We Make Too Much of This Stuff....
.... but I reckon it's still worth studying. This is going to be a long post, but if even one person gets something out of it then I figure it's worth the bandwidth.
You asked for real examples, so here are mine. They are against dogs, never did have to fire. I will note my reactions and everything else I noticed.
Instance 1)
My ex-gf was in the yard talking to someone who had a pitbull on a leash. The pitbull seemed friendly enough toward my ex, and I had NEVER had any trouble with pits before. As I started to appoach them to join in the conversation the pitbull rushed me. I would put the distance at 25yds, max. I instinctively raised my weak hand toward the dog (fending off reflex) while my strong hand cleared my cover garment out of the way and gripped the gun. I instinctively started to backpedal and mentally calculate trajectories which would keep my ex and the friend from being hit. I can't tell you how much time had passed; all I can say is that the pit had run about half the distance, full sprint, and the gun had cleared about half the leather. During this time I had worked up a firing solution, I was aware that my gun would be coming up to meet my weak hand for a two-handed grip, and I was already mentally seeing my sights, indexing them, and knowing where each bullet would go. My mind had done all this but my body couldn't keep up. I felt slooooow. I believe they call this tachypsychia or something along those lines.
Thankfully, that long leash pulled taught, almost pulling the guy over as he held fast. I remember hearing, as if from a long way off, him shouting "It's okay! It's okay! I got him!". Prior to that I don't remember hearing anything; I don't know if I was experiencing auditory exclusion. I suppose I was, seein's how I barely heard the guy when he was was telling me he had the dog under control.
Through the whole time I felt completely relaxed except for the initial realization. I still don't understand that.
The point of this experience when relating to sights: I'm sure I would have at least indexed the sights if the draw had gone through. Everything else I had thought to do followed (albeit slooowly) so I don't see how this would have been any different unless the dog had reached me.
Instance 2)
Fast foward a year, year and a half. Add in several hundred rounds live fire experience plus 100 practice draws per night (spurred by the slooowness of instance 1 which still haunts me to this day, though I know I was probably drawing pretty fast).
Same girl and I were taking a late night walk. Good lights, decent neighborhood. Dog comes running up, baring teeth and growling. Gun is in my strong hand- just appeared there as far as I remember- weak hand is occupied by an empty Gatorade bottle which I was going to dispose of later. Sights are indexed on the dog. We end up at a standoff. I tell the ex to slowly back away until she reached the street crossing then turn and walk. During this time I adjust my gun to get a 'classic' sight picture on the dog's head. Again, I don't know how much time passed, but the gun started getting heavy. I threw the Gatorade bottle over toward a building, to the front and right of me, to get my two-handed grip. The dog takes off after the bottle and runs off with it, looking over its shoulder. After it is safely out of sight I reholster.
Sights used- yes. Both indexed and classic.
Two things bother me about instance 2. First, this took place directly across the street of a Dominoes Pizza which as open. Obviously no one thought a man holding a gun on a dog was sufficient reason to call the police to my aid. Though I don't know how long this took, I'm sure the police could have gotten there given that my strong arm was wearing out. Second, when I turned around my ex-gf was still standing there. We had been through drills along the lines of "If I have to pull my gun in your presence..." before, and I had TOLD her exactly where to go and how to go to get to safety. All she did by standing there was endanger herself and me further. Lack of common sense and inability to take deliberate action are two reasons she became my ex, but that's another discussion altogether and not at all appropriate for this board.
(For those wondering, I did call the police when I got home and made a report. I don't know if they ever did anything but I never did see the dog again).
Instance 3)
Occured the same night as instance 2. Nothing really special, same thoughts and feelings as instance 2. Only difference was that, being raised around dogs, I knew this one was only protecting its turf and kept the gun trained on it, using the indexing method, until we were off its ground.
(Note on these dogs: I learned that, in that town, it was common practice for owners to feed the dogs a mixture of hot peppers and gunpowder. I've heard two theories as to what this does: Theory one holds that it eats the dog's stomach, putting it in pain and making it mean. Theory two holds that it eats the dog's brain and makes it crazy. To me, theory one sounds more logical. Whatever, it this practice supposedly makes them better guard/attack dogs. And I did get out of that town, largely in part due to the dogs roaming the streets freely, sometimes in packs, most times nice but sometimes mean).
One final note on the subject, this one not from my personal experience. These are supposedly direct quotes by Wyatt Earp himself, taken from Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall by Stuart N. Lake. Since Mr. Lake was a dime novelist it is to be taken with a grain of salt, but the book was written in collaboration with Earp before his death (though it was finished post-mortem), and it does sound like advice an experienced gunfighter would give:
"'The most important lesson I learned from those proficient gunfighters was that the winner of a gunplay usually was the man who took his time. The second was that, if I hoped to live long on the frontier, I would shun trick shooting- grandstand play- as I would poison.'"
Another:
"'In all my life as a frontier peace officer, I did not know a really proficient gunfighter who had anything but contempt for the gun-fanner, or the man who literally shot from the hip.'"
And one more:
"'That was shooting. I am not belittling Wild Bill when I bear witness that while he was shooting at the O, he held his gun as almost every man skilled in such matters preferred to hold one when in action, with a half-bent elbow that brought the gun slightly in front of his body at about, or slightly above, the level of the waist.'"
EC says: Please note that in that period the "waist" was understood to mean about navel height or slightly above as opposed to our measurement which measures right above the hip bones. If anyone wishes to dispute this I can furnish proof.
At any rate, using the period height of the waist to define Wyatt Earp's description of Mr. Hickok's grip and stance we come up with a picture which looks much like someone indexing his sights, in almost the same stance a modern bullseye shooter would use when shooting one handed, albeit with the gun held a bit lower.
Anyway, I hope this helps, even though it's longer than even I expected it would be when I first started.
Good shootin',
EC
