do u put ur bead sight on the dove or a foot ahead of it? i am clueless and need some info.

Depends on load size, choke, and gauge of shotgun......
I use a 12 ga, modified choke with 7.5 shot.....
I usually lead a foot or 2 depending on left to right, flying away or such.......
Just make sure to follow through and not stop your shot.....
You will notice after a while how much to lead depending on if your winging them or making a good clean kill.....

I am going to use a 20ga this year so things will change for me as far as lead....Good luck and good hunting...

On a cross shot, the key is to swing the gun with the bird and “paint” the bird from back to front till you are just in front of the bird, then squeeze off a round. A cross shot needs to lead, maybe a foot or even 2, depending on how far the bird is. Most misses are behind the bird, we tend to not lead enough on a cross shot.

When a bird is coming right at you or leavening you, I like to aim the gun below the bird, then paint the bird from bottom to top. If the birds is coming strait at you are strait away from you, very little lead if any lead is needed.

This is all easier said than done!!! Practice makes perfect!! You need to get to a range and practice. You can also practice in your back yard or in a field, just practice following and “painting” the bird with your gun. Light gun is a lot easier, a heavy 12 gauge is a lot more work and harder. Good luck! Dang I wish Sept 1 would get here!!

I aim right for their taint! Brings them down everytime!!

J/K...Guy said it well!!

Good practice.

Take your cat or a neighbors, put about a 25 ft rope on it, with the other end anchored to a permanent spot. Take you water hose and put it on stream. When you can consistently keep the cat in the main stream of water, your ready for Mourning Dove.

Just don't tell your wife or neighbor what you need the cat for. LOL

front to back on passing shots, less than 1/4 to or away (or directly), put it on them, always follow through....


dang, now I gotta go shoot clays tonight!

If they are flying with the wind then try these parameters for how much to lead them by:

0 - Tricycle
5 mph - Bicycle
10 mph - Corolla
15 mph - Lincoln
20 mph - Suburban
25 mph - School bus
30 mph - 737
50 mph - Train

Sig

Your thinking of the line after Guy's.

It goes something like:
Q. "How do you know they're all VC?"
A. "If they run they're VC. If they standstill They're WELL trained VC."

Just practice leading them a little coming atcha left to right vise versa, and when the come straight atcha! Never stop your motion when you pull the trigger & you will do fine! Good Luck

live4,

The way I teach it, and I teach it the old fashion way, If the bird is going away from you, put a 1/2 inch of air between the bead and the bird and while swinging the gun down pull the trigger. If the bird is coming straight at you, black out the bird and pull the trigger. Birds moving left to right and right to left, swing through the bird and pull the trigger will continuing to swing. By the time your brain tells your finger to squeeze, the lead will be just about right. Remember to ALWAYS be a Swinger. SWING the Gun even after the shot goes off.

Also, and this is big. KEEP BOTH eyes open. That is the hardest thing to do. If you open both eyes and see 2 barrels and you are shooting a single barrel shotgun, your dominant eye is the opposite of the side you are mounting your shotgun. I shot right handed until a skeet instructor got a hold of me and showed me that my dominant eye was my left one. So, I switched to shooting left handed and have been doing so ever since.

I hope this helps.



The new way being taught is look where you shoot and shoot where you look. I have not perfected it yet.

THANKS A TON GUYS! with all this info i feel as if ive been doing it for years...we'll find out next weekend.

That quote is from "Full Metal Jacket"

Pvt. Joker: How can you shoot innocent women and children like that?

Helicopter gunner: It's easy. You just don't lead them as much. You see, anyone that runs, is V.C. Anyone that stands still is well disciplined V.C. Ain't war hell?

Sorry TTG just had to let you know your giving credit to the wrong Texan for the quote, Terry Allen wrote the song.

God, I just love cat... but I prefer mine fried!