Should I teach him to shoot right or left-handed?

[Joe2Kool]

Went kamping with my nephew last weekend. Got him a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster for his birthday! He's 9 years old, right-handed, left-eye dominant. Any opinions (probably no opinions on here?) if I should teach him to shoot right or left handed?
Video is of him and his dad. He couldn't "wink" so we covered one eye while he shot.  That's his dad in the video.

I'm right-handed, left-eyed. I shoot a gun righty, a bow lefty.

[guesswho]

I'd hand him the gun and ask him to shoot the target.  Which ever way he shouldered the gun would be what I'd go with.  It's easier to fix something when the basics feel natural.   

[Clif Owen]

 ....I have a brother, a co-worker and 2 cousins that are all right handed and left eye dominant. My brother is the only one of the bunch that shoots...or shot a bow lefty. Go with what feels right to him.

[Old Gobbler]

I'd hand him the gun and ask him to shoot the target.  Which ever way he shouldered the gun would be what I'd go with.  It's easier to fix something when the basics feel natural.   

X2 

[Shotgun]

I agree whichever he feels comfortable.  I went through the same process as a kid.  My grandpaw made me wear a patch until I learned to shut my left eye.  It didn't take long.  Even though I'm left eyed dominant I shoot everything right handed the majority of the time.  I can shoot a gun left handed also and dont hesitate to when the situation arises.

[Tail Feathers]

It's not a big deal to learn to shoot a gun left handed, or it never was for me.
I'm very right handed, right eye dominant and can do passably well with pistol, shotgun and quite well with a rifle left handed.
The shotgun is the more difficult to lefty but with a little practice you can get on.
Have the kid try both and see which he wants to do.

[decoykrvr]

Teach him to shoot from the left behind the dominate eye.  It won't feel
"natural" for him initially and may be awkward, but as a young beginner shooter, he will acclimate rapidly.  All of the "fixes" ie. closing the left eye, patches, etc. are a tremendous hindrance to becoming a good shot, especially in wingshooting.  I'm right-handed and left eye dominate and have been shooting since I got my first BB gun at the age of four and was too old, @ 22,  to switch from right to left when I discovered why I was such a poor wing shot.  I wear glasses and I initially put a dot of clear fingernail polish on my left lens in the upper left quadrant which does not interfer with my normal vision, but when I look down the barrel of a rifle or shotgun, the bead or front sight is fuzzy, so my right eye becomes "dominate" which allows me to shoot with both eyes open.  All of my glasses now sport a round opaque piece of plastic which I cut from the "oil change reminder" stickers like they place on the inside of the windshield. This "fix" has worked for me for almost forty years, but I would rather utilize my dominate eye w/ a rifle or shotgun.  I use my left dominate eye when shooting revolvers and pistols.

[Dan Smith]

Being a lefty, the only downside is the small selection of lefty semi auto guns available on the market.  Benelli or a used Remington 1100 or 1187.  Or go with a BPS pump, Over/Under, SXS or otherwise.

I had to break down an purchased a used SBEII lefty and it was not fun to find one at a good price.  Keep that in mind if the boy ends up shooting lefty...

I would not recommend shooting a right hand Semi Auto gun left-handed.

Besides catchers mitts and guns, us leftys are the only ones in our right minds. 

[DeWayne Knight]

Being a lefty, the only downside is the small selection of lefty semi auto guns available on the market.  Benelli or a used Remington 1100 or 1187.  Or go with a BPS pump, Over/Under, SXS or otherwise.

I had to break down an purchased a used SBEII lefty and it was not fun to find one at a good price.  Keep that in mind if the boy ends up shooting lefty...

I would not recommend shooting a right hand Semi Auto gun left-handed.

Besides catchers mitts and guns, us leftys are the only ones in our right minds. 

I'm left-handed, right eye dominant.  When my mentor got me started shooting and hunting, he knew nothing of eye dominance.  I grew up shooting left-handed, and squinting or closing my right eye.  I got into competitive trapshooting in my early 30's, and shot many a score in the mid to high 90's one-eyed.  When I discovered eye dominance, it was too late for me to switch.  I can shoot right-handed, and do it well, but it is not comfortable or natural feeling.  I went to two-eyed shooting for trap using a piece of scotch tape on my right lens to obsure just enough with the gun mounted and addressed to make my left eye take over.  While hunting, I still shoot left-handed and without the tape.  I think 10's of thousands of targets have gotten me to where I am OK shooting without the tape anyway.  My point is one-eyed shooting is not the detriment it is often made out to be.    There is more than one All American Trapshooter out there who is a one-eyed shooter.  I would rather have a youngster feeling comfortable handling the gun over worrying about one-eyed or two-eyed.

[MOStrutter]

You should always teach a new shooter with the side of the dominant eye.  When at a range it may not make a difference but when shooting moving targets and getting on targets quickly it does make a difference.  I am left handed but right eye dominant and I shoot right handed.

[GSLAM95]

Definitely go with the dominant eye side on a new shooter no matter the weapon...

[Swamp]

I'm left handed left eye dominate. Shoot guns left handed but shoot a bow right handed it just feels natural to me.

[tiggere]

there is actually an easier way to do this...have him lay down in the prone position and aim at the target setup as a right hander...have him aim for dead center and you get right over top and look over his shoulder down the barrel at where he is aiming...if he is aiming at the target then he is fine to shoot as a righty...if he looks like he is aiming a couple feet off to the left you need to have him swap to the left hand...its very obvious in the prone position...I teach hundreds of kids each year to shoot BB guns at camp and very few that are righty's with left eye dominant actually wind up shooting left handed...

[Woodsman4God]

I am right handed and left eye dominant, before I knew this I have shot with one eye closed and have been very good. I dont shoot more thanone arrow at a bullseye becauseI have ruined many arrows from robin hoods, have shot clover leafs on the rifle range out to 200 yards off just sand bags. Its not the detriment many believe however if he is comfortable enough to shoot same handed as his dominant eye he should. I would love to for the improved field of view. Not that this is hunting related but it is hand/eye related I was also a member of the Professional bowlers association ( never made it to TV )  Here I couldnt close one eye nor did I realize the dominance issue at the time but I was able to compensate well enough to be competitive with some of the best in the world.