LOOKING BEFORE SHOOTING WILL MEAN SUCCESS

Bob Hood
Forth Worth Star Telegram

I always have considered myself a fair shotgunner with a knowledge of how far to lead a moving target, how to learn where my shot went when I missed a target, and what it takes to have fast reflexes. What I didn't realize until last Wednesday is that I really didn't understand fully what a lead was, that I shouldn't care where my shot went during a miss, and that being accurately fast is a heck of a lot more important than just being fast.

After a four-hour visit with Leon Measures of Livingston at Alpine Gun Range during one of his Shoot Where You Look workshops, I am convinced that his philosophy and teaching techniques are things that can improve any shotgunner's ability, novice or veteran alike.

Measures' training technique is one I had heard about but had never participated in. Now, after doing so, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their wingshooting. I not only came away a better shotgunner, I also came away with a certain amount of confidence that I did not realize was lacking.

No one can become a better shotgunner if he or she doesn't practice, but not all practice, I learned from Measures, must be with a loaded shotgun. It ends up there, but it doesn't necessarily begin there.

Measures' training session begins with a two-hour verbal session about the most important steps to becoming a better shotgunner. And if you think you already know all of the basics, you are in trouble from the start.

One of the first things Measures teaches is to forget the misses and savor the hits. Using a BB gun with no front or rear sights, the shooter soon learns the key to it all - to shoot where he is looking. And after about a 40-minute round you will learn the importance of shooting at a small part of the target, not the entire target.

The first target was a piece of paper on the face of a cardboard box. You create your own target by firing a BB through the paper. The hole made by the BB now is your target. If your first shot is high to the left, you simply concentrate on a part of the first BB hole that is low and to the right. And you may be surprised how quickly shooting a BB through that hole can be accomplished by following this Shoot Where You Look method.

Next, five empty shotshell hulls are used as targets, then about a dozen BBs are spread out in front of each shooter. There are misses, of course, but finally, most shooters learn to shoot all the BBs off the ground with the BB gun.

Mounting the gun in the same place each time before a shot is one of the key factors in being able to shoot where you are looking. But concentrating on a pledge Measures' ask each person to make to themselves is important, too. The pledge is: "I will never again shoot at a dove, duck, quail, good, pheasant or clay target. I will shoot at a beak, an eye, a foot or an imaginary white spot on the leading edge of a clay target."

Graduating to the skeet range to shoot at fast-moving clay targets, one learns that a "lead" is actually three things: forward allowance (distance between the gun and the target); the speed of the swing; and that the gun does not stop when you pull the trigger."

Remembering not to think about a shot but rather shooting instinctively, when your eyes and the end of the gun first meet with the target, and following through after the trigger is pulled sounds simple, and it is. But, a lot of misses, even by experts, are caused because the thought process interfered with the brain's instinctive capabilities.

And just as important is to realize that it takes only an inch or two movement of the end of the barrel to move a three-foot pattern of shot eight feet away from the target at 30 yards.

These are just some of Measures' training techniques. Many others that will improve your swing and eye coordination can be practiced in the home or office without a loaded gun. Measures said he isn't sure when he will be holding his next workshop in the Fort Worth area, but interested wingshooters can give him a call at 800-201-5535.

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Safety!! Never, ever, point a gun; loaded, unloaded, on safe, off safe, or otherwise at anything you don't intend to shoot! You will never have to say, "I didn't know it was loaded."

When you have mastered Shoot Where You Look^SM,
please e-mail us your results at info@shootwhereyoulook.com

Leon Measures'
Shoot Where You Look^SM
408 Fair
Livingston, TX 77351

(800) 201-5535 Office
(936) 328-7927 Cell
info@shootwhereyoulook.com