Instinctive Target Interception……

or the way to consistently smoke clay targets or hunt upland birds

www.itishooting.com

Author: Jerry Sinkovec

208-523-1545

photojournalistjerry@msn.com

Every time I go to a shooting club or public range I see the same thing happening time and time again. People are struggling with trying to break some targets and develop a shooting style. All to often some well meaning friends are trying to help them with some outdated shooting techniques, which have a very narrow scope of application. The friend ends up trying to teach techniques he or she learned twenty or thirty years ago shooting trap or skeet and feels that’s the way their friend should shoot. Shotgun shooting sports have been changing and evolving over the years and so has the techniques as well as the guns and other equipment. I have seen long time good shooters get frustrated at always missing a certain type bird on a trap or skeet field. I have seen them so frustrated that they sold their $10,000 shotgun and ended up buying a less expensive gun that they felt better with, thinking it was going to solve the problem. They ended up shooting worse with the new gun than they did with their old gun and they still had the same problem. What does that tell you? Obviously, it wasn’t the gun that was the problem; it was their shooting technique. More precisely, it’s what they were seeing, and what their eyes were telling their brain to do. It also probably had something to do with how they set up for the shot. If you have a gun that fits, stick with it, don’t start buying and selling guns to solve the problem, unless you have unlimited funds. And don’t start modifying the gun until you’ve had someone who knows how to fit a gun look at you and your gun to see what the problem is first. If you have a gun that isn’t balanced for the way you like to shoot, that’s a different problem and could require a gun change.

What most people fail to do when shooting or hunting is trust their instinct. To many people ride the target or try to measure it, that’s when problems start to develop. If you develop and trust your natural ability, you’ll be a better shot in the shooting sports and while hunting, and have more fun.

In 1995, prior to getting certified, I attended a very prestigious shooting school held at the Vail Rod & Gun Club. It was an excellent one-week course with most of the top instructors in Britain and America teaching for the school. But they were still teaching, pull away, swing through and maintained lead, all which have a certain limited application for certain type shots. But they weren’t teaching “Instinctive Target Interception” at the time, something I had been doing for a number of years, but hadn’t quite put the finishing touches on as yet. The British are just now starting to teach what they call, “Merging With The Target”, a very proper sounding name for “Instinctive Target Interception”.

I.T.I. can be used in sporting clays, skeet, FITAS, 5-stand, trap and hunting in the field. It’s one style of shooting which can be applied to any situation. It’s like the saying; “Beware the shooter who shoots only one gun for all types of events, and hunting for that matter”. The same can be said for the style of shooting. The idea is to simplify, and become one with your gun. I don’t believe in having one gun for trap, another gun and different sight picture for skeet, another for sporting clays and yet another gun and different sight picture for hunting. If you get a gun, which is balanced well and fits you, and you learn how to use well, there is no reason you can’t use it for any application, and do well, including hunting. I see shooters coming out to the gun ranges with a different gun every week, sometimes a s/s, than a o/u, than an auto, sometimes a 26” barrel, next time a 30” barrel, sometimes a six pound gun than a nine pound gun, and they never seem to shoot well. I think you can see why.

My personal choice for shooting any type of event or hunting is the Browning Ultra Golden Clays in a 30” barrel, which is just a little heavier than the Browning Ultra Sporting due to the density of the wood. It’s a medium weight gun with most of the weight from the receiver back, which makes for a fast easy gun swing. It is an important element in I.T.I. Once you find the right balance and fit in a gun, stick with it and work out the bad habits you’ve probably developed over time. If your a new shooter or not sure what your problems are, try to find a good instructor who will teach you what you need to learn, not what they want to teach, to help you develop your shooting skills and instinct. Avoid a gun that has heavy barrels, or with the weight out in front of the receiver, because the gun is harder to start to move and requires more energy for movement and to make minor adjustments at the last second. It tends to make the shooters arms tired quickly, and leads to lost birds. A Browning Ultra Sporting or Browning XS for a medium weight or a Beretta 391 Sporting for a lighter weight gun will work very well. There are many other makes, models and styles to choose from, just make sure what you pick isn’t to heavy in the barrel area. I would suggest staying with 28 inch or 30 inch barrels for any type of serious shooting or hunting. Avoid 24” and 26” barrels, as they are too whippy and lead to lost birds or targets.  You want to develop your swing and shooting speed, reflexes and kill ratio, and to do that you need a shotgun without much weight out in front of your hands.

One thing I’ve noticed in most of the gun shops as I travel around, is that the person buying the shotgun comes in to purchase a gun that he wants to buy regardless if the gun fits or not. Most people buying a shotgun don’t know if a shotgun fits them properly or not. I don’t think they realize that buying a shotgun is totally different from buying a rifle where the fit isn’t as important. And most shops never check to see if the shotgun fits the person they are selling the shotgun to, or they don’t know how. I think it’s imperative that the person buying a new shotgun makes sure the shop employee checks them for a proper fitting shotgun. And the buyer should keep an open mind as to the gun he’ll end up buying, so as to get a proper fitting shotgun. And if the gun doesn’t fit, the shop should advise the buyer what may be involved in cost and modifications in getting the gun to fit properly.  If the gun doesn’t fit you properly, you’ll never become a good shot. It’s imperative in low gun shooting and hunting, that the shotgun fit properly, so it will mount to the same position each time consistently.

Instinctive Target Interception is a series of elements which when put together and executed properly will allow you to see the target quicker, shoot the target quicker, hit it harder, feel less recoil, and feel more comfortable and relaxed while doing it. It’s a natural way to shoot that will enhance your enjoyment in shooting and make you a better shooter and hunter. It’s low gun shooting that allows you to be natural and relaxed and react to targets instantaneously and successfully.

Since your going to be shooting with a low gun, a gun being held below the armpit in the ready position, I recommend a continental style-shooting vest, which has a full-length pad for the gun to slide against. The new Chimere shooting vest or the Bob Allen Continental vest are a few that fill the bill nicely. And they’ll work fine for hunting as well. An alternative is a good shooting shirt with a long pad that isn’t baggy in the armpit area. Anything that has too much fabric or folds in that area will probably cause the gun butt to snag or foul with the material and cause a poor gun mount and a missed target. Be sure that what ever you use fits snug and allows for a smooth movement of the gun to the shoulder. Above all, don’t wear a shirt with a pocket on the right side, as the butt of the gun will surely snag on the flap. If the gun seems to drag or catch on whatever your using, try putting some clear fingernail polish on the top and left side of the recoil pad, that will eliminate the drag problem. Another detail that might need attention is the butt pad that has sharp edges. I found taking a Dremel tool to the left edge of the pad and putting a slight radius to it reduces the drag and helps in a smoother gun mount.

What you see and how you see it is probably the most important thing in shooting. For it’s what you see that puts the whole thing of shooting into motion. The proper shooting glasses and color are as important as the gun. How many times have you heard a shooter say he never saw the target leave the trap? That can be due to several different things, but the proper glasses assist you in picking up the bird and focusing on the bird. First, never wear bi-focal or varifocal glasses when shooting or hunting, they will only confuse the brain when the eyes see two different images. You only need to wear your distance prescription since the target is at a great distance from you. You aren’t supposed to be looking at the rib or beads when you’re shooting, so why would you need that ability in the first place? Color is very important in clay target shooting and even hunting. I would stay away from the Yellow, Vermilion or Red colors unless you’re shooting in heavy overcast conditions with low light. Yellow allows in to much light in bright light conditions and can cause stress to your eyes and even cause a condition very similar to snow blindness, if worn for to long a period of time in bright sunlight. Red or Vermilion creates tension in the human eye and causes early eye fatigue in shooters. Some of the best colors to use for shotgun sports and hunting are Purple, Rose and Hot Pink. They have been proven to be the most relaxing colors for the shooters eyes to use all day. The colors are more efficient and function better when they are molded into the polycarbonate lenses, than glass lenses, which are dyed. What these colors do is make the background colors blue for the sky and green for the vegetation darker, while making the target colors, orange, red and lime almost go bright neon. They create more contrast and give you better definition in the subtle grays and browns, the color of game birds. Rose has the most contrast and light reduction with Purple having less contrast and light reduction, but is probably the best all around color to use for 90% of your shooting. Hot Pink makes things brighter just like the Yellow lenses do, but still does what the Purple and Rose do in regard to contrast and target colors. The color you decide to use for most of your shooting should really be determined by the weather and light conditions you normally encounter where you live and shoot, not what is fashionable or the in color for the year.  Opti-Sport probably makes the best polycarbonate lens shooting glasses with the three colors mentioned above which they supply, and there are a large variety of shooting lens suppliers who can dye the glass lenses pretty close to what you need. Opti-Sport has come closest to the proper colors of any of the suppliers I’ve had run some tests on glass lenses. Most of the purple glass lenses I’ve seen at the various shooting matches the last year or two tend to be on the light side and don’t really have the same effect as the darker colors do. Be sure and shop around before you by any expensive shooting glasses and get the right colors, which will work to your advantage.

As was mentioned earlier, Instinctive Target Interception is a series of elements which when put together and executed properly will allow you to see the target quicker, shoot the target quicker, hit it harder, feel less recoil, and feel more comfortable and relaxed while doing it.

We’ll start with the feet placement and body position, and work our way up. Whether shooting skeet, trap or sporting clays, the feet should be placed with the toes pointing to either side of the point of where you’ll break the bird, with the upper body facing that point (the neutral position), or the center stake in the case of a skeet field. With this foot position and stance, you’re in a natural relaxed position. The feet should be no farther apart than your shoulders, be natural and be relaxed, just as if you were walking. There is no need to put one foot out in front of the other, to bend over or to crouch or hunch over. Stand erect as though there was someone speaking to you in front of you. If you create any unnatural body contortions while standing, you create tension in the body, which leads to tired muscles, unreliability in movement and lost birds. If there is a report pair and the first bird comes from your right and the second bird comes from the left your going to be in a neutral and comfortable position to take either bird with ease. If there was a simultaneous pair with the first bird coming from your right and the second from your left, you would stand a little off center to the right, since you would be catching up with the second bird later. If the pair was reversed, you would stand a little more to the left of center where you would be shooting the second bird. You always want to be in the neutral position, or a close to it as possible, when shooting the bird as it allows you to be accurate because there is no tension in your body at that point in your swing. You want to use your skeletal structure to support your body, not your muscles as they will tire and not perform as expected.

When you know where to stand and at which point to face, you now have to turn your upper body at the waist to the direction where the bird is coming from. You usually don’t have to turn much; just enough to allow you to hold the gun at the proper hold point for that presentation. The head may be turned a little further with the eyes looking to the point at where they will first see the bird. You don’t want to hold the gun where your going to break the bird because you won’t have any gun swing and you’ll either miss it or shoot it very late. Neither do you want to hold the gun at the point where you’re looking with your eyes. If the bird was close in and fast you’d have a hard time catching up with it. You want to hold the gun between the point where your looking with your eyes and where you plan to smoke the bird, with it being a little closer to where you’ll first see it.

If the bird is coming from behind some trees to your left with little open spaces, don’t try and pick up the bird while it’s still behind the trees, you may miss it. Wait until it emerges from behind the trees to pick it up with your eyes. Have your eyes focused on the area just in front of the trees.

Holding the shotgun properly for a fast easy mount is simple but important. Again, no unnatural positions with the arms as it will only lead to problems. The forend should be grasped in a comfortable manner with the left hand and index finger pointing forward along the forend on either the side or bottom; whichever is most comfortable for you. It is the left hand that directs the movement of the gun to intercept the target, not the right. The right hand assists the left in bringing the gun to the shoulder and assures a smooth mount. If your right hand is used to strongly in mounting and pointing the gun, you’ll probably miss the target. The mount must be swift, but smooth and to the point. It takes lots of practice, and a gun that fits.

The barrels should be pointed to the right of where you’re looking for the target with your eyes on a left to right crossing target. The barrels should be pointed below the anticipated flight path of the target. If they are held above the flight path or at to high an angle, with the gun butt to low, you’ll end up using your right hand to much to move the gun and end up bringing the barrels below the flight path, which means you’ll have to make a correction. The gun should not have a seesaw action while it is being mounted, it should slide upward smoothly till the point when it touches your cheek. Both hands have to work in unison, with the left hand doing all the work. If the barrels are held to high they will also block your view of the target.

When you see the target, you should start your mount. Your body and gun are moving at the same time to get the gun in front of the target on it’s flight path. The barrels will sweep up into the flight path of the target and intercept it. When the stock touches your cheek the gun should be in front of the target with the right lead and you should pull the trigger, and keep the gun swing moving. You have to learn how to trust what you’re seeing and not ride the target. If your eyes are focused on the target, you will smoke it. If the target is a rabbit you must keep the barrels below the rolling/hopping path of the rabbit and bring the gun up to your shoulder and the path of the rabbit to intercept it. The one time you don’t want to mount the gun right away is when you have an incoming target where it has a long flight time and you have plenty of time to read it’s path. Read where it’s going and where and when it’s going to do something. You usually have a few options as to when you want to take the target. Mount the gun just before you plan to shoot the target. Don’t ride the target with the gun mounted to your shoulder, as you’ll tend to make a mistake and miss the target. Mount and shoot, don’t ride the target.

Word count  3263

Bio on the author:

Jerry Sinkovec is a freelance outdoor writer/photographer who writes for over 30 different publications. He is also the director of the Instinctive Target Interception Shotgun Shooting School located in Albuquerque. He has been teaching for the last nine years and has been endorsed by Browning in Utah. He teaches in the western states as well as Albuquerque. In June of 2003 he will be operating two schools in the Idaho Falls, ID area as well as Sun Valley, ID. His address in Idaho will be I. T. I. Shotgun Shooting School, 5045 Brennan Bend, Idaho Falls, ID 83406. He can be currently reached by calling: 208-523-1545, or contacting: itishooting@msn.com

WEB ADDRESS www.itishooting.com

Cabels’s Sportsman’s Quest

Cabela’s Sportsman’s Quest is a new sporting clays series, which is in its third year and growing. It’s called North American Sporting Clays. It attracts a variety of shooters for a variety of reasons. You find registered shooters there from SCA and NSCA along with shooters with no affiliation to any shooting organization, all competing in the same events in an equitable manner. They all compete in the same events by using a unique classification system that has merit and should be considered for use in registered events held by SCA and NSCA as well. No one is forced to shoot in a class that is well above their ability just because they have no track record. They actually produce a record of their ability prior to the day of the shoot. The mix at this particular event was pretty well evenly spread out between the three categories of shooters, one third being NSCA, one third being SCA and the balance being shooters not affiliated with any shooting organization.

Events are held throughout the U.S. during spring, summer and fall. Currently, they have four events scheduled each year that are held at different locations in the U.S. These locations change from year to year, and they are considering adding additional events in the future. I’m sure that as the size of the turnouts increase, they’ll be looking at more events and locations.  These are great events to shoot and compete in because they are well run events and offer a variety of shooting opportunities on two different courses and on 5 stand.

I happened to attend the event that was held at the Ozark Shooters Sports Complex at Branson, MO this past May. The facility had great views of the surrounding countryside, being that it was located atop one of the highest points in the area. The terrain and vegetation allowed for some interesting presentations and made the courses fun and challenging at the same time. They had two courses set up on some great hilly terrain. The Main Event course was set upon a high ridge with a variety of vegetation and trees for obstruction, with long open views, and provided a challenging course for classification day. The Sportsman’s Course was set up in heavy timber on rolling terrain and was available for practice prior to the shooting of either event. The course was completely changed prior to shooting for score in the competition. They also had a 5 stand competition set up close to the club house. The Main Event course presentations were entirely changed for the second days shooting.

Approximately 215 shooters of various levels of ability with different affiliations from around the country showed up to compete in one, two or all three events. The 5 stand competition required the shooting of 100 targets over the course of one or two days with no classification involved. The sportsman’s event required the shooting of 50 targets on either day with four classes and two divisions. The classes were divided up into; Semi-Auto, Double Barrel (O/U or S/S), Pump and Ladies. The two divisions were registered and non-registered targets. The Sportsman’s Event was designed to draw in the shooters who were not normally competing in registered competitive shoots affiliated with one of the shooting organizations, and might feel a little intimidated by competing in the Main Event.  Many of the competitors in the main event also shot the Sportsman’s Event as well.

The Main Event required you to shoot a qualification round of 100 targets for classification. Of the ten stations you shoot, five stations are picked at random by the computer for classification. The same five stations are used for all competitors. There are four classifications in the competition, Platinum 50 to 45 targets, Gold 44 to 40 targets, Silver 39 to 35 targets and Bronze 34 targets and under. Your score at the five stations of fifty targets picked by the computer determines which classification you shoot in. Lets say you shot a total score of 70 out of 100 targets, but the computer picked five stations in which you only hit 39 targets; that would put you in Silver Class. That score of 70 targets would be recorded for your first day total of 70. When you compete on the second day in the Silver class your score would be added to the first days total. Let’s say you shot a score of 80 of 100 targets on the second day. Your total score would be 150 for the two days. That would be your final aggregate score (150) for the competition. If no one shot more than the 150 in Silver Class you’d take first place in class.

This system of classification seems to eliminate the sandbagging possible in other methods currently being used and the inequities as well. We all have our ups and downs in the course of a year of shooting, nothing ever remains constant. The variables we experience throughout the year on the long term and the weekly and daily changes we experience are always considered when using a system of this type. Because your classified on a day before you shoot for score, your ability that particular week may be different than what it was six months earlier, for any number of reasons. The system of classification is always current, because your classified by what you shot the day before, not how you shot six months ago or by the classification from your last shoot. Some people’s scores may be on an upward trend, while other people’s scores may be on a downward trend.

There are subjective and objective considerations that come into play in this method as well. We all have our mental and physical ups and downs, be they short or long term. Some of the subjective considerations are; how we feel on a certain day or week, did we get a good nights sleep, did we drink to much alcohol the night before the shoot, did we eat the wrong food for dinner last night, are you allowing yourself time to relax before a shoot, how we see the targets on a certain day or week various from time to time as well. The objective considerations that can determine how we may shoot are; geographical location, weather, temperature, humidity, wind, terrain, shotshell recoil, altitude, and target presentations. All these things influence the way we shoot on any particular day, location or time period. All these things affect our scores in one way or another. Why not use a system that is always current and up to date and applicable to the event and location rather than a system that rates you by the way you shot a year ago or several months ago.

This system doesn’t require you to shoot 300, 600 or 800 birds in the course of a year. It doesn’t require you to shoot in a class that is way above your ability just because you have no track record. It doesn’t require you to carry a card around showing what your classification is or the number of shoots you’ve done in a certain period of time. It just requires that you have two days of shooting fun rather than one. It eliminates a lot of record keeping and it’s easier to handle for range owners when conducting a shoot. And it really eliminates the sand bagging found at so many other of the clay target shooting sports.

Cabela’s should be commended for running a fun series of shoots that allows anyone to compete in an equitable manner without requiring a complicated classification system. For information on dates and locations of the Cabela’s North American Sporting Clays Sportsman’s Quest Series contact them at: 800-224-4990 or NASC, One Cabela Drive, Sidney, NE 69160. And for you shooters with hunting dogs, they also have an event that involves them as well.

word count 1316

Author

Jerry Sinkovec

2915 Estrella Brillante NW

Albuquerque, NM 87120

505-836-1206

itishooting@msn.com

Color Fatigue and the Shooting Lens Colors

Color Fatigue

Some colors have actually been proven to have a negative effect on the human psyche. Although yellow is the most visible of all colors and the first color the eye notices (yellow road signs with black text), bright yellow is the most fatiguing color of all.  More light is reflected by bright colors, causing the eye to work harder, thus, actually becoming an eye irritant. Research has shown that babies cry more in yellow rooms and couples fight more in yellow kitchens.

Bright red, while great for highlighting words and getting attention can also be irritating. Of the 250,000 cones in your eye that decode colors, 83,000 are needed to decode the color red. Looking at red too long or in any great volume causes your eyes to work to hard. Use red sparingly to command attention and avoid using red text too much in documents.

Regardless of the bright colors you use, use them sparingly. Bright colors are known for causing eye fatigue that can translate into headaches, general fatigue and overall discomfort. Try using more pale variations of the same colors. If contrasted properly, they may help you achieve your desired effect. You don’t want to be wearing a gray, brown or green sunglass when target shooting.

Shooting Colors

The reason I’ve brought this to your attention is so you become more aware of what you should use and buy in shooting glasses. Many shooters have complained of their eyes feeling tense or tired after a day of shooting. It didn’t happen after shooting, it happened during shooting. And it also probably affected their scores. Two colors to stay away from in general shooting on bright days are yellow and red, sometimes called vermilion. And I must also state that no two yellow, orange, red, purple or tan shooting glasses are alike. Each manufacturer uses different dyes, and coatings to achieve their desired affect. So, even thought you can look through two different pair of purple shooting glasses, the end affect can be different. It is more likely to happen if you buy some colored glasses that are made by someone who doesn’t cater to the shooting industry. Most shooting industry lens manufacturers use special dyes and coatings to achieve their desired affect. But even in the shooting industry there is quite a bit of difference from one manufacturers purple or other shooting color shooting lens to another’s or one orange shooting lens to another manufacturers. The most important thing to do is to try looking through the colored lenses your interested in buying before you do purchase them. Make sure they really do what you’re looking for in a shooting glass. I’ve seen some orange colored lenses make the orange colored targets bright orange and another manufacturers orange lens make it white. Not all same color lenses are alike. Make sure you know what a particular lens color does for you before buying it. It’s highly recommended you buy your shooting lens from a shooting industry supplier. Your regular optician can make great regular lenses for driving and reading, but they don’t have the special dyes and coatings to achieve what you’re really looking for.

Recently, I had a student who was wearing dark brown sunglasses and when I suggested he get different glasses that would help him see targets better, he wanted to look through mine.  He was amazed at what my Opti-Glow shooting glasses did to targets and backgrounds. He wanted to have his local optician make some lenses for him. I suggested he use a shooting sports lens supplier, but he wanted to have his optician do it. I gave him an old scratched lens for his optician to match. Well, his optician matched the color al right, but it didn’t have the desired affect on targets and backgrounds.

Color Applications And Uses

Never wear yellow lenses on bright sunny days. It’s like standing on a snowfield on a sunny day; you’ll be putting to much sunlight into your eyes. You’ll end up feeling like you have sand in your eyes because you’ll be creating a condition very similar to snow blindness. The other color to avoid on bright sunny days is red. Some firms call it vermilion, but be very careful if you decide to use such a lens color. It can cause your eyes to tire very easily and cause eye tension. That creates lost targets. It really irks me to see so many shooting equipment ads showing someone shooting wearing yellow glasses in bright sunshine. The yellow lenses should only be worn on dim or dark days with a heavy overcast where the light is flat. They are also great when shooting indoors or driving at night.

The Colors

The following should only be used as a guide for determining that proper color for the shooting conditions you encounter the most. Be sure the colors do the job you want them to, especially if you’re ordering from a company that does not cater to the shooting industry. The best insurance is to view the target and background colors through the colored lenses before you buy them or have a prescription made.

Purple Makes the background colors blue sky and green vegetation darker while making the orange target colors go neon, or very bright. The best bright sunlight color for target shooting since it enhances the contrast of the scene. It also gives you more definition and color separation in the browns and grays, which enables you to see game birds easier and quicker when hunting.

Rose First developed by Uvex for ski glasses and also called Psycho, this color is similar to purple but gives you the maximum contrast, more so than any other shooting color.

Orange Is best used on dark or cloudy days as it enhances contrast

Opti-Glow, Desert Glow Different Manufacturers, different names; it tends to be a hot pink, or Fuchsia  color. It performs very much like a purple lens yet it has the light gathering power of a yellow or gold lens. It’s an ideal lens to wear when shooting in heavy timber where you have bright sunlight and heavy shadow conditions intermingled. It also works well in bright sunlight and doesn’t have a negative affect  like the yellow lens.

Yellow & Gold Allows more light to enter the eye and is best used on dark and cloudy or flat light days. It’s also ideal when shooting rifle or pistol indoors.

Tints You can get any of the colors in different density of color. The lighter the color, the more light that is allowed to enter the eye and the less contrast that the lens gives.

Word Count:  1119  ã

Author

Jerry Sinkovec

photojournalistjerry@msn.com

Crow’s Nest Ranch

Crow’s Nest Ranch, just an hour and a half west of Idaho Falls on Highway 93 north of Arco, offers some of the best bird hunting close to town. It’s a beautiful setting nestled at the base of the Lost River Range snow capped mountains. Accommodations are in some brand new rustic log cabins if you would like to stay overnight. I can attest to the excellent food served as well, which includes delicious buffalo burgers. If you haven’t shot in awhile, they have a skeet field where you can warm up for the bird shooting. A basic package of five pheasants or seven chukars includes a round of skeet. They have shooting instruction available. You can bring your own dogs or they have dogs and handler available.

On the morning I arrived the air was cool and brisk, perfect for walking through the grass and grain fields looking for pheasant and sage covered hills looking for chukars. We started out for pheasant and in an hour and a half I had four birds. As we were standing and talking about the geology for several minutes, there was a commotion behind us and to our surprise the black lab had kicked up three cocks about 15 yards from us. I dropped the last departing bird, which filled me out.

After a little refreshment, we headed out for some chukars in the foothills behind the main lodge. It wasn’t long before we were into a covey. The birds were faster an a little harder to hit, but they normally went down with a single shot. We found five different coveys with little effort. Of the seven chukars taken, all were wild birds. The planted birds are all banded so it’s easy to distinguish between the two. There are hundreds of other chukars waiting to be taken. After four hours of hunting, I had both bags filled. It was a pleasant half-day of hunting in wonderful surroundings.

What impressed me most was the fact you never had the feeling of hunting just planted birds. And the chukars weren’t, they were wild birds that offered a lot of excitement. The pheasant as well, had been released weeks earlier and had been missed by other hunters. They offered a true hunting experience with magnificent scenery and impressive hospitality. In addition to the bird hunting, they offer trophy elk hunting and have excellent fly-fishing on the 1000 acre deeded property.

For a memorable hunting experience close to home give Crow’s Nest Ranch a call for additional information, rates and availability. Only a limited number of fly-fishermen or hunters are allowed on the ranch on any given day. Call 208-588-2468.

447 Word Count

Jerry Sinkovec, Author

photojournalistjerry@msn.com

208-523-1545

Falcon’s Ledge

A Romantic and Idyllic Sanctuary

The lodge is situated in a shallow, long narrow valley about twenty miles north of Duchene, UT, and about 2.5 hours from Salt Lake City Airport. It is located in the southern foothills of the Unita Mountains, the only east/west mountain range in America.

Eight large ponds where fly fishermen can test their skill against the swift and able trout ring it. It’s an idyllic and tranquil setting far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. The lodge has a contemporary southwestern look to it on the exterior that juts out from the surrounding terrain and a southwestern country look to the interior. It’s all very pleasing and very comfortable. The eight private bedrooms each have a different décor from southwestern to pure country, and each is a different size with different sleeping accommodations. The lodge has two lounge areas, one on the upper floor and another on the main floor and both have large TV’s to watch satellite or a video from the large collections.

Falcon’s Ledge was the dream of an outdoorsman and it exists today for outdoorsmen that enjoy falconry,

fly-fishing, bird hunting and clay shooting. It is an Orvis endorsed fly-fishing lodge. There are two types of fishing available at the lodge. You can fly-fish any of the eight ponds, each containing different species or mix of trout. Or you can fish any of the five freestone streams only a short drive away. Some of the streams offer some beautiful scenery along with great fishing. It’s really a fly-fishermen’s paradise. Only twelve fly rods are allowed at the ponds on any given day.

Hunting with Falcon’s is also a common activity at the lodge. In past years national and international competitions have taken place there and will be held in the future. Most hunts are conducted with Mallard Ducks specifically raised for the events. In competition, they use specially raised pigeons that are more difficult for the Falcon’s to get. Falcon’s Ledge is one of only two places in America you can experience this.

Wing shooting season starts October 1^st on the 3,000 + acre preserve located about 40 minutes from the lodge. You’ll hunt wild, early release, and preserve pheasants and chuckars sneaking along the edges of grain in cattails, creek banks, Russian olives trees and tall grass.

They have a single stack trap machine and six different shooting stations that allows you to shoot incomers, over head outgoing targets, left to right crossers and right to left crossers at different distances. They have obstructions to shooting like trees and shrubs that makes it more like hunting. I showed them how to use it like a quail walk and to throw targets when you didn’t know when they were to be thrown while you were walking in the area. Everyone seemed to enjoy that more than shooting at a specific station. They are thinking of putting in a sporting clays course, and if they do they’ll have a honey of a course with the interesting terrain and obstructions they have. They should do quite well with it.

Comfort and relaxation is what Falcon’s Ledge is all about. There is a hot tube located outside the lodge building where you can soak and relax all your cares away. Close by is the pro shop where you can find anything in fly-fishing you should need; from insect repellent clothing to the latest hatch fly. A huge balcony surrounds the front of the lodge where you can relax with a good book and enjoy the fresh air and tranquility.

Be it breakfast or dinner, you’ll always be surprised by the excellent food being served at the lodge. Breakfast could be traditional or southwestern. The dinners were always luxurious with fare like salmon to steak and desserts that would have you asking for more. Everything was done to perfection. You’ll never leave the table hungry; I guarantee it. The whole experience will keep you coming back.

Certified and experienced fishing guides are always available to take you to the hottest spots in the area. Wing shooting guides are also available in season. For a unique experience in fly-fishing or just getting away from it all and relaxing, you have to spend so time at Falcons Ledge.

For information, brochures or reservations contact Falcons Ledge at: 1-877-879-3737 or via mail at Falcon’s Ledge, 3593 S. 4840 W, West Valley, UT 84120

Word count 741

Jerry Sinkovec

A Soft Touch

FEDERAL GOLD MEDAL INTERNATIONAL PAPER

The Federal Gold Metal International Paper shotshell is a pleasant and effective shell to shoot for both the first time shooter and the competitive shooter. It’s also available in plastic, but the paper has advantages. At a sporting clay class conducted by the late Ed Scherer, we measured the recoil of many shotshells on his recoil gauge in 20 and 12 gauge, both reloads and factory. To our amazement, the Federal Paper International came out with the lowest recoil, even lower than the 20 gauge plastic shotshells, which most people tend to use to introduce new shooters into shotgunning. The secret is in the paper hull.  The paper absorbs some of the recoil/shock as the gas expands, and the result is lower felt recoil on the shooter. The Federal load NR. N119 is for a 2 ¾” shell with a 3 ¼ Dram Equiv., and a shot charge of 24 grams (just a few pellets less than a 7/8’s load). It leaves the barrel at 1325 FPS, which is legal for all shotgun sports. It’s available in both 7 ½ shot, which is copper plated and 8 ½ size shot. Remember the physics phrase, “For every action there is a reaction”? Well, the less shot weight you have to push out the barrel, the less recoil there will be on your shoulder.

At the Holland & Holland School at Vail, Colorado the only 12 gauge shells used were the Federal International Paper. That was my introduction to shooting paper hulls along with 8 ½ shot and 24 gram loads. 24 grams is just a few pellets lighter than a 7/8 oz. load. Their reason for choosing the shells was that fact that the students would be shooting over 250 rounds a day and they want to minimize shooting fatigue. I was impressed by the lack of recoil and the effectiveness of the shells. As an instructor myself, I recommend to students shooting a lighter load in training sessions. There are other reasons as well for shooting a lighter load.

On the close in targets and the medium range targets the 24 gram loads with 8 ½ shot just smoked the targets when you were on them. It was impressive. I wouldn’t have thought that such a light shot weight could do so well. What was really impressive were the long distance crossing targets. At fifty and sixty yards, the targets looked like they were in slow motion. When we found the right lead the targets were hit hard, they were crunched. Here is the kicker, throughout the whole course; none of us changed our choke tubes. They told us to leave whatever choke tubes we would normally use in our guns in. Everyone was either shooting skeet or improved cylinder choke tubes throughout the whole course, regardless of the distance to the targets. I should point out we were shooting at an altitude of about 8,500 feet, so the pattern won’t open up much because of the thinner air. The skeet chokes were effective at sixty yards with 8 ½ shot and 24 gram loads. That was amazing. At one point, on the last day of the course at Vail, after I had already fired over 250 rounds, Keith Davies, one of the instructors from Holland & Holland in England, had me shoot over 100 rounds in less than a half hour at a series of targets. I was amazed at not feeling any the worse for all the rounds I had just fired.

If you have a young person or a women who hasn’t fired a shotgun before, the Federal International Paper would be the ideal choice for them to begin shooting with, even better than a twenty gauge, which most people tend to use. For the competitive shooter, the same load is ideal. What is so good about it is that it helps you find the proper lead on targets. Why, you ask. With the shorter shot string and the narrower effective cone of destruction (with each 1/8 oz less of shot you use, you decrease the effective hit diameter by two to three inches) you learn very quickly what the proper lead is and the relationship of the clay bird to the barrel. As you go up in shot size, you also reduce the effective hit diameter by one to two inches. 7/8 oz of 8 ½ ‘s puts more pellets in the shot string than 1 oz of 8’s.  This is why I feel 8 ½ shot size is the perfect size to use for all clay target shooting. Since the Holland & Holland school I reload all trap, skeet and sporting clay loads with 8 ½ shot. The only time I use 7 ½ shot is for long distance rabbit targets. When you can smoke targets in practice with 24 grams of 8½ size shot regularly, you’ll be much better able to kill those sporting clay targets in competition with 7/8 oz. or 1 oz. loads, or even 1 1/8 oz. loads if you really feel it’s necessary. It’s also been found that in a 1 1/8 oz load, on an average, only 20 % of the pellets actually come in contact with the target. That makes for a lot of wasted lead out there. In England, where many of the competitions require that you shoot only a 7/8 oz. load, they found that scores went up. The change was that shooters were dealing with less recoil, and were better able to deal with second shots and had less shooting fatigue that would reduce their ability to react to the targets.

I see a lot of shooters using 1 1/8 oz. loads and chipping the targets more often than hitting them solid, or smoking them. Their shooting is probably suffering from the amount of recoil their dealing with in shooting 1/18 oz. loads and some bad technique. It’s been found that scores have gone up when competitive shooters started shooting 7/8 oz. loads over 1 1/8 oz. loads. If shooters started using 24 gram loads, they might be missing a lot of targets to start with, but it would help teach them proper leads and to focus on the target better. Then in competition, they could go back to a 1 oz. or 1 1/8 oz. load that would give them a little more of an edge, if they felt they needed it. Try a case or a couple boxes of the Federal International paper, I know you’ll like shooting them, you might even decide to make them your regular shell for practice or for competition. And if you’re introducing someone to shotgunning, it’s the only shell to use.

For further information on Federal shotshells write: Federal Cartridge Company, Anoka, MN 55303 or call them at 612-323-2300.

Jerry Sinkovec is a freelance photojournalist that writes for over forty-five different publications and is the director of the Instinctive Target Interception Shotgun Shooting School located in Idaho Falls, ID  www.itishooting.com

Please include bio at the end of the article.

1171 word count

Reviewed by Jerry Sinkovec

5045 Brennan Bend

Idaho Falls, ID 83401

photojournalistjerry@msn.com