I really need to learn how to hit a flying target, but in the couple of seconds you have to swing on a dove I'm just not smart enough to calculate target speed + angle + distance + lead. In other forums guys are telling me things like "there's no such thing as lead" and "lead is of absolute importance." So which is it? Opinions on how to learn to hit a dove in flight are varied, heated, and mysterious when guys get to giving online lessons.

Is lead a real thing or not?

Yes. If you do not lead the bird, your shot will arrive where he was when you pulled the trigger, not where he is when it gets there.

Lead and swing through the shot.
Go to a sporting clay range or get you a case and a thrower and practice and learn how to hitrem.

Go spend some time at a skeet/trap range to get a "feel" for how much you need to lead a target. They usually have instructors there to help you learn to judge lead.

Dove are much harder to guess lead due to varying speed/wind/distance so there is no magic formula, just a skill acquired by shooting frequently and experience.

If I am watching someone shoot I can usually tell if they were behind/ahead or over/under the target when they shoot so it helps to have someone watch/instruct you on what you are doing wrong! Then practice, practice!

Follow through the shot, lots of folks stop swinging the gun as they shoot and shoot behind the bird.

I couldn't hit Dove until I shot skeet one year and it "clicked". It's not the same as a shifty bird in the wind but it got me headed in the right direction with lead and distance capabilities of a shotgun pattern. I always go with IC or Modified choke. Mostly Mod the last year or two.

Saw you post elsewhere....Nice shotgun! Have one myself but she got the synthetic stock and rattle can camo paint job for crow hunting years ago.

If you are “thinking”, you are doing it wrong.

this -plus having a gun that fits. Some shotguns I shoot don't fit me well and POI and POA are two different things.

Way over thinking. Just shoot the damn birds. My kid knocked down 16 his first shoot & lost by 4. Rh next year he took 18 and won by 5. Call it luck or a natural he just says “I like shooing those birds”.

There are 3 types of Bird Shooters: 1. The one that swings in from behind the bird keeps on swinging through and at some magical point the trigger is pulled. 2.The one that gets on the bird and "jerks" the gun in front of the bird and pulls trigger. 3.The one that is referred to as a "Snap Shooter". He throws gun up somewhere in front of the bird and shoots without swinging. My late Daddy had a friend who was a snap shooter....with a Remington model 11 in 16 gauge. He was deadly on Doves and Quail. I'm the #1 type....unless of course the bird is going straight away.

I’m #3 based on speed, angle., distance.

Bird beak bang

This right here. It's mostly intuitive. Just get out and practice shooting some skeet and you'll get the hang of it eventually. For years I couldn't shoot skeet worth a darn, then one day it just clicked and I almost never miss now. Obviously actual bird hunting is a little bit different, but you'll figure it out

Just do whatever Big Bore does.

He'll make you look silly on a dove field the way he shoots.

I will say "overthinking" it is a problem. But fact is I am a 85-90 on a sporting clays course. I may hit a dove once for every 10 shots. I outshoot a lot of my buddies on a clays course, and they wipe the floor with me shooting doves .No idea why. I will say I have shot a lot of clays/trap/skeet- just never got a chance to shoot doves much in my life .must be experiential knowledge I lack.

Eye hand coordination plays a major factor in wing shooting.

I shot clays with some guys in their personal course. They were shooting expensive guns but they were impressed with my ugly style but I out shot them on most stands. The right to left crossing shots hurt me as it usually does right handed shooters.

The hardest shots I aced. The easier I whiffed for the most part and they kept saying I had great eye hand coordination

Like mentioned. Don’t overthink it. Start from behind the bird and swing thru. You’ll connect more often doing that than thinking about it.

The reason you get varied opinions is there's more than one way to do it. And a lot of people don't realize what they doing. How could they tell you if they don't know anything other than what they think they're doing works?

The most often applicable method is to look at the eye and swing the gun up in front of it. When you feel like it's pointed out far enough, trip the trigger and keep on moving your whole body/gun with line the bird is on. That's why the gun needs to fit. It has to consistently point where you want it to point while you're not even looking at it.

Also, I often see people hit birds that don't drop. These are always going away shots. If you're trying the other common methods you are likely so slow you're not able to get on them in time to take shots before they're already by you.

I need to shoot some birds. I had a problem with my right eye several years ago and had to switch to lefty. I’ve shot a good many critters southpaw now but not birds. I think I can but it’ll take a few shots to hone in. In my heyday of duck hunting, I loved swinging through them and pulling the trigger.

I’m no expert but having shot clays and doves over the years, the best shotgun I have is a Mossberg 500 pump action. I’ve shot a high end over under, Benelli, and that Franchi on both clays and dove fields, and never do as well as with that Mossberg. The fit of that pump gun is similar to a Franchi Affinity I have but I always seem to at least scare a limit on the dove field if I take that Mossberg. The only thing I can think of is the dual beads the Mossberg has on the barrel. Forces me to get my cheek down on the stock and take a split second to “lock on” the target before pulling the trigger. You just gotta find “that gun” that you can acquire the target and have a feel for the lead you need to have on the target.

As far as leading the birds, it’s a feel thing to me. Doves are never consistent in speed or their flight pattern, at least on the fields I’ve hunted. I’ve noticed that shot selection on a dove field is pretty crucial too. On the public fields here in SC you are allowed only 50 shells. That rule makes you really think before pulling the trigger on one. I’ve noticed that has helped up my hit rate because I’m not rushing a shot on a bird.

Also you need to make sure your dominant eye is the same as your hand. It will you up shooting right handed and being left eye dominant or vice versa.

It took me awhile to figure out that I don’t have a very dominate eye. My right eye is slightly more dominant but it messes me up sometimes. So I learned to shoot with my left eye closed. Every time I go to a clay course (probably every other year) the “pro” there tries to tell me I need to shoot with both eyes open and not aim but point and all that crap. I just tell him to leave me alone and let me bust this 87 with my camo painted beat up mossberg 935.

Go shoot some clays and find out what works for you and stick with it.