Please consider the following test. Blindfold tied on securely – have someone walk you to your car and stand you by the driver’s side front door. With your hand on the door handle – totally in the dark – you’re on your own. The test is: can you open the door; have a seat; put your seatbelt on; place the key in the ignition; put your foot on the brake; start the car and put it in Drive? The answer is, yes, of course, you can. Because you’ve done these countless times without a blindfold. The steps – the movements – are all familiar.We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t practice it until you can get it right; practice it until you ...

Greetings and thank you for visiting with us again. Here’s hoping most of your shooting boxes are in the shade. As I converse with each of my students in the clubhouse before we touch the gun, I respectfully ask, “Why are you here?”  Now, maybe you are thinking I ought to know that answer, considering this person has come for a lesson. Well, I do know that, but what I don’t yet know exactly is what the word success means to my student today. And that’s very important. My definition of success, and your definition, may not be their definition. From the novice opening the box with their first shotgun…or week-end warrior seeking to ...

Understandably, missing a target can be a source of disappointment and frustration. No one likes to miss. Maybe it seemed like a failure of some kind? I tried…I missed…I failed. OK, at some time or another, we’ve probably all been there, done that. And…count on this…each of us will miss again. So…if missing is inevitable, and it is…why not give all the negativity a rest? Why not stop beating ourselves up and find something positive, something useful to take away from a miss? Those are good reasons and why I vote we look at missing from another perspective. First, a miss was nothing more than a pre-shot set-up or swing error. Maybe ...

Ammunition, assuming 12 gauge… A few important numbers:1) 2 3/4 DRAM loads. Dram is the amount of powder in the shell. 3 DRAM and higher = more recoil and are contraindicated in too many ways to count. 2 3/4 DRAM loads hit the magic fps number…UNDER 1,200 fps.2) 1,200 fps or preferably a bit less will break every fair target presentation on this earth…consistently. 1,150 to 1,180 fps.3) First choice is either 7/8 oz or 1 oz loads. Both are 100% dependable. 2nd choice is 1 1/8 oz loads. Like powder, more shot = more recoil.  4) Shot size: 8’s put more pellets in the pattern…best for 80-90% of our targets inside 40 yards. 7 1/2’s (larger ...