Personally, I have no interest in shooting animals that are being terrorized by dogs, sometimes for hours. But that's just me. Yes, I hunt birds behind dogs but they are both pointers (even the Lab) which minimizes the chasing aspect. In some places and for some species running with dogs is about the only way the game can be harvested for proper management. Is what it is, but it is not for me.
WAB, I feel like I could have written your post myself. I agree 100%. I guess for each of us it comes down to our personal experiences and how we became who we are when it comes to shooting. Personally, I love the shooting sports. Maybe, just maybe more than hunting...For me it all started with cottontails and a 22LR or a 20Ga. Have to say I find the sporting clay running rabbits very interesting too.
Yeah. Nice thing about shooting skeet is I don't have to gut what I knock down. Not as much fun for the dogs though ... until I let them run after everyone has finished shooting. "Gotta be a cripple running around out there somewhere!"
) has been the pigeon ring. Over those years, I have also have had the privilege of participating in several European driven hunts ranging from rural drives primarily for hare, huns and pheasants to estate wild boar and pheasant shoots. Those targets have far more in common with a pigeon than a deliberate shot from the sticks at a kudu.
I suspect @WAB and I shoot very similarly and for the same reasons.
Over the years, I have done a lot of competitive shooting with shotguns. The most challenging and enjoyable (and expensive
I do all my shooting with both eyes open - pistol, rifle, or shotgun - bench or field. The dominate eye acts as - well - the dominate eye. In my case, my left eye essentially subconsciously feeds information to my brain while the right eye focuses on the target. That is particularly important with respect to lead, distance, target speed and angle on a moving target. Pythagoras could explain it better than me.
Some scopes look like you are looking at a framed picture--that is, there is a black margin between the image and the view just outside the eyebox. Other scopes looks like the view inside the scope merges straight onto the image outside the scope only sans magnification. No tunnel vision at all.
Yes. Scope at lowest power, close eyes, mount gun quickly, open eyes, and the crosshairs and total field of view should be in view. If there's a black ring in view, the gun doesn't fit. Fix it. Change eye relief, ring height, length of pull, or comb height as needed. Cosmetics are immaterial. If you want to shoot running game effectively, the gun/scope has to fit perfectly. Have I said that before? If you want to hunt with an ineffective work of art, buy a Picasso painting and throw it at the running buffalo ... one that's preferably running the other direction.
Green, Which red dot site did you get? RMR, RCR, RMR-HD or SRO? I struggling as to which but leaning toward the SRO on my Heym.
When shooting moving targets I prefer open sights but that’s because I grew up shooting irons.
I prefer glasses with nose pads for hunting (and for everyday use too). They allow the most ventilation between face and glasses which can be very important for preventing lens fogging in humid or cold conditions. Wraparounds or bridge nose pieces suck in those situations. In the old days of heavy glass lenses, nose pads could be uncomfortable. These days anyone who orders prescription glass lenses is nuts. Maybe they aren't even available anymore. Polycarbonate coated lenses is the only way to fly. They are thinner, lighter, tougher, and let more light through. And if you have to wear bifocals, don't order the skinny stylish frames, especially if shooting open sights. Get something with more glass to keep bifocal out of the way.
