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Determining your dominant eye

Determining your dominant eye is a key factor in the pursuit of accuracy whether you are shooting a firearm with open sights or a bow and arrow. Determining your dominant eye is easy.

Point your index finger directly at something across the room with both eyes open. Without moving your finger, close your left eye. Is the finger still pointing at the target? Now open your left eye and close your right eye. Has the finger shifted? Your dominant eye is the one for which the finger is pointing at the target when the other is closed. Most right-handed people are right eye dominant, but not all.

If your dominant eye and dominant hand are the same you don't have any decision to make - go with equipment that matches. For example: right-handed and right eye dominant should shoot right-handed equipment. Left-handed and left eye dominant should shoot left-handed equipment. It gets trickier if you are cross dominant (right hand, left eye or left hand right eye).

If you find that you are right-handed but left eye dominant you have two choices. You can either learn to shoot left handed or you can shoot right handed but always close your right eye. The availability of right-handed products is much better, so if you are comfortable closing your left eye while aiming we recommend choosing right-handed equipment. However, if you are not comfortable closing your left eye while aiming we recommend left-handed equipment. Of course, if you are left-handed and right eye dominant we recommend learning to shoot right-handed with right-handed equipment.