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Glenn Eller - Shotgun Set Up

What enabled me to break those targets easily was my understanding of proper setup and fundamentals. Today we’re going to look at basic target presentations and how to approach them.    The first target we’re going to shoot today is a basic right-to-left crosser at about 25 yards, traveling at about 35 mph. We can shoot this target in many places across the flight line, but I tend to shoot the target directly in front of me because I use sustained lead. Knowing where I am going to break the target gives me an idea of where I need to setup my feet and my body for the shot. I like to setup about a 45 degree angle to enable my gun to move freely across the flight line.    Look Point and Hold Point are two very important parts of the shot. When you put the two together it makes the shot smooth and repeatable. The look point is almost always where your eyes pick up the target. This can be looking directly at the trap or way out on the flight line. This is where you’re going to set your eyes before you call pull.  The hold point is usually just past where the target becomes clear and it is easy to match the speed of the target with your barrel. Also make sure the end of your muzzle is on the fight line to enable a smooth move directly with the target.   The next target I’m going to shoot is a quartering target. The main difference between this target and a crosser is the method in which I shoot. I tend to use more of a pull away method because the target requires less lead.  First we need to figure out where we’re going to break the target. Next we’ll setup our body in the same 45 degree angle as we did before. Our look point this time is just going to be a little bit further out that it was on the crosser. I’ll set my gun up even further out because the target requires less speed to break. As you see here I’m using the same principals as I did with the crosser.   The main difference is I’m out on the leading edge of the bird and slowly pull away until I reach the desired lead before pulling the trigger.       The last target we’re going to show you is the trap target. This target will be traveling straight away from us, but slightly to our left. Since most trap targets are shot with a mounted gun we have to change how we set our eyes. Here I’m going to keep my eyes directly over top of the barrel and use my peripheral vision to pick up the target.     For a hold point, we’re going to hold very close to where we’re going to break the target. There are two different ways I use to shoot this effectively. The first way we’re going to shoot this target is with our barrel up on the flight line, we’re going to watch the target come out, as it passes our gun barrel we’re going to make a nice smooth move to the top of the bird and shoot.    You can see as the target comes towards my barrel I slowly begin to move my gun with the target, after it passes me I cover the top edge and shoot.  The second way to shoot this target is with a spot shot. Here you will use the exact same setup except this time, as a target approaches your barrel, you won’t move. You’ll just shoot as the target approaches. As you see here the bird never gets above my barrel.  The key here is recognizing that it takes about double the amount of lead over top of the target to hit it since we are using little or no gun movement.  With a little practice you too can master these techniques. Until next time stay Army Strong!   CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION