Wife Question

C

CMichael

New member
My wife and I have been trap shooting. My wife has become frustrated because she isn't hitting anything. I think it's because here reflexes in general are too slow.

We would like to go shooting together. What would be something fun that I could have her do? Handguns? Rifle?

What do you guys think?

Thank you,
Michael
 
Shooting a 22 rifle (preferably automatic with scope) at tin cans is one of the great bonding experiences of my life.:)
 
Stationary targets for a shotgun might help to improve her aiming skill.

Start with long-time aiming, then do some "quickdraw" games where you race each other to shoot the most clays in a row.

Time limits, certain # of clays, distance changing, etc.

Also, try the .22, or other fun plinking cartridges as mentioned above.
 
Actually I just called my gun club based on this. I'm not allowed to shoot anything other than paper targets with a rifle.

There are falling plates with handguns but I would have the same problem.

Michael
 
I though that is why we went shooting...to get away from the wife :D

Stinger

ps. Honey, if you are lurking, just kidding :eek:
 
I would reccomend that you find out if your trap club has an instructor, or any memebers who are instructors.

Have them watch her and give pointers. Most complete novices willing to pick up the gun (including myself since I only started trap last year myself, everything before was rifle and pistol,) can break 3 or 4 clays by just dumb luck thier first time. I think she has multiple things working against her if she consistently hits zero.

I'd try not to give up on the trap shooting with her as it's the only shooting sport where I personally see women (albeit still in t he minority) who are consistently there to shoot. The socialization of the club, and the slightly more effete "european" connotations that the shotgun sports have helps keep women involved IMO.

It could be any number of things with trap:

- Her stance. Feet placment, trigger arm elbow not held high, poor cheek weld, and eye not over the rib etc. Bending to aim with arms instead of staying "locked up" on top and bending to aim with the waist only.

- Poor gun fit, to the point of being painful for her. Gun fit is critical for accuracy since you don't really use sights, and the only thing promoting repeatable accuracy is your ability to mount the gun in a consistent manner with your eye over the rib. Or perhaps the gun is simply too heavy for her, making it too slow to point.

- Perhaps she's trying to aim like a rifle, instead of watching the clay pigeon, and letting herself just naturally follow with the gun.

- Shooting with both eyes open which confuses her aim, or vice-versa, only one eye open which causes a loss of depth perception, each shooter is different on which is better for them.

- Eye vs. hand cross-dominance problems.

- Not understanding lead for sideways flyers and over shooting straight away clays.

- Flinching.

It's probably a combination of more than one problem for her shooting experience to be soo poor, and an instructor can help with eye-dominance, stance, and any gross problems with gun fit for her. If a few basic things that aren't "her fault" are fixed, and she suddenly starts breaking clays, her self-esteem and enjoyment will improve immediately.
 
I appreciate the insight Andrew. However, she has had a massive amount of advice and people who went out with her and guided her.

I truely think it's because her reflexes are too slow.

Michael
 
Maybe all of that advice has caused her to think too much. Just keep it simple. Trying to teach a spouse anything usually leads to fights and resentment. Just have fun and start slow.

Very few people are naturally good shooters, but anyone can become proficient with proper technique and practice. I say just keep it basic. Safety first and then move onto stationary targets. When she begins to "feel" how the gun shoots, step up and throw some clays.

Just remember, stay patient.



Stinger
 
I've seen some pretty slow shooters do quite well at trap. It's difficult to imagine someone whose reflexes are that slow. It could be she is looking at the wrong spot on the trap house.

Free advice from shooters is worth what you pay for it and I've heard some pi$$ poor advice being given to new shooters by whoever walks buy. Find an instructer and paying for some lessons might help. The earlier comment about eye dominance is critical. It affects far more women than men and should be the first thing checked on a new shooter.

Have you considered skeet? The birds come at preset angles and don't vary like trap targets.

Failing that, I'd suggest handgunning. Women seem to enjoy it more than rifles IMHO.
 
Have you tried putting her up just behind the trap-house, then throwing her some birds? I've seen a few people that were absolutely CONVINCED that they couldn't hit a bird in trap do this, and once they dusted a few from zero distance, they started to figure out what they were doing wrong. Failing that, a 22 pistol or rifle with a red-dot on it is almost impossible to resist, even for a non-shooter.
 
Michael, here's more advice, worth just whay you're paying for it....

Frisbee fling a few for Wife to shoot, When she hits most of those, go to a hand thrower like that red plastic job. Then a mechanical trap with the spring turned down to the max. Speed up slowly and see what miracles occur. One step at a time...
 
Dave it's a good question. However, I am limited in what I can do by my gun club. With shotguns I can either shoot trap or skeet. That is it.

It's quite a distance to get to a point where I can toss those little clay things.

Michael
 
Have you taken her out to shoot skeet? There are some really easy outgoing shots like station 1 high house, and station 7 low house. The incoming shots are pretty easy as well. The flight path is fixed. Keep shootin those, build up confidence. Skeet target fly faster than trap, she could adjust to the new speed and head over to the trap range and find that they go surprisingly relatively slow.

That worked at least for me, I shot trap at first for a little while and never really got good...averaged around 17-18 and then switched to primarily shooting skeet. I've been doing only skeet for the past 8 months or so and just recently been doing trap again (practice for away shots for sporting clays) and I've found the trap clays relatively slow and now average easily around 23.

Just my 2 cents
 
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