scpaul
Well-Known Member
You must have felt deprived as a child and young man. You have corrected your inadequacies at this stage of your life, right?
How well does the average big game hunter shoot?
- Thread starter Huntslow
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You are right in the fact that some people read all of this LR shooting and hunting and makes them think they can go buy that long range capable weapon but never put the time to perfect their skill with the weapon.
Just like the earlier comment I've made about the two guys that went to LR Shooting School and bought weapon kits that were recommended for long range hunting.
When they left school... they were snipers.
When they came shoot with me, neither had fired a shot in the 2 months since they left the school and failed miserably because they thought they had the concept in their minds that they were still capable at long range without the instructor's guidance.
Most elk hunters will do exactly what you claim and stalk for a better shot opportunity and get it done within much shorter distances.
But...Heck, those extra sales keep the gun business alive and well!
memtb
Well-Known Member
Not really! I grew up pretty poor, got married very young…… was raising a family at an age where many young men weren't shaving very regular!
I had to learn early in life to be very frugal!We have numerous rifles/handguns …..but, we have our primary hunting rifles. We purchased rifles/cartridges capable/legal to hunt most big game animals anywhere in the world. We choose to use these only, with the philosophy that we would be more proficient with rifles that fit us like a well-worn glove! I believe that it has served us well!
We don't shoot nearly as much as we should….but, we also weren't stressing about components when many in the shooting world where learning abstinence!
memtb
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hawg chaser
Well-Known Member
Squirrel hunting with a single shot 22 and a fixed low power scope is the best practice I've found for big game hunting. I've found that if I can consistently head shoot squirrels at 50+ yards, making good shots on bigger game seems a lot easier. Even at longer distances than most people should be trying.
scpaul
Well-Known Member
Sounds real similar. I had to accumulate mine. Nothing too fancy or safari types just good shooters and I definitely have my favorites. I hope to be playing with my old toys again in the near future.Not really! I grew up pretty poor, got married very young…… was raising a family at an age where many young men weren't shaving very regular!
We have numerous rifles/handguns …..but, we have our primary hunting rifles. We purchased rifles/cartridges capable/legal to hunt most big game animals anywhere in the world. We choose to use these only, with the philosophy that we would be more proficient with rifles that fit us like a well-worn glove! I believe that it has served us well!
We don't shoot nearly as much as we should….but, we also weren't stressing about components when many in the shooting world where learning abstinence!
geeck
Member
I'm a RSO and Instructor at the closest public range to major Metro area. Starting in August the Elmer Fudds start coming out the woodwork. I can promise you 95% of these "Hunters" should never take a shot at a living thing, certainly not passed 100yds. Lucky for the animals it's in the Deep South and shots longer than 100yds are hard to come by.
Personally I'm a XTC competitor (200, 300, & 600yds shooting a Service Rifle with only a GI sling Standing, Sitting, & Prone) I shoot XTC matches a few times a month. Up until 2016 with only iron sights, the rules change now allows a 4x optic. So you would think with a precision HP rifle, a high end variable scope, and a supported position I'd be comfortable at least out to 600yds. I wasn't at first and limited my long shots to Outlawed Quadrupeds and gained confidence before moving on to Game animals and farther out. Unless someone regularly practices at the intended distances they have no business taking the shot.
Personally I'm a XTC competitor (200, 300, & 600yds shooting a Service Rifle with only a GI sling Standing, Sitting, & Prone) I shoot XTC matches a few times a month. Up until 2016 with only iron sights, the rules change now allows a 4x optic. So you would think with a precision HP rifle, a high end variable scope, and a supported position I'd be comfortable at least out to 600yds. I wasn't at first and limited my long shots to Outlawed Quadrupeds and gained confidence before moving on to Game animals and farther out. Unless someone regularly practices at the intended distances they have no business taking the shot.
scpaul
Well-Known Member
The older that I get the more I realize that I don't understand.
Turkeytider
Well-Known Member
I like to shoot too much. I`m going to end up killing a lot more paper than anything else with my hunting rifles!
The older I get the more I forget
Mike Matteson
Well-Known Member
Why is he here. This was about poor shooting people and hitting their target. These people really don't know how their bullet flys thur the air and hits it target. This was about guides talking about the people they guided, and can't hit the broadside of a barn door. They may read here about making those long shots. but they don't really understand or put in the work to achieve knewledge to able to do it. Anything beyond 300yds begin to take time to hit your target or animal with killing shots. Most just go down and buy a box or two of factory ammo and go shot. If they can hit a pie plate at 100yds they are rifleman.
and ready to make that 1000yd shot. There a lot more work to hitting the target and grouping at a 1000yds than that. Me I would rather be know as one shot Mike in hitting and killing my animal every time, than shooting a 1000yds and having to put in a 2nd, 3rd shots. Or know as 3 shot mike. Oh I have done some bad shooting in my time, but not many. Learn to spot and stock, with close the distance. To me that's hunting.
Lenny Foffa
Well-Known Member
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When I was 21 I worked in a local store that had a big Gun dept . Just across form our gun department was the fishing Dept. The guys in Fishing would sell Split Bamboo Fly Rod 's and Fly reel that were super expensive in that day to fishermen who appreciated and expected quality VS , the guys that came to buy a deer rifle, and began every sentence with the word "CHEAP" Cheap rifle, Cheap scope, oh Damm you need mounts to put the scope on??? and of course, Cheap ammo. If our Remington green and yellow box was $1.00 more that wall mart, they would not buy the ammo in our store. It was my personal feeling that the Hunting rifle /scope package I purchased would be a time possession. So if took me another year to save up for the more expensive, Leupold scope, I did that, as opposed to getting the Bushnell banner, or the Tasco. I had come to learn that to so many Hunters, ( Not all thank God ) shooting is just an expense. It is not something they want to do. So many really believe once zeroed, the rifle never needs to be fired until opening day. The scope will never need to be re zeroed. Rings and bases will never need to tightened. Ammo formulas will never change. I am about to turn 75 and I am still having these conversations with friend who are also 75 and with their sons who are in their 40's. I have to remind myself to shut up and stop preaching about the benefits of shooting. The guys who purchased the 270 Win Short Mag and the 28 Nosler are just not going to shoot a New factory box of ammo , at paper and burn up a $120 to $160 Dollar box of ammo. That box of ammo should last 10 years. I must learn to shut up. They just shoot the deer in the food plot usually at 30 to 60 yards, sometimes need to track and hit it again, then put the rifle and box of ammo away till next year !! As Larry Potterfield often says, " and that's the way it is. "
Why is he here. This was about poor shooting people and hitting their target. These people really don't know how their bullet flys thur the air and hits it target. This was about guides talking about the people they guided, and can't hit the broadside of a barn door. They may read here about making those long shots. but they don't really understand or put in the work to achieve knewledge to able to do it. Anything beyond 300yds begin to take time to hit your target or animal with killing shots. Most just go down and buy a box or two of factory ammo and go shot. If they can hit a pie plate at 100yds they are rifleman.
The issue that Rich has is the bold part, David seems to think that because there are people unskilled at shooting we should all just shut up and stop talking about shooting game at long range because it gives them false confidence. He came on a site specially devoted to long range hunting to tell us we should stop doing what this site was specifically created to do.
News flash, unskilled overly confident people will continue to shoot at game at ranges they are not qualified to shoot at because they are overly confident and think they can. Us talking about all our practice, time, effort and research isn't going to change that but it could help more thoughtful people find the information they need to better prepare themselves if such a shot were to arise.
Everyone loves an easy chip shot but are times when it is not possible to stalk closer to your quarry and the opportunity presented is the only shot you get. Case in point my Dad was hunting a few years ago when he saw some deer across our friend's field. They had been bumped off the neighbors property and were cutting over the corner of our property to another neighbors property. It was across a wide open grass field so to stalk you would have had to loop around into the woods and sneak probably 3/4 of a mile to their location. The problem is the deer were on the property for only a minute or two, nowhere near enough time to do anything other than range and take your shot.
So that's what my Dad did, I had set the rifle up for him with a drop table and we had went to multiple shooting classes shooting out to 1000 yards. He had the equipment, the knowledge and the skill, he killed that doe at over 500 yards when she stopped. Had he not taken that shot he would have never gotten another opportunity on those does.
