Practice

About 35% of my Dove hunters are pretty decent shots. The other 65% are lucky to average 2-3 birds per box. I've been telling them for years to go shoot at least a couple of rounds of clays before they come, but most never do. I had 2 guys here this weekend that shot 16 boxes of shells and killed 32 birds.
I guess I don't understand why these guys don't seem to want to become better shots.
I was having trouble this year and spent 10 minutes and 1 box of shells with an instructor and he saw my problem right off. I adjusted my shooting with crossing clays and was busting 2 out of 3.
Do yourself a favor guys, if your having trouble, ask for help. It'll make your hunting more enjoyable.

I think some guys just like pulling the trigger on birds but not clays. 16 boxes lol. I take 2 boxes with me. If I can't kill 15 with 50 shots I'm not going to stay out there and just waste them

You'd figure by the time they went through a couple boxes they'd figure it out.

I've shot a limit this year with less than a box and I've also shot a limit with 2+ boxes. I probably average 1.5

My shooting varies day to day. Wind speed and direction are also a big factor.

I don't normally shoot clays before the season but if I was only going to get a hand full of hunts in I would definitely get in a little pre season practice.

I've never shot at a clay in my life.

Well, maybe your a good shot. I'm talking about the guys that struggle.

The hardest shot for me is the ones that fly up behind you. By the time you see'um their almost out of range and moving. When I have a quick shot like those, i don't follow through. The few that came across or from the front were not an issue.

As fast as they were moving yesterday afternoon , everyone struggled with that shot. Chris you're a good shot, you just had a bit of an off day yesterday under tough condition.

Most guys i have seen in the field pick up their guns and move like a pinata way too early, that will make shots 55 yards instead of inside 20. They will shoot and miss, without swinging their guns, thats another thing.

The ones passing behind you, let them pass and shoot 1 ft below them. U will hit them.

Yep.

I think my worst shot is them scooting away from me at a slight angle and shooting at their butts.

That's a favorite for me. Grew up quail hunting. Coming right at me I hate because the always cut a dido one way or the other and I choose wrong.

Practice won't help those numbers. Need instruction. Numbers will go up huge. How many good golfers never take lessons?

Your heads off gun or not blacking bird out w barrel. Overhead- gotta lead separate and keep moving barrel. Wasn't very good at that shot until started shooting clays

Did you receive instruction?

I missed a lot duck hunting until I was on a skeet team and got some real good instruction why I was missing so much. The only thing I was doing was trying to shoot a shotgun like a rifle with one eye closed. When I started shooting with both eyes open, my hit ratio increased dramatically. I now shoot a 410 O/U and hit just as good or better than when I shot my 1100.

Opening weekend, 15 doves w/22 shells

But I did learn how to shoot well shooting competitively.

Gun mount, pulling head off of stock on overhead shots and not keeping the gun moving are all bad habits people pick up.
I was always told the four "B"s... Butt,beak,break-away,BANG! Choosing a shot early and tracking it's flight line helps hugely, you'll find yourself automatically picking the right lead for different birds. Not keeping good habits and not practicing is the main problem. That and guys that shoot rifles mostly have a tendency to "aim" a shotgun.

Instructor help me a lot. I was getting real frustrated because I've never had a problem with a shotgun before. I wasn't the best shot but could hold my own. This year I had cataract surgery on my shooting eye and I lost 30lbs.
Instructor said I was doing everything right but shooting high. Got my head down a little more and aimed a little lower. Fixed me right up.

I really have no idea what these shooting techniques you guys are speaking of. I shoot instinctively and average around 35-40 shells per 15 dove. Sometimes i get that limit with 20-25 shells and sometimes.....well thats why the average is 35-40. That shot someone said above about the bird coming from behind you? Thats the easiest shot for me. I have no idea what my lead is but I must leading them. I have no idea if I'm following thru but I must be. I do practice mounting my gun the same way but I never shoot clays before the season. Now.....NOW, that dam bird that you see waaaaaaay out there heading right fer ya. Thats the the bird that I waste 3 shells on and wave good by as I cuss myself. I have to almost looks away and act like I just saw him when he's on me and try to shoot instinctive.

I'm at 120 birds for the year on 8 hunts and hope to add 30 more before I give up the shotgun till duck season starts.

I struggled on ducks. Could shoot driven pheasants fine, but when it came to ducks, I'd miss all day. Same gun but couldn't work it out. Wearing all my duck hunting gear was causing my gun fit to be off and making me shoot high. Getting your head down is a big part of it. Glad you got it sorted. I nearly gave up hunting entirely because I shot a box of shells for one bird one day!

"Shoot Where You Look"
Google It.

For some it has nothing to do with the killing as much as it does the hunt. If the guys that shot 16 boxes had fun then good on them...

Absolutely, they had a blast. I guess it bugs me more than them.

I'm with the both of you, it's not about killing its about having fun. But....if it took me 8 boxes to kill 16 birds, I would either practice or quit:)

Took 4 lessons years ago- South America every year for the last 10+ yrs hasn't hurt either.

As you know, if you miss and don't know we're you are missing, pretty hard to correct. Repetition and mental pic of shots is what the experts say-

Not sure if you were serious or sarcastic..hard to tell on THF

I was just curious.

Yup- pull thru works well on crossing shots- matches speed of bird regardless of distance-

Big no no is also people that look at that goofy bead/ looking at barrel is a big issue- you stop swinging typically- it should be a blur or not even visible if you are focusing on target

I'm a fixed lead shooter. I like to see the bird the whole way and just adjust my lead before I shoot. Works for me.

And I like my bead. I'm kinda tall so it helps me see with my peripheral vision if I'm looking down the barrel. Otherwise I tend to have my head up too much and shoot high sometimes.

Doesn't matter what you prefer, nothing beats practice and experience.

I thought dove hunting was practice for duck hunting.

Skeet shooting does help get your lead down and improve your shot. A box of clays and a few boxes of shells make dove season alot more fun and leads to more G or PG rated language.

As many (I think) have said, taking lessons and shooting correctly (both eyes open, keeping both eyes locked on target, good mount, etc..), is way more important than practice.

When you learn to shoot correctly, everything slows down dramatically. If you are shooting with 1 eye closed, and worse yet your eye(s) goes back and forth, from bead of your gun to target to make sure it is aligned (like how you shoot a rifle, deer over a feeder), you will struggle, especially when you get older and your eyes do not focus as fast. A moving target is much different than a still target. If you are young, and have good eye/hand coordination, you can get away with bad technique, but eventually it will catch up to you, in your 40's probably, as it did me. When you see a bird or clay, it takes a while for your eyes to bring target into focus (especially the older you get), if you take your eyes off the target to look at the bead of your gun, then go back to target the focusing process starts all over again, and going back and forth with your eyes, everything will just be a blur. But if you keep your eyes locked on target, and your eyes bring bird into focus, and you have some time, it all slows down, you shoulder your gun after fully focused on the bird, and it becomes easy. And shooting birds is much easier than shooting a clay, the flapping wings of a bird helps draw your eyes to the bird and helps you focus faster on the target.

Its funny how many spend a ton of money on hunting, but will not spend $300 on few lessons, which will make all the difference in the world. So if you are struggling, do yourself a favor, take a few lessons, best money you will ever spend, you will earn it back in using less shells. If anyone in the DFW area wants an excellent shooting instructor, shoot me a PM, I know a great one.

Not everyone needs lessons. Took one of my son's friend shooting clay, never shot clay before and never really bird hunted. Gave him some dry dock lessons, keep both eyes open, keep your eye on the ball etc... Lined him up, threw first clay he nails it. I joke with him its beginners luck, throw another he nails that. The kid hit his first 7 clays thrown, and was a great shot from day one.

Bugs me too. Wastefulness is an epidemic in our country. Hunting used to be one of those things that taught people to only use what they have to now its how much can I buy. Regardless having fun is the point even if some of us are more serious than others. People wonder why the value of the dollars sucks, just keep buying stuff your throw away or use once and don'tthink about it.

I don't buy that, it's a lot more fun to hit what your shooting at. That's like saying you like playing golf and just getting outdoors, you don't care that your ball goes in the ditch on every swing.