Improve your game shooting with on the peg instruction

Many of us start shooting at a young age, myself included, and we probably start off with a few lessons at the clay ground, and then, well, just get on with it. I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that lots of us don’t really practice all that much. Perhaps we think that practicing is somehow cheating, or perhaps we’re a bit arrogant, or maybe even we just don’t care that much about our ratio. Of course, we all want to shoot well, but do we want to shoot well as much as we should? Are we too happy to shrug off a bad day?

Be the best game shot you can be

I’m increasingly coming to the view that we game shots should be forever striving to be the best shots we can possibly be. Let’s face it, no-one likes missing, no matter how sanguine we might be in the gunbus once the drive has ended. Speaking for myself, I’ve been known to let the odd expletive fly as a pheasant sails past unmolested by either of my barrels. But that’s often the most action I take. I don’t really ever think too hard about why I missed, or more importantly, how I might prevent it from happening again.

The author missing a pheasant over his right shoulder

Now, I could head to a clay ground and book myself a lesson with an instructor. That is a thing that I could do. But clay grounds are, I feel, often not really set up with game shots in mind. Sporting layouts and FITASC are all well and good, I’m sure, but there are relatively few grounds that aim to cater specifically for the dedicated game shot. If I’m honest, I also find the trappings (sorry) of the dedicated clay shooter somewhat intimidating - all those sponsors’ logos and such. 

Then there’s the predictable nature of clay shooting - as I mentioned in my article on sim shooting, it could be all too easy to groove something on a clay target, only to come unstuck in the field when presented with a bird that’s on a fractionally different angle, a few feet higher or going at a different pace.

On-the-peg game shooting instruction can iron out issues

The simple fact is that if we want to improve, we need to practice. A few years ago I started attending pre-season nets before the start of the cricket season. This meant that I was walking onto the field for the first game of the season having bowled scores of overs, so I could bowl with rhythm and (some) consistency. The improvement in my performance was clear. 

But what if I had a problem that couldn’t be solved by sheer practice? What if there was a flaw in my technique that was preventing me from improving? The only solution is coaching. But even coaching in a ‘practice’ situation is of limited value if you can’t put that into practice on ‘game day’.

The solution, it seems to me, is to find a middle ground between the artificial coaching scenario and practical application in real-world settings. To put this theory to the test, I invited James Kissock, The Shooting Chauffeur, to come and give me and my colleague Digby Taylor some in-field instruction. It being May, a fully driven feathered game day wasn’t an option, so we went for the next best thing - a simulated game day at Six Mile Bottom in Cambridgeshire.

The Shooting Chauffeur

James is an experienced and enthusiastic gameshot who, during the season, looks after clients from the UK and abroad, offering chauffeuring, loading, and in-field instruction. He’s an APSI and LANTRA qualified instructor. Many of his clients are based in the USA and also avail themselves of his gun storage and transportation services. These well-heeled clients are spending a lot on week-long trips to these shores and his job is to make sure that they have the best time possible, both on and off the shooting field. While many of his clients are accomplished shots, for many, this means helping them to pull down the cloud-scraping birds at shoots like Whitfield, Warter Priory and Brigands, or even on less exalted shoots.

Having watched us shoot on the first “drive” James was quick to spot a couple of things about the way that Digby and I were shooting that could be improved upon. Common to both of us was a tendency to not move our feet enough when shooting birds over our right shoulder. This, explained James, was preventing us from being able to stay on the right line as we were relying upon our twisting torsos to keep the barrels moving, and after a certain point the biomechanics of this movement cause the muzzles to dip, causing you to miss.

Improving your game shooting is about more than technique

So far, so technical. But actually one of the most useful pieces of advice I got from James was more to do with mindset. I confess that when presented with a sky full of clays, a combination of nerves and the red mist led me to tense up and start snatching shots. James quickly noticed and as he slipped a pair of shells into my AYA murmured “Just take a breath, settle yourself.” Following his instruction, I took the time to select my next targets, and completed a nice right and left. Thereafter I was able to be more considered and calm, and my shooting improved no end.

The second drive of the day was simulated grouse. Having never shot driven grouse before, Digby and I insisted that James showed us how it was done, which gave us both a great opportunity not only to study his footwork, but also to see how he approached these low, fast targets that were on you almost before you had registered them.

Tactful shooting tips and practical advice

As you may have guessed from the name of his business, James doesn’t just load for you on a day’s shooting, or offer instruction, but will also ferry you around the shoot in his well-maintained Range Rover. In the vehicle between drives, we were able to ask James a bit more about his work. As mentioned above, many of his clients are perfectly accomplished shots with little need of his advice when it comes to shooting.

As we all know, however, even the best shots have their off days which can normally be due to tiredness with the late nights and high concentration levels during the days. The skill, he told us, which only comes with experience, is judging when is the right moment to offer some words of wisdom. “Obviously you don’t want to offend by giving an unwanted tip,” he told us, “but equally sometimes you can see that a client is getting frustrated. I want my clients to have the best day possible, so if I think it will help them to do that, I’ll offer advice. If they say they don’t want it, I keep my mouth shut.”

The kind of advice that is dispensed is also key. “I don’t see a huge amount of value in telling
someone that they were behind, in front, or whatever,” he says. “Because that doesn’t really help them to hit the next bird - you have to help them understand why they missed, and how to improve that next time.” He also tells us a story of a new client who had asked for some help, having seen James with a different client on another day.

Having set up this client with a Shooting Chauffeur Instructor / Loader, the instructor was told what to help him with and look out for. He was also warned that he would be using 36g 4s, which were completely the wrong choice of load and shot size for that particular shoot. James suggested that the instuctor swap these out at some stage for a box of 29g 6s, which the client would not know about in the heat of the moment. This coupled with some help with gun mount and footwork and “Lo and behold, he started hitting almost everything."

He was a decent shot, but clearly needed a little help with cartridge choice and discussion around pattern. The accuracy he had to have coupled with the obvious discomfort every time he pulled the trigger would be enough to put anyone off their game. He is now a full time client of The Shooting Chauffeur from August to January and also buys all his cartridges from James.

Putting it into practice

Back on our day with James for the final drive of the day Digby and I both resolved to take the chance to focus on the birds we had struggled with on the first drive - those coming over our right shoulder. At our request James offered more in-depth advice - a step beyond “move your feet”. I found the exercise incredibly helpful, though I think it will take all my concentration to put what I learned into practice the next time I’m out with the gun. As you'll see from the video I still have more work on this to do - much like when I pick up a cricket bat or get on the dancefloor, I seem to have pretty leaden feet. 

But then, I suppose that’s my point, really. In the heat of a busy drive, everything you’ve learned at the clay ground can easily be forgotten, and it is even harder to analyse your own performance. I found having an expert at my shoulder incredibly useful and effective, not only from a technical perspective, but also in terms of mindset. 

I rather wish I could take James everywhere with me, but sadly his services are in high demand. In fact, such is his dedication to his clients that he does around 50,000 miles a year behind the wheel, and is in the field around 80 days a year. Throughout the day he was great company, with a wealth of interesting tales and quips, and his advice was delivered in an easy to digest, easy to take on manner. His passion for shooting shone through, and it was clear that his extensive experience of looking after clients with differing needs is what makes him so good at his job, and that’s something that you don’t often find, in any part of life.

If you would like to book the services of James or one of his team for your next shooting excursion, visit his website to find out more.