The chukar made a fatal mistake, sweeping up and over the sandy desert bowl I was hunting. I made a towering, 40-yard shot, and the bird fell, rag dead, almost at my feet. I moved away to let my hard-working German wirehair do the retrieving honors.
It was a fitting culmination to years of misses, thousands of practice rounds and a lot of blood, sweat and tears born out of frustration. Chukars and pheasants still fly off unscathed, but not as often as they did since I’ve become my own shotgun instructor.
You can help yourself become a better shotgunner, too. There are ways to spot issues with your shooting and correct them on your own through simple drills (and lots of practice). Here are some suggestions that might put more birds…
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Game & Fish East (Digital) - 1 Issue, June/July 2024