The Way I See It

I sat in the makeshift blind this morning, bored really from what was NOT happening. I took a few snapshots just for good measure and really had no idea of the discovery I had made to an ongoing problem turkey hunters have. Hopefully, this problem is not one that you've experienced. I remember an uncle telling me once when I was younger, "You have to look through the sights and focus on the target." Of course, that was the idea when wingshooting due to the speed of the target. Then here comes this larger target that, as you know, requires much more precision and aim. It totally changed the logic of looking through the sights and focusing on the target....or did it? Look in the picture how the turkeys look in correlation to the size and focus of the bead on the shotgun. You can see where it would be really hard to hit a certain spot when your eyes aren't focused on the target.

Now I've heard the veterans say, "You have to aim for their head," which is a mistake from the start. Why would you want to loose half your pattern spread from aiming too high and half your load fly over the bird? Aim six inches down from their head and that will ensure all your shot remains in the kill zone. No matter what the target, focus on it. The difficulty we have with turkey sights is there are 2 beads that have to be lined up. This causes a focal point to be on the sights. The only way to correct this is to know your gun. Know how it "shoulders" and know where your head needs to be to get you on the same elevation as the sights. Then you will be able to look "through" the sights and focus on the target without having to focus on the bead itself.