Seeing the target

[rossi]

I'm having trouble shooting Trap, and any gun with open sites. I wear tri-focul
glasses. When I site down the barrel, nothing is in focus, accept the target, and that just barely. Neither site on the gun is in focus. What do people do that do a lot of shooting. especially distances over 75 metres. I've just been to my optometrist, and he says my vision is fine.

Thanks!

 

[7.62mm]

First off what the heck are you doing looking at the sights? The only thing you should be looking at is the target. I know, somebody will tell you to align the two beads on the target, maintain a lead, then pull the trigger. POPPY-####!! The eye can't focus on two things at once, let alone three. You should only be focusing on the target, in the Clay Bird Games. Trap, skeet and sporting clays, are games that need instinct. Practise at home mounting the firearm to your shoulder at spots on the wall. When you bring the gun to your shoulder, where is it aimed? Your problem probably lies with an ill fitting firearm. Are you hitting any targets, or none at all?

7.62mm

 

[frenchyguy]

i thought i had a vision imparment for along time. i spoke to a friend of mine that is an optomitrist. she informed me that your eyes can only focus on 1 object at a certian distance at a time. therefore, if you focus on your rear sight, your front sight, and target will be fuzzed. if you focus on the target everything above and below will be fuzzed... when you learn to master target sight picture... you will know why shooting is a SKILL, and not a matter of simple lining up some objects.start focusing on rear first, then front sight or target, which ever feels right for you. find which one gets you closest. just my 2 cents.. i may be wrong, it has happened =)

 

[canucklehead]

Agreed with 7.62... when you're shooting a shotgun, you don't aim - you 'point'.

Focus should be on the target, not on the bead or front sight.

 

[Jamie Hunt]

Ok, same problem as my Dad had.
This is how he solved the issue.

Get perscription shooting glasses focused at the proper range to break birds.
Worked wonders for him.

Jamie

 

[Scar270]

Yep don't look at the beads on your shotgun, focus totally on the bird, and shoot with both eyes open, assuming right eye dominant and right handed or vice versa.

 

[MauserMike]

Use the beads to get your mount correct. On a two bead gun I make a figure 8 with the mid and front bead. I then shift my eye's focus to infinity (not the house) and watch for the bird after the call.

 

[gr8trapper]

MauserMike said:

"I then shift my eye's focus to infinity (not the house)"

I say:

Do you really? I find this is the hardest part of my game. Making sure I focus my eyes on where the target comes out. I try to focus on the leading edge of the house...right about where the target will appear.

Where does everyone else focus?

 

[bufalobill]

I then shift my eye's focus to infinity (not the house) and watch for the bird after the call.

I used this method for years.

A great trap shooter asked me one day (after an abyssmal doubles round) "Where the hell are your eyes?" (I had missed lots of first birds.)

I said " Out there, in the trees!"

He said "Mount your gun, then bring your eyes down to the trap. Keep your mount high, and only move your eyes to the top of the trap. Watch for the bird."

I listened, and I have never shot better. The brain takes over with the intense focus on the bird. The process becomes automatic with a solid mount and good fit and form.

There are umpteen thousand articles about eye focus that have been written. It comes down to: See the bird quickly and sharply, break the bird. It really is that simple. Everything else is working with new skills until you find a method that works for you.

Bill

 

[Covey Ridge]

Use the beads to get your mount correct. On a two bead gun I make a figure 8 with the mid and front bead. I then shift my eye's focus to infinity (not the house) and watch for the bird after the call.

infinity is a bad place to focus. Do what you got to do to line up your gun. Use whatever hold point works for you, BUT focus your eyes in the general area between where you first can clearly see the target and where you will break the target. Watch a bunch of targets and you will see that they all pass through a certain area of sky above the house. At first sight they are streaks and then they become clearly defined as a target It is between this distance where the target is clearly defined and where you will break the target that you must concentrate. If you can not see a sharply defined target in this space or depth, then fix your vision so you can.

 

[Scar270]

Hmm interesting discussion, I always thought I looked at the trap house, but I don't, I point the shotgun at the trap house but I look past the trap house for the bird. Guess I just never thought much about it before.

 

[Covey Ridge]

I look past the trap house for the bird. Guess I just never thought much about it before.

I sure hope this works for you because I think that you are looking in the right spot and the fact that you do not think about it much is also good. I think that you have the right technique ingrained in your subconscious. That sure beats thinking while you are shooting or having a technique that does not work.

 

[MauserMike]

What I mean is my focus is directed near the house in the area mentioned, just that the distance of my focus I keep further out.

Keeps me from accidently focusing on the house itself or the bead.

 

[GAFFER1949]

Focus: I Shoot Trap Well Enough,but When I Use Pistol I Have Trouble Finding Front/rear Sight Focus After First Shot! Tried Wearing My Reading Glasses Under Safety Glasses,targets Get Fuzzy! Just Read In Magazine About "reverse Bi-focal". Will Keep You Posted If They Work!

 

[Covey Ridge]

Focus: I Shoot Trap Well Enough,but When I Use Pistol I Have Trouble Finding Front/rear Sight Focus After First Shot! Tried Wearing My Reading Glasses Under Safety Glasses,targets Get Fuzzy! Just Read In Magazine About "reverse Bi-focal". Will Keep You Posted If They Work!

I have not been in a pistol range for over 12 years, but I recall the last one I was in had a large poster picturing the correct sight picture. Front and rear sight sharpe but target fuzzy or a blur and not in focus. Seems to me the difference between sighting and pointing. Seems to me a good demonstration of how one can not focus on three different things. That was the p;icture i used for those longer targets.

On those close quick presentations I alway did my best by just extending and just pointing.

 

[colinjw]

As noted above , the recommended sight picture for a target is to focus on the front sight & the target & the rear sight will be out of focus but it works.

Now that is for a target that is stationary. Does the same concept work on a moving target such as a clay bird ? I am thinking of taking up trap & would like to know. I am thinking that the front sight on the shotgun barrel would be the place to focus ?? Thanks.

 

[Covey Ridge]

As noted above , the recommended sight picture for a target is to focus on the front sight & the target & the rear sight will be out of focus but it works.

Now that is for a target that is stationary. Does the same concept work on a moving target such as a clay bird ? I am thinking of taking up trap & would like to know. I am thinking that the front sight on the shotgun barrel would be the place to focus ?? Thanks.

On a trap target the correct place to focus is the target!! On targets such as sporting clays, the best shooters, or those who seem to win frequently actually claim to focus on the leading edge of the target.

Any attemt to change focus to gun after the target is seen may result in a stopped or slow gun

 

[straightshooter]

As noted above , the recommended sight picture for a target is to focus on the front sight & the target & the rear sight will be out of focus but it works.

Now that is for a target that is stationary. Does the same concept work on a moving target such as a clay bird ? I am thinking of taking up trap & would like to know. I am thinking that the front sight on the shotgun barrel would be the place to focus ?? Thanks.

The two are essentially opposites of each other.

With pistols, the idea is to focus on the front sight with the center of the target in the background (center of mass, as it were). The rear sight and the front sight are, for all intents and purposes, at the same depth of field so you can see them both (at arms length, objects 4 - 6 inches apart will both be in reasonable focus).

What others have said about shotguns is true - you "point" the gun, keeping your eyes on the target at all times. NEVER change your focus to the bead or the barrel. And especially, don't be lining up a mid-bead and front bead as if aiming (this is okay when mounting the gun before calling for the bird, but doing this creates bad habits for when you're in the field and you have to mount the gun instinctively).

What has not been mentioned yet, is that shotguns designed specifically for trap and other clays sports are designed differently than shotguns designed for hunting. When using clays models, the bird should be mostly visible above the rib (or barrel, if no rib). Conversely, field models require the target to be covered when the sight picture is optimal.

If you use both types at the range or in the field, you can be over or under the bird depending on which sight picture you're using with which gun. 99% of shooters can't easily adjust their sight picture from one situation to the other.

To combat this, what I do is use only trap models at the range and only field models in the field. This way my habits in both places become ingrained and are consistent with the model in use.