How well does the average big game hunter shoot?

My old deer hunting buddy used to brag that the box of shells on the gun rack had lasted five deer seasons. I can't tell you how many wounded deer I tracked for him. I don't think he even checked his zero; at least I never saw him do it or even talk about it.
But the man at the sporting goods mounted the scope and sold me the bullets, what else do I need ot do, they should be right on! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
 
But the man at the sporting goods mounted the scope and sold me the bullets, what else do I need ot do, they should be right on! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Happens in real life.

Years ago a former teammate of mine guided at a high dollar fenced up multi section spread in SoTex. One season a well healed guy from Houston showed up with fancy Weatherby topped off with then a newly introduced Lupy silver scope that he bought at an outfitter.

Rig was bore sighted by the outfitter. After missing one of those 20k trophy deer they are selling two days in a row, he asked Jeff to shoot ine for him using the guide rifle. Jeff obliged. The hunter turned at Jeff and asked if he had 100 bucks in his pocket, which he could not pulled it out fast enough anticipating what's next. The hunter then handed the "*** rifle, in his own words" rig to Jeff for 100 bucks. With the condition between them to tell the group that he gave the rifle to the guide as a tip. And he will have his kill mounted to display.
 
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My old deer hunting buddy used to brag that the box of shells on the gun rack had lasted five deer seasons. I can't tell you how many wounded deer I tracked for him. I don't think he even checked his zero; at least I never saw him do it or even talk about it.
We were doing some deer drives years ago when that used to be a thing. A friend of the family farm we were hunting missed deer on two different drives and he was upset.. not at himself for missing but the guy at the shop who did a shi*** job bore sighting his rifle!
 
Happens in real life.

Years ago a former teammate of mine guided at a high dollar fenced up multi section spread in SoTex. One season a well healed guy from Houston showed up with fancy Weatherby topped off with then a newly introduced Lupy silver scope that he bought at an outfitter.

Rig was bore sighted by the outfitter. After missing one of those 20k trophy deer they are selling two days in a row, he asked Jeff to shoot ine for him using the guide rifle. Jeff obliged. The hunter turned at Jeff and asked if he had 100 bucks in his pocket, which he could not pulled it out fast enough anticipating what's next. The hunter then handed the "*** rifle, in his own words" rig to Jeff for 100 bucks. With the condition between them to tell the group that he gave the rifle to the guide as a tip. And he will have his kill mounted to display.
Same caliber of people buy already mounted game to display as a trophy in their house. IMO.
 
We were doing some deer drives years ago when that used to be a thing. A friend of the family farm we were hunting missed deer on two different drives and he was upset.. not at himself for missing but the guy at the shop who did a shi*** job bore sighting his rifle!
I harvested at some of those ranches. I call it harvest because shots are close enough for a knife throw. But at least the manager there makes everyone shoot at 100 yards make sure their rifle is on. I remember the first deer I harvested there. Maybe 70 yards, 30.06, dropped right there. Guide was impressed. I go what? If I missed that I should have my rifle taken away. His reply was, you'd be surprised how many people miss
 
it would be shocking to know what percentage of hunters do not verify zero from year to year, sight in with one bullet weight while hunting with another, and NEVER clean their gun.

I learned to cull these don't give a rip types out, especially when they invited me and my mules along for the hunt.

Never try and get someone to give a crap about something they don't give a crap about to begin with.
 
The average big game hunter:
  1. Lacks marksmanship fundamentals
  2. Does not understand their equipment
  3. Is incapable of properly maintaining their equipment
  4. Lacks a fundamental understanding of external ballistics
  5. Lacks an understanding of the anatomy of the game they are pursuing
  6. Lacks a fundamental understanding of terminal ballistics
Items 1-4 = low hit probability.
Items 4-6 = poor shot placement.

I have a good friend who I consider to be an above average hunter. He is an excellent woodsman and a poor rifleman. His marksmanship fundamentals are solid. He doesn't know how to zero his rifle. He told me his rifle was zeroed at the store when they mounted the scope. He sees practice as a waste of time, ammo, and money. A 20 round box of ammo lasts him 4 or 5 seasons. He asked me how much money I save by loading my own ammo. After I told him loading my own ammo does not save me any money, he does not understand why I do it.

It took me 5 years to convince him to let me check his rifles for function and zero before deer season. He only listened because he couldn't explain why he was shooting deer in the a** at 30 yards from a tree stand. BOTH of his rifles had mechanical issues and broken scope adjustments. For several years after I corrected the problems and properly zeroed his rifles, he limited out on deer and was surprised at how well he was shooting.

A few years ago, he was telling me about his new scope and handed me his rifle. The crosshairs were rotated 45* from level. I asked to see his other rifle. It was exactly the same. I pointed out the problem with both scopes. He hadn't noticed. I asked him to meet me at a local public range with one of his rifles and to bring ammo so that I could straighten out the scope mounting issues and obtain a zero that would be good enough for him to hunt with. He brought me 9 rounds, consisting of three different bullet weights from three different manufacturers. When I pointed out the obvious problems with that, he told me he didn't want to waste his hunting ammo.

Keep in mind, he is well ABOVE the average skill level of other shooters and hunters I have observed in the area. His fieldcraft is better than mine. He taught me proper field care of game meat and is meticulous about that. He is an advanced hunter and shooter compared to most others in the field. The carnage I have seen at local game processors confirms to me that the average hunter couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.
 
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