Originally posted by AKIron
I hunted a lot with a shotgun when I was younger, before anyone told me not to close one eye, I was very accurate. I qualified expert several times with an m16 with one eye closed. It may be better to keep them both open but it isn't necessary to hit your target.
you're absolutely right on it not being necessary. I've shot with quite a few guys who were more accurate than I was, shooting paper with one eye closed.
it's more of a situational awareness and safety issue than accuracy. one very critical thing it helps prevent is, when tracking a moving target, you can follow it to a direction where you find unexpected objects in your field of fire (or more accurately, they find that you've moved your field of fire to their direction). I've seen quite a few guys hunting quail or pheasant, track it to the point where they were aiming near other people, houses, roads, or livestock. most people (at least any that should own a gun) can keep track of their dogs and hunting partners from memory, but sometimes you find unexpected things (kids on a walk, livestock, or the local farmer doing his chores) that you had no idea were in the area. keeping an eye open to monitor the general area, will leave you much more aware of surprises, than the one-eye tunnel vision that isn't looking at much more than sight and target.
