The Shotgun Mount

“When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”
-Shunryu Suzuki

The first principle of sporting clays: Don’t move anything until you see the target clearly. Put negatively, don’t move when you first see the target; don’t move “on the blur.”

Desirae Edmunds obviously knows how to handle a shotgun.

Position the muzzle slightly below the anticipated flight path, with the butt of the stock below or even under your armpit, leaning forward with weight on toes. When the target is clearly in focus, begin the mount by moving the gun forward with the lead hand. The rear hand raises the stock to your shoulder with a forward-then-back circular motion.

The coordinated movement of both hands should keep the muzzle level during the entire mount.

There is nothing natural about any part of the mount, so it must be carefully trained.

It’s helpful to begin with the butt under your armpit, which forces the initial forward movement. 

Pick a spot on the wall about shoulder height. Aim at the spot with a shouldered gun, then slowly lower it to the unmounted position, keeping the muzzle on the spot during the entire movement. 

Then reverse the procedure: keep the muzzle on the spot while mounting. Mount slowly… Observing the relationship of the muzzle to the target. Train those two movements, alternating between each, until the proper movement is natural.

When competent with the static mount, add lateral movement. On the wall, tape, or make some kind of line (with a string and two pins perhaps), six to eight feet long. Stand about ten feet from the line, with an unmounted muzzle on one end. Keep the muzzle on the line as you move-mount down the line.

Practice mounting to the left, then to the right—forever. Tape the line at various angles, and mount up or down the line.

Also train the move-mount by keeping the muzzle on the line where the wall meets the ceiling.

Train to break targets with a move-mount-shoot cadence.

Tracking a target for a noticeable period of time increases your chance of a miss, because the natural tendency is to “look away” from the target to “measure” the lead, which stops the gun’s movement.

The subtle, “look away” is almost imperceptible but becomes easier to notice each time you catch it.

After a few years of serious training, I seldom missed a target that was not caused by trying to measure the lead.

Successful sporting clay shooting combines precise, compact, decisive movements. An accomplished sporting shooter on a skeet range displays beauty in motion—smashing targets with a minimum of movement.

The secret to breaking hard targets: never “look for the lead.” Always look right at the target.

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