SHOOTING
Where Is Your Focus ? By Nathan Albertson
One summer morning , in the middle of a Midwest plowed field , my father summoned me . With a Model 67 Winchester in his hand and three . 22 LR cartridges , he gave a fling to an old Valvoline oil can . He loaded the rifle and handed it to me and pointed toward the oil can about ten yards away . “ Put the bead in the notch and squeeze the trigger .” Three shots later , that oil can had been perforated twice and I had completed my first shooting lesson . Mom was less than thrilled with my trophy oil can , but she did permit it to reside on the back porch on top of the wood box for several years .
It is easy to look at the target , such as this bull elk , but one should focus instead on their front sight
In the years that followed , I started hearing a phrase I had not initially heard . “ Focus on the front sight , Son .” Recently , in contemplation of writing this piece , I realized that was a conversation I had not yet had with my oldest daughter , who began shooting last year . Why is that one of the last pieces of advice we give our children , it rightfully should be one of the first , should it not ? Please , allow me to explain .
When using iron sights , our eyes may only focus on one focal plane at a time . When using standard barrel mounted front and rear sights , this means we have a choice to make when it comes to which object will be in focus , either the front sight , rear sight or the target . If we focus only on the target , we may easily misalign the blurry sights , missing the target altogether . The rear sight sits closer to the eye , but because the front sight sits directly over the muzzle ( or closer to it than the rear sight ); it is the most accurate in telling you which direction your muzzle will be pointing when the bullet exits the barrel .
As we grow older , we often find other sighting systems easier to use by limiting the number of focal planes we are dealing with . I am a firm believer in teaching a child how to use a good set of aperture sights first , namely because it simplifies the process of iron sights and gives them options outside of a scope . With only two focal planes , teaching them to look through the aperture as a window and placing the front sight on the target makes it easily understood . Their eye will naturally center the front sight . However , once they do much shooting , they start looking at the target in anticipation to see if they hit it . This is where I have recently erred . I have not yet explained to my daughter that she needs to ignore the target and focus on the front sight all the way through the shot . This will be remedied on our next outing , I assure you .
But , perhaps this is indicative of another thing we must discuss . Several years ago , I attacked the elk season as if I was invading a foreign country . My shop looked like I was planning such an invasion , with maps strewn everywhere and every bit of biological information on elk I could find . For four weeks during the October / November season ( I took a week off for a Midwest whitetail hunt ), my soul desire was to kill a bull elk ! As such , hunting became more like a job , like work every time the alarm clock went off . I would roll out of bed like the Dunkin ’ Donuts man , ready to make the donuts . Then it was over . The season ended and I was eating tag soup .
Fortunately , I had remembered to take some photographs during my hunt . I began to realize something as I looked through those photos . I had turned a passion into an obsession ; I was focusing on the wrong thing . I was focusing on the critter , which was important to me , but I had forgotten to take time and enjoy the journey ! Yes , that season I had hunted hard , but I had failed to enjoy the hunt . I enjoy being outdoors . However , if I enjoy it so much , why did that particular elk season seem like such drudgery ? Continued on page 16 .
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