shooting off hand

[gogo]

Got some bad news from my eye doctor this week, to make a long story short I will have to shoot left handed from now on.Just curious as to how many people here can shoot with their off hand,and how long was the learning curve?

[rayman]

Had a friend from high school I haven't seen in years that lost his right eye and had to learn to shoot left handed. He seemed to do fine with it. I never heard him complain. Was a very good V-bow hunter too.

[Wildlife Control]

I took a friend hog hunting last year. He's right handed and nearly blind in his right eye and had never shot a crossbow before. He made a 25 yard left handed shot on a hog no problem.
My father was a US Army marksman and as a child I watched him shoot right and left handed, upside down between his legs, backwards through a mirror over his shoulder etc... He dabbled in exhibition shooting and so of course I had to try to master all of the same tricks. Who knew that all these years later I would be hunting with a crossbow where sometimes it comes in handy to be able to shoot off handed, like when hunting from a small blind, to allow clearance for the limbs to expand.
I think you'll do fine with a little practice, mostly to get used to holding the bow left handed. IMOP I think everyone should practice off handed just in case.

[bucknbill]

i think if you practice it will come around for you, especially on the slow, no hurry, take your time shots..and that,s the kind i want anyway

[MarkMarine]

I was left handed and shot rifle and pistol in the Marines as such. However, I lost my left hand and had to adjust. I got my hand reattached (minus several inches of arm) but I use to say it ws only good for holding a wedding ring on. However, just coming out of a failed marriage, it did not even do that. So I had to switch to right handed shooting.

If you are using open sights, one thing you have to do is determine which is your strong eye. That is simple enough:

With both eyes open, point your finger at an object.
Close one eye at a time.
Whichever eye has your finger lined up with that object is your dominant eye.

IF it is not your left eye, then you will either have to use a scope, realign your face on the cheekpiece of your stock to use your right eye to line up with the sight aperture, or train your left eye to be dominant. This is done in several ways. The easiest is to place an eyepatch over your right eye and get into the habit of ONLY using the left eye while shooting.

No worries, you can do this

[theoldarcher]

When you first switch over it's like taking a shower in a rain suit; it just don't feel right. It wasn't really that hard for me. I am right handed but I'm left eyed dominate. I write right handed but shoot a rifle, shotgun and crossbow left handed. I shoot a handgun right handed but can shoot left hand as well. When I still worked law enforcement, I would switch every other month or so from a right handed holster to a left handed holster just to keep practice with both. You'll come around without any problems. The best way to learn is with a bb gun. Just keep shooting, repetition, repetition, repetition.

[wheelie]

Not long at all. I am right handed and became blind and had to switch to left. Bought a used 50 to 60 pound Hoyt bow and spent a whole winter pulling it back as far as I could infront of TV.Started to shoot crossbows and rifles all left handed. Three years later, right handed feels wiered. Can't even pull a 30lb bow back right handed now. Bad thing is lefty sucks because no one ever carries much for us. Expect every gun to cost a hundred more dollars than a righty if you can even get one. Good luck it is not as difficult as you would think. PM me if any more question as I went through it a couple years ago. Don't come around much anymore but will answer when I do.

Got my hunting licence when I was 14 years old and am 50 now. If I could do it after all these years then anyone can. But don't think you are going out tomorrow morning and shoot a deer left handed at 40 yards. LOL