To red dot or not?

[loganwayne]

Never will.

Are guys really shooting shotguns with one eye closed?

i do. i pull up and swing with both eyes open but close my left eye right before i shoot. im very heavy right eye dominate if i keep both eyes open im behind or ahead every time.

i also dont have a bead on my gun. i would also say im a sub par shooter at sporting clays but better than average shooter at live birds. Took some shooting classes and the instructor said it had to do with me thinking to much about the shot at sporting clays and just throwing up and shooting in the woods.

 

[ianpadron]

i do. i pull up and swing with both eyes open but close my left eye right before i shoot. im very heavy right eye dominate if i keep both eyes open im behind or ahead every time.

i also dont have a bead on my gun. i would also say im a sub par shooter at sporting clays but better than average shooter at live birds. Took some shooting classes and the instructor said it had to do with me thinking to much about the shot at sporting clays and just throwing up and shooting in the woods.

Always best to use whatever works, but I'd bet some more time on the gun would allow you to keep both eyes open the entire sequence.

Shooting a shotgun is like throwing a baseball, the "aiming" needs to happen without thinking, or bad things happen

 

[Macintosh]

the instructor said it had to do with me thinking to much about the shot at sporting clays and just throwing up and shooting in the woods.

Ie you are aiming on the range, and allowing your eyes to do the work in the woods. This is really common.

 

[Rich M]

I know an older guy who started using one. He was a real good shot before the red dot so don't know if it really helps or not.

I don't use a red dot on shotgun.

 

[Rich M]

No, shotgunning is undeniably more effective when you are actually using your mind's full ability of depth perception, tracking, etc. Closing one eye makes zero sense

Your eye dominance will change on some shot angles - if you don't close your nondominant eye you will miss.

I shoot both eyes open - even with rifle & scope. Have been trying to make an effort to close non-dom eye in some instances. On-coming ducks that will cross overhead is a tough one for me - eye dominance switches about when the trigger breaks.

 

[ianpadron]

Your eye dominance will change on some shot angles - if you don't close your nondominant eye you will miss.

I shoot both eyes open - even with rifle & scope. Have been trying to make an effort to close non-dom eye in some instances. On-coming ducks that will cross overhead is a tough one for me - eye dominance switches about when the trigger breaks.

Sounds like a lot of guys are thinking way too much while shotgunning.

All i know is whenever guys think about aiming, they miss, myself included.

Shooting a shotgun at a moving target by making yourself half blind is not the answer, under any circumstance.

 

[Macintosh]

Your eye dominance will change on some shot angles - if you don't close your nondominant eye you will miss.

I shoot both eyes open - even with rifle & scope. Have been trying to make an effort to close non-dom eye in some instances. On-coming ducks that will cross overhead is a tough one for me - eye dominance switches about when the trigger breaks.

Yes. Station 3 high house on a skeet range is a classic example of this. The bird comes from hard left, so a right handed shooter will pick up the bird first with their left eye. Right handed/right eye dominant shooters that have weak eye-dominance or cross-dominance often have to squint, at least early in the presentation, in order to not have their left eye “grab” dominance. Its common-enough that those opaque sticky dots that come with many shooting glasses are specifically to help with issues like this.
I say this only to point out that partially obscuring the target by putting a rds sight between your dominant eye and the bird, is one more thing encouraging eye-dominance issues.

 

[loganwayne]

Ie you are aiming on the range, and allowing your eyes to do the work in the woods. This is really common.

100% if he told me he was going to throw a clay i was worse than 50/50 on them. if we were talking and he randomly threw one i was about 90%.

i also throw up and shoot fast. i have to make a conscious effort to slow myself down.