How to aim a rifle?
 

I have never hunted before, my goal isn't really hunting for hunting sake, I just wanna shoot up all these chipmunks that are wreaking havoc in my garden and eating my veggies.

My firearms experience is very limited.

Basically, I know how the sights work, I played Call of Duty and such, you line them up, so the front is in the middle of the gap of the rear sight. My problem is that I can only line them up if I only have one eye open. If i have both eyes open, I see both sights at the same time from a three-quarters perspective. This brings up problem #1, its hard for me to close just one eye. I guess I am not used to doing that with my eyelid. Most of the time I have to use my hand to close it, which is awkward when shooting a rifle. I tried using a glasses with one eye blacked out, but its still feels uncomfortable and awkward. Then there is problem #2. When I use one eye, my vision become much worse. I am only 31 yrs old, have no problem with sight in my everyday life what so ever. I put up a practice target about 60 feet or so. That's about the closest I can get to a chipmunk without worrying about him being scared and running away. The target is about the size of a plate. With 2 eyes, I can see everything perfectly, but with one eye I cant even see the lines marking the different rings and where the center is marked and the target itself become a little blurry. Problem is I cant line up the sights with 2 eyes open.

So anyway, what am i doing wrong? I know I seen people aim rifles with 2 eyes open on tv before, was that just for movies, or can you do this in real life. I am pretty sure its not my sight, but just something I am doing wrong, since i have no problem with my sight in everyday life.

You should go to a local gun shop and or take a hunters saftey course. If should help out alot. They can tell-show and teach you how to handle the rifle.

What are you shooting? If you are talking about trying to use a 22 rifle and are having those kind of problems with your sighting, I would buy some shot shells for it. Then try to get a little closer than what you said and shoot them with that. It is very small shot and will spread out in a small pattern like a shotgun and you should be able to aim close enough with those to kill chipmunks and mice. That's about all they are good for other than if you have a snake right near your feet that you need to pop.

No offense but if you don't know how to shoot and you want to get rid of chipmunks, try buying traps. Oh yea in some states chipmunks are protected so you might want to check your laws.

I am shooting an air rifle I got at wal-mart. Mainly because its super quiet and I don't want to disturb my neighbors. Tbh, I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to shoot a real gun in my back yard. Plus the sound would carry over, people would definitely know I am shooting.

I dont think traps would work because my garden is fairly large, and there is a lot of chipmunks. I would have to buy like 20 traps

you cant really explain how to. idk i just always knew haha but i would find someone who knows and have them show you, cuz im sorry but if you cant figure out how to aim it then no way in hell should you be shooting it!! very dangerous. even airguns. i own two airguns and i feel confident i could kill someone with both. they are equivalent to a .22 :fighting0007:

First, be sure to follow all laws and regulations.

There is a big difference between video games and real life aiming - especially with iron sights.

Take the NRA Basic Pistol or NRA Basic Rifle. They will teach you firearm safety and proper shooting form. One that that is very important is determining your dominant eye. Here is a link to help determine which eye is dominant.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/...r-dominant-eye

You might also be trying to keep the rear sight, front sight and target in focus at the same time. Our eyes can only focus on one focal plane at a time. Focus on the front sight - the rear sight and target will be slightly blurry.

It sounds as if you aren't using your dominant eye.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocular_dominance

There are some tests on that page that will figure out which eye is dominant.

I've been watching this thread since he first posted it, and I'm really disappointed it took almost an entire week to get the right answer...

If you're looking down the sights and you open your opposite eye and your view changes (like you're saying happens), then you're using the wrong eye.

Since you don't really know how to shoot yet, I'd recommend switching handedness on the rifle. It's pretty easy to teach your left hand how to shoot, it's almost impossible to re-program your brain to utilize your non-dominant eye. Yes, you can force your focus to switch (blinking, squinting, etc with your left eye will force it to the right eye), but no it's not going to be as fast or reliable as simply switching hands and using your dominant eye.

Make sure you have a backstop so your shots don't go into your neighbors yards. Also, buy little targets and practice. Shooting a real firearm/air rifle is nothing like call of duty. For one thing, the sights sway up and down, and you are going to hit everything you point at everytime because of this. To reduce sway, prone and crouching work, but the best is to rest the front of the rifle on something, such as a log pile or a backpack. do not try to shoot at running animals, that's what a shotgun is for.

same here! I was born a rightie but my left eye was my dominant eye. I tried shooting lefty, and I just couldn't do it. Over time I've been able to make my right eye dominant, although sometimes I reflexively use my left eye.

So, you did include yourself on the list of those you are disappointed in, right?

No need for pipe or paper. Point a finger at an object and bring it back to your face.

or put your hands together at arms length so there is a space in the middle of them you can put on an object. Now close first your right eye and then your left....whichever eye is open and still on the target is the dominant eye. Once you are shooting with your dominant eye, you can shoot with both eyes open or one closed....in hunting situations i like one eye open because you can see what the animals doing easier, as well as how it reacts to the shot.

Nah, I really just couldn't care less if the kid figured it out so I didn't feel the need to respond. "Teaching yourself to shoot" is a lot like teaching yourself to tapdance. If the guy wants to learn how to shoot, he needs to find someone to learn how to shoot from (besides call of duty).

Yet you are still responding... Imagine that!
We all at one point didn't have any idea how to shoot. You can teach yourself, it just takes longer than if you have help.

I can't believe Nomercy let the Poor Guy suffer for a whole week before he reponded....Now I know how You got Your nickname! :D ;)

You should go to a local gun shop and or take a hunters saftey course. If should help out alot. They can tell-show and teach you how to handle the rifle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't believe Nomercy let the Poor Guy suffer for a whole week before he reponded....Now I know how You got Your nickname!

***Hard to believe, but some people are just dicks and it looks like he's one!!! Bad enough to make the first post, but then to come back with that rejoinder shows he's a big one!

I personally think that should be a must for everyone no matter what the age. I have seen many idiots out there... most of them ignorant on things that they would have learned in a hunters safety course. The two biggest I see are bowhunters not announcing themselves when I walk by them. (You shouldn't be bowhunting during firearms or muzzleloader season, much less with camo on. Btw, deer don't notice hunters orange. They notice movement, not color.) The other is people shooting without having a backstop, or not bothering to think that other people are around and their bullets travel very far. It's gotten to the point where I no longer go out for firearms seasons on public lands except for way back in the national forests. I'm content with trying to my luck on 60 acres rather than the shenanigans that go on in crowded wildlife management areas and state forests...

"The two biggest I see are bowhunters not announcing themselves when I walk by them. (You shouldn't be bowhunting during firearms or muzzleloader season, much less with camo on. Btw, deer don't notice hunters orange. They notice movement, not color.)"

That's a rather high and mighty statement telling people what they should and should not do with a certain weapon when most of the time it's perfectly legal to hunt with a bow during firearms season even if you have to wear hunter orange while doing it! As far as your other statement, do you expect everyone to hunt out on a range so they have a good backstop? Common sense dictates to know what's in the area, but to say you need a backstop isn't going to happen 99% of the time when in the field hunting.

Believe it or not; In California at a certain time of the year, EVERYTHING is open for hunting at the same time !


BTW - with no blaze orange requirements !

Idiotic IMO and extremely dangerous !!!

Sorry, didn't mean to say bowhunters shouldn't hunt during firearms season, meant to say they should wear orange on public lands even if they aren't legally bound to do so. I do bowhunt myself, and have never understood why people would bowhunt on public lands during firearms season. In Maryland at least, bow season starts in mid september and ends during the end of january, so I never understood why people are out with a bow for the two weeks of firearms season on public lands during the end of november in maryland. As for a backstop, If you know hunters are in the area, as they will be in small wildlife management areas during deer season, you need to make sure that your shot does not go far beyond your intended target. I hunt in the applachian mountains, so the ridges are always there to supply a good enough backstop. You just need to know whats beyond your target, so that there is no chance a stray bullets gonna go into a house a mile away, or into livestock down the road. Plus, there is also the dense tree cover you won't find in the valleys that have been converted to farmland. I've never hunted true huge farmland, but from what I understand is that most people hunt from treestands here. So usually they're shooting at a downward slooping angle, so the bullet will enter the ground when it passes through a deer. The problems I've had in the past on public lands in the mountains is that a small minority of people will shoot with no regard as to what is around them. They take potshots at running deer, and I have shot deer in the past that have been wounded in the legs, and have seen many gutshot deer that were never recovered. I stopped going to public lands during firearms season when the whizzing around me got to be a little bit too bad. I'm not exaggerating, as much of the public land in maryland, even greenridge state forest at over 40,000 acres is a zoo on opening day. Even if you go far back, you will still be around a lot of people.