The average big game hunter:
- Lacks marksmanship fundamentals
- Does not understand their equipment
- Is incapable of properly maintaining their equipment
- Lacks a fundamental understanding of external ballistics
- Lacks an understanding of the anatomy of the game they are pursuing
- 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.