Took my daughter shooting, we been shooting skeet Station 1 and 7 to get her hitting them consistently, but last time I decided to really start easy and we did a few rounds of practice trap. She did really well, for me to make it challenging, I decided to shoot with my gun down/side arm. I did pretty well and hitting many in a row, I never did this before, it was fun. Might have to it again, maybe skeet next time..

Only way I shoot skeet. I am a bird hunter. I shoot to be sharp for my dogs. I have ran many 25’s low gun.
[video:vimeo]https://share.icloud.com/photos/03cQEHCYW9qU7uu152Pov_TeA[/video]

Best way to stay or get ready for season. Station 8 on the skeet field is a challenge but it can be done.

Same for me. Almost always the way I shoot clays. I walk up with the gun at my side and say something like "pull when you want". I think Guy was with us several years ago shooting sporting clays and I did the "duck blind" like a real hunt. Gun resting in the notch, safety on, me sitting back on the bench. "Pull both birds when your ready". I picked up and shouldered that shotgun, then of course tried to shoot with the safety still on. No shot on the first bird and late on the 2nd. Just like I might often do with the first bird of the year in the real thing. Especially if I had not done any shooting since the previous season.

Shooting with your gun still down or bringing it to your shoulder after calling for the bird?

The way I do it is call for the bird. Mount when I see it.

Sporting clays came to the US around 1980's from Britain. For years afterward it had to be shot down gun. Then the NSCA softened the rules and allowed a gun up start. We always said that was for the softies!!

Frio

Low gun. It's a shotgun, for crying out loud.

<Rant mode off>

No, I’m talking about “pulling the trigger” when your gun is down. Pulling the trigger with out mounting your gun.

Yeah I’m like you Smokey, I always say pull with gun down. I actually shoot better that way vs mounting the gun then saying pull.

I’m talking about shooting like this.

No, have not hip shot them.

Back when I was young, very young, while working at The Winchester Gun Club (now Elm Fork) I would shoot skeet, breaking around 15-17 out of 25 from the hip, butt under my arm pit. My boss would only "hip shoot" and could run a straight every time, amazing.

Now station 1, 7&8 are still fairly easy. The crossers are harder.

Buzz,
What years did you work there. I know I was working there around 1978-80 time period give or take a year. We used to stay after hours every day and shoot skeet for free, but sign out boxes of ammo to be deducted from our checks. Pay was only $2.50 an hour so we usually owed them money at the end of the week. There was a competition shooter that would sometimes shoot with us after hours and provide some free instruction. I vaguely remember shooting a round with him where he shot the entire round from the hip and beat us all. Curious if we may have worked together, you and I? I think I was 16 when I started.

Oh gosh, 1969-70, 71 summers. Urb Lohman was running the shotgun side and Charlie Reed the rifle side. Urb was the man who could shoot so good from the hip. He and some others would shoot trap from The Clubhouse, there were trap fields where the 5 stands are now.
I think I was making $2.25 an hour.

The "trap boys", we used to Hate it when the semi-truck of clay birds rolled in., we had to unload hundreds of cases of White Flyers into the Skeet Longhouses. UGH. It was fun pulling Crazy Quail down in the pit. I got some great stories from my days working there.

I bet we did cross paths at some time out there.

Wow, I worked there around 71-73! I made that shot from the clubhouse door a few times, lol. Also remember getting 'dead dog sandwiches" from the store around the corner....

I love shooting clays. It’s great practice, but predictable.You know where the clay is coming from, where it’s going, amd when you say to.

If you want to simulate hunting, try shoulder down, and don’t call for the bird. Let the puller press the button when your not expecting it.

If you really get fancy, go to the 5 stand course and do the same. Have them pull random birds on their own call once you are loaded,

Best of luck!!

You know when you say “pull” with your gun down, un-mounted, when the target leaves the station, your sustained lead starts with your gun down un-mounted. When you say pull, your barrel should not be pointing up to the sky, or pointing to the ground, but pointed at the target. As the target moves and your gun move with the target and you start to mount the gun, you hold your sustained lead all the way through the mount process, such that any time after you say "pull", theoretically, you could pull the trigger and have a chance at hitting the target.

A drill to practice this concept (holding a sustained lead through the mount process), is put a small magnum flashlight in your barrel, stand in a room, with gun down unmounted, aim at right top corner of room (where wall meet ceiling), swing left (and start your mount) to top left corner of room keeping the light beam on the line where ceiling meets wall. So right corner gun is down unmounted, swing to left and gun hits your face when pointing and left corner, but the whole mount process the light beam follows the line where wall meets ceiling.

So shooting with gun down, unmounted, is natural and good practice. The shooting instructor that showed me all this, he used to shoot all the time with his gun down, unmounted. I have hits lots of birds without my gun fulling mounted, many times because I did not have time to get my gun to my face, other times, it was an awkward angle and could not get my gun fully mounted.

Most of the time when I kill birds (dove and duck), I do it sitting. I'll sit at an angle, so my gun is pointing the in the direction where I think the birds will be coming from. So I already got a head start with gun pointing in the right direction, building on my post above. When you see a bird, you do not move, you sit perfectly still with gun down. You follow the bird with eyes only, if you move you flair the bird. When you are ready to shoot, bird is in range, then you mount and pull trigger.

So normally, you got plenty of time to see the birds, and get your eyes locked and focused on bird, before you mount. So the mount process is critical, that is why you should not "per-mount" your gun before you say pull shooing clay, if you want to improve your wing shooting,

we should get Sniper John and have a reunion there and shout a few rounds. Would be fun swapping stories. And YES, I remember the store around the corner. Only place to eat within miles back then.

I bet I would have fun shooting with you gentlemen.

I am up for shooting today. anyone wants to hit Elm fork around Noon - for 5 stand or clays

My brother worked there in the late 70’s

Dan Browder and I pulled at Winchester in 68-69 timeframe. Started shooting international there (but no international speeds or real controller) - when I finished engineering school I joined DGC.

I remember both Urb and Charlie.