How do YOU shoot?

[wind gypsy]

If you've tried both eyes, do you find your left one always trying to take over?

Depends with what. I used to notice if I started missing with shotgun and then immediately focused on closing left eye, things got better. Left is definitely notably dominant and will take over.

I'm surprised to see so many people say they close an eye for scoped rifle shooting, I thought generally people were supposed to keep both open. If i've been on the gun for a while with one eye closed i've found i can open both to relieve some fatigue and still get my right eye to focus through the scope and do OK but that's pretty rare.

 

[elkguide]

Archery, handgun and shotgun.... both eyes open. Rifle most times both eyes open except at longer distances and at dusk morning and night.

 

[justinspicher]

Both eyes open for this dude.

 

[Stearinlys]

I'm surprised to see so many people say they close an eye for scoped rifle shooting, I thought generally people were supposed to keep both open. If i've been on the gun for a while with one eye closed i've found i can open both to relieve some fatigue and still get my right eye to focus through the scope and do OK but that's pretty rare.

This is what I was curious about hahah. I'm glad I did this, hopefully we can get a good amount of responses and bolster that data some more..

Or just pull a page out of the Canadian Liberal Party handbook and take a small amount of data and apply that over the general populace lol

 

[Stearinlys]

... at dusk morning and night.

This is interesting. What happens during these times that you don't notice during daylight?

 

[elkguide]

This is interesting. What happens during these times that you don't notice during daylight?

I find myself needing to concentrate more on the sight picture. I might linger to "dark thirty" and even with Alpha glass, I need to concentrate. Probably just me and my eyes.

 

[ChrisAU]

Rifle - Right handed, left eye closed
Shotgun - Left handed, both eyes open
Bow - Left handed, both eyes open

Became left eye dominant in the last few years from an injury to my right eye. Swapped bow and shotgun over to lefty, and absolutely will shoot a rifle with either hand/eye but all my bolts are RH so I default to that and my mechanics post-shot are much better RH so I haven't swapped. Yet.

 

[Snowhunter11]

Right handed, Left eye dominant, Left side uncoordinated AF. Shoot right handed with left eye closed.

Would be pretty cool to shoot with both eyes open though.

I can shoot shotgun ambidextrous however better mechanics right handed. I squint or blur my left eye when shooting right handed (99% of time) . I also agree it would be excellent to be more aware of my left region when firing!

 

[cornfedkiller]

Left eye dominant, shoot everything right handed. Rifle is one eye closed, shotgun is left eye half-closed, archery is both eyes open.

 

[lyingflatlander]

I once shot a whitetail while watering the daisies. 3 eyes open that time.

 

[TaperPin]

Left eye dominant, but shoot AND use spotting scope with right eye. I’ve never understood claims simply closing an eye is somehow causing straining or disfunction. Like being ambidextrous, practice takes care of 99.99% issues that might be real or imagined.

I feel bad for kids with parents that force them to be ambidextrous just to shoot with a dominant eye, rather than just letting them naturally figure out what works best for them.

 

[ODB]

I’m cross eye dominant. With a bow (recurve) I shoot both eyes open. Never been an issue.

With a rifle or shotgun, I only squint my left eye just enough (not fully closed) and at the very last instant to confirm I’m on my dominant eye. But honestly I think I am almost balanced so it doesn’t take much.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Close both eyes and yank the trigger.

 

[Jimmy]

Follow up poll should be, "knowing now how you shoot, whats your % of lethal shots?"

 

[EastHumboldt]

Rifle - Right handed left eye closed. I am left eye dominant. I’ve tried both eyes open and it’s very difficult for me. I think because of the cross dominance. When acquiring a target in the field through the scope, I do keep both eyes open, because that helps acquire the target. But then I shut the left eye.

Because I played the guitar for 50 years, I’m very good with my left hand, but it still feels weird to try and shoot left-handed.

 

[displacedtexan]

Rifles with scopes one eye closed

with shotgun generally i shoot with one eye closed as well, but I find myself shooting with both eyes open often, especially on quick shots, i have read its similar to how people who shot bows instinctively do, I dont "try" to shoot with both eyes open, it just happens lol

Same.

Pistols like shotguns.

 

[TSimons9]

Right eye and right hand dominant.

Scoped rifle one eye closed, red dot both eyes open, bow one eye closed. Shotgun both eyes open to track target and close my left eye once Ive got the lead I want.

I shot my bow with both eyes open for a couple of years and had good results but for whatever reason I stopped and went back to closing my left eye. Probably should reassess this process for this season.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Right hand dominant but slightly ambidextrous. I can shoot with both eyes open or closed, right or left handed with rifles and shotguns, never shot a bow left handed.

Rifles and bow I typically shoot right handed and close left eye to get the most precise sight picture just before breaking the shot. Shotguns right or left handed with both eyes open.

 

[T_Widdy]

Right handed, and left eye dominant my left eye will always take over. With a pistol I shoot both eyes open and my left eye is first to take over and focus. With a rifle I have to squint my left eye to see the reticle. Frank galli was just talking about how he trained and forced himself to become right eye dominant looking through a scope. I have tried and my my left always seems to take back over. Anyone else trained or been able to keep right eye focus looking through a scope if your left eye dominant?