Introducing a Youngster to Shotgunning
Now is the Time to Hone Shooting Skills

Few experiences in the waterfowling are as rewarding as introducing a newcomer to the sport. But long before you load your son, daughter or wife into the duck boat for that first adventure in the blind, it’s important they receive a proper introduction to the gun.

Short of freezing rain and a gusty wind, nothing discourages an inexperienced hunter faster than missing every duck or goose that flies past. It’s embarassing and humiliating. That’s why it’s important to take some time now to properly introduce newcomers to guns and shooting.

If you have a youngster who’ll be making his or her first hunting trip this fall, now is the time to start honing those wingshooting skills. Here are some tips for getting a newcomer off on the right foot.

Pick the right gun. It goes without saying that a slightly built 12-year-old girl shouldn’t be expected to handle a bulky 12-guage. A 20-guage is the right size for most young shooters and is big enough to make clean kills on ducks. A .410 should be used only when starting a very young or undersized shooter.

Gun fit also is important, too. It’s probably a good idea to have a gunsmith check the youngster and cut the stock to size.

Check for dominant eye. One of the most difficult things for a youngster to master is shooting with both eyes open. Learning that skill is even more difficult when a right-handed shooter is left-eye dominant.

You probably know the drill. Tell the youngster to point his or her index finger at an object that’s 40 or 50 yards away keeping both eyes open. Then have them close their left eye. If the index finger is still pointed at the object, the shooter is right-eye dominant. If the finger is pointed well to the side of the object, the shooter’s left eye is dominant.

Check several times with each eye to be certain.

A right-handed shooter with a dominant left eye can train the brain to compensate, but it will take lots of practice and perhaps require the help of a shooting coach. One popular technique is to place a patch over the left eye during early practice sessions. Another is to simply close the left eye and “rifle sight” the barrel.

Eventually the yongster will have to learn to shoot with both eyes open, which requires crossing the wires from the eyes to the brain. It can be done, but it will take time and practice.

It’s a good idea to start with cardboard targets hanging from a fence. There’s no sense trying to shoot moving targets until the youngster can train his or her brain to focus on a stationery one.

Keeping both eyes open. A friend of mine, who happens to be a very accomplished wingshooter, says he learned marksmanship in the Army. The shooting instructor would throw a target straight overhead and the soldiers would shoot—both eyes open—with BB guns. With a little practice, he says, most could consistently hit coins tossed in the air.

If you want totry that system, start with a large, brightly colored metal disk that will be easier to see and hit. Watch carefully to be sure the young shooter is keeping both eyes open—that’s the purpose of the drill.

Work on proper shooting form. One of the most common mistakes young shooters make is improper gun mounting. They’ll have the butt plate stuffed under their armpit, on the point of their shoulder, on their bicep or even on their chest. It’ll be everywhere but where it’s supposed to be.

Make sure they’re snugging the butt into their shoulder. A quick check for bruises after the first session will usually reveal any mounting mistakes.

Another common mistake is lifting the head. The recoil from an improperly mounted shotgun tends to make a last impression on one’s cheek bone, and the natural reaction to getting kicked is to move the face a safe distance from the stock.

Youngsters also tend to stand erect or even lean backwards. Teach them to bend at the hip and lean into the shot. Watch their footwork, too.

Be sure the youngster’s form is correct before moving on to live loads.

Teach them about shotgun patterns. A first-time shooter likely has no idea what shotgunning is all about. It’s a good idea to first cut open a shotshell, explaining the primer, powder, wad and shot.

Next, show them how a shot pattern looks as it opens up. This can be easily accomplished by firing a round into the water at close range, say 10 yards. Then aim at 20, 30 and 40 yards so they can see how the pattern expands the farther it gets from the muzzle.

I’ve visited with newcomers who didn’t understand the difference between a shotgun and a rifle. It’s easy to see how they could be intimidated thinking they had to hit a small, fast-moving target with something akin to a rifle bullet.

Actually seeing the pattern at different distances relieves some of that anxiety and allows them to envison what the pattern will do after they pull the trigger.

Strive for instant success. Nothing breeds confidence like success. That’s why it’s a good idea to start a young hunter on a Frisbee. A Frisbee is a large, relatively slow-moving target that will be easier to hit.

Once the rookie is consistently hitting the Frisbee, you can move on to clay targets.

Keep early practice sessions short. Don’t over-do the practice sessions. Rather than burning box after box of shells, make every round count, correcting problems as they arise.

A lot of mistakes can be addressed without firing a round. Mistakes in gun mounting, for instance, can be ironed out without pulling the trigger.

Check for flinch. It’s not uncommon for a young shooter to develop a flinch. The natural response to getting one’s shoulder slammed with a rock-hard piece of wood is to start compensating by throwing the shoulder into the recoil.

If left unchecked, flinching can lead to a multitude of shooting sins. A good way to detect a flinch is to throw in a “dummy load” once in a while. Load up a shell without replacing the spent primer. If the shooter is flinching, it will be very obvious when there is no recoil.

Youngsters must walk before they run. Start with lots of easy straightaways, checking form with each round. “Both eyes open.” “Head down.” “Lean forward.”

Once the young shooter is consistently breaking straightaway targets, it’s time to start with the overhead and crossing shots.

Teach them a shotgun’s effective range. Inexperienced hunters often don’t have a clue about a shotgun’s effective range. In reality, a youngster probably isn’t going to kill anything beyond 30 yards, so you need to teach them what a 30-yard shot looks like.

One way to do that is to set some life-sized decoys out at 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 yards. That will give them some perspective of what a duck looks like at different ranges.

Teach gun safety. These early sessions are the best time to reaffirm the gun safety lessons learned in hunter safety school. Watch every move they make and correct mistakes immediately. Be firm but not intimidating. Hunter safety courses are good, but those lessons must be reinforced by a mother or father if they’re to become a lifelong habits.

This also is the time they should be familiarizing themselves with the gun. Things like loading and unloading the gun and clicking the safety on and off should become second nature to them.

If you do the right job on the practice range, you won’t have to worry as much in the blind.

Be patient. In our memories, most of us probably believe we were expert shots the first time we picked up a shotgun. The years have blurred the countless hours our dads spent teaching us the ABCs of shotgunning.

Some kids will be busting clay targets like old hands on the second or third practice session. Others, for whatever reason, may struggle. Be patient and help them work through it.

And never make fun of a young shooter. Rather, do everything possible to build confidence.

Remember, behind every kid who can’t hit the broad side of a barn is a dad who was a lousy shooting coach.