I do my very best not to shoot at game off hand and teach younger hunters the same technique of dropping to one knee and getting a solid rest or using a tree etc. to improve their odds. I still practice off hand once in a while with a 22 and shoot trap to keep moving target skills sharper but for me one knee is vastly more accurate than standing even when using a sling to steady the rifle.
Last weekend my daughter shot off hand and asked how anyone could hit anything that way. I surprised myself by keeping the spinning targets going non stop for 10 rounds at 50 yards but if the targets had fur I would have been on a knee or sitting.
One of my hunting partners is good on gongs to 300 with his 300 Winmag but missed the last shot he took at a cow elk from about 100 yards shooting off hand.
I coached a gal getting ready for one of those TV hunting contests. We worked on the 375H&H off hand and she did fine but I told her to go off of one knee on the run then shoot course. She was slow around the course but the one knee strategy scored about double any of the other girls off hand efforts.
Nothing wrong shooting offhand. I also add the 'dropping to one knee' sounds groovy in the backyard, not so much in many settings.
If you can get a rest, get a rest, but not to the point of spending 5 minutes to do so.
On my one and only 'pay' hunt for deer they asked that we fire our rifles at 35 yards to see if we were right on at that distance.
There were 2 of us that showed up at the same time. I watched the first guy sit at the bench, then fiddle f*ck the sandbags for 2 minutes, adjust scope power and finally after about 5 minutes made one shot on target at 35 yards.
The owner then said 'Your turn'. I walked to the bench, chambered a round, shouldered the rifle and fired. Took me about 20 seconds. It would have been less time if the owner did stop me part way through and say 'Don't you want to use the bench?'
If a person can't hit a target offhand at 35 yards, they should take up Yahtzee.
