one eye or both

[Stan Hillis]

I've done that exercise before and, as hard (nearly impossible) as it seems to me that it would be to do, I'd rather try to switch shoulders and learn to shoot from my "off side" than to shoot with one eye closed.

I've seen people put some Vaseline, or scotch tape, on the lens of one eye's shooting glasses to make the other eye become dominant. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I DO feel for those with cross dominance, and I hope I don't sound like I'm being inconsiderate of them.

[jolly bill]

I've done that exercise before and, as hard (nearly impossible) as it seems to me that it would be to do, I'd rather try to switch shoulders and learn to shoot from my "off side" than to shoot with one eye closed.

I've seen people put some Vaseline, or scotch tape, on the lens of one eye's shooting glasses to make the other eye become dominant. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I DO feel for those with cross dominance, and I hope I don't sound like I'm being inconsiderate of them.

Stan,

From my point of view, I don't think you're being inconsiderate at all. It's been a good discussion and that's great.

I don't think I could ever learn to shoot with the other shoulder. A guy that I occasionally shoot with, a former US Marine, can easily switch shoulders and does well at both.

I've been shooting right hand with the left eye closed long enough so that all I have to do, with or without a gun in hand, is just put my two hands up in a shooting position and my left eye closes automatically. What I have to learn to do is not flinch when I pull the trigger. It doesn't happen often but is frustrating when it does.

As in "PULL" . . . "BANG" . . . "S _ _ T".

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks, Bill. As to the flinching ....... know ye not that the flinch reflex is controlled by the left eye? All you need to do to cure that flinch is buy you a crossover stocked gun, keep both eyes open, and bang away!

Best to you, SRH

[jolly bill]

Thanks, Bill. As to the flinching ....... know ye not that the flinch reflex is controlled by the left eye? All you need to do to cure that flinch is buy you a crossover stocked gun, keep both eyes open, and bang away!

Best to you, SRH

Gee Stan, I like that idea: buy another gun.

I lucked out last year, and with the help of my Stimulus money, plus my wife's, plus a little more, I was able to buy two nice Fox's.

So, I'd better keep my eye's open, the master eye plus the other one. Is Joe giving away any stimulus money this year?

Will I be forgiven if it doesn't have a crossover stock?

All the best to you too Stan.

Bill

[Foxnut]

This has been an interesting thread for sure. After reading this last week I thought I’d give it a try on a round of skeet Saturday. Like I previously posted I shoot right handed with left eye closed. I purposely kept my left eye open trying to maintain the same hold/form as I usually do. Two eye opening observations (pun intended). 1. I definitely picked up the bird in my sight picture sooner than I normally do. 2. It was so confusing for my brain that my sight picture was all over the place. What I learned is the habit I have is well established in my brain. To break that habit and shoot better with both eyes open will take a lot of practice and focus. Something that I’ll be discussing as I get some help from the coach I’m utilizing. Obviously a one round observation is not scientific at all but the sight picture was all over the place. Needless to say my score was down in the toilet but it showed me there is a lot I have to learn. Someone mentioned it earlier that gun fit, proper mounting and muscle memory are all extremely important!! Sometimes we find those elusive Fox guns we want but the dimensions and fit just aren’t right for us. Brett

[eightbore]

Years ago, when I was shooting competitive NSSA skeet, International Skeet, box birds and NSCA sporting clays all at the same time, I developed a blind spot in the middle of my right eye. What to do? My opthamologist didn't give me a solution, so I tried to learn to shoot lefthanded. I actually shot my NSSA birds left handed for a competition season, at the end of the season, I shot a 98 in 12 gauge and a 95 in .410. However, NSSA skeet is not International Skeet, nor is it sporting clays. Again, what to do? I built a crossover stock for my 3200 skeet gun. Next, I purchased a rib mounted crossover sighting device with the sight offset to the left. The first time I entered an NSSA shoot with the crossover device, I ran 100 in the 20 gauge event at the Zone 2 shoot at Fairfax Gun Club, made it through the shootoff and won a boatload of money. However, I didn't want to shoot an over under for pigeons. Our pigeon club is a side by side kind of place. At the Allentown Show, I found a PHE vent rib Trap, two barrel set, crossover stock gun under a table. After some conversation with the uncooperative vendor, I went through "It's not for sale" to "OK you can look at it" to "OK, we can take it out to the parking lot for a better look" to "Who do I make the check out to?" So I had my crossover pigeon gun, and it actually fired when I pulled the trigger. I won a race the first time I took it out and things just got better from then on. The crossover device on my over under and the crossover stock on my pigeon gun solved all of my problems. Of course, that is just my experience, not yours, but it worked for me. Trying to look through a non dominant eye is folly, yes, folly. The dominant eye must be behind the gun. Now, I shoot non crossover guns for fun, but not for money. I use a dot on my left lense, or not, when I shoot a normally stocked gun, but I don't expect high scores, just a fun shoot. I now have six crossover guns, but I still shoot the straight stocked guns fairly successfully, even though I am still assaulted by those blind spots occasionally. By the way, I installed a home made crossover device on a .410 Parker and won the .410 overall event at the Southern Side by Side the first year. That, to me, was proof of the worth of the crossover concept. Comments?

[44whiskey]

foxnot and eightbore, thank you both for sharing those great accounts.any pics of those crossover devices for yall to overcome such obstacles makes my poor habits seem trivial, thanks again for sharing and good on you for persevering fred ps great story on parker acquisition

[eightbore]

Anyone remember the name of the guy who sells the clamp on crossover device? I think he is out in the southwest, Arizona maybe.

[eightbore]

It is Don Carey. He makes the Carey Sidesighter. Google "Carey sidesighter" and you will get lots of discussion and maybe pictures of his device. One person claims to make his own sidesighter very similar to the Carey and posts pictures of his version which looks a lot like the Carey but cheaper. Unfortunately, the Carey device doesn't work on a side by side. Maybe it could be made to work on a side by side with a high ventilated rib. I prefer a crossover stock to any of the devices.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Several options- 1) Obscure the vision in your dominant eye and make sure your eye can't "cheat" around the obstruction. 2) Pick up the bird with both eyes and when you move to the target close or squint with your dominant eye. 3) Learn to shoot with the opposite hand/shoulder. It's not that hard. We'll shoot left-handed sometimes just for giggles and break targets. I would advise against a crossover stock. It may have worked for Bill, but if it was the big fix for vision problems then we'd see many crossover stocks out on the range. In the 17 years of owning a range and instructing and the 30 years of competitive sporting clay shooting, I have NEVER seen a crossover stock on any range.

[eightbore]

With all respect to Mike's comment, most guys with vision problems do not regard shooting a shotgun as important a pursuit as we do. They just quit shooting competitively and go back to shooting a few pheasants and an occasional round of skeet. I did not build or buy my crossover guns so I could hit 20 out of 25 skeet targets. I went to crossover guns so I could hit 100 out of 100 skeet targets, and I was successful. Most shooters are not as driven as I used to be when it comes to shotgun shooting. It's a lot easier to close one eye than it is to build or buy a crossover gun. At 76 years old, I would not go through all that trouble today, but then was then.

[fox-admin]

I shoot with both eyes open and I am right eye dominant. 50 years ago I had a serious detached retina in my right eye. Surgery fixed the issue but I was told that my right eye vision would suffer in my senior years. It has and I now can't read a newspaper or clearly make out distant objects with my right eye even with glasses. But my brain has compensated and when I shoot with both eyes open I do not feel handicaped at all, the target looks clear. If I shot with just my right eye it would be challenging.
I have taken lessons from two different shooting instructors and they were very helpful and my shooting improved. My biggest issue is keeping my concentration and focus. Great shooters have great mechanics, great focus and concentration plus excellent hand eye corrdination.
I work hard on my shooting, I shoot thousands of targets every year trying to keep my skill level from degrading so I can keep bird hunting as long as possible.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Just some info, if someone is really desiring a crossover stock, Vintage Doubles has one. They had it on their display at Vegas. If that’s the route one wants to go, get ready to write a big check!!

[DarylC]

Now here's a new wrinkle for your shoot Mike. Shooters must shoot from their non dominant side.

[eightbore]

Daryl, I've been doing it for years. It's no big deal. You just have to be content to miss a bunch of birds.