Ask The Instructor: Work The Target

Question: I’ve read that you should try and pull the trigger of your shotgun as soon as your gun hits your cheek. Do you agree with this? What is the correct timing for pulling the trigger when I mount my shotgun to a target?

Answer: Somewhere between “too quick” and “riding the target” lies the answer to your question. I believe the eye needs a very brief moment of “motionlessness” before the shot is executed. I’m sure you’ve have heard the phrase “Move, Mount, Shoot,” familiar to many in our sport due to a book so entitled. I prefer the lesser-known phrase “Move, Mount, WORK-IT, Shoot” coined by my good friend David Dobson, Coach of Jacksonville University’s very successful collegiate shooting team. There are some well-established shooting schools that encourage a shooter to immediately pull the trigger when the comb (top of the stock) hits the cheek, assuming that the shooter is starting from a dismounted ready position. As you know, the most important thing we must do when engaging a moving target with a shotgun is apply a high level of visual focus on the target just prior to and through shot execution. The brain requires a level of visual intensity that exceeds that which we normally employ as we go about our daily lives. Very few of us focus on objects with the intensity required by the brain when we are attempting to intercept a clay target in motion. This visual intensity is critical to our ability to move the hands and gun to the target subconsciously. Without this “high definition” imagery, the brain cannot make the subconscious calculation of the target’s line and speed. If you are initiating movement of your shotgun to the target from a dismounted position, mounting the shotgun to the target and cheek, the gun is still in motion as the comb touches the cheek. Since the eye needs a brief moment of relative motionlessness to capture high-definition visual information, there must be a brief moment where the barrel and gun are synchronized with the target. This is where the WORK-IT comes in. As you mount and move to the target, “work the target” with your eyes briefly, and apply good visual follow-through, watching the target break.