{"id":56067,"date":"2016-04-20T12:40:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T16:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=56067"},"modified":"2016-04-20T12:40:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T14:44:10","slug":"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_56082\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56082\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\"size-large wp-image-56082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Yackley, age 11, demonstrating an aggressive stance for a young shooter.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-400x265.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56082\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Yackley, age 11, demonstrating an aggressive stance for a young shooter.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\n<p>Our initial steps into competition shooting centered on pistol disciplines\u00a0because they are popular. \u00a0But one of the most\u00a0accessible disciplines that we can talk about for a beginner\u00a0is anything involving a shotgun. \u00a0And the popularity of shotgun shooting is only growing!<\/p>\n<h2>THE JOURNEY INTO COMPETETIVE SHOOTING<\/h2>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-51.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" alignright wp-image-56090\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-51-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"unspecified-5\" width=\"448\" height=\"297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-51-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-51-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-51.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-competitive-shooting-ep-1-getting-started\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 1 Getting Started<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/steel-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 2 Steel Challenge<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-competitive-shooting-uspsa\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 3 USPSA Pistol<\/a><br \/>\nEp. 4 Shotgun<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-competitive-shooting-episode-5-three-gun\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 5 3 Gun<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-competitive-shooting-highpower-rifle\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 6 High-Power Rifle<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-competitive-shooting-episode-7-cowboy-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 7 Cowboy Action<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep-8-shotgun-ii-shooting-on-the-move\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ep. 8 Shotgun II<\/a><br \/>\nEp. 9 IDPA<br \/>\nEp. 10 Bulls Eye Pistol<br \/>\nEp. 11 Smallbore Rifle<\/p>\n<h2>FUN WITH A SCATTERGUN<\/h2>\n<p>Shotguns are used in a wide range of events; from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shootata.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">trap<\/a>, skeet and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssa-nsca.org\/index.php\/nsca-sporting-clays-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">sporting clays<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/sssfonline.org\/scholastic-clay-target-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Scholastic Clay Target Program<\/a>, to tactical and practical shotgun matches, there are\u00a0competitions\u00a0all over the country.\u00a0 For beginners, shotgun is one of the most prevalent disciplines and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssa-nsca.org\/index.php\/nsca-sporting-clays-shooting\/clubs-associations\/club-search\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">finding a league night or a range<\/a> that allows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shootata.com\/Shoots,Clubs,StatesZones.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">new shooters to participate<\/a> without a lot of extra steps in the process is relatively straight forward.\u00a0 This makes shotgun shooting one of the simplest disciplines to walk into.<\/p>\n<p>This article will center around beginning to shoot a shotgun from an absolute beginner\u2019s perspective.\u00a0 We\u2019ll focus on the basic aspects of the gun and stance, and give you a few suggestions of where to find events and what the events consist of.\u00a0 We\u2019ll talk a little about shotgun fit as well\u00a0because it is an important part of enjoying the experience.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56080\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56080\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-2-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"unspecified-2\" width=\"360\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-2-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-2-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-2.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56080\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The shotgun that my three boys all started shooting 3 gun and clays with. A Remington 870 in 20 gauge with a shortened stock and an extension and barrel clamp. No costly investment required!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For a new shooter, shotguns should be embraced. Not just because you have many projectiles\u00a0heading toward your target, and they\u2019re fun to shoot, but because it\u2019s gratifying to knock over steel and turn clays into dust!\u00a0 It\u2019s instant visual confirmation of a hit on target &#8211;\u00a0\u201cbam!\u201d and targets are down or gone. \u00a0Shotguns are often shunned for their kick or recoil and the power they can pack, but that doesn\u2019t have to be!\u00a0 It\u2019s why there are niche companies, like Parazzi and Krieghoff, that build guns so fine, so tailor-made that they are heirlooms. \u00a0But since most people cannot afford an heirloom shotgun, we\u2019re going to look at fitting a shotgun in a much more reasonable way. For me, that starts with a Dremel tool and a hacksaw.\u00a0And no, not for gunsmithing, but simply to cut the stock down, and add a softer recoil pad. \u00a0It also calls for some sandpaper or a belt sander, or simpler yet, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xrailbyrci.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">good shop<\/a> where I can send my gun. But I don\u2019t even have to go that far &#8211; I can buy a youth stock, if I am buying a shotgun, or I can borrow a smaller gun to introduce a new shooter.<\/p>\n<p>And this is where we are going to start our discussion on shotgun shooting &#8211; making sure we use one that\u2019s appropriate.\u00a0 I\u2019m not telling you to go buy something new, but before you take your child,\u00a0wife, or girlfriend out to shoot a scattergun, at least try to see if you can find a semi-auto that runs lighter loads, or borrow one that has a shorter length of pull.\u00a0 Call your buddy who has lopped off the butt of his wooden stock. If you&#8217;re a 6 foot 3&#8243; burly male reading this, you still want to digest the parts about fit and your eyes, so don&#8217;t run off just yet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SHORT STOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A semi auto usually kicks less because it\u2019s absorbing some of the recoil. \u00a0 You will want to begin with\u00a0a shotgun\u00a0that a new shooter can physically handle.\u00a0 Don\u2019t assume you need a 20 gauge, because the mass of the gun being smaller means they sometimes kick as much as a 12 gauge, and some people say it feels\u00a0harsher than a 12 gauge.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56075\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-7.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56075\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-56075\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-7-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"A rough gauge of the length of pull on a stock is to tuck it in your elbox, and see where your trigger finger lines up with the trigger. \" width=\"400\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-7-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-7-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-7.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rough gauge of the length of pull on a stock is to tuck it in your elbox, and see where your trigger finger lines up with the trigger.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So fitting a gun \u00a0&#8211; is it like pants?\u00a0 Do we measure along a particular line of our body?\u00a0 Well, we start with length of pull, and we go from there.\u00a0 The first thing we do to look at length of pull is to measure the distance from the stock in our elbow to where our trigger finger sits. \u00a0We would like to see, as a rough measurement, that when the butt is in\u00a0the crook of our elbow, the trigger can be reached by our trigger finger.<\/p>\n<p>A shorter stock brings the weight, the heavy part of the gun, closer to you. \u00a0\u00a0This makes the gun easier to manage and swing, for flying targets, and it brings the weight closer to your core, and will enable you to have a more appropriate stance.<\/p>\n<p>As a woman and having three sons who compete, I can tell you from experience that everyone isn\u2019t going to want or need the same things. I don\u2019t have a cheek-piece, I like my stock stippled, my eldest likes a thicker cheek piece, etc.\u00a0 Notice in the photo below that our three guns do not have the same exact cheek pad or stippling pattern, because we all like something a little different and we all handle the guns differently.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56078\" style=\"width: 381px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-4.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56078\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56078\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-4-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"Three identical model shotguns, set up for three different shooters. notice the different stippling patters on the stocks, as well as the foam cheek pads, or lack thereof. \" width=\"371\" height=\"246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-4-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-4-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-4.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56078\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three identical model shotguns, set up for three different shooters. notice the different stippling patters on the stocks, as well as the foam cheek pads, or lack thereof.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Since you\u2019re going to need a gun, \u00a0that\u2019s why we covered fit, and as a frugal parent, I\u2019d like to see you borrow a gun or find one that you can use to test out whether you want to shoot shotgun events.\u00a0 If you are going to buy a shotgun, I would look at the affordable companies, as well as GunsAmerica&#8217;s online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">retail website<\/a>, where you can find some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/shotguns.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">awesome deals!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Larry Potterfield from Midway USA gives an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7hsKCO8Mcfk\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">easy-to-understand explanation<\/a> and some good tips on shotgun fit.\u00a0 I like his\u00a0straw idea because it addresses that you need to be using the rib on your shotgun and looking at it in a specific way &#8211; not from above, or below, but as if it was sighting down it, through a tube.<\/p>\n<p>There are other videos on shotgun fit, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vteCAoPwn-s\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this one has some good points <\/a>on fit relating to where your hands and face should be when mounting the gun, as well as some info on misdiagnosed eye dominance due to poor shotgun fit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dry firing<\/strong> &#8211; \u00a0before we even begin to shoot a shotgun, we can dry fire.\u00a0 This is the same as what we did\u00a0with pistol shooting &#8211; we check that the gun is clear, <strong>***no ammo anywhere nearby***<\/strong> and we work on form and handling.\u00a0 We can dry fire to understand how the trigger feels, to practice mounting the gun, to build our muscle memory and strength, because honestly, shotguns are heavier than pistols, and we\u2019ll get tired fast if we don\u2019t develop some guns for our guns.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56095\" style=\"width: 452px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56095\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56095\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified1-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"One key in shooting a shotgun well is having a gun that fits. This is a good example of how the eye functions as a rear sight, and being able to see straight down the rib\" width=\"442\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified1-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified1-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 442px) 100vw, 442px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One key in shooting a shotgun well is having a gun that fits. This is a good example of how the eye functions as a rear sight, and being able to see straight down the rib<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When I work on dry fire drills with my shotgun, they are either mounting, transitioning, or loading drills.\u00a0 Shotgun dummy rounds are necessary for loading drills, and we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brownells.com\/search\/index.htm?k=Shotgun+dummy+rounds\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">can buy them from Brownell\u2019s<\/a>, and other places, but I prefer the feel and proportions of the ones Brownell\u2019s carry unless I&#8217;m working on hand strength, then I want heavy aluminum ones. \u00a0I practice loading for 3 Gun, but for a new shooter, shotguns can be confusing with all the parts to a shotgun &#8211; shell release, bolt, tube, putting a shell\u00a0on the lifter versus a round in the chamber.\u00a0 It sounds stupidly simple, but for a new shooter, it\u2019s not simple.\u00a0 They will benefit from dry fire drills and the basics of loading the gun without ammo. \u00a0If you spend just 15 minutes working with dummy rounds,\u00a0everyone will have\u00a0a much simpler time on the range, as well as understand more about how the gun works. They will be less nervous and you will all be safer.<\/p>\n<h2>SHOTGUN STATIC BASICS<\/h2>\n<p>We will start with stance and understanding how we hold a shotgun.\u00a0 For new shooters, getting accustomed to the balance and weight of the gun, and maintaining a stance that will help them counter the recoil is important.\u00a0 They also need to know about mounting the gun and positioning their cheek or face on the gun.<\/p>\n<p>Shotgun shooting requires that you stand solid and have a firm base of support.\u00a0 That can mean a wider stance for your feet, depending on the shooter and their body and skill level.\u00a0 A new shooter will be more comfortable taking a very aggressive stance that has one leg back and weight forward over the balls of their feet.\u00a0 Hinging forward slightly at the hips will also help counter recoil, as will keeping the core muscles tight &#8211; like you&#8217;re\u00a0preparing to do a sit-up.\u00a0 For inertia guns, like a Stoeger or Benelli, this can come into play more, since a snappy recoil and muzzle rise from the action of the gun are going to require more active effort on the part of the shooter.\u00a0 Shotguns are not like rifles where we find our\u00a0natural point of aim and relax to shoot\u00a0after\u00a0we\u2019ve set up a solid position based on bone structure.\u00a0 Shotgun requires us to constantly use biofeedback and consciously work to bring the gun back on target. \u00a0We also want to have an \u201cindex\u201d or sort of a very broad natural point of aim that is centered on our\u00a0target array.\u00a0 Shooting at stationary targets, we\u00a0need to transition our\u00a0gun from one target to the next very quickly, and in doing that, we\u00a0need to keep our\u00a0face firmly on the gun, our\u00a0stance solid, and yet remain\u00a0mobile enough to drive the gun to the next target.\u00a0 So if I was to give a new shotgun shooter a task, I would set up some stationary steel and tell them to shoot a single shot at a time, and think about keeping their core tight and weight forward, shoulder and face firmly into gun, and bringing the front sight back to the next target.\u00a0 I would work on their comfort and control of the gun, then branch out into things like flying clays or the swing of a shotgun.\u00a0 A great drill would be a plate rack, or several pieces of steel (you could even use hunks of 2&#215;4) and have them slowly shoot each one with a good position and form, and then work toward shooting them each with a nice transition from shot to shot and target to target.\u00a0 Once they are comfortable with that skill, I would go find a clay thrower and give them some basics on shooting aerial\u00a0targets.<\/p>\n<h2>AERIAL CLAY BASICS<\/h2>\n<p>Targets that are moving are a whole different animal than stationary targets.\u00a0 We need to understand chokes, and pattern, swing and follow through. But for holding and using the shotgun, we want to understand that moving the gun through the arc or swing is going to require a position that is open and allows us to arc across the direction the target is coming from and moving toward.\u00a0 We still need functional tension in our core, but we need to stand with more of an \u201cindex\u201d off the direction we want to shoot in, versus being very stationary.\u00a0 So we might for example, set up our body to be facing the place we want to break our shot, the best presentation of the clay, but we will twist a little toward the incoming path of clay so we can swing with it as it crosses into our vision. \u00a0\u00a0A good example of setting up your stance for where you want to break the shot is in this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w3nqaRLs9Sw\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">video<\/a>\u00a0from the Gould brothers.<\/p>\n<p>If we want to break down shooting aerial clays, we can look at 3 distinct ways that shooter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Gunryanmuller\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ryan Muller<\/a> shared in a conversation recently.\u00a0 His main tip is to focus on the clay and shoot where it\u2019s going to be, not where it\u2019s at.\u00a0 You can do this by using the following methods:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56175\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ryan-shotgun.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56175\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\"wp-image-56175 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ryan-shotgun-400x213.jpg\" alt=\"adfads\" width=\"400\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ryan-shotgun-400x213.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ryan-shotgun-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ryan-shotgun.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56175\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Gunryanmuller\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ryan Muller<\/a>, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stoegerindustries.com\/stoeger-pro-staff\/stoeger-3-gun-team\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Team Stoeger,<\/a> outlines 3 basic methods for shooting flying clays.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>1. \u00a0Pull through<\/strong> &#8211; start from behind the clay, get to it and pull through and fire at the time you get to clay, and maintain the movement as you fire and after.\u00a0 I would call this moving with the clay, in my own language. \u00a0This is what bird hunters generally do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2 \u00a0Pull away<\/strong> &#8211; start at the clay, and pull away in front of it as you\u2019re shooting.\u00a0 Following through while maintaining motion.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. \u00a0Maintain lead<\/strong> &#8211; maintain a constant lead in front of the bird.\u00a0 This means that I have a space or a lead in front of the flaying clay and I maintain it and keep swinging my gun as I break the shot.\u00a0 I would tend to use this on further clays or faster moving clays, especially once I\u2019ve established how fast the birds are moving and where I need to hold.<\/p>\n<p>In all three of these methods, we maintain our swing, or the movement of the gun. \u00a0We don&#8217;t ambush or get to the point we want to shoot and stop the gun, the gun must stay in motion. \u00a0Often flying clays give the illusion that they are going in one direction, but might also be rising or falling away.\u00a0 So watching the clays and their path is a part of understanding how to shoot aerial clays.\u00a0 Once you understand WHERE they are moving, you can set up to have a\u00a0the best swing of your shotgun across the path that the clay will travel.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan\u2019s other tip is that you should consider your gun an extension of your pointer finger.\u00a0 Shooting what you see, what you\u2019re pointing at. \u00a0Shotguns are not rifles, and usually shotguns do not have traditional sights.\u00a0 Shotguns are meant to be pointed and that is how we aim with them. \u00a0(This excludes shooting slugs and using sights or your rib to aim, which we will cover in the next article on shotguns.)<\/p>\n<h2>Flying clays &#8211; Some of the finer points.<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_56093\" style=\"width: 231px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-21.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56093\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56093\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-21-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"unspecified-2\" width=\"221\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-21-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-21-107x150.jpg 107w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-21.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56093\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ernie Beckwith, member of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fnamerica.com\/about\/team-fnh-usa\/shooting-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">FN Pro Team<\/a>, shares his tips on shooting Sporting Clays.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I\u2019m not gonna lie, I find sporting clays and fast aerials difficult, but after talking with \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fnamerica.com\/about\/team-fnh-usa\/shooting-team\/ernie-beckwith\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Ernie Beckwith<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FNProTeam\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">FN Pro Team<\/a> member, I\u2019m anxious to get out with my shotgun and shoot some clays.\u00a0 Ernie competes in sporting clays and shotgun events for Team FN, and has obviously put in some time learning the game.<\/p>\n<p>Ernie concurs with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MultigunVideo\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Patrick Kelley<\/a> on shotgun fit.\u00a0 Fit is critical.\u00a0 Your head and eyes are your rear sight, if they don&#8217;t align with the rib of the gun, you are in trouble. &#8220;Your eye HAS to be in line with the barrel because where you look is where your shot is going to go,&#8221; says Ernie. \u00a0So if you are too high and looking over the rib, or too low, you will not have a properly aligned &#8220;rear sight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Shotgun shooting for aerial targets is a &#8220;target focused&#8221; style of shooting, \u00a0as opposed to types of shooting that are sight focused.\u00a0 If you come from rifle, USPSA or another discipline that is all about your sight picture, you&#8217;re going to have to switch gears for aerials.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a whole different ball game!<\/p>\n<p>One could argue that aerial clays shooting is the truest form of instinctive shooting and you\u2019re not going to be good at it until you do it at a subconscious level. You&#8217;ll slow down with conscious thought, when you slow down, you&#8217;re stopping what comes naturally, and you will hit behind the bird.\u00a0 While we learn through conscious effort (we have to think about something in order to do it), we also\u00a0need to do a task enough that we don&#8217;t have to think about it anymore. \u00a0 One\u00a0analogy is a puzzle &#8211; we have to consciously think about all the parts to the puzzle at first, but once we know what we&#8217;re looking for (that odd shade of green or a specific pattern) we don&#8217;t need to tell ourselves what we want, we can just find it \u00a0because we recognize what we want from experience.\u00a0 Shotgun shooting is a lot like a puzzle in that regard. We have to figure out the what and where and how, but once we have a mental and physiological database of the things that\u00a0we want to see and feel, \u00a0then we can shoot subconsciously.\u00a0 A great example would be young kids who pick up a gun for 1st time without a sight-focused\u00a0background &#8211; they often are the one who automatically look at bird and shoot because they haven&#8217;t been taught otherwise. \u00a0It&#8217;s intuitive for them. \u00a0They don&#8217;t overthink it.<\/p>\n<p>Ernie also talked about the importance of movement of the gun.\u00a0 When we shoot USPSA, 3 Gun, etc. we index targets.\u00a0 This is something like a rough natural point of aim &#8211; not as exact as we need for long range rifle shooting, but we at least need to orient off the center of the array or set up so we are not fighting the forces of our own body when shooting at our most difficult target. \u00a0\u00a0In shotgun, everything works back from a break point.\u00a0 We want to break the bird at the clearest shot, or where it shows the most face (orange side of bird).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56089\" style=\"width: 484px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-61.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56089\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56089\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-61-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"Team Stoeger shooter, Sean Yackley, breaking clays thrown into the air by steel targets that are activated with a shotgun. This is a great example of clays showing you their \u201cface\u201d and how effectively birdshot breaks them. \" width=\"474\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-61-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-61-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-61.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56089\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stoegerindustries.com\/stoeger-pro-staff\/3-gun-pros-yackley-5\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Team Stoeger<\/a> shooter, Sean <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/yackley5\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Yackley<\/a>, breaking clays thrown into the air by steel targets that are activated with a shotgun. This is a great example of clays showing you their \u201cface\u201d and how effectively birdshot breaks them.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We only need 1-2 pellets to break it on the face, the edges or sides are a different story. \u00a0\u00a0From the break point, we pick a hold point, a point from where it goes from a blur to where it slows down, we want to break the bird with the minimum amount gun movement, smooth and swinging through the shot.\u00a0 To do this well, we want to pay attention to our foot placement. You want to adjust your feet so you can freely unwind through the break point.\u00a0 You do this by pointing one foot beyond the break point so you can swing through it, and the other is indexed toward the look point (where the bird originates in our field of view). \u00a0Then you\u2019re set up to uncoil like a spring.\u00a0 Setting our feet up correctly will keep our body from binding.\u00a0 And our index or natural point of aim is &#8220;through&#8221; the break point.\u00a0 This will help us avoid chasing bird and being behind.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll get into more of the finer details on flying birds in our next installment on shotgun, but this should give you some basics to begin.\u00a0It&#8217;s a lot to digest, I know. \u00a0I keep re-reading this section and wishing I&#8217;d have read it before I began shooting clays, because it&#8217;s great advice!<\/p>\n<h2>WHERE TO SHOOT<\/h2>\n<p>Just like our other articles in this series covered where you can shoot, we want to touch on competitions that you can be part of.\u00a0 For the newest of new shotgun shooters, starting with your friend, parent, grandpa, etc. at the range is where you want to begin.\u00a0 With good form and at your own pace.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56074\" style=\"width: 328px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-8.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56074\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56074\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-8-165x300.jpg\" alt=\"Madison Killian, at her California high school trap event.\" width=\"318\" height=\"579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-8-165x300.jpg 165w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-8-83x150.jpg 83w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-8.jpg 528w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madison Killian, at her California high school trap event.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Once you have the basics mastered, you can begin to check out competitions.\u00a0 A place younger shooters can start is the scholastic Clay target program or a highschool trap and skeet team.\u00a0 Trap shooting is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2015\/sep\/14\/shooting-sports-see-explosive-growth-among-teens-a\/?page=all\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">fastest-growing highschool<\/a> sports.\u00a0 Their level of organization from the scholastic programs is amazing and a great place to begin for young shooters.\u00a0 Fellow competitive shooter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/skydkillian\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Sky Killian <\/a>has a teenage daughter who participates in her high school trap team.\u00a0 Madison competes with her Fabarms shotgun in trap events, and in 3 Gun with a different shotgun.\u00a0Madison&#8217;s training with one complements competing with the other, and gives her an opportunity to be part of a team sport.<\/p>\n<p>Other places to begin are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssa-nsca.org\/index.php\/nsca-sporting-clays-shooting\/clubs-associations\/club-search\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">local sporting clays<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shootata.com\/Shoots,Clubs,StatesZones.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">trap<\/a>, and skeet events.\u00a0 I gave links at the beginning of this article and they will take you to web pages where you can search your local clubs for events.\u00a0 In our rural area, I know of at least two clubs where I can show up and shoot clays on a weekday evening.<\/p>\n<div>I would call ahead, confirm the time, and grab a gun, and show up.\u00a0 Usually, you will sign up in an open spot, wait your turn, then shoot a round, but there\u2019s typically enough time to shoot a couple rounds in a single evening.\u00a0Some of the etiquette that accompanies this type of shooting is essential.\u00a0 You generally load a shell into an open chamber and make ready as the person ahead of you in the order is shooting, then you either close the bolt or action as the person ahead has finished and you are ready to call pull.\u00a0You don\u2019t want to leave the people in your group waiting on you.\u00a0 Also, during a round, you want to wait to move to the next station until the lead person is ready to move.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>There is more etiquette, and you can find it in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fieldandstream.com\/blogs\/the-gun-nuts\/gun-club-etiquette-for-trap-skeet-and-sporting-clays\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">this article<\/a>, which gives a great overview of three different varieties of shotgun shooting (trap, skeet, and sporting clays) \u00a0and the manner in which to approach each.<\/div>\n<h2>Wrapping it up and putting it together.<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_56092\" style=\"width: 399px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-31.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56092\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56092\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-31-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"Logan Clark, of Clark Custom Guns, shooting a Franchi Affinity at the 2015 Trijicon World Shooting Championship on a sporting clays course at Rockcastle Shooting Center.\" width=\"389\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-31-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-31-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-31.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56092\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Logan Clark, of <a href=\"https:\/\/clarkcustomguns.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Clark Custom Guns<\/a>, shooting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.franchiusa.com\/affinity-catalyst-shotgun\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Franchi Affinity<\/a> at the 2015 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trijicon.com\/na_en\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Trijicon <\/a>World Shooting Championship on a sporting clays course at <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/rockcastlelive\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Rockcastle Shooting Center.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>All of these methods and skills are not necessarily <em>THE<\/em> \u00a0way to shoot, but <em>ONE<\/em> way to shoot. \u00a0Every person does not have the same size, muscle mass, balance, and build. \u00a0 A lanky teenager might need an adjustable comb on their shotgun because their neck is so long, whereas a small youth might have the exact opposite issue. \u00a0They will have different holds and positions as a result. \u00a0I like to think about that scenario as something along the lines of what\u2019s discussed in the book &#8220;Blink,&#8221; by Malcolm Gladwell &#8211; that aside from the obvious and measurable things we are taking in consciously, there are some un-measurables in life that experience gives us an eye for, a feel for, and the capacity to pick up on, even if we can\u2019t explain them.\u00a0 It hints to what Ernie said about shotgun shooting at aerials being very instinctive.<\/p>\n<p>The tagline for Franchi shotguns is \u201cFeels right.&#8221; \u00a0I think it\u2019s a great line for a shotgun because sometimes you can\u2019t say why something works for you, you can just say that it feels right.\u00a0 And in shotgun shooting, while we have some suggested methods, we sometimes see the outlier to the norm who has different stance or hold, and they might just do it because it\u2019s what <em>feels right<\/em> to them &#8211; and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_56144\" style=\"width: 515px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56144\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" class=\" wp-image-56144\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med-400x255.jpg\" alt=\"Lena Miculek is a two-time IPSC Shotgun Lady\u2019s World Champion. Her understanding of what it takes to run a shotgun fast allows her to adapt the mechanics of the process to fit her needs.\" width=\"505\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med-400x255.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med-1024x653.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lena-shoot-off-med.jpg 1569w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-56144\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lena <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miculek.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Miculek <\/a>is a two-time IPSC Shotgun Lady\u2019s World Champion. Her understanding of what it takes to run a shotgun fast allows her to adapt the mechanics of the process to fit her needs.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>My best example of this would be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Lena-Miculek-227803927300671\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Lena Miculek.<\/a> \u00a0Her shotgun stance when she shoots static targets is different.\u00a0 I think about it like it\u2019s ballet, almost a plie stance. \u00a0But as two-time world champion in IPSC shotgun, she\u2019s definitely mastered the dance of shotgun shooting.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s where I\u2019d like to end this first look at shotgun shooting &#8211; it\u2019s about doing things safely, comfortably, and if you\u2019re a little different because it feels right for you, go ahead and try it for a bit, ask for input from experienced shooters, and enjoy what you are doing.\u00a0 As you improve your shooting skills, things that initially seemed uncomfortable or impossible might seem reasonable.\u00a0 And for those instructing new shooters, \u00a0remember that what\u2019s second nature to you might still be so foreign it\u2019s nearly impossible for the student. \u00a0You might be at the unconscious and second nature side of things Ernie talked about, so \u00a0be careful not to turn new shooters off by requiring they do it just like you say. \u00a0Give them room to grow, be flexible, and go have fun!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Additional video\u00a0you might want to wat<\/strong><strong>ch:\u00a0<\/strong>Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TBG1HlUNQs8\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0of Lena and Kay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TeamMiculek\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\" title=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\">Miculek<\/a> that nicely lays out stance for women and smaller framed shooters.<\/p>\n<p>** If you&#8217;re having any trouble viewing the videos we&#8217;ve linked to, try to right click and open in new tab. \u00a0Or you can copy and past the URL:<\/p>\n<p>Midway video on fit:\u00a0www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7hsKCO8Mcfk<\/p>\n<p>Second video on fit:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vteCAoPwn-s<\/p>\n<p>Miculek video on stance:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TBG1HlUNQs8<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the author<\/strong>: <em>Becky Yackley has been shooting competitively since she began as a teenager with service rifle and\u00a0<\/em>smallbore<em>. She\u2019s lived near the typical Marine Corps bases and spent 10 years near DC while her husband was active duty, but has settled into Wisconsin and shooting 3 Gun, USPSA, and Bianchi pistol with her three boys and husband. An avid runner and outdoorswoman, she shoots guns and photos, and sometimes her mouth\u2026which her friends often remind her keeps them \u201calert\u201d at late hours on road trips. Never known for being quiet, she\u2019s bringing her brand of humor our way this year in hopes of sharing her love for shooting sports with our readers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INTRODUCTION Our initial steps into competition shooting centered on pistol disciplines\u00a0because they are popular. \u00a0But one of the most\u00a0accessible disciplines that we can talk about for a beginner\u00a0is anything involving a shotgun. \u00a0And the popularity of shotgun shooting is only growing! THE JOURNEY INTO COMPETETIVE SHOOTING Ep. 1 Getting Started Ep. 2 Steel Challenge Ep. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":56082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,491,6],"tags":[132,119,472],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-56067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-becky-yackley","9":"category-competition","10":"tag-buzz","11":"tag-competition","12":"tag-competitive-shooting"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners -\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Journey Into Competitive Shooting: EP. 4 Shotgun for Beginners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"INTRODUCTION Our initial steps into competition shooting centered on pistol disciplines\u00a0because they are popular. \u00a0But one of the most\u00a0accessible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/journey-into-competitive-shooting-ep4-shotgun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gun Reviews and News | GunsAmerica.com\/Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gunsamerica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" 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She\u2019s lived near the typical Marine Corps bases and spent 10 years near DC while her husband was active duty, but has settled into Wisconsin and shooting 3 Gun, USPSA, and Bianchi pistol with her three boys and husband. An avid runner and outdoorswoman, she shoots guns and photos, and sometimes her mouth\u2026which her friends often remind her keeps them \u201calert\u201d at late hours on road trips. Never known for being quiet, she\u2019s bringing her brand of humor our way this year in hopes of sharing her love for shooting sports with our readers.","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/author\/beckyyackley\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/unspecified-150x99.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181475,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56067\/revisions\/181475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56067"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=56067"},{"taxonomy":"hunt365","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hunt365?post=56067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}