spearfishing aiming, ¿how to?

[sebastian]

Hi guys,
I have a question for Anderson, or saspearo or some other experienced hunter:
I bought my first speargun this year (omer excalibur 100), and used it about 6 times, with not so good results. I would say my firings are 20% accurate.

One thing I miss is a sight sistem to make a proper aiming, ¿is there a technique/device for that, or you just make an instictive shot?

Regards,
Sebastian

 

[freediver48]

Hi Sebastian,

Let's assume that the gun shoots ok, it should it is a relatively high end commercial unit. Get a target like a plastic bag that you can get to lay on the bottom. Set it in shallow water for now, say ten feet, and shoot at it, eventually you will get the best way for you to shoot it. The process is very similar to shooting a simple bow with no sights, it is called intuitive shooting or natuaral shooting. My gun has sights of a sort on it, but they don't do much in the way is increasing accuracy. Start shooting close up, so that you are assured of hittinng the target, and then gradually move back, but not too far, unlike bows spearguns do not do well at great distances, so stay close. In terms of hunting, I remember aquote that is appropriate here "don't give them an inch", which means get in close. In this business a long shot say to 16-20 feet
is generally reserved for the big blue water guns. Another thing to do is to become familiar with the guns trajectory, how far will it shoot before it starts to drop, then take 1/2 to 1/3 that distance and practise there. As far as I know the only alternative to practise is to be so close that aiming is almost irrelevant, but that as you may have discovered is pretty close. I hope this helps a bit. I'm sure others will have plenty to add.

Best wishes,

Doug

 

[sebastian]

Thanks Doug, every body can count with your advice, you are a great help.

So the thing with spearfishing is more learning to get close to fish than long distance marksmanship.
Actually of the 4 fish that I´ve catched 3 were at short range, and the fourth, wich was at +- 4 mts, just happened to be at the side of the actual fish I shooted to. It was very tasty anyway.


regards,
Sebastian

 

[andrsn]

aim & technique

sebastion,

there are many factors that affect the accuracy of a gun. in my opinion, i don't necessarily believe that an off the shelf gun is guaranteed to shoot perfectly straight for every individual. many manufacturers will offer a less costly setup to attract potential buyers. and, the more guns they have out in the water, the more publicity they have.

anyways, my first thoughts are to have you contact jay styron. he has quite a bit of experience with the euro style guns. doug's suggestion of the target practice is almost a must with a new gun. definitely give that a shot. (sorry, bad punn)

i teach golf, and i pretty much tell the people to go play a dozen or so rounds with their new clubs before they come to me for help. same with spearfishing. just keep taking it out.

best of luck w/ the new piece. ;D

safe hunting,
anderson

 

[Jay Styron]

aimming

Hi Sebastion,
I just happened across your thread and thought I'd see if I could help. The most important thing is as Anderson and Doug said-practice, practice and more practice. I see you're shooting an OMER 100cm gun. If it didn't come that way I would recommend using monofilament for your shooting line, also I put two full wraps for the shooting line. Using a line reel is a personal choice and it's what ever you're comfortable w/. Personally I use one.
A couple of things to check are the flopper and how much the end is bent up. Make sure the flopper lies completely flat on the shaft, also you don't want the tip of the flopper bent up too much also. Either one of these things will affect the flight of your shaft.
One thing you didn't mention is if your gun was shooting consistantly in any one direction during your miss's, i.e. low, left, right,ect.
As for aimming, like Anderson mentioned it becomes very instinctual after awhile. At first I would practice on targets arranged in the water. The soft foam that comes in computer boxes will work. I would cut a fish shape about the size of the average fish you are most likely to encounter. I would draw the kill zones to use as an aimming point. I believe Anderson has one on one of the other threads to look at. Tie it to a length of line to a weight so it floats mid water. Start fairly close, maybe a couple of gun lengths away. Hold the gun straight out w/ the barrel about eye level. Look down the barrel at the target. You will see the point of the shaft and the target in the same image. If the gun shoots fairly straight then you can judge left/right by just moving the gun in the direction to intersect the target. Up/down aimming is a little trickier. Depending on distance you may hold the point over, dead on, or even under your target. Keep practicing at your known distance until you are hitting the kill zone at least 90% of the time. In a sheltered area or friends pool it shouldn't take long. Once you have done this for awhile you will notice that you don't see the end of your shaft anymore, you just point your gun and it becomes an extention of your arm. You are learning your weapon and your body remembers it.
Another thing mentioned before,GET CLOSE! Learn to develope your stalking skills and patience. Don't rush your shot, It's better not to shoot than to shoot and make a bad hit and the fish rips off. This is a waste. It does happen sometimes but it should be the exception not the rule. Learn about the fish you are going to hunt. Their habits and behavior. A good rule of thumb I heard once is "don't shoot until you can clearly see their eye", when you can do this they're within range. I hope some of this will help you, please write if you have any other questions. Take care.
Jay

 

[shorty]

Sebastian,

Check out Hawaii Skin Diver Mag. The Spring 2001 issue. There's a article about troubleshooting your gun's accuracy by Steve Alexander. Also, a 4 pg. report where HSD test 10 popular 100-100 cm euro guns.

If you can't get a copy where you live, check out their website at
www.hawaiiskindiver.com. You can order it there.

Hope this helps.

Shorty

 

[SASpearo]

Shoot from the hip ......

... well, not really.

Sebastian, there's one thing that I haven't seen mentioned here. Do yourself a favour and find a longish straight wall, and a longish flat table .......

Now, aim down the side of the wall with your eyes parallell to the ground - iow eyes horizontal over a vertical aim .....

Next, do the same with a table ...... eyes horizontal, but this time, as the table is horizontal as well, you'll see a difference in the way your eyes react.

I know it sounds silly ... it LOOKS silly as well ..... but the point is this: If you use a focus point (or even a cutout target) to look at from these two VERY different stances, you'll see that there's a marked difference between where you CAN aim.

My point? If you look at most "perfect shot" type pictures (there's a nice colourfull one on the Hunting Technique thread) you'll see that the biggest kill zone is also the longest.

So, aim down the side of your gun instead over the top, and you will be able to judge the vertical plane a lot better - in other words, hit the spine in stead of the gut. Hitting the gut's no good ..... I lost a nice Stumpnose this weekend over a hasty gutshot ... I'm still swearing on Monday morning ...

And stick to what the other guys told you as well .... PRACTICE.

And the 6 P's apply here as well

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Happy Hunting !

 

[andrsn]

good tip

saspearo has a good tip. there's even more instances why you might want to do this. but, then again.. it's all what feels good to you. i personally hold one of my guns(riffe c3) on its side when lining up a fish. this gun has a tendancy to shoot a bit down with thinner shafts. the added affect of gravity can pull the shot down even more, so i compensate by firing the gun sideways. plus, i have more strength to move the gun horizontally while tracking. but then again, this works great for me because i'm left eye dominant. with the gun in my right hand, my left eye has a perfect line of sight w/ both the fish and the direction of the gun.

later,
anderson

 

[freediver48]

Eye Dominance

Hi,

To determine which eye is dominant hold your hands toether and make an "O" with your thumbs and index fingers, with both eyes open place a image in the middle of the"O", close one eye then the other, whichever eye looks correct on target is your dominant eye. This is very important, and I'm guessing that someone will ask, hence the reply. If you are right eye dominant but you use your left eye you shots will be all over the place. I use both eyes, because I'm right eye dominant, but my vision in my right eye is not as good as the left. I aim down the shaft, both eyes open.

Best wishes,

Doug

 

[SASpearo]

Aiming - hand - eye dominance

It's also helpfull to note that you can be left eye dominant and right hand dominant. This is a difficult situation ... you want to aim with your left eye but hold the gun in your right hand.

Here's how to figure it out. Warning: This is gonna look SILLY!

Make a pistol out of your dominant hand (writing / shooting hand) and aim towards a target. Close one eye and aim again. Close the other eye and aim again.

Now, this has to be done impromptu - whilst walking somewhere or doodling or whatever, make a pistol out of your hand and aim with one eye closed. If you cross (ie right hand left eye or vice versa) you have the problem by the root. I know of one technique to overcome this, but I don't know if it works - I'm fully ambidextrous. And I keep both eyes open whatever I shoot with.

Wasn't there a movie about a chopper pilot with the same problem ?


Riaan C

 

[bam bam]

Yeah "Wings of the Apache". Though if you do it that way you have to ware pants on your head whilest driving around

So I'd stick to just plain cowboy and indian style.
Although I don't think people will really care too much as they think that were all silly/mad as it is anyway:duh

 

[Jason DeGraff]

Aim gun

Hi guys. One of the previous replies mentioned tilting the gun on it's side sort of thug style . I do this as well as I don't site straight down the shaft . Generally I move the whole gun over to my right a bit (right handed) and tilt . I seem to get an over veiw of the shot rather than looking straight down the shaft . It's only offset just a bit , maybe 4 inches or so . Might sound crazy but it also allows me to pull the gun in a little further backward pulling the fish in a little closer sometimes . I can then extend the gun a little at the last moment . It's hard to explain .:duh
Anyhow, practice makes perfect and remember if u site down the shaft , remember the kick back at firing . Once I nailed myself in the upper lip practically knocking my goggles off . That's probably the start of why I shoot like I do .haha :t
Good luck !

 

[greg27]

make a target out of plastic fencing and pvc pipe tie a weight on about 4 feet of line and drop it in shallow water and tie a ribbon near the center , using it doesnt damage the spear and u can see exactly where each shot went as long as the gun shoots consistently you can figure out how you need to aim i just got a new gun and im heading out first chance todo this before i even try it on a fish target practice is the way to go youl take more shots in a hour than you will in 2 seasons of fishing ps you might want to sick a flip flop or a mouse pad in your wet suit the repeated loading can be a bitch

 

[abusingelves]

Make sure you are loading to the second notch or fin on the spear if you are not, you will be accurate only at point blank ranges due to the lower power.

longer shots will be pointless rofl ( no pun intended) .

i made the mistake of only loading to the first notch for the first few months i was spearing, and needless to say my accuracy was:blackeye.

hope that helps.