Eye Dominance

[Captain Ahab]

Don't fight the eye.

 

[gonefshn]

I seem to have slowly over time become left eye dominant. And being I'm past the stage of learning all over, I've basically just decided to live with it. When I shoot bow I shoot a recurve and that makes it even more difficult. When I do shoot, I'll close my left eye for just a second to make sure I'm lined up correctly. And I can always tell when I'm not. At 15-20 yards I'll be about 6" to the left. For duck hunting I've found that if I lay on the side of the decoys so that the birds will be coming in on my right side instead of my left it helps a lot in my being able to shoot properly. And if nothing else, by being on that side at least if I erroneously shoot off my left eye I'm shooting too far in front rather than behind the birds. But it sucks. Some days you're just gonna be the guy who missed an easy shot. If she's only 10, by all means try to teach her to shoot left handed or work with a good shooting instructor to find the best solution for her. You can learn to shoot left handed. You can't learn to be right eye dominant.

 

[Yoby]

It sure seems like there are alot of messed up people on here :;:

Right eye, right hand, and right foot dominant here. My wife is right handed and footed, but left eye. I bought her a right handed bolt action and she was pissed. and yes pissed is correct. I had to sell the gun without her ever shooting it and get a left handed rifle. She has yet to shoot it because she is still pissed I F'd up the first time. (Or maybe because we have 3 kids now and she doesn't have time, not sure which). I did get her a browning 20ga youth BPS. She has shot that both right and left shoulder. She seems to lean to the left shoulder.

This last weekend, I had my 5yr old out shooting with my 17HMR. Noticed he wanted to use his left eye to look down the scope. Anyone know and special tricks to evaluate eye dominance on a 5yr old?

 

[labhunter66]

Hand him a camera and pretend he is taking a picture. A person will naturally bring a camera up to their dominant eye.

 

[Yoby]

Hand him a camera and pretend he is taking a picture. A person will naturally bring a camera up to their dominant eye.

Now I just need a camera that has a view finder on it. Not mocking, just don't think I have one without the LCD screen

 

[SupressYourself]

Anyone know and special tricks to evaluate eye dominance on a 5yr old?

From SDMF earlier in the thread:
"Easy eye dominance test:
Have her stand ~10' away and ask her to point @ your nose with each pointer finger (one at a time). Her pointer finger on either hand will line up with her dominant eye."


To test yourself you can do a similar thing. Focus on some object on the wall 10-20 ft away. Point at so it looks like your finger is lined up with the object. Close one eye at a time. If your finger stays in line with the object, your open eye is the dominant one. If your finger "moves", the open eye is non-dominant.

 

[svnmag]

I do shoot both open, just slightly squint the left. Same with a scope when set at 3x. I just did the test and it seems the right eye has taken over. Weird. And great!!

 

[fly2cast]

My son had the same problem. At 8 years old we found out he was left eyed but right handed. He was really into "sniper" hunting using a scope on his nerf guns. I told him I would mount a scope on his red ryder bb gun if he learned to shoot left handed. It was difficult and he got frustrated and it seemed awkward at first. But now he very naturally shoots left handed. I would make her switch.

 

[svnmag]

Forgot to add: I agree with switching for a young/new shooter.

 

[Account Deleted]

watch it, the other one pictured is mine

It's a jealousy thing. Not an insult. Promise.

 

[Callem'In]

So the big question now is Hoyt Ignite or Mission Crave? Scheels has both in stock at the same price point that I would like to stay under. Both will grow with her. Any recommendations? or will this be a Marcum/Vex argument all over?

 

[Retired Educator]

I'm left eye dominant and shoot a bow right handed. I know if wrong, but that's how I have shot my whole life. A peep sight has really helped me, but I still have problems when a quick shot situation arrises. I would go with SDMF's advice and trash the right handed bow for a lefty and get her to shoot the way she should. Good Luck!!

I'm just the opposite, right eye dominant and shoot by bow left-handed. Peep sight doesn't work for me very well but I can use a sight. Just have to have a little longer sights and then make sure my anchor point is consistent and the sights work just fine. Don't shoot competition very well as the rings get smaller but a killing shot on deer is very reliable. Practice is the key.

As others have mentioned, retraining an eye is way more difficult. The same issue will affect her with guns. The good news is that there are lots of options for left-handed guns. When I was that age left-handed guns were far and few between. In the long run she will do just fine with lots of practice which is the case for all of us.

 

[Srputz]

I'm right handed but left eye dominate. Shooting a bolt action rifle off a bipod is sweet. You can go through a lot of rounds real quick especially prairie doggin. I use to shoot a right handed bow with extra long sights but now shoot a left handed bow. Best move I've made.
Im a fan of the mission bows. But I like Mathews bows.

 

[all4eyes]

Before I did anything I would tape off the left eye on a pair of shooting glasses and have her shoot. Eye dominance is one thing but being comfortable shooting is another. Have taught many people by just taping off a pair of shooting glasses. I like to shoot both eyes open and this method can help either way.

 

[SDMF]

Before I did anything I would tape off the left eye on a pair of shooting glasses and have her shoot. Eye dominance is one thing but being comfortable shooting is another. Have taught many people by just taping off a pair of shooting glasses. I like to shoot both eyes open and this method can help either way.

That's fine for an established shooter with muscle memory and/or already developed coping/bad habits. No reason to band-aid a brand new shooter when it's so easy to do it the right way from the get-go.

 

[svnmag]

Before I did anything I would tape off the left eye on a pair of shooting glasses and have her shoot. Eye dominance is one thing but being comfortable shooting is another. Have taught many people by just taping off a pair of shooting glasses. I like to shoot both eyes open and this method can help either way.

Hence forcing myself to squint (not close) my left eye for years. Just did the test again, still strong side dominant!!

- - - Updated - - -

Have read this can change with age, so there's something to be said about gutting through it...I'd like to believe I forced a change. IDK.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

Right handed left eye dominant shooter here too. Have to shoot with left eye closed. No complaints, I still kill plenty of creatures.