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By Shooting Coach
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Shooting coach, Mark Russell, shows how to hit both partridge and their clay counterparts.
Shooting coach
I love early autumn; it’s a fantastic time of year. Forget the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness - for me it means the harvest is over and we can get stuck in to some serious game shooting.
Now because I get loads of game shooters coming here to Grimsthorpe for a pre-season warm up on clays, I thought it would be a good idea to concentrate on partridge-type targets - seeing how we can practice for the real thing on a sporting layout, and highlight the main differences between tackling live birds and clays.
RED DEVILS
For most shooters, mention partridges and they’ll generally think of low, driven birds whizzing over the hedgerows, maybe followed closely by a few curling crossers and quartering birds when they hear the shooting and see the line of guns.
These are genuinely testing targets, so let’s look at these first.
Birds are unpredictable at the best of times and unlike clays, you won’t know exactly where they will come from; all you’ll have is a rough idea - based on which way the pegs are positioned and, maybe, the sound of the approaching beaters.
With this in mind then, it’s obvious that you’re going to have to pick up the bird visually as quick as you can, and then make a snap decision as to where your kill point is going to be.
Fortunately though, when you get to your peg you should have plenty of time to get your ready position sorted before the first wave of birds comes towards you.
Your ready stance should be neutral, almost square to the expected flight line, but you must be ready to move your feet if necessary, especially if the incomer suddenly veers away to become a quartering or crossing target.
(A fellow Gun’s straight incomer could turn in front of the line and become a crossing shot for you from your peg - but we’ll look at how to tackle this type of bird later.)
At the start of the drive you want to keep the loaded gun just out of the shoulder in a comfortable, relaxed, ready position, ready for a smooth, parallel gun mount.
Keep the muzzles pointing upwards, but not so much it will obscure your sight of the birds.
Accepted ‘arc of fire’ in front of and use your peripheral vision to pick up any birds coming from right or left down the line.
Start to mount the gun as the bird approaches your chosen kill point, but don’t be tempted to bring the gun up too early.
Make sure your face is tight to the stock and KEEP it there!
(One of the most common mistakes made when shooting driven targets is to raise the head off the stock. This is because - by the very nature of swinging ahead of the bird - the muzzles can obscure the bird from sight.)
No matter what the target is, you’ve only got two barrels at your disposal at any one time.
As such, pick your bird carefully. Don’t forget that if your first shot doesn’t kill the bird cleanly, you’ll need the second barrel to finish it off.
CURLING CROSSER
As I mentioned earlier, sometimes birds will take evasive action and try to fly along the line instead of over it.
Here a handy tip is to turn slightly towards the direction the bird is travelling, say 30° or so, so that the incomer becomes, in effect, a crossing bird.
But what do you do if there’s more than one bird flying along the line instead of over it?
As you’ve probably only got a split second to decide which bird to take, it’s worth remembering that everyone has a natural preference when they swing the gun.
Most right-handers, for instance, find it easier to swing the gun from right to left, so keep this in mind when choosing your target.
Treat the bird as you would any other crosser. Smooth mount, track the bird, placing it just above the bead on the muzzles, swing ahead and pull the trigger when it feels right to do so.
Invariably this works. If you think too much about what you’re doing and why, you’ll miss.
CLAY PARTRIDGES
Course designers will present a partridge-type target pretty much the same as any other driven bird, the possible exceptions being they might be lower and possibly faster.
As with all driven birds the mantra is ‘keep your head down, keep the swing going, and rely on your instincts to tell you when to pull the trigger.’
That said, your preparation needs to be correct: Adopt a neutral stance; weight slightly on the front foot, which is pointing towards the flightline of the bird.
Be ready to transfer your weight onto the back foot if you’re going to take the bird later when it’s closer and nearly above you.
There’s no need to rush so shoot ‘gun down.’ If you shoot gun up you’ll often find you aim at the target and you’ll miss behind.
A smooth, unhurried gun mount is necessary. Get on the bird then pull away in front.
When the muzzles obscure the clay pull the trigger.
QUARTERING CLAYS
A typical mistake when shooting this type of target is to shoot high and miss over the top, so it’s really important that you keep the line of the muzzles just below the line of the bird.
Also be aware that the flightline might deviate as the clay loses momentum at the end of its travel so you’ll have to allow for this before shooting if you take the bird late.
FEELING FLUSH?
For the ultimate partridge practice session, why not go on a simulated game day?
I can pretty much guarantee you’ll shoot at more targets on just one of the day’s stands - a typical ‘drive’ usually only lasts about five or ten minutes - than you will on an entire, really expensive, 300-bird day.
Failing that, a cheaper option might be to have a go at a team flush.
Most gun clubs lay these on occasionally, where they’ll present 50 or 100 birds, depending upon the number of Guns taking part at any one time (usually two or four).
Randomly released from three or four separate traps the birds come thick and fast, and it’s nigh on impossible not to get the red mist going!
It’s great fun and will really sharpen up your game shooting skills. If you get the chance make sure you give it a go.
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