Wednesday, December 1, 2010

James Rutland: Instinct Shooting

James Rutland

I call these "Shooting Balls"
 Let me say this about that......This course is exactly what it is purported to be.  I learned to shoot a BB gun with no sights and without even sighting down the barrel.  I started on large plate targets, then smaller orange circles on the plate targets (until I bored a hole at the 1230 position on one of them), then started shooting at the balls on the ground. As James gave me a color, I would hit the ball- from big ones down to the size of golf balls!  Then he started throwing metal disks in the air- from 3 inches on down to a quarter (see last picture) and a Tums (which I shattered on the first shot) and, finally, another BB.  It took about 20 tries, but, after nicking it 3 times, I finally nailed it solidly and it disappeared! (I am NOT exaggerating.  This was a shot that could not be done and I did it 30 minutes after driving up to the cabin.)

Then we moved on to the shotgun.  I pulled out my trusty SKB 20 ga. Model 100 that I field trial and hunt with.  James immediately noticed the gun was too small for me, so we put a rubber, removable kick plate from one of my other guns on it.  The fit was better.  We worked on stance, smooth movement, head and foot location and focus and concentration.  Then he started throwing the clay targets.
The Training Cabin on the Lake

I started breaking them.  I missed maybe one out of 25.  James was saying to not just break them, but powder them, "And here's how you do it", he would say. I took his advice and I've never powdered so many clay targets in my life. I mean, they were GONE! He threw them from behind me, high and low, 45 degrees to either side of  straight ahead, curving and straight.  After 4 boxes of shells, James says I only missed twice, but I'm pretty sure I must have  missed about 4 times.  I did all this in  the space of an hour and forty five minutes!

I shot this quarter.  IN THE AIR! Check the dents.

This is the bottom line.  This works.  It is for real. I used my own gun and I wished I could have stayed all day.  I've never shot 4 boxes of shells so productively in my life.  This method is perfect for the field trialer and quail/pheasant/upland hunter! Click Here for James Rutland Instinct Shooting School Website