Hartmann’s Hints: Shooting in Turn

Shooting in Turn

I was in a shoot-off with several others. The referee called our names and I was second from the last.

I knew the person that was last but not the shooter before me.Â There were two people standing next to me, and I asked the one I didn’t know if he was up. He shook his head, no.

I made the assumption that he was just a spectator and wasn’t the shooter before me, that perhaps the shooter before me decided to skip the shoot-off. This was my mistake: I should have asked the referee who was next, but instead I shot my pair.

The referee then stopped me as I was walking over toward the next station and told me that, as I had shot out of turn, I had to shoot the pair again. I knew the rule, so I shot again and missed the second shot.

According to the rule, if you shoot out of turn, the shot(s) don’t count, and you must shoot again when it’s your turn.

My mind was on why the other shooter had told me ‘no’ instead of getting up to shoot.

There are always going to be distractions, and we have to learn to ignore or at least put them out of our minds so we don’t do what I did.Â Your complete attention has to be on what you’re doing at the time you’re doing it, not looking at or thinking about something else.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who teaches American skeet and wingshooting. You can contact Barry atÂ threeat8@aol.comÂ or 918-803-2393.

January 2, 2019July 6, 2020

Hartmann’s Hint #53: Too Many Instructors

Too Many Instructors

Today I was helping a man who is an A-class skeet shooter. He was using the same gun that he has shot some good scores with. He has recently started missing some shots that used to be easy for him. He had recently sought help from some other instructors and each of them had told him something a little different.

I asked the student if he had patterned his shotgun. He stated he had, and that it shot 50/50.

I furthermore asked him if he had patterned it from a steady rest; his answer was no, he had just stood there and shot at a piece of paper. I’m a firm believer in patterning all shotguns and doing so from a steady rest so the shooter has confidence in where the shot gun shoots. He will now be patterning his gun from a steady rest, and we’ll see if it has a more normal distribution.

The next thing I did was look at his gun mount and stance which looked reasonably good. What I did see was that he was mounting the gun relatively low on his shoulder, which made it possible for him to raise his head on some of his shots.

After that I looked at his eye alignment to his rib, and I noticed that he was looking at the back of the breach, so we raised his comb to better align his eyes with the rib.

I believe that he may have consulted too many instructors trying to solve his problem.

The point I’m trying to make is that he may have TOO MANY different people trying to help him. While all of them may have good intentions and may be able to help him in some way, they may also give conflicting information to the student, and they may miss the root cause(s) of his or her misses.

I believe that people seeking instruction on shotgun shooting should go to one, and only one, instructor until that instructor’s helpful knowledge limit is reached. After that, seek a higher level instructor and follow their instructions.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who can help you improve your skills at American Skeet and wingshooting. To contact Barry, email him atÂ threeat8@aol.comÂ or give him a call at (918)803-2393.

September 30, 2018July 6, 2020

Hartmann’s Hint #49: Shooting Twice At the Same Target

Shooting Twice At the Same Target

I’ve been helping a gentleman learn to shoot skeet. He’s shot trap and some sporting clays and recently started shooting skeet, and he’s interested in shooting registered skeet. I’ve worked with him once or twice a week for the last month, and he’s picking the game up pretty fast, but today he shot twice at the same target.

I had to explain to him that this is something that would get him removed from an event as it’s a safety violation. If you get into the habit of shooting twice at the same target during practice, chances are you may inadvertently do the same during a registered shoot.

If during competition you shoot at the same target twice, the referee will warn you.Â If you do it a second time in any event, you will be disqualified from the event. Missing a shot is frustrating, but shooting at it a second time isâ€”as stated aboveâ€”a safety violation, and those are the most serious violations.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

September 23, 2018July 6, 2020

Hartmann’s Hint #54: Illness

Illness

A friend of mine from another state called me recently and told me that he had been diagnosed with diabetes. He also told me that he thought that his recent decline in shooting seemed to be caused by this illness. He was having a problem with his eyes. They had been gradually getting worse over the last year. He wasn’t seeing leads the same as he used to.

He asked me what I would advise a shooter whose eye-dominance may have changed. He had always been a right-eyed, right-handed shooter and was ‘AA’ or ‘AAA’ in the four guns. This shooter is in his late 50s, had shot registered targets for over 40 years and did not want to try shooting left handed.

I suggested that he tape the left lens of his glasses and see if that would help him. I gave him instruction as to how to do this properly and asked him to let me know if, and how much, this helped him.

This morning I spoke with him; he has shot a couple of rounds using this method and was shooting straight rounds again. He said it took a few shoots to get used to ignoring the tape on his glasses but that it was becoming more normal.

If you start having vision problems, or if your leads don’t seem to be working as well as they used to, get to your eye doctor and/or your primary care doctor and get checked out. The problem may be more than just a problem with your shooting. It could be a health issue.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann

September 16, 2018July 6, 2020

Hartmann’s Hint #52: Temper Tantrum

Temper Tantrum

About a week ago, I was playing golf with a senior scramble group. I am not a very good golfer, but with a scramble sometimes it’s not too noticeable. The teams are drawn by getting an ‘A’-class golfer to draw a team made up of himself and the three lower classes (B, C and D).

The team I was assigned to had the top, or close-to-the-top, player in the group as our team leader. He is frequently on the winning team.

On the first hole, our team leader hit a great drive and, this being a scramble, we all played from his ball’s location. After the rest of us had hit, he got up, made a bad hit and unbelievably threw his golf club 40 or 50 feet. On another hole, he made another bad shot with his putter and beat up the green as if it was the green’s fault. On several other holes, he cussed out the course because he had made a bad shot. This behavior was embarrassing to those of us witnessing it.

This guy forgot that golf, like skeet shooting, is a game and supposed to be fun. Yes, it’s competitive, but as I’ve heard many times, “judge a shooter by how he misses a target, not by how he hits the target.” This should always be the case in any; if you make a mistake, accept it as your mistake and try not to repeat it. Don’t throw shells, and don’t throw a tantrum. Poor behavior sets a very bad example for new shooters of any age.

Stay safe,

Barry Hartmann