Do you suck at certain targets?  Need some sporting advice for your shabby style?  Want to know how a pro does it?  Here you can ask all of your deepest, burning sporting clays questions to World Champion competitor, target setter and shooting instructor Ben Husthwaite.  Just fill in the form below or send an email to askben@internationalsportingclays.com and we’ll publish all of his sage wisdom and Jedi mind tricks for you here.  Please indicate if you would like your name withheld.

Keep an eye out here for your answers.  Also visit Ben’s website for his instruction schedule.

Question:

I know it’s a popular view especially in sporting to choose 1 or 2 chokes and use them for everything. I lean more toward using all my chokes making sure of yardage, using multiple loads. What is your view?

-Breeze

"I’m in full agreement I change chokes all the time, even between singles and doubles on FITASC.  I promised myself I would stop changing chokes when Tiger Woods uses only one club!"

-Ben

Question:

Will an autoloader ever win a world title in Sporting Clays or F.I.T.A.S.C. and why?

-Anonymous

No reason why not! It has already won a silver! Remember its not the arrow its the indian!

-Ben

[Editors note: Around 1991 a gentleman by the name of Duncan Lawton won the World FITASC title over Stuart Clark and George Digweeed shooting a 1/2 choked Remington 1100.]

Question:

How do you approach battues that have a fair amount of distance and speed?

-Bobby

As you probably know this target is usually always missed due to lack of lead!  There are 2 parts to this! If you imagine that 40% of people will break this target and 50% of people will be behind it, I’m going to make sure I’m in the 10% that miss in front and generally you run into it!  As a method I mount under the target by the amount I feel is the right lead for where I will take the shot.  Then I swing perfectly straight (not high to low) to the huge lead that I have envisioned! Its harder to explain than show!

-Ben

Question:

I just upgraded from a Browning Citori 28" Field Gun to a Berretta 32" 682 Gold E.  Problem, I shoot right handed and am left eye dominant I’ve trained myself on the Citori but am seriously confused with the new Berretta. I keep looking at the barrel and not the bird.  Whats the best way to handle the eye issue?

-Dominic Trower

This will be a 2 part thing.  Have you tried the easy hit sight?  This would be my first suggestion.

-Ben

Question:

Can you expound on how shooting a target below your feet requires a different stance/technique than one whose path is higher?

-Dana Farrell

I try and keep my stance and posture the same, only bending at the waist and lower back!!! There fore keeping tension out of your hamstrings and allowing me to swing a flat line not my body rolling up or down towards the end of the swing, and with the gun I just swing under the targets flight line !! Hope this helps

-Ben

Question:

Should shotguns be dry fired? A bunch of us old guys are just taking up Trap and Skeet in our golden years. Some of us think it is ok and some of us say it harms the gun in some unknown way? We value your thoughts on the subject.

-John Amos

I have always been instructed not to dry fire on inertia triggers but mechanical are fine. I’m no expert in this matter though!

-Ben

Question:

Two long crossers with overlapping trajectories have me cross eyed. The targets are left to right with the closer of the two about 30-35 yards and probably 50% faster than a skeet target. The second bird is about 50 yards out and actually passes the closer bird. The targets overlap briefly and scotch doubles have happened. The more distant bird has me baffled. I can break it occasionally but the barrel/target relationship never seems the same. I will apprcaite any suggestions, observations or hints that you can offer.

- Ken Schafer

Well trying to coach blind my advice would be to decide which of the targets makes an easier second shot!  If you can comfortably take the back bird and continue on to the front bird, therefore keeping the gun moving in one direction, do that.  When you have chosen this technique, shoot them as singles in the chosen break points gradually moving onto to a true pair. 

Things to look for…if you can keep the gun moving in the same direction, it’s always a plus!! Is one bird higher so its always in view?  But as earlier stated I always chose my shots as to which is going to make an easier second shot, the hardest thing on the pair you describe is letting one go and waiting for the other, the singles practice will help this, hope this helps.

-Ben

Question:

A couple of days ago I was on a shoot -off for the third place of a competition. We were shooting simoultaneous doubles and on the second double they had a very fast, left to right crossing standard target but at close distance (25 yards) and a very low fast quartering away standard also from the left.

My opponent shot first and hit both targets. While stepping in the hoop my instinct told me to shoot the crosser first. Before its trajectory crosses the trajectory of the other target (just like we shoot a skeet target before the middle flag) and then turn to the going away bird. However logic prevailed, that says never experiment during a competition and I shot the lower going away target first. I missed the second target. However this thought of "what if…" has stuck in my mind since then and I wanted to ask you weather in such moments is it good to trust your instinct rather than shooting logic and shooting training habbits?

- Konstantinos Tsaparas

I would never try anything I have not mastered. My aim would be to use my usual hold point routine and kill the targets where they are clearest if my opponent had hit the first pair and the pressure was on and this is the deciding factor.

- Ben

Question:

I noticed that among the 8 parcours you recently set in Tennessee, there was not a single rabbit target. What’s the deal? (and I’m not complaining, just curious).

- Jack James

I won’t set a rabbit unless it will be 100% consistent and as you could see from the terrain, this was never going to happen!  So, I took the choice to not throw one!  If someone had lost the shoot due to a rabbit stopping or jumping it would not have been right, everyone should get the same birds!

- Ben

Question:

I have trouble with leads and am trying to find a method that works for me. I use the lead at the bird most but would like to try using the barrel lead but cannot seem to see it. What can I do to help myself with this problem?

- Glen King

Hi, a good question!  If lead is causing you a problem I would suggest going to the pull away method, this will guarantee you that the gun will be speeding up at the moment the shot is taken!  As for lead at bird or barrel, in my experiences you can either do one or the other, if you see it at the bird don’t fight this just go with it !

- Ben