At some point, Scott and i went out to a piece of our grandparents' property to do some target shooting with the .22-caliber 511 and my dad's 30-06 deer rifle. This deer rifle was my first experience shooting anything with a scope and I could. not. see. through it. The only thing that worked was for me to hold the rifle completely OFF of my face and shoulder, which would have absolutely pummeled me if i had been dumb enough to pull the trigger. It took me a second to figure out what the deal was--I'm LEFT-EYE DOMINANT. Not left-handed, but left-eye dominant. I had no idea. Now that i am old and i have had time to think about it, it makes perfect sense. I am right-handed. The left side of my brain controls basically everything i do. What is connected to my left brain? My left eye. Yeah.
So i was holding the rifle completely off and away from my body because i was trying to look through the scope with my left eye, even though the gun was on my right shoulder. S-M-R-T.
I've looked into this more, though, and i would be willing to bet that MOST people, women especially, are left-eye dominant. There are two schools of thought on how you deal with this when it comes to learning how to shoot, especially with long guns or anything with a scope. 1) Learn to shoot off your left shoulder. 2) Learn to shoot off of your right shoulder, but close your left eye or cover the left lens of your shooting glasses with a patch.
I say learn to shoot off your left shoulder. Look at it this way--it is going to be weird and uncomfortable to learn to shoot a long gun off of either shoulder. So go with the one that is going to work for you in the long run!
I know at the place that i shoot, when they are teaching new shooters, they will patch your shooting glasses and teach you to shoot with your right eye. Different strokes for different folks, i guess.
Next up: shotgun shooting.
Ok, I know I'm going to sound like a nerd, but I have to share this information, because I have paid money, and studied hard to learn it (gotta come in handy sometime, right?): your left eye is still connected to your right brain. The cross-over occurs at the chiasma in the brain, so the nerves from the eye cross over. So it is really interesting that your right-handed but left-eye dominant. I'm right handed, but right-eye dominant. This I know from looking through microscopes (well, I figure if I already sound like a nerd, I might as well go all the way).
ReplyDeleteI think this is my first time commenting on your blog so I would just like to say: thanks for sharing! I grew up in a household (well, 2, really, after my parents were divorced) that had guns and hunted, but I never really learned how to shoot well. Just basic gun safety and out shooting a few times. I've always wanted to learn more, so I'm really enjoying your blog! Thanks!
NYAAAAH, I'm left eye dominant and left handed! Finally, my weird lefty ways have benefitted me.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about that last month when I first shot a rifle, actually - "Well I know I need to look through the scope with my left eye so it's kind of convenient that I'm left handed too!" It never occurred to me that right handed people are (sometimes?) left eye dominant.
Colleen, nerds are ALWAYS welcome here! Thanks for the info. I am not super-sciencey so it is helpful that SOMEONE is on here!
ReplyDeleteMy theory about eye dominance has come from watching JD, the instructor at my shotgun club, teach lots of women how to shoot (usually cuz i am lurking nearby and listening). Since it is long gunning, the first thing he does is have a lady shoulder an (empty) gun and figure out which eye they are using to look down the barrel. Most ladies put the gun on their right shoulder but look down the barrel with their left eye, so they are seeing down the left side of the gun instead of focusing on the bead at the top near the barrel end. He usually puts a patch on their shooting glasses over their left eye. So that's where i got that, although you're right, it is probably not technically a scientifically accurate assessment. :)
Hello Serna! Popped on over from a horse blog that will sometime soon go more gun friendly!
ReplyDeleteI moved the mare to higher ground(pun intended) and that makes bear and cougar more prevalent.
My Stable owner and I are getting weapons to carry hhorseback and I soon after will have to acclimate the mare to firepower-nearby. Eventuall would like to fire from horseback...will have to work into that, may get her some earplugs!
KacyK
PS
I think I am left eye dominant and right handed too!
wrod verification : buckinf
bucking fire-what happens when you fore off a round atop the filly!
I would probably have been left-handed if left (punny!) to my own devices, but I grew up with a religious mother who forced me to write with my right hand. I'm not ambidextrous or anything (my handwriting is slightly less terrible when I am using my right-hand, anyhow), but I shoot left in hockey, I sweep left in the barn, and my politics are very left-leaning! My right eye is dominant. I would think it is the luck of the genetic draw more than anything else, and that seems supported by the anecdotal evidence you have collected here so far.
ReplyDeleteKacy--
ReplyDeleteI have followed your barn move on your blog! That is awesome. I will go into more detail about mounted shooting eventually. And yes, they wear pony earplugs. :) I shoot with one guy whose horse is deaf (from something other than shooting, i think) so he is the lucky one who doesn't have to convince the horse that plugs are awesome.
DP--
You are the funniest. My boyfriend's mom was forced to go righty as a child also. He is left-handed and shoots left-handed.
I switch back and forth on my handed-ness when i am sweeping or cleaning stalls! :)