A Top Rated Thing To Do in Jackson Hole!

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Many thanks to all who have helped us achieve this goal!

Trip Advisor Activities Top of List

When my friend Don Wills asked me to show him how to better use his guns back in 2009, I excitedly joined him in the Gros Ventre wilderness and we had a great time reviewing nomenclature, shooting the guns and practicing safety.  Afterward, Don suggested that I should start a shooting instruction business.  And thus the seed was planted.

From teaching a Wyoming old timer like Don in the back country to serving clients from around the world, we have had quite a ride!  We have had our ups and our downs, and have faced many challenges, and have emerged stronger on the other side.  We have served well over 6,000 clients, and have earned the trust of many individuals and organizations that refer their friends and clients to us.  We get many repeat clients, like a physician from the East Coast (that brings his right hand man at the medical facility he owns) that comes out annually for a full week of intensive advanced defensive pistol training, families that make us a part of their annual vacations, locals that use us as personal trainers for firearms.  We are proud of our hard work, and of our international ranking as a Top 10  Shooting instruction firm and for remaining #1 in the industry sector we created; Luxury Entertainment Shooting Experiences.  I want to extend a HUGE thanks to all of our clients that take the time to write a review on Trip Advisor!

shootinjh.com

We currently have a team of almost 2 dozen instructors that help us serve our guests.  All of our instructors are subject matter experts in at least one aspect of shooting instruction, from archery to shotgun, rifle, pistol, survival, defensive tactics, protective operations and customer service.  Our instructors reside in three states and three countries, allowing us to provide our mobile instructional and consultation services more effectively.

Many go WAY above and beyond to not only serve our guests with excellence, but to make the range a better place to shoot.  One instructor for example, spent a full day working on range improvement duties and declined to allow us to pay him saying, “The better we make the range, the more people that will come – which means more time for me to teach!”  This sense of ownership is pervasive in our organization, and we are very humbled and grateful for it!

We have SO many people to thank … you know who you are!  Thank you, thank you!!! –Shepard Humphries & Lynn Sherwood

Wyoming Shooting and Firearms instructors

 

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“Shepard runs the finest shooting experience classes I can imagine.”

Reviewed June 20, 2011 by a guest from Alta, WY

I thoroughly enjoyed an NRA Basic Pistol class with Shepard yesterday and can’t say enough about the instructor or the course. It was as welcome an introduction to the shooting sports as I could have asked for. The sign up and registration is easy and efficient and the confirmation was a nice touch. Once there (and the JH Gun Club is a very nice shooting range) there was a wonderful in-class course on all the aspects of pistols – safety, use, care and other topics. There was an easy to appreciate powerpoint presentation interspersed with lots of practical information and dummy pistols to use for training purposes. Despite a very large array of functional pistols on hand for demonstration, it was evident (and repeatedly made evident) that they were all unloaded and harmless in the classroom. Having the selection available made the hands on aspect all the better, and the teaching all the more valuable for it. In the latter part of the day we were all taken to the range for live fire instruction and were all made to feel comfortable with the use and safety of pistols. Evaluating fellow students was a useful tool both to refresh what we’d learned as well as gain valuable perspective that only an onlooker would have. Shepard made a number of caliber pistols available to the students to try, as well as a variety of makes and models of each caliber as well. For someone thinking about purchasing a pistol this was perhaps the most valuable portion of the course, and it was a real treat to try all the different options for comfort, ‘feel’ and accuracy. Once finished on the range we all had a hand at cleaning our handgun, and having someone walk me through the process made me feel so much more confident in cleaning my own on a regular basis.
While the course work and range time were valuable, what really set the course apart were Shepard’s skills and passion. He’s a natural born teacher, speaker and entertainer and his fascination for the shooting sports shines through and makes the course so much more than the sum of it’s parts. He went above and beyond at every turn. I’ll be taking more classes as soon as I have the chance.

 

“Unique and different experience with a great instructor!”

Reviewed June 26, 2011 by a guest from Jackson, Wyoming

Spent a day with Shepard H learning basics of pistol use. He’s a super instructor, very focused on your interests and assures that you have an excellent experience that is both fun and educational. He kept the classroom portion of the course entertaining, well-pace and interesting with a lot of stories, demonstrations and class involvement.

When we moved to the range the safety practices and training were comprehensive and extremely thorough. The range itself is a very nice one set in the beautiful surroundings of Jackson Hole. Shepard worked very hard to assure that everyone gained a good understanding of the material and was able to experience the differences in firing numerous types of pistols, All in all a top quality experience with a superb instructor.

Understand that he offers a variety of shooting activities and classes ( e.g. skeet shooting,…) and we intend to visit again. .

Visited June 2011

Tactical Carbine Skill Development Workshop (Jackson, WY March 15, 2014 1-5pm)

Tactical Carbine Skill Development

Tactical Carbine Skill Development Workshop

March 15, 2014 1-5pm    |     Jackson Hole, Wyoming

 This class is the second in a series of 3 classes over the weekend of March 15-16, 2014 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In this class, instructors will lead students through classroom and range exercises designed to assist the student in increasing their effectiveness  with their AR platform modern sporting rifle in a CQB setting.

From the beginning shooter that has only completed the morning class to the experienced shooter, this class will help you hone your skills!  This 4-hour class is far superior to 2 full days of training from Front Sight Academy in Nevada.

This class is designed for civilians that seek to prepare themselves to better protect themselves and those they love.  Due to ITAR restrictions, we are only allowed to offer this class to US Citizens.  We apologize to the good people from other lands that hoped to learn from us.

Gear List:

• AR-15 or similar defensive carbine
• Single point sling
• Red dot, low magnification telescopic or open sights are fine
• 240+ rounds of ammunition
• At least 3 magazines & a way to carry them for fast access
• Electronic ear protection
• Eye protection
• Dress for the weather, we will be outdoors
• Tools for adjusting your optics, gun etc
• Extra batteries if you have an electronic sighting system

Click on the link above to order or Contact us at info@shootinjh.com if you have any questions about gear!

Register

Simple But Difficult

Shooting well is pretty simple, but is difficult to do well.

I often joke that if one of the Staples buttons that says, “That was easy” was modified to say, “Gentle Press” that thousands of shooting coaches would be put out of work.

When I teach an NRA Basic course, we cover many aspects of shooting, from the 5 basic fundamentals to the 8-step this to the 3 most that.  These are all excellent nuances and with proper application and practice can make a person a great shooter.  More important than the global understanding however, is the concept of proper trigger press.

Without having done direct recent studies of statistics, I nonetheless feel pretty comfortable making a few estimations to demonstrate my thoughts.  I estimate that of a sampling of any 1 million handgun owners, 900,000 can not draw and shoot very well at all.  Of the remaining 100,000 I bet 95,000 would fall in the bottom 10 percentile at any IDPA match on both their first and second visits in any given month.  This leaves 5,000 shooters out of 1,000,000 that I would describe as competent handlers and shooters.

So, what would help the 99% of poorest shooters become better?  What will help them become twice as good?  A gentle trigger press.  This press has been taught for many years, and while most trained shooters understand the concept; they have trouble executing.  Even the top shooters in the world sometimes miss, and when they do; it is frequently due to trigger-press errors.  When students move from slow speed bull’s-eye shooting to high speed low drag (HSLD) scenarios, these same bad habits are exaggerated.

This is simple, right?  Must like other simple things that simply require self discipline; shooting can be mastered.  I could, and someday will, offer an article outlining a training program, that if followed diligently; will make you an excellent shooter.  When I publish this article, thousands of shooting instructors will groan and say, “that stuff if simple … nothing new there, I have been teaching that for years!”  They will be absolutely correct.

Shepard Humphries is a former Police Officer, having served in Investigations, Patrol and SWAT as a sniper team leader. Shepard resides in Jackson Hole Wyoming where he operates several small businesses including an executive protection firm and two firearms related businesses, the Jackson Hole Shooting Experience. Known as "The Millionaire's Shooting Coach," Shepard provides shooting instruction, consultation and public speaking services in Jackson and where clients beckon. You can view his training site and contact Shepard at Shoot In JH.   

Casper, Wyoming NRA C.R.S.O. Class March 23 & 24 2013

NRA Chief Range Safety Officer Training (CRSO)

Wyoming Chief Range Safety Officer

March 24, 2013 Sunday from 9am to 6pm

B.I.T. is on March 23 from 630am to 1230pm

Location will be emailed to you upon registration. Class will be indoors.

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Prerequisites:

1) You MUST be a certified NRA Range Safety Officer (R.S.O.)

2) You MUST have proof of attending NRA Basic Instructor Training (B.I.T.) within the last 12 months.

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You MUST register for this class online by March 18.  Space is limited, so please register ASAP!  IF you meet the prerequisites and would like to register, please click HERE.

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Please bring your RSO & BIT paperwork from those classes … you will need the binders you received in those classes for the CRSO class.

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Cost is $100/person for B.I.T. class Saturday morning from 6:30am to 12:30pm.

Cost is $250/person for the Sunday C.R.S.O. class from 9am to 6pm.

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Questions?  Shepard@shootinjh.com

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The Jackson Hole Shooting, LLC WEBPAGE.

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Thanks to the Platte River Rod & Gun Club & Wyoming Game & Fish for sponsoring this training! 

Tips for Beginning Competitive Pistol Shooting

So, you have seen the videos on YouTube of the incredible speed and accuracy of the world’s best pistol shooters, and you want to be like them? Me too. How do we begin our journey?

Enter a competition. Don’t feel you are quite ready because of your marksmanship skills? Enter a competition anyway. I am not suggesting that if you are weak in gun “handling” skills you should endanger yourself or others, but if you are simply concerned that you will not shoot well or get a good score; you are probably correct, but no worries! Shoot anyway!

When I compete in any match, be it IDPA, USPSA or simply a falling plates match, I attend with the attitude of having fun and sticking to fundamentals. I have never won a match or even been in second place. I am OK with this because I enter with a proper & positive attitude. I never mention to others that I am a shooting instructor; I humbly identify the best “old-timers” that know the game inside & out and request that they critique me. Most of them provide me with excellent and positive advice, and I don’t have to shell out the hourly fee I require of MY students! 😉

Some of the tips I have learned from them seem obvious, but let’s take a look at two of them. One strategy is to NEVER MISS. For example, in USPSA, the shooter wants to hit the “A” zone, which is the small center area of the chest and head cardboard target. This strategy is to take as much time in competition as necessary to get ALL “A” zone hits. If, in a stage with 15 people, the winner’s time is 13.21 seconds, 5th place is 21.87 seconds, 14th place is 42:33 and YOUR time 118.89 seconds, but you have ALL “A” zone hits; you can walk away from the stage happy. Even though speed is an important factor in these matches, be patient … it will come. After 2 or 3 matches, you will no longer take 9 times longer than the top shooter. After 10 matches, you might only be 3 times slower, but still with all “A” zone hits. You will find that you are no longer in last place, which feels great (from what I have heard).

So, you have competed in a match and are having fun laughing at yourself and about all you have the opportunity to learn, right? This brings us to the second big tip. PRACTICE. As we know, proper practice makes perfect. Shoddy practice makes shoddy, so make sure your practice follows the proper fundamentals.

You can do much of this practice at home without live ammunition. Drills that require you to draw, acquire target acquisition, press the trigger, acquire a new target, press, remove your finger from the trigger, move to a position of cover, lean out, acquire the target, press, change magazines and then acquire another target and press are very valuable. Set up a “stage” in your house, with targets placed on top of the TV, on the stovetop (when it is turned off) and by the front door. Make sure your pistol is unloaded and no ammo is in the area. Next, recheck your pistol and your magazines & make sure they are not loaded. Yes, I know I repeated this. Run through this stage 10 times, which will probably take you less than 10 minutes. Do this every day for a month and you will improve surprisingly quickly.

Practicing on the range with live ammo is also important. Most small-town competitive shooters that win matches are shooting 500 to 3000 rounds a month in practice, some many more. This obviously can be expensive, so most competitive shooters reload their own ammunition. With my progressive reloader I am able to reload about 500 rounds per hour at a cost of about $6.60 per box of 50 in .45ACP. This means that for $100 a month, I can shoot about 750 rounds rather than 200 to 250 rounds of factory ammunition. This is not enough to make me a competition winner, but it makes me much better than the 98% of pistol owners that shoot less than 50 rounds a year. Brian Enos’ website offers excellent advice for those considering the purchase of reloading equipment. I know him to be fair & honest; he will not advise you to buy junk you don’t need.

There are many more tips and drills for improving your competitive shooting skills. You will learn many of them while competing and from the comments that will be posted below. For now, remember not to miss and to practice. Simple? Yep. It works!

Utah shooting instructor traveling from Wyoming. #2 Rated Shooting Instructor in the US.

Top Rated Shooting Instructor