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To fix a flinch, go back to basics

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that hunting is never as simple as just pulling the trigger. There’s so many more steps, skills and unexpected variables involved. And for a lot of people, somewhere along the way, this can take the shape of a flinch.

Like most hunters, particularly juniors, the rifle I hunt with now is not the rifle I started with. Whether it’s size, weight or shape, everyone has a preference they’ve developed over time.

When I was first introduced to hunting, the first rifle I ever fired was Dad’s .22.

As years went on and I got older and more into hunting, I began experimenting with the types of firearms and calibres I used.

I went from using Dad’s .22 Brno to his 22 Hornet. Then I was introduced to a .410 shotgun before moving up to a 12 gauge a few months later.

When it came to deer hunting, the first legal deer calibre I used was a .243.

For me, the .243 was a big step up from a 22 Hornet.

The first three shots I took out of the .243 at 100 metres grouped well into roughly a 10-cent coin-sized hole, and a few months later I was able to take my first deer.

As I dove deeper into deer hunting, I moved up to Dad’s .308. A rifle this size meant I would be able to take any deer that might present itself.

The first deer I took with the .308 was a young button fawn at 100 metres. It was my second attempt after I pulled a shot on a fallow buck earlier that day.

As I continued to hunt with the .308 I began to notice my flinch starting to develop.

Usually when firing bigger calibres, shooters — especially juniors — can start developing a flinch.

This meant that last year I missed a few more deer than I would’ve liked.

The first one I missed was a young doe I had hoped to take for meat. When I took the shot, I pulled it waiting for the recoil, and ended up shooting in front of her. Later in the year, I missed a black melanistic buck. The shot went straight over his back and he bolted off into the scrub.

After that, my confidence with larger calibres started to drop.

No matter how many times Dad told me “the kick can’t and the bang won’t hurt you,” it still took a bit of time to get over my flinch.

So, we went back to basics.

All the way back to a .22 and paper.

From there, once again, I slowly built my way back up to bigger calibres.

I decided that for any future hunts I went on, I’d take the .243 and Dad would take the .308 in case a bit more oomph was needed.

The next hunt I went on was with Dad’s .243. Again, I took a young button fawn with no worries at all.

Outside of the hunts and practice shooting, I started doing some research on what the perfect hunting rifle for me would be. One that would be big enough to take all the species I wanted to hunt.

Keeping in mind Dad and all my sisters had a .308, I decided to look towards something different, like a .270 or .30–06.Before I made up my mind, I thought it wise to have a practice shot with all my options, including the .308 and .30–06, and see which one would suit me best.

After all that, I ended up with a .270 Tikka T3x lite with a synthetic stock.

From the time I put a deposit on the rifle to the time I brought it home, I took every opportunity to fire larger calibres to get my confidence back up and slowly get rid of my flinch.

What was frustrating, I found, was there wasn’t much openly available information on how to overcome it, let alone for women or juniors.

Having a flinch and trying to overcome it while not really knowing how, can be tough.

To any juniors, women or blokes who are or know someone else who is struggling with a flinch, these are the best tips I can offer to help overcome it:

1.    Be willing to go back to basics.

It can be a bit of a kick in the ego to go straight back to the beginning with a .22 and a piece of paper, but it gives you a chance to practice your trigger control, breathing, and a chance to perfect grouping your shots.

Not only do you not have to worry about pulling your shot or shying away from your rifle, but you’ll start to develop confidence in your shooting again, which I’ve found is one of the best ways of overcoming your flinch.

2.    Don’t let yourself or anyone else put too much pressure on you.

It’s not your fault you’ve developed a flinch, it’s completely normal for it to happen and there’s no timeframe for when you should be ‘over’ it. It could take a few weeks or even months, and that’s okay.

Speaking from experience, unnecessary pressure to get over your flinch won’t and doesn’t help. Take your time and do it at your own pace. It’s not a race.

It’s easy for someone who hasn’t got a flinch to say, “just hang onto it”, or “you’ll get over it, you’ll be right”, but if anything, it just makes it worse. You put pressure on yourself to get over it quicker and when that isn’t working, you begin to second-guess yourself, with the result that confidence takes a hit.

At the end of the day, be kind to yourself and work through it at your own pace.

3.    Be willing to try different calibres and become familiar with them.

When it comes to a flinch, I found the biggest contributing factor is shooting a rifle and being scared of the loud noise it makes.

Not only does wearing hearing protection help in spades but another thing that helps is becoming familiar with larger calibres.

Once I’d decided I wanted to buy a hunting rifle and started doing some research, I took any opportunity I could to fire larger calibres to get myself used to them.

I definitely wouldn’t recommend going straight to the largest possible calibre you can find, instead gradually working your way up to larger calibres.

Until recently, the largest calibre I’d fired was a .308 and that’s where my flinch started.

When I was deciding what rifle I wanted to buy, I fired a .270WIN, .30–06 and 300-WIN MAG.

By doing this, I learnt how to hang onto the rifle to minimise any recoil and most importantly make sure that it remained on target.

After going through all this I realised developing a flinch while using firearms, especially rifles, is more common than I first thought.

Even some of the best and most experienced shooters have had a flinch at one point in their shooting life.

It’s normal and you can get past it.

I think the most valuable thing is to know how to overcome it so you can continue to enjoy the hobby you love and help others who might be in the same situation.

These three little tips might not help everyone who has a flinch, but they helped me, and I hope they can help at least one other person get over theirs.


Contributed by Michaela Shirley.

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