Author Topic: Both eyes open? (Read 734 times)

oktx · « **on:** March 07, 2005, 04:37:03 AM »

Do you shut one eye or leave both open when shooting your shotgun?

RBishop · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2005, 04:47:58 AM »

Both open for me.

Graybeard · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2005, 08:45:40 AM »

Both open. And to complicate matters even more I shoot from my right shoulder but have a left dominant eye. That took some learning I'm telling ya.

dukkillr · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2005, 10:18:45 AM »

both open, and i have the same problem as graybeard. I'm right handed and left eye dominate. I learned to shoot left handed rather than train my eyes.

Ramrod · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2005, 11:54:12 AM »

Both open for me too. Never heard of anyone shooting well otherwise.

raynor · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2005, 12:54:34 PM »

Both open

Thomas Krupinski · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2005, 12:59:56 PM »

Both, sometimes both open and sometimes only one open. Depends upon the mood I am in.

Lancel · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2005, 01:55:11 PM »

Like some others, I'm right handed but left eye dominant. So when I shoot right handed my left eye has to be closed so my right eye can look down the barrel.

Eventually I quit fighting it and now shoot shotgun left handed, both eyes open. Much better.

Larry

dave375hh · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2005, 03:01:27 AM »

Both eyes open.

For you guys with cross-dominance I got a little tip for ya. I call it the wink. (I should mention this is for shotgun shooting) Just an instant before you pull the trigger wink your left eye. this allows your right eye to confirm point of aim and lead when you break the shot. It's simple to learn because winking(blinking) is a natural human trait. Two eyes to find track and swing, one focal plane to fire. Yes it does work and it's free. It does the same thing those Merit Dots for glasses do without having to add anything to your shooting glasses.

dukkillr · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2005, 07:00:46 AM »

why is that better than learning to shoot left handed? I switched when i was young and never looked back.

gino · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2005, 10:07:27 AM »

Both open except for in 1979. I had problems with my right shoulder & had to shoot left handed. My strong right-eye dominance had me missing everything until I started shutting my right eye.
gino

dave375hh · « **Reply #11 on:** March 09, 2005, 04:19:30 AM »

Dukkillr,
You answered your own question. You made the change when you were young. An older shooter will have a much harder time making the switch. I've tried shooting portside and it was a laughable failure. It was only laughable because I didn't have to make the change. Had I needed to make the change, it would have been disheartening and frustrating. I had a friend who lost the vision in his lt eye and had to switch to rt side and it took him from a high (96%) lefthander to an 80% righthander. He was in his late 70's and couldn't even get his rt hand to pull the trigger all the time. I was proud of his persistance but saddened by his frustration. When he lost the vision in his rt eye he finally gave up trapshooting and said "well at least now I don't have to look like a fool shooting from the WRONG side".

Graybeard · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2005, 04:56:18 AM »

I tried shooting left handed. Could have done about as well shooting with both eyes closed. That was a dismal failure. Tried closing left eye and even using various things to block or partially block vision in that left master eye. Then I finally gave up and decided to learn to shoot from right shoulder with both eyes open. Oh it was a struggle and I sure don't recommend it to anyone but I mastered it eventually. After all I owned a skeet range and could shoot 500 rounds a day if I wanted and did many times.

Even now I some times have days I can't seem to hit fer nothing but for the most part I'm a 90% or better skeet shooter, 70% sporting clays shooter and do about as well on trap as skeet. Generally do well on game birds but can sure have a bad day on dove field mighty easily.

buffalobob · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2005, 09:26:30 AM »

For cross dominance training what helped my children and wife was an eye patch for just a few shots on the skeet range. It works best if the "patch" is over the glasses rather than laying up against the eye. That way both eyes are open but only one sees anything.