Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Can’t hit s*** this year

Alright y’all, idk what’s going on but it’s not my year for birds. I’m struggling to hit ducks and doves. Last year I was flat killing em and over the summer I was fine on the skeet range. But for some reason once hunting season showed up I’ve lost it. I don’t think I’ve pulled the trigger on a bird that was more than 35 yards away, I know the kinda gap I need to see, and neither sustained lead or swing through seem to help. Any ideas? Maybe it’s all mental at this point? Maybe I just needed to vent about missing ducks?

I would suggest shooting your gun at a target and see what's going on. I would guess that's the problem. Have you changed chokes or anything else? Some chokes don't shoot to POA.

I’d thought about that, last year I used factory modified and at the range I was using Carlson’s Imp Cyl but I’d been hunting with Carlson’s modified in my pump this year. So yesterday and today I took my semi auto which has the same factory Mod choke I’ve always used in it, but was still missing some gimme shots.

Same ammo and shot size? Possibly a bad batch of ammo this year?

Up until yesterday I was shooting Winchester steel (can’t remember the specific name, it’s the cheap stuff) out of a case I bought before the late split last year. Yesterday I bought Hevi-Steel because I found it on sale.

Drop down to a Skeet I or an Imp Cyl and your bag will get heavier if your not shooting over 35 yards.

If I start missing I get nervous about and start really aiming,so I miss even more. I do much better when I don't consciously aim at all.

I think this might be what’s really starting to hurt me. Usually I don’t get a long time to watch the bird but as soon as I see it it’s like time slows down as you probably know, and with how much I’ve been missing I think I’m consciously trying to measure out my lead.


I’ll give it a shot, I didn’t start bird hunting a lot until last year. I know a lot of people recommend Mod for waterfowl but I wasn’t sure what kind of ranges you’re looking at for each choke. Most of my shots are at passing woodies and as long as I stay tucked into cover I can usually get pretty close shots but I have to fire fast.

It's very easy to let your cheek come off the stock and your head to rise in all the excitement of real game over clay birds. And your shot goes high. In any event if clays were breaking last summer I'd look for a form problem, any bad habits you thought you conquered first.

Eye exam may be in order. I got a set of glasses this year after failing a work related eye exam and my shooting at Clay's and birds both markedly improved after a little "slump".

As Nighthawk points out, it is most likely a shooter problem. Lifting one's head to see the effect of the shot is probably the most common fault regardless of target type. We all want to see the hit and move our heads but regularly fail to remember that doing so leads to a miss.

Another common fault is incorrect foot positioning. One often shoots from whatever position they are in which may not be the most conducive to the shot. Another common problem is to set up for the shot initially seen rather the one actually taken. Just like with clays, look at the target presentation, determine you insertion and break points, and set up accordingly.

Lastly, misses could be a gun fit factor. If you are wearing more layers hunting than when shooting the gun may be a little long. I find this to be more of an issue in gun mount than fit as I do not get a good fit to the shoulder if I am the least flawed in my mounting technique. Working on proper gun mount with your hunting clothes would be good practice.

If all this fails, my next step would be an eye exam. It is not high on the list but it is something that should be done occasionally for a number of reasons besides shooting problems.

Shooting problems/slumps are rarely the result of equipment but it is more acceptable than blaming one's self. It is far easier to buy new gadgets than correct behavior not to mention more fun. Good technique with "poor" equipment will end up with better results than good equipment with poor technique. Rule out technique before working on equipment, one will find acceptable results sooner.

Thanks for all the answers. I am gonna switch to an IC choke for tomorrow, but my guess is that it’s not the gear. Might be lifting my head I’m gonna have to pay more attention to make sure I’m not.

Unless you pattern your gun you are just guessing as to what it's doing

JJWise,

Dunno how old you are, but another possibility if you're anywhere near 40 is eye-dominance problems. These can happen to people as their eyesight changes in middle age, and somebody who's been strongly right-eye dominant can lose that dominance, or at least have their eyes turn more similar in dominance. Eye dominance can even switch from shot to shot.

This isn't exactly common, but not rare either. Have seen it really screw up several people's wingshooting, including my wife. Eventually the dominance usually settles down again, but in the meantime there are several ways to compensate. A common one is to put a little piece of translucent tape on the normally "non-dominant" lens of shooting glasses (or your regular glasses, if you wear them), right where you normally look at the target. This prevents the switching. Some people get prescription glasses made just for clays/wingshooting, with the off-eye lens slightly out of focus, making sure the normally dominant eye retains its dominance.

We finally figured out what was happening with my wife when she was shooting a bow with a pin sight. She would be slinging them right into a tight group, then all of a sudden an arrow would land way left--because her left eye had kicked in, and she'd aimed with it instead of her normally dominant right eye.

The other suggestions have all been good, but this dominance problem isn't rare, especially in middle age--and as you might imagine can be VERY baffling.

Was a victim of that. Was shooting a pretty much normal for me trap round in the low 20s and felt like shooting another round. Shot a 7 with no idea why. Everything felt right. Had a friend and fellow 4-H instructor help (a knowledgeable spotter is an essential) and he couldn't spot the problem. Finally, after a couple weeks of mystery, figured out my left eye was trying to be dominant while looking at distant hills (silos actually) through the sliding glass door in early twilight. Came on just that suddenly and forcefully.

Coached a high school age girl with that, talk about a puzzle to diagnose! You see a difficulty in form, everyone has them. Have her adjust and she would start powdering them. And just when you're congratulating yourself for being a clever boy she starts missing cleanly again. Can make you a little nuts. Fortunately the frosted tape cure works very well in these cases with marginal dominance.

For those that don't know we're not talking about a big swatch of tape. All you need is a little dot of tape placed on the lens of shooting glasses between the eye and the target. Just enough so the target fuzzes up a little to encourage the dominate eye to take over. Some will use a little dot of Vaseline or clear hardening glue for a permanent fix.

NO AIMING!.......If your thinking or planning your shot, you're more likely to miss.
You've shot enough shotgun to master a more instinctive shooting style so don't plan your
shot nor mount your gun too early.

This was first yr duck hunting, and I was missing some easy shots. Finally I patterned my shotgun, i use modify choke anyhow. With estate #3 I was getting 78 pellets 15-16 circle with fiochi #3 I was getting 75 Kent #3 I got 48. Next day we went hunting I shot estate and my hits improved a lot. I need to pattern some federal and Winchester.

Don't feel bad, I went scouting for ducks today and managed to bag one Snipe after 8 or 9 flushes and at least as many shots..... Thank God the dog was at home, she still thinks I'm a good shot 😂😂😂

Pretty sure my dog is severely disappointed in my. Breaks his awnry little heart when the gun goes off and I have to tell him no bird

I just went six for six on pen raised quail in front of our Lab, she still thinks I'm a master wingshot ..... until it cools off enough to take her to the lake down here.

Unless you shoot one-eyed, feel it rather than trying to see it. The more you try to see it, the more the gun slows at the trigger pull.

In addition, if you shoot more than a little, you may want to cut your leads back. Those who shoot little most often miss behind. Those who shoot a lot, have more of a tendency to miss in front.

You may have killed the six Quail because you were running on point and shoot subconscious instinct. Ducks coming into range give you a little more time to overthink what you think you should do. If you want to try something different, look away when the Ducks are coming into range. When you think it is time, look up, pick one out and let you natural eye hand coordination take over. Much the same as those Quail.


Addition: Keep your cheek off the stock until you a ready to shoot, again the same as on the Quail. VernAk already mentioned this. The longer you ride the target, the more the barrel gets in the way, which causes us to aim more than we should. Pick out a strong visual spot on the bird, like the head, and cut it loose.

Patterned it today, with Imp Cyl @ 25yards using 3” Hevi Steel #3s, the split was maybe like 55/45 over/under my POA. But left to right was probably 60/40. Anyone know how to fix that? Or just keep trying different chokes and loads? I don’t think that explains how much I’ve missed, but I’m sure it wasn’t helping.

Shoot from a bench rest just like you would a rifle. Some chokes don't shoot to POA. 55/45 is ok some guns are made to shoot a little high your eye is the rear sight so a small change in sight picture can change that a lot. 60/40 at 25 yards would be off quite a bit at 40 yards.You should have had a 100% pattern at that range using the standard 30" circle. Hope this helps.

I re read after posting 55/45 at 25 yards would put you quite high at 40 sorry. I always pattern at 40

You fix it by shooting your patterns at 16 yards and do it with a tighter choke. Then a 1/16 change at the comb will equal approximately 1 inch on the board. Gives you something to judge on aligning POA and POI which in your case will require some comb alterations. The tighter choke will give you a more accurate POI.

Your eye is same as the rear sight on a rifle. Raise the comb 1/16 and the POI on the board goes up one inch. L to R the same.

Addition: Best to have a consistent standing mount and the shooter is consistently impacting the plate in the same place. Tight chokes allow one to see it much better. Modified usually will show a nice impact blob at 16 yards.

35 yards and in...I'd be shooting a improved at most, maybe even a skeet. If you are shooting steel, that mod you mentioned is gonna pattern like a full with lead.

Don’t guess I realized steel would pattern tighter. Last year I was knocking them dead at usually 20 yards or less with a mod and #2s. Lol whoops. This year I’m mostly shooting #3 shot, but depending on the location and species I expect to see I always have some #4, #2 and BB on hand as well.