More Bear Attacks

By Clayton Rue

If you’re fighting the bear of age-related eye problems, it’s vital that you work with an instructor to overcome your visual deficiencies.

Recently, I was approached by an older shooter who has seen his scores slowly degrade over the decades. He asked me if I was willing to help him sort out some eye issues he was having and help him find a way to improve his scores. He was specifically concerned about the results of his latest eye exam (which he provided me a copy of) and what it meant to his shooting and his future in the sport. Seeing this as a learning opportunity for both of us, I gladly agreed to help him. What we learned has been an eyeopener (pardon the pun) for both of us.

In my article titled “Kicking the Bear” in the July 2019 issue of Clay Target Nation, I covered the topic of eye dominance and how critical it is for a sporting clays shooter to understand its ability to affect our success. I explained how eye dominance can be an issue for certain presentations and provided some interventions to help mitigate its effect on our hit ratios.

Since writing that article, my right eye has been attacked by a bear named vitreous syneresis. This is an age-related eye issue that has significantly affected the vision in my dominant eye. Therefore, I now have a vested interest in learning more about what other bears are out there that can affect a shooters’ eyes. While I am definitely not an eye doctor, I do have a friend who is, and he is helping me understand eyes a little better.

I mentioned earlier in the article that my student provided me a copy of his eye exam. Specifically, he provided me with a printout of his visual field test. This is a common test used to track changes in the peripheral vision of our eyes and help diagnose age-related eye diseases. These include glaucoma, macular degeneration and others. The test provides a snapshot of how well all the different parts of our eye are “seeing.” It does this by pinpointing specific locations in the eye where light reception has dropped off. This information can be used by a trained eye professional to diagnose eye issues.

In the case of my student, his visual field test revealed an area in his upper right (dominant) eye where he has a significant loss of light reception — a blind spot. Since he is being monitored by his eye doctor for glaucoma, I assume his doctor sees a correlation. I also know that my student is a right-shoulder shooter. This means he is using his right eye for barrel alignment. As his shooting instructor, I now also have a correlation to work with.

You may have heard the term “blind spot” used in the context of our vision. What you may not know is that everyone has a blind spot in both of our eyes. If you don’t believe me, try this test with the diagram on the last page of this article. Hold the page up about arms’ length in front of you. Now, close your left eye and focus on the cross with your right eye. Slowly bring the page toward your face and watch what happens to the spot. That’s right — it disappears. You can now flip the page and repeat with the left eye and you will get the same result. What you have just experienced is an object moving into your blind spot.

Let’s do two more tests. First, position the page where the spot is not visible, then move your open eye from side to side. You will see the spot re-appear and then disappear. This is what happens when a target moves into or out of your blind spot. Next, position the page where the spot is not visible and then open the closed eye. You will immediately see the spot re-appear.

This demonstrates how one eye “fills in” for the blind spot in the other eye. This is the best reason ever for shooting with both eyes open. This blind spot that everyone has in both eyes is caused by the presence of the optic nerve. The nerve “blinds” us for about 4 percent of our central vision in each eye. However, we do not notice it because we are equipped with two eyes and our binocular vision provides us with a single uninterrupted view of the world. Can a blind spot cause a shooter a problem? You bet! Have you ever changed lanes and almost struck a car next to you that was in your “blind spot?” If our eyes can miss seeing something as large as a vehicle, then they can certainly lose focus on an object as small as a clay target.

One of the things you will see on every visual field test is the spot where the optic nerve manifests itself (it varies). At this location, the eye will “see” nothing; it is the blind spot we have been discussing. However, as we age, the visual field test will also identify other locations in the eye where light reception has dropped off. These can be small spots or can cover a larger percentage of the visual field of the eye. They may also manifest themselves in patterns which may indicate certain diseases, injuries, etc. In the case of my student, he now has two blind spots in his right (dominant) eye. The first is caused by the optic nerve, and the second is caused by his glaucoma.

Unfortunately, this loss of vision is permanent. So, in order to maximize his enjoyment of the shooting sports for the rest of his life, we need to work together to identify actions he can take to minimize the impact of this loss. The most obvious and simple action is to ensure he always shoots with both eyes open. The use of his binocular vision will allow his left eye to see the target in the locations his right eye cannot (and vice versa). In some shooters, this may create a conflict with any eye dominance issues they have, but his instructor would need to weigh the risk/reward of fully utilizing the shooter’s binocular vision.

The next best thing my student can do is to ensure he shoots with a very erect head position. This will ensure that he is not looking through the top part of his eyes, which is where he has a blind spot in his dominant eye. By using the central focus portion of his eyes, his binocular vision will allow his eyes to fill in for each other and minimize the impact of his glaucoma-related blind spot. This may result in a change to his stock dimensions to accommodate his new head position.

Another action he is taking is to buy a new set of shooting glasses with an adjustable nose piece. Since we are experimenting with head tilt, we need to ensure his eyes are always seeing through the central area of his prescription. This is a simple task that all shooters utilizing prescription lenses should verify.

Another suggestion for my student is to experiment with his draw lengths (see my Training Tips column in the June 2018 issue of CTN). By increasing his draw length, he will allow his eye to pick up rising targets much easier with the lower half of his visual field, where he still sees normally. Currently, one of the targets that cause him great problems are rising targets, such as a trap target. If he pre-mounts his gun, he is blocking his vision in the lower half of his eyes with his barrels. This forces him to shoot this type target in the upper half of his visual field, which is a bad thing for him.

As I mentioned, the loss of vision in a part of the eye is usually age-related and is always permanent. This loss can significantly compound any eye dominance issues a shooter may have. These bear attacks are simply a part of growing older that we all must accept. It is also the reason the NSCA has concurrents for us older shooters. However, you should be able to work with your eye doctor and a qualified shooting instructor to help mitigate the impacts of eye aging.

As you age, you’ll probably see the younger guys taking home the trophies. That’s a good thing. My hope is that we all live many more years and continue to enjoy shooting as long as we can. We can do this if we learn to co-exist with the bears. My thanks to Robert Arnold, MD for his help in the preparation of this manuscript. Clayton M. Rue is an NSCA Level III Instructor and an NSCA Hall of Fame inductee. He can be reached at clayton.rue@gmail.com