Good target clays shooter is a good field shot. Trick for anyone is learning to get a shot off or to take the shot.

I would believe that good clay shooters should be good bird shooters, but what about the reverse? I would bet there are good bird shooters who aren't good clay shooters because I think I'm one, I find when it's clay I end up thinking too much, but when it's fur or feather I just shoot, in fact my best shots on clays are when I don't get much time, I see the target and I have to shoot quickly before it's gone. Not that I'm a great shot on game, but I'd wager my percentages on game are quite a bit higher.

I find that I'm better at hitting clays than birds simply because I know the clays aren't going to do something erratic or surprising. I think that thought alone helps me relax and make a good shot. In the field it's so much easier to rush and miss because of the uncertainty (and adrenaline).

All the great clay shooters I know are also great shots in the field. Doing things such as 5 stand clay shooting really improves your reflexes and shooting abilities. Personally, I think Im just as good/bad in the field or at the range.

Just went Pheasant hunting and had the same problem after shooting a lot of skeet. But once I figured out the leed issue there were a lot of dead pairs!

Hit clays, and birds will fall from the sky.
Says I

Yeah, I'm with ya, Levi. I am a far better shot in the field than I am at clays because, as some have already said, I mount and shoot in the field and overthink at the range. Plus, I can't keep the thought that each shot "counts" more with live birds from sneaking around the back of my brain.

I think most good clay shooters tend to be good field shooters primarily because they usually shoot a lot more and more often than someone who shoots mostly in hunting situations. The exception would be volume dove shooting in S. America - by the 2nd afternoon I would actually evolve into a fairly decent shot. But I've been focusing on big game hunting in the past decade, so haven't been south of the border in years, and my wingshooting suffers as a result (just ask all the ducks that flew around my patterns this season).

But when I shoot a bunch of clays over time, I am definitely better in the field even if my clay scores haven't been what I wish they were...which is usually the case. Dang, time to hit the range!

I spend far more time in the field than shnooting clays even though i enjoy skeet and sporting clay courses. I shoot far better dove and duck hunting than on the clay coursse. It may sound dumb but having to say pull throws me off. Any tips to cure this other than practice.

The guy who said clay target shooters can't hit feathers has not seen an A, AA, AAA skeet shooter working in a dove field or a 27 yard man at trap pulling down long pheasants or ducks. A Master Class Sporting shooter usually hits what he or she is shooting at too.
Granted, there are some clay target shooters who don't hit feathers well, but they usually don't hit clay targets very well either.
When sporting clays emerged in the US for real, it amazed me how many guys were breaking targets (and a lot of them too) with well worn bird guns that I had never seen at the skeet club. My take on it is a good natural shooter will do well in the field and with a bit of tweaking will break championship scores once the mental part of the game has been mastered.

I haven't shot clays for decades. Too expensive back in the days when I had a family to feed.

However, it doesn't surprise me that Peter would miss those geese. I believe it had more to do with the loads he was shooting than anything else. Trap loads are generally slow and easy on the shoulder. Steel goose loads are going to be zinging at 1500+ fps and pounding the shooter considerably more than low base talcum-makers. Leading geese is considerably different than clays even if the honkers were right on top of him. And I suspect it took him quite a bit to recover from the significantly worse than usual pounding the first shot laid on him. I would expect anyone who spent the summer shooting trap to have trouble adjusting to goose loads.

Some very good points and interesting theories by all, and tom warner, I have always fancied myself a pretty good field shot even before I became addicted to the skeet bug. When I started shooting sporting clays, I became a much better wingshot because I was given the opportunity to shoot targets longer than the 21 yard crossing shots presented at skeet as well as longer angle birds, which I might have improved upon had I shot trap (just couldn't bring myself to shoot much of that game). Sporting also required a low gun start, as opposed to skeet and that helped a lot in the field.
Overthinking clays is a theme common to most who try any dicipline of shooting for the first time. There is always a tendency to 'aim' and 'measure' instead of point and shoot. My advice to friends or clients I am introducing to the game is to not worry about lead on the skeet field, just keep your eyes on the bird and try to shoot right at it. It is amazing how well that gets targets to breaking for the neophytes.

i started shooting clays when i was 8, started with skeet, and shot that all the time with sporting clays and five stand mixed in here and there...got quite good at the clay game. when i turned twelve i basically quit shooting clays and spend my weekends hunting. shot a lot of grouse and pheasant. lots of snap shooting. a year ago i got back into the sporting clays game, and found id gotten quite atrocious at it. all those years of snap shooting birds had ruined my patience on the clays course. eventually though after a few trips i worked out the kinks. now im pretty efficient at busting clays, and killing birds.

To nchunt101: Just say ready and have the puller throw it when they feel like it. This would represent field shooting more.
Trapper VIC: I am glad we don't hunt together as it is not ethical or safe to shoot birds that are others to shoot at first. Come to the Iowa State Sporting Clays Shoot this summer and I will kick your brass :)
Also please check your spelling before you post !

The excitement of the pheasant or grouse bursting into the air, results in many hunters not shouldering their gun properly, and firing too quickly. A calmer shot with a proper lead brings better results.

I know a few people that can hit lots of clays but couldn't hit a bird with a punt gun. And vice-versa, I know bird guys that can not hit clays to save their lives. I also know guys that can hit both quite regularily so it all depends on the shooters concentration to me.

People who say that target guys can't hit a real bird are just compensating because they can't hit any clays.