The "who's the best long range shooter" is playing out almost exactly how I've seen it go with handguns. People that say they're "good" and have skillz, only to show up to one USPSA match and never go back after getting smoked. They'll say stuff like "games ain't gunfights" and lie to themselves that shooting fast and accurate from the draw, on the clock, isn't relevant to "the real world." ironically, most saying that stuff have never been in a gunfight.
I will make the assertion that it is a very rare bird that is at the sharp end of any shooting discipline and doesn't use competition to hone skills. People on here actually act like being a top PRS shooter wouldn't help immensely with long range hunting or being a master in USPSA wouldn't help in a gunfight. That's absurd on it's face.
Anyhow, if you haven't ever gone out and competed, do yourself a favor and do it. You don't need the best gear (I shoot USPSA with what I carry) and testing your skills against others and a clock is always a good thing.
I used to shoot a lot of sporting clays and trap. 10's of thousands of rounds a summer/month sometimes. Traveled etc.
My hit/kill percentage on ducks and geese is considerably higher than it ever was on clay. Maybe because of the clay games - dunno.
IMO - when it comes to gun games, it's more important to participate at different places. Used to shoot against a lot of guys who made AA or Masters by only shooting tournaments at one course. Get them off that one course and suddenly they're C class shooters. Give me a guy who's a B shooter but shoots courses of fire all over the place over the AA/Master who never leaves home.
