Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Kids at the Campfire Right handed, left eye dominant

Hi all,

My 9 year old daughter has recently taken a interest in shooting at the range with me (which is awesome). It didn't take me long to notice that she is left eye dominant, but right handed. I tried having her shoot with her right eye instead of left, but it wasn't comfortable for her. We also tried shooting left handed. Neither one seemed all that natural.

I'm sure others have encountered this. Can you chime in on what has worked best for you in the past? Thanks.

SS

Left handed would be my choice. I teach hunters safety, and that is the first thing we look for, out and the range. It will take some getting use to, she can handle it, especially at that age. I learned how to wright left handed, after my stroke.

I am right handed and left eye dominant.
I simply close my left eye when shooting. That is much simpler than learning to shoot left handed.

Myself, son, daughter and wife are all righthanded and left eye dominant. I made the switch to lefthanded after 30 years of shooting. The kids I just started that way and they picked it up quickly. I'd follow the eyes.

I'm left handed, right eye dominant. Dad made me shoot righty with everything. It didn't take long. Down the road it helped with right hand dexterity.

I am right handed left eye dominant and shoot left handed the biggest problem use to be the selection of guns that no longer is a issue. My dad made me shoot right handed when i was young then later on I started shooting lefty, never went back, that whole thing with closing your eye does not help your wing shooting at all.

I say go lefty. It's funny. My daughter is LED as well. She shoots a bow left handed, with no sights. We were shooting air pistols the other night and we both forgot. She was shooting right handed and it wasn't going well. You really should follow the eye. With shotgun and pistol, I try to teach both eyes open, but still that gun should be near the dominant eye.

my youngest son was a right handed, left eye dominate kid and i just made him shoot left handed. i explained the reason why to him and he agreed it would be best. it took awhile but now he doesn't give it a thought.

Thanks all. Sounds like shooting left is the consensus. I was really hoping that wasn't the case as all my rifles are right handed. Right handed bolt actions are workable left I suppose.

SS

They should not be! Those gas ports out there on the side of most bolt guns can put a lot of junk in your eye very quickly! They are placed on the expected-to-be offside for a reason...

Ask KKAlaska about it...

I'm right handed with a left master eye.

i can and do shoot from either shoulder but shoot righty most of the time. thing is, there are various degrees of hand and eye dominance and strong hand dominance can trump weak eye dominance. I'd have the kid shoot both ways and see what works best for her.

My son is left handed, right eyed. I started him shooting right handed. Now, at 22yrs old he even carries and shoots a pistol right handed.
My BIL discovered he was left eyed and retrained himself to shoot left handed. He now shoots a shotgun much more consistently and more accurately. He was about 35 yrs old before he discovered his left eye dominance. It took him until the middle of his third dove season (and he shoots a lot of doves) before shooting left handed became natural to him.

Not worth taking a chance safety wise shooting RH rifles LH.

Can buy a lot of LH rifles for the cost of one incident!


Got a piece of a primer in my Right eye shooting a factory round in a RH rifle. Almost went through my cornea. Good eye doc got it out.

Got rid of most of my RH rifles after that.

Were you wearing safety/shooting glasses??? I'd say if the kid is left eye dominant, don't start him off shooting right handed bolt guns. Start him off right with a left handed rifle. This is coming from a guy that was started off wrong and still uses wrong handed rifles.....Bad habbits are hard to break... Like I've said many times, shoot from the dominant eye side. Especially if there's a chance they will be shooting competitively at some point in their lives.. I've seen guys/gals struggle big time because they aren't shooting from the correct side and their dominant eye fights them the whole way. Shooting from the dominant eye side will be much more natural and better in the long run...

i'll happily continue my 'struggles'. laffin' here...

At 9 switch for the win. Only if you are certain.

If not with practice she can still do well with a rifle, but odds are she will always struggle with a shotgun.

Addition: Eye dominance has various degrees.

Unchanging eye dominance.

Mostly unchanging eye dominance. (flips around rarely)

True cross dominance.

True central vision. (neither eye is dominant)

Addition 2.

A comb that is too low can mess with eye dominance. If the dominant eye over the barrel is entirely or partially blocked then the brain will tell the off eye to take over.



Knowing what you are dealing with is knowing how to deal with it.

I've taken many a dollar from idiots like you. Keep struggling, If anything it only makes you look more stupid... Read battues post. Somehow, I know he's btdt. You probably struggle with that too.

the irony is I haven't had to 'struggle' one iota, and I can (and do) shoot from either shoulder at will. crunch time comes, and i'll be using my dominant hand.

I've not lost a dime shooting from either side, and you won't take the first.

This is why my kids both have really nice lefthanded rifles. Shotguns are either lefthanded or over and under.

Was not wearing glasses, took them off as I switched to factory ammo!

First 2 Drs would not try to remove primer 3rd said he thought he could save my eye if I held still!

Primer piece did not fully penetrate the Cornea.

So now I shoot LH rifles and always try to wear safety glasses.