Shotgunning: Shoot Like a Champion

In addition to being one of America’s best sporting clays shooters, Anthony Matarese Jr. is also a sought-after instructor and a lifelong waterfowler who hunts whenever he can. Matarese and brother, Mike, regularly take on the challenging conditions of big-water hunting on Delaware Bay. Here’s his advice for waterfowlers who want to increase their shooting success in the field.

Perfect Your Gun Mount

Like all of us, Matarese prefers to shoot ducks that are hanging over the decoys, but he knows there are days when the only chances he gets are fleeting. “A good gun mount allows you to be ready on demand for opportunities that aren’t always perfect,” he says. “When I work with hunters, I spend a lot of time slowing them down. Many people want to rush the gun to their shoulder, put their face on the stock, find the bead, then look for the bird.” The move is fast, yet inefficient and awkward, and it doesn’t take advantage of our natural ability to point. Instead, Matarese advises his students to concentrate on a smoother mount that brings the gun to your face and shoulder simultaneously. “The front hand moves the gun toward the target, and both hands work together,” he says.

Even during hunting season, you can take some time to practice a gun mount at home. “With an unloaded shotgun, pick an object on the far wall to point at,” Matarese explains, “and practice until you don’t have to look down the barrel to be confident the gun is in the right place when you bring it to your face and shoulder.” Wear your hunting clothes when you practice so you can learn to clear bulky layers as you raise the gun.

The smooth mount that Matarese teaches is deceptively fast. “When I take people hunting who don’t practice, I’ll call the shot for them and wait,” he says. “If we go at the same time, they don’t get a shot off.”

Refine Your Focus

Matarese preaches tight visual focus on the target. “The bead is not a sight,” he says. “It’s only there to help you learn how to mount the gun. You want to see a clear bird and a fuzzy barrel.” Matarese says getting your eyes off the gun and onto the target is important, but there’s more to proper focus. “When I shoot clays, I don’t look at the target; I look at rings on the target. When I shoot at a bird, I try to see the colors or the beak.” That tight focus helps him keep his eye on the bird and off the barrel. By the same token, he cautions against measuring leads on longer targets. “You can also think clear bird, fuzzy lead,” he says.

Choose the Right Choke and Load

Owning a shotgun capable of 50-yard shots doesn’t make you a 50-yard shooter. Matarese says hunters often don’t take their own ability into account when choosing guns, chokes, and loads. It makes no sense to gear up for a long shot you can’t make, because that handicaps you for the shots you can make. The average hunter is better off using an improved or modified choke and waiting for good opportunities. Matarese prefers to shoot steel 1 or 2 shot at ducks and geese inside 45 yards.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Matarese recently collaborated with Will Primos on the book Straight Shooting for Hunters to share his knowledge of how to practice on clays to become a better hunter. He says that continued learning can lay a foundation for success. “Reading gives you knowledge,” he says. “Practice translates that knowledge into skill.”

Matarese shoots thousands of rounds in practice and competition every season, and he says shooting 500 to 1,000 targets throughout the year is enough to make dramatic improvement. The real goal, he says, is to shoot more than you did last year. Find a gun club and try it next summer. If you shot a few times last year, shoot more. “No one ever got good at something by not doing it,” he says.