Blind Spots When Shooting Pairs

If the targets are hard to see due to lighting or background conditions, find a spot that’s either on the target line or close to it. And after killing the first bird, get your eyes there and keep them still, so that they will go to the motion created by the moving target and the still background.

This spot needs to be specific. And you need to have your eyes still. If your eyes are searching for that target in the confusing background, then everything’s moving in the picture, including the target, which makes it harder to find.

Your eyes will automatically go to something moving in the periphery. If you’re focused on a spot, because that target is going to fly near it, keep your eyes still and they will pick the target up. The mistake is you move your eyes there, you can’t see it, and now you start looking around for it. And now everything in the picture is moving.

There exists a blind spot under the gun for right-handed shooters from five o’clock to 7:30. And for lefties from 4:30 to 7:00, due to the mounted gun blocking the view.

Try whenever possible to shoot the first bird in the not-blind spot. It’s there, depending on how high you raise your left elbow, there’s a wedge down there. For righties, it’s more left, and for lefties, it’s more right. So, when you have the gun mounted, you cannot see anything in that wedge below where you have the gun mounted.

Any time you can shoot the first bird so the second bird is not in a blind spot, you will improve your percentages going to the second bird. While that’s not always possible, it’s something that you should strive to do.