The Best Shooting I have Ever Done

[KCSO]

Way back when I was taught to shoot right handed even though my left eye is dominant. I shot rifle with the left eye closed and shot pistol with both eyes open and the gun held so I could sight with the left eye. No problems and i shot competition for many years and did some winning and some losing. A couple years ago a floater in the right eye and deterioration of the right eye caused me problems sighting with iron sights so If I want to keep shooting irons I have to shoot left handed. I have been struggling to change over all year and it has been a fight all the way. Well the other day I was shooting my levergun and managed a 2" group off the rest at 100 yards and then followed it up with solid hits out to 100 yards on the steel targets. I feel like I might be able to hunt with iron sights again this year. The old dog is learning, I hope.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Very good KCSO! Adapt and conquer.

[1Shirt]

Good luck KCSO, keep at it! A good friend and shooting companion has the same problem and has had to switch hands and is working hard at it. Btroj's dad lost all his sight in his right eye, and by working at it, and with off set scope mounts is still killing deer and turkey. Ya just should NEVER give up!
1Shirt!

[ShooterAZ]

I had a similar problem, I lost most of the vision in my dominant right eye and I'm right handed. Now I shoot rifle lefty, and pistol right handed with both eyes open. The lefty thing with the rifle was a tough one. It took years before I stopped instinctively putting the rifle to my right shoulder. It's a PITA, because all my bolt guns are RH. You just have to adapt and overcome, but it does take time.

[Ed Barrett]

Over coming difficulties is one of the most rewarding things in this life.

[Calamity Jake]

On thing that helps me is to cover the off eye lens of my shooting glasses with black electrical tape,
this allowes me to shoot with both eyes open doing away with eye strain.
I have floaters too but they seem to stay out of my line of sight while shooting, don't ask me why as I don't know.

[mroliver77]

My Dad tested me as a kid and being left eye dominate he taught me the shoot as a lefty. I am very right handed. I lost my right eye at 10 years old. I never even realized I shot different until people asked if I had to relearn.
At 24 I was in a car wreck breaking both arms neck and back.Wasted the left arm. I was told the left would be paralyzed forever. It atrophied away and just kinda hung there for a couple years. I was working and cutting firewood etc with one arm and hurt my back. I went to a chiropractor. When he crunched me my arm felt like it was on fire! It came back to life. It took 20 years for it to become a decent arm again.
Anyhow I shoot rifle left handed and handgun right handed with left eye. Now I have floaters and the start of a cataract! I found if I put the fuzzy front in between the fuzzy rear and line them with the fuzzy target as long as I have a good hold and good trigger form I still can shoot pretty darn well! :)

[Hogtamer]

I'm primarily a traditional bowhunter, right handed but busted elbow badly 12 years ago. The only way I could continue was to learn to shoot left handed. It was like starting over but I tell you it can be done, as many deer and hogs would testify if they could. Keep at it and if you love it enough you will adapt! Just think of it as another hunting challenge! Good luck, Hal

[popper]

KCSO work for the RR? Similar problem here. RO gave me a funny look when he asked me if I wanted to shoot left or right and I replied I didn't care. Right eye dominant but only see two fuzzes from it. Scope for rifle and left eye for pistol. I practice a lot either hand pistol. Ever know what you have to do for SD.

[Ramar]

Calamity Jake- You might want to try scotch tape or a transparent tape instead of the black tape over the off eye. The scotch tape allows equal light to both eyes and this aids in the pupils dilation being equal from right to left. When the off eye is blacked out it dilates and the shooting eye goes through a "sympathetic" dilating letting more light in than necessary which tends to cause more eye fatique.
Ramar

[10x]

Usually when I have ever done any remarkable shooting there has not been any one to witness it.

I have had detached retinas in both eyes and cataract surgury. I have lost low light detail in my right eye so I have had to go to bigger apertures in my peep sights.

[fouronesix]

Those days (years) are long gone :(

Probably the best shooting I ever did was at around age 16 after a lot of practice, training and competition in position 22 rifle. Next was at about 25 years old, again after a ton of training, practice and competition in an older version of PPC revolver.

Older eyes (but still about 20/20) with a few floaters and missing my shooting trigger finger-- just can't do the double or single action handgun thing for squat. Still do fair to midlin with long guns and open sights. More and more relying on good aperture sights- reverting back to some of the training from my late teens and early 20s.