, I still wear the specs. No complaints about that.
If anyone out there is possibly hemming and hawing about this surgery...don't. It is exceptionally quick, completely painless while being done, and almost painless afterwards. I didn't take a single painkiller and had no problems. You wear an eyepatch to bed for a week or so after surgery to keep yourself from rubbing your eye while asleep, you use several different types of eyedrops for a couple weeks afterwards, and then you just go back to your normal life, except now you can see again. You're back to work within a couple days after surgery.
I can't wait for the upcoming right-handed hunting season.
Fast forward a couple months, and I had shiny new lenses in both eyes. Vision continued to improve for several weeks after the surgeries. I am now better than 20/20 in both eyes, and can even get by without reading glasses for casual purposes, although if I sit down to read a book for awhile or need to read a print at work, I still wear the specs. No complaints about that.
If anyone out there is possibly hemming and hawing about this surgery...don't. It is exceptionally quick, completely painless while being done, and almost painless afterwards. I didn't take a single painkiller and had no problems. You wear an eyepatch to bed for a week or so after surgery to keep yourself from rubbing your eye while asleep, you use several different types of eyedrops for a couple weeks afterwards, and then you just go back to your normal life, except now you can see again. You're back to work within a couple days after surgery.
I can't wait for the upcoming right-handed hunting season.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I read an article by Phil Shoemaker that shooting off weak side was a skill they practised and used in his Vietnam fighting days - so about worst is right handed hunter stepping forward with right foot, and threat appears off to right side - he advocates a hand shuffle to get shot off left shoulder - alleges is much, much quicker than trying to stomp feet around and get a shot from right shoulder - apparently was handy skill when after the big bears waiting in bushes ...
From a left hand shooting correspondent - he advises STRONGLY to not try weak side shooting with a sharp edged or roll-over type monte carlo - as was a thing on some rifles some years ago.
From a left hand shooting correspondent - he advises STRONGLY to not try weak side shooting with a sharp edged or roll-over type monte carlo - as was a thing on some rifles some years ago.
My wife was reminding me how much of a PITA shooting was for me last year, using my left eye/shoulder...which prompted me to update this thread. I got a call in January regarding a cancellation that had left an opening for two surgeries, one month apart, to get the lenses replaced in both eyes. I could wait for my existing appointment near the end of 2022...or I could come in for the first surgery at the end of that week! Well, duh...
Fast forward a couple months, and I had shiny new lenses in both eyes. Vision continued to improve for several weeks after the surgeries. I am now better than 20/20 in both eyes, and can even get by without reading glasses for casual purposes, although if I sit down to read a book for awhile or need to read a print at work, I still wear the specs. No complaints about that.
If anyone out there is possibly hemming and hawing about this surgery...don't. It is exceptionally quick, completely painless while being done, and almost painless afterwards. I didn't take a single painkiller and had no problems. You wear an eyepatch to bed for a week or so after surgery to keep yourself from rubbing your eye while asleep, you use several different types of eyedrops for a couple weeks afterwards, and then you just go back to your normal life, except now you can see again. You're back to work within a couple days after surgery.
I can't wait for the upcoming right-handed hunting season.
Congratulations on your successful surgery... hard to fully appreciate "sight" until it is compromised. Good.luck in your hunting endeavors.
