Sporting Road

Instinctive Shooting - The Making of a Master Gunner by Buz Fawcett as Featured in the Double Gun Journal.  Buz Fawcett has been an associate editor at Sports Afield, an editor at Guns & Ammo, and a writing instructor. He founded Buz Fawcett's Wingshooting Workshop, which is internationally recognized and nationally advertised.  If you enjoy the reprint of this article, which was with the author's permission, you'll love Buz's new book  Instinctive Shooting, available from Amazon.  

I picked up a few things on proper shooting attire from some of my friends along the way on the Sporting Road.   From Buz Fawcett, Jim Fergus, Brian Robinson (many of the Hemingway photos below come from his collection when he was running C. Woodcock & Co., from which he has since retired to Portugal), Stephen Collector, Jack O'Connor, Jane Hall, and others, even the Gonzo Fashion King himself, Hunter S. Thompson, these legends all gave me ideas on what a man should dress like afield.  I discovered that we, as American hunters, don't have to be dressed in  blaze orange and camo, or just turning up with whatever work-wear we have for the day, such as jeans or Carhart.  Sure maybe camo is great for sitting in a deer stand in Nebraska's freezing weather, or covering yourself in Sitka from head to toe for elk in December in the Montana mountains, but we can learn a lot from British sporting attire, using driving shoots and safaris, as good examples of both cold weather and warm weather wing-shooting attire options.   And, while American catalog companies such as Orvis and L.L. Bean used to provide quality options for hunters, now they are just largely marketing companies for goods made in China, so you have to dig deeper to find quality manufacturers, rather than just relying on mail order catalogs, if anyone still subscribes to those except me. Willis and Geiger was my long time favorite catalog outfitter, and they were simply the best for safari clothes.   Finally, in 1994, Willis & Geiger was sold to Lands' End, and its offices were moved from New York City to Wisconsin. Sales grew, but conflicts between Avedon and

THESE ARE MY NOTES FROM BUZ FAWCETT'S WINGSHOOTING WORKSHOP.  THE SCHOOL WAS ADVERTISED AND ATTENDED INTERNATIONALLY FOR MANY DECADES AND THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 1000 GRADUATES OF BUZ'S ONE ON ONE METHODS.  WHILE THE SCHOOL IS NOW CLOSED, THE LEGEND LIVES ON.  IF YOU ARE A GRADUATE OF THE SCHOOL, WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU AT wingshootingworkshop@gmail.com. These are one student’s notes from the school.  While a few of the points may be as they be as they were interpreted, rather than as Buz exactly taught, it is mostly accurate.  The purpose in recounting the student’s notes here are that they may give a perspective on what was some of the more important points from the school.  It may have some useful tips and reminders for you.  From Buz's Wingshooting Workshop: Most shotgun shooters in this country are lousy shots. This is because most people who teach shotgun shooting are not qualified instructors.  They are excellent fathers or brothers or uncles or grandfathers. They may be well-meaning friends.  They may be club or even national champions. But they are not necessarily qualified shotgun instructors.  The skills necessary to become great champions are not the same as those needed to become great teachers. My profession is teaching people to shoot a shotgun—to become great shots.  Many of my students have previously attended other shooting schools.  I’d like to explain to you why, in my opinion, most shooters eventually fail, and why instinctive shooting is the best and easiest way to achieve the pinnacle of shotgun shooting—a pinnacle I call the Master Gunner. First, let’s take a look at the reasons why many shooters fail to achieve their desired shooting goals. Beginners in the art of shotgun shooting are