The Coolidge examiner., 1934-11-02
HOW ToA'':l.:
S or.
By Bob Mich OILS

Until a gunner learns 10 shoot
- with both eyes open he can
never be rated as n nrsi-class up
land ncld shot You cannot accu-
rately judge angle. speed. or dis
taucc. with one eye closed. Nature
gave you two eyes for exactly this
reason. Even II IL handicapped you
10 no other way. squirting one eye
tight shut when shooting Introduces
certain amount OF muscular aud
nervous strain that certainly adds
nothing whatever TO your speed or
accuracy.
With one eye closed you are i'm
medlately deprived OF the advan.
taSes OF universal focus" which Is
so necessary 10 quick and accurate
gun pointing. You do not see
everything In your field of vision.
Your one-eyed vision Is TOO lniently
concentrated on the dying target.
A sudden swerve or dip. such as Is
characteristic of the flight OF the
woodcock and the jacksnipe. viii al
most certainly fool you into a Miss
win both eyes wide open. rot
focused too intcntly on any par.
tiCular object. you are a,ertly aware
0f everything that moves and every
thing that happens II the game
darts to right or left from It's lnl-
tial line of alght you are so In
siAntly aware OF the change that
you shift your gun pointing with
lightning Ike speed. All OF which
frequently means the difference be
tween clean XIII and au exasper-
aiing miss.
Quite frequently you viii End the
"one-eyed' shot a slow shot. The
sudden elimination OF 80 per cent
OF his eyesight. on the rise OF the
bird. makes II necessary for his
single-almlnE eye TO take extra
time 10 adjust Itself TO carrying
all the burden Of watching game
aud gun. The good two-eyed shot
will have the game down before
Mr. One Eye can let or bis gun.
The man who closes one eye Is al
bis best where the shooting Is in
the clear open spaces But let him
lush his quail or grouse In the
woods, or In dense brambled thick
ei. and there he begins TO get into
difficulties that are quite often be-
yond him. I have seen a two-eyed
shot shooting q pump gun on quail
knock down three birds on a rise
OF the eoyey. and set with all this
would be able 10 tell where most
OF the remaining birds went. Let
the squlnt-eyed shot. welded 10 bis
Idols. try TO accomplish this,
Learning 10 shoot with both eyes
open IN particularly difficult II you
have the misfortune 70 have your
master" eye on your gun side I
have been through this and can
speak with experience A right
handed shot my master" or con.
trolling eye happens 10 be on the
left The English gun makers try
90 make allowance Tor this. ln o.
ting gun 20 q shooter. by supply
Ing what Is called a CASTOR stock
That "a. the stock Is benz 10 It's yer.
tlcal plane 50 as 10 bring the
breech OF the gun In nearer 10 the
middle OF a mans face. or nearer
10 the sighting line Of the mas
ter eye" This does help 10 a Ger
tain extent although l personally
feel that stock so bent Is likely
TO prove something og an interfer-
ence 10 quick. instructive gun point
lng
The partial cure suggest Is TO
shorten the stock somewhat below
It's normal length OF about Is
inches. Ny own fayorlte stock Is
just exactly i3is inches with this
shortened stock I can bring the butt
clear ln 10 my shoulder where the
RA1F VI Ass ANAA NAAA FAthfAA u
from coming any farther In. Then
cut ms comb down somewhat un-
Oh can get most OF my jaw-bone
pretty well over the top OF II. With
the gun In this position can use
both eyes vide open without fitting
my head too FAR over TO the right
10 aiming. In my opinion the head
should not be tilted over anyhow.
Angles. speeds and distances are
best and most accurately estimated
with the head erect-the normal
position In which you are accus-
toned In the ordinary ways OF life
TO look al anything.
In any event. whether your mas
ter" eye is on your gun side or not.
seat your gun butt clean In on your
shoulder as far as II viii go when
mounting your gun. There II will
have the solid support OF your body.
Many shooters catch the butt on the
upper part OF their arm-a moving
sUpport-and this causes many an
otherwise unexplalnable miss.
G. Western Newspaper Union.