Sitting around with some duck hunters on a trap range, the subject of how to choose guns and ammo for trap, sporting clays and upland bird hunting just came up.

“When I pick out a shotgun,” says one shooter, “my first thought is need.” “What am I going to hunt? What am I going to do with it?” He explains you can choose from three or four different action styles: over and under, side by side, pump, or semi-automatic. He decides which is going to work the best for him. Also, he is quick to add, cost also must be a consideration.

Affordability is an issue, what you are going to hunt, and then the type of action that you want to use. Most of us grew up shooting pump guns so we are comfortable with them. A lot of people who have shot automatics all their lives are not comfortable with a pump gun. They need a semi-auto or an over and under.

Choosing ammunition is where the rubber meets the road. It is your only contact with the game animal or target. There is a lot of good ammunition out there and what you need is to ask yourself again. “What am I going to hunt?” “How am I going to do it?” If you desire a deer bullet, it must perform well on a target. A long-range situation is different if there is a lot of brush. Brushy areas require a heavier, slower bullet.

Shot shells are the same way. In dove hunting, you need a light load with light shot. You will shoot high volume. so you do not want a lot of recoil. There may be more effective shot shells than what you pick. However, if you shoot a couple hundred shells in a couple of days, you are going to be sore and probably not shoot as well. All are factors the shooter must consider.

Some people are switching to reduced recoil shells. The reduced noise and reduced recoil are more of a training load than anything. It will not kick, make you flinch, and teach bad habits right away. You can break a few targets without excessive recoil. A popular load is one ounce,12 ga. It is a light target load. With only 1180 feet per second and comparatively little recoil, it will break any target thrown on a trap field. It is a good load to shoot high volume.

Choosing loads from a chart is a good place to start, but you do not have to go by them religiously. But they will give you a guideline of a selection of two or three loads. Pick your favorite from them.

Patterning shotguns will show you where the barrel prints. Some people shoot shotguns for years and complain that they cannot hit anything. Their barrel just never shoots where they are looking. Get a box out or a big piece of paper and shoot the gun to see exactly the point of impact. If you miss you will know what to work on.

The beginning shooter should get someone to watch to prevent developing poor shooting habits. It is just like a golf pro getting someone to spot for him. If you get good fundamentals, you can always fall back on them. Build good habits rather than worrying about bad ones. Good coaches are very valuable for that.

The shooter should keep his cheek on the stock before, during and after the shot and swing through the target. As the gun goes off, you still have your cheek on the stock, and as you finish the shot, you follow through. It is a good habit that will have your leads and sight picture more consistent.

Probably one of the worst habits is looking at the beads or looking at the barrel rather than looking at the bird. If you do, you may or may not hit the bird. You do not know why you missed. Probably, you were not looking at the target. If you look at the target, and the gun fits you, you will shoot where you are looking. Your eye is the rear sight of the shotgun, so you must keep that rear sight consistent. Imagine shooting a rifle where someone keeps moving the rear sight around every shot. You are not going to hit much.

With a shotgun, keep your face on the comb where it is supposed to be and finish the shot. You always have a reference. You know what you are doing. Even if you miss, you have an idea of why. If you move your head around and come off that stock, you miss. You do not know why. You do not know what to do correct the problem.

Some people use a magic maker on the bead or block the bead. Some people call them bead checkers. They cannot see the bead and so they look at the target and start shooting better.

A ribbed barrel is for sighting down. A good shooter gets his custom gun with no sight. It just has a rib, and he shoots as good as anyone. All he has to look at is the target, and he is very successful.

There are some beads good for hunting in bad light. Sometimes when duck hunting, you will have a problem seeing the end of your barrel. On those occasions, it is good to have a bright sight on the end of the barrel. It allows you to know where the end of the barrel is in relation to the duck or goose. There have also been some improvements over the years in sights themselves.

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