It’s Windy

Posted On: 07-23-2025

It never fails that a shoot occurs with wind.  No matter what we do we cannot avoid what Mother Nature creates so learning to shoot in the wind takes a little thought.  I remember when I was getting my private pilot’s license my instructor would call on the worse day of weather wise to go fly and learn.  Not so easy to do when practice is scheduled after school or otherwise and you get what you get with the wind. 

For me I tend to hate the tail wind as the targets want to stay down, and the propensity is to shoot right over them.  Most of us have spent our time knowing how to shoot a rising target, but when they stay low, we have to re-think and program our minds to not jump over the target.  A wind in your face tends to bounce targets upward so once again our eyes must connect with our brains to make us lead higher as the targets are rising faster.  Best way to gauge this is to watch targets before you shoot. 

A quartering wind either right or left can be equally difficult as you have two things going on.  For a hard left target into the wind the target is slower, but also might tend to bounce upward, while the same target as a hard right might be a whole lot faster while being pushed down with a tail wind.  Think about this in the opposite with a wind from right to left and now the hard right is bouncing, and the hard left is getting pushed down. 

Worse of all winds is the swirling wind that has no pattern and is gusting all over the place while you shoot.  I say you because it always seems to happen when you shoot and it calms for others – just a complaint.  So, what to do?

First off one must address the targets quicker.  The more one rides them the more they get crazy and more difficult to shoot.  As well, the shot is being impacted as it slows so get on the targets within say 0.30 seconds and you have them at your mercy before the the shot pattern slows enough and becomes corrupted by the wind.  Second, consider a 7.5 shot as it is slightly heavier and will stay on course just a little longer.  I would only recommend the change in shot in extremely windy conditions.  Third, don’t let the gun wander all over simply because it is windy.  Find a lead and stick with it and you will hit plenty of targets.  Finally, consider a tighter choke to keep the shot stream in place longer.

So next time the week has a scheduled practice consider if you could move the practice to a windier day.  Give yourself a chance to practice in the worst conditions so when the time comes you have experience.  Why not even practice in the rain, or in the heat, or in any environmental circumstance that may present itself on game day.