What Eye for Shotgun Shooting? Get Your Eyes Right | How to Shoot a Shotgun

Well you taught me a few things that I will put into practice. I started hunting late in life, unfortunately no one really showed how to shoot a shotgun. Your videos are a huge help. Can’t wait to try your tips out. Thanks

This video is fantastic!! I cant thank you enough for it. I started getting some bad habits out bird hunting to the point my shot was completely gone. Re watched this video a few times to get back to the basics and this last weekend I dropped way more than I have in the last few seasons. Felt the love for the hunt again. Crazy how a few simple adjustments can cause you to either hit or miss. I even passed some of the tips to my dad whose been hunting his entire life and even he was saying wow I've never thought of those things before. Brilliant video is an understatement.

Being predominantly a paper punching rifle shooter, the concept of moving as you pull the trigger is hard to master. I even find myself trying to time exhaling while catching up to the clay...lol.

should l shoot wild boar type animals with two eyes open? thanks in advance!

Steve - You're a training phenom! Explain and example well. Nice work.

I’m a single lady who decided at age 36 this year I needed to finally learn about shooting & get a shotgun. Thank you. Going to try to go to the range tomorrow morning & do these drills, yep by myself! Your videos are so helpful & gave me confidence. I can do this.

Can I do this with a maverick 88?

I love your channel! Sporting clays is one of my favorite hobbies.

I shoot Trap and Skeet… a lot. And recently someone had a tactical shotgun on the range and let me try it out. So I tried to shoot it on the Trap field… and I was totally lost. Because it had a rear site. It was too funny

Thanks Steve! Great video. You make everything straightfoward so that even I can understand! I can't wait to get out there and blast some clays!

According to that test, I don't have a strong dominant eye, I changes evetime i do the test and doesn't feel weird when it does. I have always shot on the left side, it is just so much more natural. I am right handed but my left eye has more astigmatism. I am confusion

I'm in my 50s and found out very late, in my late 20s how to check for eye dominance. I couldn't understand how I was missing so many birds and clay targets. Found out i am left eye dominate and shoot right-handed. I take a small strip of first aid tape across my shooting glasses where my vision is only obstructed when I go to shoot. Has greatly improved my shooting ratio and birds in the bag. I am more confident in my shooting and am more patient when pulling the trigger. Less missed birds

i think i am right eye dominant but when I look down the barrel my eyes go crossed so I use tape on my left eye andand it helps

Super informative. Been dealing with eye dominance forever. I use a dark eye protection lense on my left eye with a yellow or orange on my right to help compensate. I've seen signifiant improvement with thay system without the tape or dot solution (although I did have to buy more expensive eye protection - I believe it Walker Eye Pro). The mount to cheek/eye before shoulder is super helpful. I'll be working on that before this bird season starts.

I'm cross dominant (right handed, left eye dominant), my shooting coach in college just did the tape trick on my glasses and my shooting immediately improved, and I've just always done it that way since. I could try shooting lefty, but man it just feels so weird!!

Can you share a link to the dot systems to cover the eye.

Thank you very much for the video. It is very informative.

I don’t need the scotch tape I have an astigmatism vision loss in my right eye.

omg ... I'm left-eye dominant ... this whole time!!

Hi I am in England I have been shooting for well over 50 years and I am right handed, around 6 years ago I started to have problems and I am now very left eye dominant and have tried every possible method to help, red dot etc a Rail on the front site plus everything on the market but nothing has worked as my left eye is so dominant, I am going to try to train myself to shoot left hand so hopefully in time I will be back to a double A shooter, thanks for all your fantastic videos keep it up Bro 😎

I like when you said to the camera that your clear before aiming the gun. Part of me wanted to duck anyway. Great video too! really informative but not to in-depth or boring at all. Definitely taking a roll of tape with me though, great tips.

Nice tips, thanks

i dont believe in using dominate eye to shoot, im left eye dominate and i shoot with my right, you have a target, sight and eye, its a straight line no matter what side.

Excellent! As a right hand, right eye dominant shooter, I found that for extremely close targets (<10m) going right to left I shoot much better with left eye closed. For me those are the second shot on the double at Skeet station 1 and the last shot in Skeet Station 8.
Otherwise at that close distance (< 10 m) and fast crossing targets the left eye sometimes became dominant.
Other than that I always shoot with both eyes open for better depth perception and to see the target quicker.

Being left eye dominant and right hand dominant I’ve always shot right handed it felt natural somehow I think I’ve switched eye dominance or at least my brain ignores my left eye when I’m shooting I don’t see double or anything like that my eye aligns perfectly.

I started shooting a shotgun at 58 (and haven't done much of it yet). I've shot rifles and handguns for decades, but fortunately, I've always shot everything with both eyes open. My brain simply ignores the eye that's not in the sight line -- and while I have a lot of trouble with the "point" drill for dominant eye checking (I see two fingers every time), when I raise a pistol or rifle I see only the sight picture. The little shotgun shooting I've done I find myself with both eyes open, but missing because the gun (870 Express) isn't getting to the correct lead in time. More practice should help a lot (I hope). Seeing the lead is going to be key for me, I think...

I agree is probably better to shoot with the same hand as your dominant eye but since I was little I’ve shot right handed and and close my off eye which I’ve been told is horrible and I agree but I’m able to shoot 22-25 of 25 consistently in trap. I feel like at a certain point it’s not worth switching

Great video. I hunt for six years and in the beginning I've been practicing with three diffrent instructors on a shooting range. None of them checked wich eye is dominant, none of them told me to keep both eyes opened. After writing this comment I take my shotgun and practice at home.
Greetings from Poland!

Hi Steve. Great video. I fully understand your point of eye dominance. I shoot right handed and am right eye dominant. With that said, when shooting trap I consistantly miss medium and hard right targets. This is not the case for the other stations. It seems to me that missing those station 5 targets is due to left eye cross over or interference resutling is shooting behind the target. If, on the other hand, I wink my left eye just prior to pulling the trigger for station 5, I'm able to confirm target alignment and make the shot. Note that I do not aim the barrel but rather have eye focal point different from gun hold point. I hope you can provide your insight. Thanks !

16 mins of PURE GOLD!!!! Thank you! Im right handed with my left eye being the dominant one.....

Best shootng education and advive ever for a person like me. You helped me more than you can imagine! I am RH'd and left eye dominant. In addition my eyes do not play well together (no stereoopsys). I very seldom, almost never comment. In your case I have to say, God Bless and Thank You!.

This was a tremendous amount help. My son is getting into trap shooting. This helped him a lot.

Im sorry but people just talk to much...sell cars

The test is simple . I spray painted a water bottle black. I place it on the counter I front of customers, and say "look down in the bottom of that bottle and tell me what it says". You watch them take their dominant hand and Brin it to their dominant eye. Works every single time and they don't know its a test til they say "it doesn't say anything".

Hi Steve, love all your videos. What drills would you suggest to practice at home?

Should a left handed shooter buy a left handed gun?

I have the problem of neither left or right dominance. Have loads of Red Kite Master Dots on all my shooting glasses. Works though as I won the British IPSC shotgun championship in 2021 😂

My eyes have always had different vision but still not enough difference to really be dominant. I shoot both eyes open but use right eye to aim. Even though my left eye is slightly stronger vision. I’m right handed. Never been a competitive shooter but well above average among fellow hunters and I am not really a novice with clays but not a competitive shooter either. Same with hand guns. I really love large caliber revolver shooting. I use to practice with one gallon milk jugs. Just threw one out there and my goal was to make it jump up and hit it while it was still in the air. Have to use both eyes for that drill.

Thanks so much for this video. I think you saved me a lot of time here. I’m right handed and left eye dominant.

Thanks for all … new subscriber from Madrid..👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Both!! Guess this vids first-time shooters/beginners.

great info-thanks

I have never fired a shotgun but own 3.... I want to get into shooting clays this year.
Bought a 1301 semi to do this then found out over under is used more.

just watch this , this makes so much sense to me , gosh i needed this Thank you so much love your reviews by the way

You video is amazing, can you do a video on lefties shooting a right handed semi-auto? Sadly, the Maxus 2 is only right handed and I’m a lefty wanting to purchase it.

great works

Amazingly helpful video. Thanks!

Very helpful 👍

I think that I don’t have a dominant eye. Sometimes it seems like my left eye is dominant, but sometimes it seems like it’s right. I’m also right handed. Should I shoot on my right side?

I have been considering getting a shotgun and have tried shooting the same without much success. Your vid has explained the why! I think now that I'm armed with such good info I can begin to learn the process. Your thoughts on how it differs from rifle shooting makes perfect sense! Thanks for your most excellent teaching!