Courtesy

 

We never shoot at another shooter’s target, it’s common courtesy. We never take a gun that’s not ours out of the rack unless we first ask the owner if we can—that’s being courteous too. We, as shooters, are usually pretty courteous folk.

 

One of the discourteous things that many of us do is to talk while another shooter near us is shooting. Whether we’re on the field with other shooters or behind the line, we need to be cognizant of those shooting and stay as quiet as we can so as to not, through our talking, cause that shooter to lose their focus and miss.

Usually when I’m shooting, I’m trying to resolve a problem, looking at another way to shoot a specific target, to solidify a method I’ve adopted, or I may be in a competition. In these cases we need to be able to concentrate on what we’re doing at that time and not be listening to someone else.

Sometimes we talk to explain why we missed on a specific shot, and while that’s important to you, the shooter  you’re speaking to probably doesn’t want to know about it (unless they’re your coach) and wishes you’d talk to yourself and not out loud. Usually that other shooter is concentrating on what they’re trying to accomplish, and they don’t need outside influences breaking that concentration.

Remember be as courteous to the other shooter as you wish they would be for you.

Courtesy is contagious.

Barry Hartmann is an NSSA Master Level and NRA Certified shotgun instructor who can help you improve your skills at American Skeet and wingshooting. To contact Barry, email him at threeat8@aol.com or give him a call at (918)803-2393.