Don Currie's Sporting Sentinel

Don Currie's Shooting Tips...

August 11, 2021

A clay target changes speed and direction from the time it exits the trap to the moment it hits the ground. A quartering target, for example, undergoes significant “personality changes” throughout its flight path. A quartering target thrown from a trap located 25 yards to the right of a shooting stand and thrown at a 45-degree angle in front of the shooter, changes from crossing, to quartering to curling/descending.

During pre-shot planning, you must identify a specific point along on the target’s flight path where you intend to kill it. If you set up to engage the target as a crossing target, but delay execution of your shot, you will likely produce too much gun speed and miss in front of the target. If you decide to break this target where it is quartering, but delay execution, you may miss over the top of the target as gravity pulls the clay toward the ground.

Simply put, if you don’t execute your shot where you plan to, you are engaging a target that may be quite different in character than the one you initially planned to break. Always select, landmark and commit to your breakpoints. Picking a terrain feature to mark your breakpoint is a great way to reinforce where you intend to end the shot. A strong commitment to your breakpoints is essential to consistency in execution and the ability to run a station. There are only two options for sporting clays shooters: be a “barrel dragger” or be decisive and committed. 

Don Currie is the chief instructor of the National Sporting Clays Association and one of the most sought-after shooting coaches and gunfitter in our sport. Competing in the shooting sports since age 8 and instructing as an apprentice at age 16, Don is that rare combination of Champion, Instructor, Coach and Gunfitter Don regularly propels shotgun enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels to breakthrough performance whether in the field or in competition. He also fits and equips shooters for custom shotguns. His instructional DVD “Focus – Movement – Faith” is the #1 rated sporting clays DVD on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3jEtt1u. For more about Don, visit his web site at https://doncurrie.com.
 

Pre-order Don Currie’s New Book “Gunfitting: Achieving the Ideal Fit for the Game and Clay Shot”

Don Currie is one of North America’s most respected gunfitters, shotgun coaches and an award-winning author. In his new book “Gunfitting: Achieving the Ideal Fit for the Game and Clay Shot, “Don delivers a groundbreaking reference work on the proper fit of a shotgun based on a lifetime of experience as a shooter, coach, and gunfitter. He takes the reader far beyond the pattern plate, to a detailed description of how the proper point-of-impact is evaluated on moving targets and how the shooter’s stance, mount, shooting discipline, and level of experience all factor into the final dimensions of the properly fitted shotgun. Don leads us on an informative journey into the stock maker’s workshop, the engraver’s studio, and the gunfitter’s kit bag to round out our understanding of the detail required to achieve the perfect gunfit. Gunfitting will prove to be a highly valued resource and a welcome addition to the book shelf of any shotgun enthusiast, instructor, gunfitter or gunmaker for many years to come.

Pre-order now at https://bit.ly/2UNkKBK
 

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