Happy Clinic Student – OSP Method Works!

A letter from another satisfied customer. The OSP method works!

Brian,

I have video proof that your instruction has paid off for me in a big way.

We were using 12-gauge #4 shot with a speed rating of 1330 feet per second. I count 16 frames between the time of the first shot and the first visible reaction of the bird (disturbance of his flight pattern).

Knowing that the video is capturing this at 100 frames per second, when I do the math on a spreadsheet, I calculate that this bird was approximately 70.93 yards away.

Let me just say right here that this is not a shot I was capable of pulling off prior to the two clinics I had with you as my instructor at Ben Avery here in Phoenix (April 2017 and September 2018). And I have to say also that the second clinic really helped me improve a lot more than I thought it would (even compared to my first clinic’s experience of massive improvement). For the record, I was shooting a Benelli Super Sport (performance shop model).

From the point of view of the reticle, my shot pattern looks way too low (making me think that I should have missed under the bird) though my gun was at least rising a little bit as the first shot was taken. At least I can say I was focusing hard on the nose of the bird and not the barrel when I took the shot.

The second shot in the video (my actual third shot) with the bird already tumbling in the air looks to be a bit too high from the point of view of the reticle. But it definitely hit the bird at least partially, as you can see feathers flying about 20 frames after this second shot was taken.

In hindsight, this particular three-shot sequence felt a lot like a single bird in five-stand where, when you miss your first shot, you are permitted to stay with it and fire a second time. The third shell, allowed by the semi-auto SuperSport, was just icing on the cake.

After the bird fell, I raced/sprinted toward where it landed in the corn and felt lucky to find it. It definitely was not dead, but my shot was apparently good enough to have crippled it to the point that it could neither fly nor run away. I think I may have shot its feet! I did have to wring its neck quite a few times to finish the kill, which I was able to do humanely right away.

This was only one of two birds that I got to actually shoot at over the course of a two-and-a-half-day hunt in Elgin, North Dakota (tough hunting). So, it was really important to me that I got to see the value of the OSP method in action when I finally did get the rare opportunity to shoot.

This, to me, is one of the most important hallmarks of the value of OSP instruction. With your methods, there is no need to rationalize how I might need to “warm up” with several missed birds before actually killing one. Instead, I’m now able to trust my head and face movement, keeping the barrel in my periphery, staying with a hard focus on the front end of the bird, and have confidence in the very first shot.

I’m still basking in the glow: a fast crosser at 71 yards? Are you kidding me? Nope… no kidding!

Thanks again for your clinic in September!

Best regards,
Jack