With bird season in full stride, my customers are coming by to tell me how delighted they are with the new coverts they had discovered during preseason scouting and how much fun it is carrying their new (new to them) little vintage, subgauge shotgun. When I ask how the new puppy is doing in the field, the typical answer is, “fantastic! I only wish my shooting was just as good.” As a wingshooting coach, and always one for job security, I suggest I could help. The common response is "oh I know what I'm doing wrong. I'm peeking. I just have to make myself stop peeking."

When a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The answer is “Yes the wolf hears it.” The wolf’s direct descendant, the dog, shares the wolf’s very sensitive hearing. According to the sparse research available, the dog’s hearing is four times more sensitive than man’s.

Wingshooting is the real deal for shotgun enthusiasts.

Clays sports such as skeet, trap and sporting clays were originally invented with a single goal in mind: improve your ability to shoot real birds with real feathers.

While a hefty kill for the day will certainly bring on a healthy smile, wingshooting is more than shooting your own dinner.

Wingshooting tradition runs deep in the American psyche. For many, wingshooting and the Second Amendment’s the right to bear arms, are virtually synonymous.

Many shotgun aficionados will argue that clays shooting is merely a warm-up act for winghooting.

After all, shotguns are designed to shoot upland birds and waterfowl. And clays originated as practice sports to keep your eyes and reflexes sharp for the real thing.