Your Dominant Eye

Regardless of whether you are shooting a rifle or shotgun, you will first need to determine your dominant eye. The dominant eye is the eye you use for sighting purposes. It is the stronger of your two eyes, and it’s the one that judges speed and range, and focuses more accurately than your non-dominant eye.

Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant. Most left-handed people are left-eye dominant. Some people are cross-dominant. They are right-handed, but left-eye dominant, or vice-versa. If you are cross-dominant, your instructor may wish you to mount a rifle or shotgun on the shoulder of the dominant eye regardless of your dominant hand. This adjustment can make the difference between hitting and missing a target.

Finding Your Dominant Eye:

1. Face an object about 10 feet away.
2. Extend your arms straight out in front of you.
3. Form a small triangle by overlapping your hands.
4. Look through the triangle with both eyes.
5. Focus on the object.
6. Without moving your hands, close one eye at a time.
7. The eye that keeps the object in the center of the triangle is your dominant eye.