4 tips to help you shoot better this season

With the start of the partridge season just weeks away, and the pheasant season hot on its heels, the time has come to start getting excited. But, with last year’s truncated and disrupted season, it is likely that many of us are feeling a bit rusty. As with any hand-eye activity, practice, muscle memory and confidence all play into how well we perform. This means that turning up on your first day of the season having not thought about shooting for more than a year could result in a few easy misses, pricked birds, frustration and day spoiled by too much “Bang, bang, bollocks.” But even before the season begins, there are some things you can do to prepare. I spoke to father and son team Nick Penn and Nick Jr of Pennsport Shooting School near Newbury for their top tips to get you read for your best season ever.

1. Learn to shoot with both eyes open

As you’ll know if you have read about my trip to Pennsport last summer, the Pennsport coaching philosophy revolves around shooting with both eyes open only.  If you’ve ever been told that you have an eye dominance issue and should therefore close one eye to shoot, Nick Jr would urge you to book a session at Pennsport to have your eyes opened. “Even if you’ve previously been advised to close one eye, shooting with both eyes open is the single thing you can do to give yourself the best chance to shoot consistently,” he says. “By closing one eye you’re forcing your brain to guess when to pull the trigger, as you can’t properly judge the speed and distance of the bird. Shooting with both eyes open means your brain has all the data it needs to allow you to shoot without of thinking about lead, and your shooting becomes fluid and natural - almost effortless.” 

2. Break the bad habits

Nick Sr adds “Everything that is natural in shotgun shooting is wrong, and it’s really easy to develop bad habits. Things like shooting with your weight on the back foot, or using the torso to swing the gun rather than the arm leads to the barrels tracking the wrong line - if you use the arm, because it is connected to the gun, the muzzle follows the right line, leading to far more consistent shooting. Using the arm means you’re making a positive movement towards the line.”

3. Learn to deal with crossers

Another example of this is when it comes to crossing birds: people naturally drop the wrong shoulder, causing them to lose the line of the bird. The problem is compounded by the body’s natural biomechanics, which means that it is far easier to swing in one direction than the other. “We teach a technique that helps guns to counter these instinctive problems,” says Nick Jr, “so if you find that you regularly miss crossers or wide birds, we can sort you out in no time.”

4. Get out on some clays

Even if you haven’t got a specific issue to work on, and are just looking to get “warmed up" for the season, there’s no substitute for getting hot barrels when it comes to grooving your swing. “If you’re heading to a clay ground, make sure that it is set up with game shooting in mind, and that you’re practicing the right kind of shooting” says Nick Jr. “While it might be fun to spend some time on the grouse stands or shooting going-away targets, if the majority of your shooting is going to be high pheasant shooting, your time would be better spent on  one of the high towers. Here at Pennsport we can simulate everything from traditional partridge drives to high driven pheasants and everything in between. All of the stands on the school have been set up to accommodate four or five gun flushes, so you can bring a few mates with you and make a bit of a day of it.” There are 12 flush stands at Pennsport, so there's enough variety and capacity for a full day out. The GunsOnPegs team recently did just this - you can read about our day here.

Pennsport offers three different levels of tuition for all requirements. Nick Sr’s youngest son Charlie can act as a guide/instructor for your session, with his services priced at just £50/hour; Nick Jr offers full coaching sessions and courses following the “both eyes open” philosophy; and Nick Sr - the architect of the "true" technique - also offers full coaching packages. In addition to coaching, Pennsport can also carry out gunfitting.

For more information on shooting with both eyes open, or simulated game sessions at Pennsport, visit the Pennsport website.