Both Eyes Open?

[PacificNWhunter]

How many of you shoot with both eyes open? I have been shooting with one eye open, when I have both eyes open I find it hard to focus on the target and my groups are not as consistant. Any tips?

Oh, I've been to the eye Dr. this last year and all is good to go.

[shoot-em-dead]

I used to shoot shotgun with both eyes open but I have found I am more accurate with just one. I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I have always shot rifles scoped or not with one eye.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Shooting with both eyes open takes 'the correct vision' or a lot of self training.  Most successful competitive stationary target shooters shoot with an eye blinder in place, and often an occular limiter of small diameter for the eye used for sighting.

I am right eye dominant and shoot competitive Bullseye standard pistol with the left eye closed, without blinder or occular for both ironed sighted or reddot/scoped pistol.

Toward the end of a long day of rifle testing, I will force myself to open both eyes using scoped rifle. I only do this because of eye-socket muscle fatigue.

-Steve

[PacificNWhunter]

The only time I have noticed a hard time shooting with both eyes open is through a peep.

[carpsniperg2]

i shoot all my shotguns with both eyes open but none of my muzzles or handguns or any long guns. i shoot my compounds with one eye closed but shoot my trad bows with both open

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I keep both eyes open, but squint my left....
Left eye dominant.Right handed

[TheHunt]

I shoot with both eye's open for shot gun and bow.  Took some training but it is natural now.  My son shoots the same way.

[uplandhunter870]

shoot both eyes open, makes it way easier for me.  with one eye closed the sight picture just seems too flat and my accuracy begins to drop off.  it takes a lot of practice for some people to be able to do it but in my opinion its worth it.

[wapiti hunter2]

Never really thought about it.  I've shot my whole life with both eyes open.  Competitive skeet and trap , rifles, pistols and bows.

[bonkellekter]

I keep both eyes open, but squint my left....
Left eye dominant.Right handed

+1 I shoot both eyes open but squint my non-dominent eye. When first trying to shoot both eyes open my groups fell apart as well, but when I squint my non-dominant eye my groups shrink. Works well for me.

[konrad]

Closing the other (presumably dominant eye) will distort the aiming eye.

Dummy me, all my life I was forced to be right-handed and as it turns out I am really a lefty shooting right-handed. I didn’t really figure it out until I began trying to do well at 40 plus yards. You can’t force eye dominance.

First, I abandoned my progressive lenses. I found that small differences in the way I aligned my head to the bow produced differences in point of impact due to variances in the way light was getting to my eye (progressive…right).

Then I got a peep large enough to see the entire front sight aperture at full draw (including the level).

Then (this was the expensive part) I went to Walmart and bought a pair of clip-on sunglasses, cut off the shooting eye lens and taped (with white tape) the non-shooting eye lens. What I read said using darkness on an eye still open sends confusing signals to the brain. I tried dark for about two weeks and when I converted to white there was an amazing difference in my shooting eye’s ability to focus. I also can flip the blocker up and out of the way when not needed.

Now, I get a relaxed face (no distortion of the eye ball from squinting) and repeatable results at the target.

Of course, I now look even goofier than ever but for me the results were worth the experimentation and silly appearance. My neighbor calls it Borg apparatus.

You get the benefit of about six months’ experimentation in a two minute read.
Good Luck!

PS   My next rig will be left-handed so I can use both eyes when hunting and/or 3-D ing and thus get better depth perception (range estimation).

[WDFW-SUX]

I shoot with both eye's open for shotgun, Pistol and bow. I close my left for scopes.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Closing the other (presumably dominant eye) will distort the aiming eye.

Dummy me, all my life I was forced to be right-handed and as it turns out I am really a lefty shooting right-handed. I didn’t really figure it out until I began trying to do well at 40 plus yards. You can’t force eye dominance.

It's not about forcing...
I never realized I was left eye dominant until I got into archery. Growing up shooting right handed, rifle, pistol, shotgun, I was known for being a good shot, and used to show off by shooting left handed, even playing darts....
I used sights on my compound, but when I switched to using a recurve I kept putting an occasional arrow off target....
realising my eye dominance issue was there, it just takes concentration to shoot instinctive by concentrating on where I want the arrow to go, not how I am aiming (or not aiming)
While I am not the best shot out there, I do O.K. , some days, I cannot miss, some days I need to get warmed up, but cross dominate Archers have been known to be able to function as reasonably accurate.
Fred Bear and Glenn StCharles are a couple of examples.......

[Snapshot]

Both open (but I'm not fussin' with sights).

[lokidog]

Both eyes open, but notice I squint more with the left as I get older, I shoot right-handed.

For those left-eye dominant. right hand shooter folks... if you use glasses you can put a piece of scotch tape over the lens.  This allows light to enter both eyes which keeps the pupils dilated small, but fuzzes the image enough so your brain doesn't key in on it.  The smaller your pupils, the more depth of field they have for focusing.  This could be a hassle walking through the woods though.  Better for target shooting.

If you have issues looking through the little peep hole, look into the "no-peep" sighting assistance device.  I have been using one for about three years and really like it.  In addition to sight alignment, it helps me notice when I am torquing the bow and doing other bad form things.   

[boneaddict]

I shoot with both eye's open for shotgun, Pistol and bow. I close my left for scopes.

[tlbradford]

I shoot with both eye's open for shotgun, Pistol and bow. I close my left for scopes.

Ditto.  I have both eyes open when tracking moving animals in the viewfinder of my camera too.