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Big game season is over for me and I have just reread everyones comments on the question I originally ask. These conclusions I have come up with: Shooting long range for practice is very benifical for hunting in some instances. My antelope was shot at 535 yds. last year and thats as close as I could get. I was confident I could make the shot and had time to set up for it. This year I got 2 antelope tags and both shots were under 100 yds. I still had time to set up for the shots. Then elk hunting: A different story altogether I wish I had spent more time shooting offhand at 100-200 yds. I would have been far happier with my abilities. I got my elk with 1 shot but it wasn't a great shot by any means. You never know what situation you will run into while hunting and the more practice you can get at all ranges the better prepared you will be. I love shooting long and will continue do do it but I plan on spending a lot more time shooting from field positions at more reasonable ranges. | |||
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Off hand shooting 100-200 at is not going to happen without a full on target suit and sling mate. Get yourself a pair of shooting sticks like these: And practice them. Nearly all stalkers over here use them and with practice they are very quick to deploy. | |||
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Ghubert, one more then one occasion I've taken game at those ranges off hand without a sling and shooting jacket. For practice I like to shoot water filled milk jugs with my Mosin M29 at 200 yards. It's a great practice, still a full powered rifle round, and a lot cheaper then premium hunting bullets. | |||
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Yes but you're some sort of competition shooter of long standing aren't you? I'm not that good AS, about 8" at 100 is the best I can manage offhand, at 200 yards I wouldn't like to risk a shot at unwounded game. Give me a pair of sticks and I'm good to go. | |||
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Several of those shots were back in the days when I was on the University three position small bore team. We did a lot of shooting, and I made it a point to spend extra time shooting off hand. Yes, it too many hours, and many thousands of rounds to develope those skill, so for most people, I think you are correct. The shooting sticks are a quicker, cheaper, solution.  | |||
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Long range, short range, pistol, rifle, shotgun...POPGUN, archery or slingshot...ALL take practice and trigger time, good eyes, muscle strength and memory...ALL THE RIGHT STUFF...some people have the opportunity, skill set and abilitiess, some don't...and SOME GET OLD and EVERYTHING GOES TO HECK.    BOOOOOOO.   I used to pop jacks offhand at 150-200 yds with a peep sighted 22 LR semi, shoot doves out of the air and nail running bunnies quick draw with a 22 LR High Standard semi...ALL OBSERVED by disbelieving buddies, consistently, but not every shot you understand. They got getback by messing up bets I made with the unsuspecting. Now I'm lucky to hit the ground unless I have on my glasses, a scoped rifle and something to set on/lean against. This getting old AIN'T for sissy's AND it ain't fun. Luck | |||
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 How is it that you old-school target shooters are so uniformly withering?  You're right of course, but I bet you shoot steadier off sticks than free hand sir. I am going about the lifetime of practice thing but FOOBAR has just put a time limit on the other end, I'd better get my skates on! | |||
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Cheer up mate, using a scope is not cheating and the ability to fine tune elevation from the prone position using a beer belly is a positive boon! | |||
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Boss, We have the same problem out here in rural Colorado. People who move out here from the city think that they can let their dogs run wild. They preach animal rights and anti hunting when in fact not keeping their damn dogs contained is about the cruelest thing one can do an animal both the dogs and the wildlife suffers form their irresponsibility. I am tired of it as well. It's the jackasses who move out here and don't keep their dogs properly contained who are responsible the demise of their animals. It's time to lay blame in it's proper place. | |||
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No disagreement here. I only take those shots when nothing else is offered. I like a good steady bi-pod, but I imagine that when you hunting the tall grass in Africa, a bi-pod may not get the job done. I can see why you would like your really tall sticks for that...I just wouldn't want to have to carry them all day. I carry enough stuff as it is. Surestrike, we had a pack of about 30 wilddogs in the Thornton/Westminster area. I'm sure alot of them came from Boulderites that wanted to let fido run free. They started getting agressive toward people, so the state trapper took them out. | |||
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Again, very true. The good thing about sticks is that if they are stout enough you can use them as a walking\ground-testing\animal-prodding wonder aid and keep them in your left hand the whole day with no bother. In all seriousness up Scotland and even some places down here, a good walking stick and means of testing marshy ground is worth the weight and hassle. I've only shot one deer from a bipod but many more from sticks, it's as you say a function of foliage height mainly. A poster on the Euro forums by the name of IanF is particularly adept at using sticks. He uses them in the standing, sitting and even prone positions, in the latter two like a giant bipod, by sliding the rubber up and down and using the tension to give very stable shooting platforms from useful field positions. I'm practising these at the moment but have a long way to go before I can approach his proficiency. What sort of terrain do you mostly hunt in? | |||
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For antelope, I hunt alot of wide open plains. My SE Colorado area ia as flat as a pancake, and get somewhere between 6 and 15 inches of rain a year. There are very few raises or breaks. On a dry year, you can set just about any place with a short prone bipod. On a wet year, a tall sitting bipod is prefered. My Wyoming area is also open, but more broken country. Alot of low grass, and some sage. The wind blows must of the topsoil off the rises, so their is little foilage on them. On a good year you can see multiple hears of hundreds of antelope 3-4k yards away. It's not uncommon for them to start running when you are 2500 yards away. Did I mention that they can run 60 MPH? But where the country is broken, you can use it to your advantage. Pop up on a ridge, spot, and shoot. If there is nothing within range, look for terrain you can manuver behind to set up a shot, or head to the next ridge. Since I'm typically shooting from the windswept ridges, the short bipod is almost all I ever need. | |||
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My Uncle Henry (long passed) was always a good hunter and great shot. But it wasn't untill he stopped carrying a rifle and just carried a Camera that he got really good. He was a small wirey man and he would get with in 20 feet to get a shot with his Licea 35mm with 50mm lens. He told me he only stopped killing, he never stopped hunting. It was just his way. Cheers, John Give me COFFEE and nobody gets hurt | |||
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Yeah but we have to shoot fast because it pushes all the air outta our lungs. "Experience" is the only class you take where the exam comes before the lesson. | |||
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Well, when you get too old to climb the mountains you can get on the computer, or go target shooting. velocity is like a new car, always losing value. BC is like diamonds, holding value forever. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Long Range Shooting Does Long Range practice really make you better at hunting?
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