Do you practice before going hunting?

[jimbob86]

Your method of firing a few hundred rounds the weeks before season are doing you no favors.

It beats no practice, surely.

I usually practice with the deer rifle 2-3 times a year...... used to be more, but these days, I load far more ammo for my kids and nephews than I do for me.

 

[Scorch]

Do you practice before going hunting?

Well, it doesn't do you much good to practice AFTER hunting season. Does it? But no, I shoot all year long. It's familiarity with the rifle that makes you a good shot, not sitting at a bench a week before you go to the woods.

 

[onlinebiker]

I have not missed a shot or lost a deer in years.


And it's not because I was born a sharpshooter.



I'm betting the last 2 years I spent more time at the loading bench and firing range than I did hunting.

 

[Geezerbiker]

I always go out shooting at least once in the month leading up to deer season if I'm going to hunt that year. If nothing else it shows me that my rifle is still sighted in...

Tony

 

[The Big Game Hunter]

Yeah, I try to go once a week or so prior to hunting season and practice from realistic shooting positions out to the range I expect to shoot on that particular hunt.

 

[reynolds357]

Another old wives tale ...... I killed both my deer on the run (granted, neither ran for more than a few seconds, being jmped from a thicket) ....have sampled some of both .... delicious.

My dad shot a a doe that had just run 1/2 mile across a field and stopped in front of the blind ...... we grilled her heart and it too was tasty.

Its not a wives tale. It is well documented in cattle and swine. Killing livestock quickly while they are calm delivers a much more marketable meat.

 

[reynolds357]

I shoot all the time, all year round. Got my own 100 yard range. So I guess I wouldn’t call what I do ‘practice’.

I have my own range, but often times I just shoot out the back door of my shop.

 

[Ben Dover]

Well, it doesn't do you much good to practice AFTER hunting season. Does it? But no, I shoot all year long. It's familiarity with the rifle that makes you a good shot, not sitting at a bench a week before you go to the woods.

Sitting at a bench is not practice. My practice is standing off-hand and kneeling.

 

[onlinebiker]

I practice off a rest for hunting - because that's how I hunt.

I practice shooting positions for CCW or other potential conflict.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Sitting at a bench is not practice. My practice is standing off-hand and kneeling.

So if folks don't do it your way they aren't doing it right? There are a lot of things you can practice from the bench, and like onlinebiker, that may be how you hunt.

I actually used to have a feeder along my 400 yard shooting range and would hunting from not just from a bench, but from the very bench I used when sighting in my rifle, LOL.

I can't say that I practice shooting for hunting any more given that I hunt hogs all year long, usually out 3-4 times a week. My range time is to check zero, verify work done on gear, and to try out new gear. After that, everything goes into the field. Probably 90-95% of my shooting is off of trigger sticks, a few percent from a bench (box stand) and the other pittance percentage from the edge of trees, rested on barbwire fences, rested on T-posts, rested on my truck, and offhand.

 

[mxsailor803]

Absolutely. I’m a handgun hunter so it’s much more difficult than using a rifle with optic that’s zeroed. Should you practice with your hunting rifle? Absolutely. I don’t practice with my rifle nearly as much as I do with my pistol. I’ve also been using the same rifle since 1999. The practicing with my handgun was pushed by my dad. He knew I was into pistol hunting and we had just got done checking zero on our rifles at our 100yds range. My dad looks at me and says “you’re confident with that pistol, let’s see what you can do at the rifle range”. I’m like “oh crap” I had never considered trying a handgun shot that far. He sets up a paper plate and I was able to put all 6 rounds from my 629 .44mag on the plate. I was shocked. 4 cylinders later, I was able to cover all 6 rounds with my hand. It paid off that evening. I’m in one of our box blinds and a 7 point walks out at 75yds. I took the shot and dropped him. It was my official longest and biggest kill I have ever made with a pistol. So yes, practice does matter.

 

[reynolds357]

Sitting at a bench is not practice. My practice is standing off-hand and kneeling.

My shooting bench, with a few trees thrown on it for concealment, is my most productive hunting spot. Deer walk out on my range. Kind of helps my range is right down the edge of a beanfield.

 

[onlinebiker]

I have a ground blind that I use from time to time - that has a nice solid shooting bench I built.

I am very comfortable taking shots out to 250 yards with my barrel 12 gauge. I would go half that offhand. (Kneeling isn't a good option for me due to crippling injury).

Not all hunters are 100 percent physically.

The trick is knowing your limits and knowing ways to work around them.

 

[Pathfinder45]

Shooting from the standing, off-hand, and kneeling positions are my favorite positions to shoot from. For anyone that hikes or walks with a rifle, these positions should not be neglected. I know that some people have different needs and limitations, but for me, the bench is only for load development and sighting in. I also like the sitting position, but as in Ben Dover's case, the terrain and forests where I live make the prone position impractical.

 

[Lohman446]

My longest shot is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 yards. I fire five rounds from standing at about half that distance (or close, not a measured range) to verify the scope has not wandered while sitting and call it good.

 

[jrothWA]

We SHOULD be checking deer firearm. techs

a month prior opening day.
We should be ethical hunters.

Having manned my clubs' "sight-in" day, I'm amazed that the number of deer are harvested.
This year I had a "elderly" gentleman show up before closing.
He was excited that after 20 years of apply for a MIichgan Elk permit was drawn for the DEC13/14 hunt. He was trying to sight-in a Savage 110, in 7mm Mag., he had two boxes of 175gr bullets. He was having difficulty with the recoil.

I suggested he swing by the Dundee Cabelas' store and consider getting a recoil pad that he could wear under his clothes and consider trying the 150 / 162 grain ammo for more control and concentrate on good shot placement.

He thought about and said he considerate it.

I related a conversation with the SIERRA Ballistics regarding my .308 loads using the 165gr SPT @ 2600 fps for use on WA ELk, they suggested using the 165gr HPBT and bumping the powder up to get an additional 150=200fps. The HPBT are of sturdier construction for deeper penetration


Never got his name, hope he was successful

 

[Nathan]

I know lots who don’t or practice very little. I do some shooting off a sturdy rest to confirm zero. I do some 100-300yd offhand, kneeling, sitting, holding against a pole, etc.

In the field, I’m normally sitting or kneeling supported.

I think the key to any practice is knowing how I can hit with a given amount of reticle movement. Then I know when to say no.

 

[RaySendero]

Guess it depends on what you call rifle practice:

I shoot to develop my handloads some most ever year.
I shoot a 22LR some during the off season.
May shoot a CF fun shoot if one interests me - May not.

Other than that I sight-in all deer rifles before the season at 100, 150 or 200 yds depending on rifle. Most of my hunting is from a sitting position with a rest in a stand, so the bench rest sight-in is kinda like practice.
On my LR rifle, I'll sight-in at 200 yds, then shoot a group at 300, 400 and 450 on that same target.

Now, I really don't consider this a lot of shooting.

 

[jackstrawIII]

I shoot considerably more than anyone else I know. Hundreds of rounds through my hunting rifles every year. Of course it helps.

That said, most folks idea of “practicing” is shooting 3 rounds off a bench in October to make sure their gun is still sighted since they put it away last December. And they wonder why they miss deer so much...

 

[Crankylove]

I practice all year.

I go target shooting in the desert and mountains all year round. Shooting in wind and snow, hot and cold. I shoot from a bench, kneeling, prone, braced on a tree or log, offhand, and weakside.

A typical trip sees 5-6 rifles going, from .22 LR up to .375 H&H, and 6-8 pistols from .22LR to .41 Mag or .45 Colt.

Shooting at ranges from 5 yards to 5-600, at targets varying size from a coke can to deer/elk sized.

I end up shooting all my hunting rifles several times a year, in varying conditions, at various ranges enough that I don’t make special practice trips before the hunts.