The down and dirty of my story is, I’ve never shot at or killed a flying anything. I’ve done quiet a bit of deer and hog hunting the last four years but, have never killed a flyer. I am the proud owner of a Remington 870 12 gauge, I love the taste of dove and duck and finally I love hunting however, I’ve never combined those three in a hunting experience. I have a few friends that like to hunt but they aren’t “bird guys” as they refer to bird hunters so, none of us know how to shooter flyers. With that said, I’ve also never shot skeet. So, my question is, can I meet one of you fine folks and learn to shoot skeet from you and while we’re there can you teach me a thing or two about calling in birds or how to find flyers?

Where are you located?

Finding a local skeet range would be a good first step...and the skeet or improved cylinder choke would be the best choice for this range.

I’m in the Jacksonville/Tyler area. I’ve found the West 31 range but they aren’t accepting new members right now due the Covid situation.

Is it called the “skeet” choke or am I looking for like “full” choke or “1/2” choke.

The Full choke or Modified Choke (1/2 choke) is too tight for the skeet range where the average distance to the clay is only 21 yards.

You will need a choke that gives you a wide pattern at only 21 yards, so the IC or SKEET choke would be best...and yes, its called a SK choke for SKEET...as its only .005 thousands constriction from the internal diameter of the barrel.

I just shoot birds while they are roosting or on power lines.

A Skeet choke is also referred to as a open choke, the widest. Full is the tightest.
You can practice with a skeet choke for a couple rounds then maybe move to an Imp Cyl or Mod choke to get used to the patterning.
Also might look for a Sporting Clays place to get a slightly less predictable situation than a skeet range.

You can go buy a skeet thrower as cheap as $30.00 (online) or they also go up to $300.00. Maybe if one of the nice guys on here has some acreage in your area you, and some cold beverages, could persuade them to let you come out and practice.

I recommend extended Improved Cylinder (IC) on that Remington 870 12 gauge with 1 oz 8 shot loads.

Rose City flying clays is north of the loop in Tyler. Skeet, 5-stand and I believe they have a walk thru course. There is also a place in Lindale that has a walk-thru and a course in Gladewater. You are surrounded by good places to shoot.

Start with a BB gun ------- take the sights off, and shoot at cans, or whatever ------- keep both eyes open and you can watch the BB go to target -------- this will train you to use both eyes,,, not one , like a rifle. After a short time you will learn to watch the target with both eyes as you shoot, which is what you need to do with flying animals.

In the mean time do what most of my friends do. They hunt close to me, and when I shoot, they shoot at the same time and claim my bird.

I'd say get ready to hunt deer and pigs less and less...once you get on a good duck hunt where there are a fair amount of birds, and you get to hear a mallard hen talk back, you'll be hooked.

I still hunt deer/pigs, but ducks are my passion. The camaraderie in the blind and the ability to be able to harvest an animal each time out keep me going.

Exactly this. To me deer hunters are just hunters that couldn't kill a duck.

Or even finding a woodie hole and hearing them before seeing them and just watching them dive bomb a hole.

Find a skeet range near you that is open to the public.

https://www.claytargetsonline.com/texas/

Most likely, you will need someone to go with you to pull the targets while you shoot.

You will want either a skeet choke or improved cylinder.

Swing the gun smoothly and shoot where the target is going, not at it.

Other than that - these three basic rules -
1. keep your head on the stock.
2. keep your eye on the target.
3. keep the barrel moving after the trigger is pulled.

Warning - shooting clays can become addictive.

First off

You have to get the best, most expensive Benelli or Beretta shotgun you can. Then get 15 dozen Avian/GHG decoys all rigged ONLY with Lifetime rigs. Also, make sure you're fully outfitted in Sitka so they cant see you. Oh yeah and how could I forget... the only shells you can use that will kill ducks are Boss Bismuth shells.

Remember, you're an idiot and cant hunt worth a [censored] if you dont follow this criteria

Actuality it's lifetime decoys now too.
But then again, they're super light and indestructible

TP&W has some mentorship hunts that may interest you. Check the link below

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/mentored_hunting_workshops/

Either way.. The first step to waterfowl hunting is to spend the most ridiculous amount of money on the biggest and baddest gear, even though it's someones first time going and they aren't even sure if they'll catch on to it. "Buy once cry once" is the slogan for waterfowl hunting!

Hire a good reutable guide to take you out this fall. Talk to them in advance about what you want to learn besides killing some ducks. A good guide will show you all you want to know about shooting, follow through, calling etcc...it's well worth the money to learn from a pro and understand the nuances of TX hunting whether prairie lake pond slough or coast

Secret to hitting them flying is to shoot where they are going to be, not where they are. Ya got to learn how to lead and follow through.

This is good advice......it's about pointing the barrel where you want the shot to go and focusing on the bird, not the bead........

Yep..
* Both eyes open..
* Practice mounting your gun in the mirror, dominant eye over the barrel.. 25 to 100 times a day, the perfect mount becomes instinctive. And is a must.
* Focus on the bird, not on the barrel. You see the barrel in your peripheral visions, but your eyes are focused on the bird and don't takes your focus off the bird. Here is where bad habits with rifle shooting hurt you. Shooting a hog you can focus on the hog, then focus on sight/beed/berral make sure it is right on the hog, and go back and forth focusing on hog and barrel. Can't do that with flying targets, you take your eyes off the flying target and you are toast because it takes time to get you eyes back focused on flying target, and there is no time for that, and you are sure to miss. Kinda like sports, don't take your eyes off the ball. Trying to catch a football, you take your eyes off the ball to see where the defender is or where you want to run after the catch, good luck getting your eyes back focused on the ball and will nearly always result in an incomplete pass.
* Smooth swing of gun, keep gun moving, either swing through the target or meet the target, different methods here...but if you stop your swing and pull the trigger you will miss.

The best money you will ever spend is taking lessons from a pro. They will check eye dominance, they check mount, they will tell you if you are shooting behind the target, too low, too high...but a pro will have you hammering flying targets day 1.

A lot of fine folks on here that have no idea what they are doing. Probably some are excellent shots, probably have excellent natural instincts in stuff I describe above (I have seen it first hand with kids), and some are good shots because eye/hand coordination is good. So be careful who you listen to.

When I was young, I did pretty good shooting flying targets, but I did everything wrong. My eye/hand coordination was great, that over compensated for my bad habits. Then I got older, eye focused slowed down, and I could not hit crap. Took lessons from a pro, and had to relearn how to shoot the right way.

Here is another imperative tip to killing a flying bird... when you see the bird, do not move until you are ready to mount the gun and pull the trigger. You cannot slowly raise your gun when you see a bird coming, or grab a shell, or put your coffee down (I always mess up here). This is where my comments above about the perfect mount is important. Birds will flare everytime when they see you move in the slightest bit...

You got great clay shooters, they say pull with gun already mounted, that is not going to help you with bird hunting. You need to say pull with gun down, and that mount needs to be instinctively perfect.