THE TECHNOID AND OOSOOM... It has often been said that there is
no one shooting technique that suffices for all possible target
presentations. The Technoid says a lot of stuff, so he too might also
have actually said something like that at one time or other. The usual
shooting approaches are Pull Away, Sustained Lead, Swing Through and
Spot Shot. To this arsenal, you might consider adding the Out Of Sight,
Out Of Mind (OOSOOM) variation. No kidding. Trust the Technoid
and read on. OK, but read on anyway.
The Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind technique is really more of a
starting position variation than it is a totally new shooting style, but
it is
different enough to merit mention on its own. It is called Out Of Sight,
Out Of Mind because the muzzle of the gun is kept down completely
below the sight of the shooter until the very last moment. The gun butt
is often positioned at mid chest level and the entire gun is held parallel
to
the ground.
In most usual shooting styles, the muzzle of the gun is started
somewhere on the anticipated flight path of the target. When the bird
emerges, the muzzle is moved in the proper relation to the
target.
Once the muzzle is moving properly and the correct muzzle/bird
lead is obtained, then the gun is raised to the face and the shot delivered.
The only real variation is whether the muzzle starts behind, on or in
front of the bird.
In the above "normal" approach the shooter is keenly aware of
the bird/muzzle relationship at all times. This is how he sees his "lead"
and knows when to pull the trigger. This is the way that most of us
shoot most of our targets.
Assume, for example, that the target presentation is a fairly
standard 35 yard right to left crosser. Most shooters would start their
guns about half way between where they could first see the bird and
where they intended to break it. The butt would be under the armpit and
the muzzle would be raised up to the anticipated flight line. This is all
very standard stuff.
To use the OOSOOM approach, the set up would be the same,
except for one big difference. Instead of having the muzzle elevated up
to the anticipated flight line, the muzzle would be held quite a bit lower
and parallel to the ground (but not drooping down), perhaps as low as
mid-chest level or even lower. The important part is that the muzzle
would be completely below the line of sight of the shooter. The shooter
can not see any part of the gun. He watches only the bird. When the
bird emerges the shooter simply fixes his eyes carefully on the bird and
pivots his body as he follows target. He then raises his hands to the
appropriate place in front of the target and fires. If this last sentence
seems vague, it will be clearer in practice.
The advantage, and intent, of the OOSOOM approach is that it
completely prevents "aiming" (and thus stopping) the gun. The
gun muzzle
starts completely below the shooter's line of sight so he could not aim
if
he wanted to. The shooter cannot see the barrel at all until the very last
moment.
An additional advantage of OOSOOM is that the target is seen
more clearly because the gun is not up in the shooter's face to obstruct
the view. The shooter's head will probably be carried more erectly, also
improving eyesight when compared to what is seen when crawling a
stock. The OOSOOM approach relies entirely on the natural pointing
instinct- a muscle and motor memory which is quite reliable in even the
most sublethal of our shooting brethren.
In the final instant, of course the gun goes have to come fully to
the face, but unobstructed vision of the target has been so strong up to
that point that the shooter really feels that he is only moving his forehand
to the bird, not the gun. One really concentrates more on a sensed
hand/bird relationship rather than an visual eye/barrel/bird relationship.
Clear yet?
Roger Silcox (the current dean of English shooting instructors) is
a big proponent of this low muzzle shooting style. He probably was not
the first to use it, but he does teach this method and feels that it is
quite
helpful for certain shooters. Roger has too much dignity to saddle the
style with the OOSOOM acronym, but the Technoid lacks all dignity and
