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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
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Bob,
Shrapnel was being facetious when he posted "nobody shoots offhand anymore."
We've shot Richardson's ground squirrels together here in Montana on several occasions, and Shrap makes it a point to shoot a lot of them offhand. They're pretty small targets, as even a mature "gopher" is only about 10" long by 2" across, and younger ones are aboiut half that size. Plus, normally you're not getting a shot at the entire gopher. He hits far more than he misses out to 100 yards.
I am not too bad myself. On one of the occasions when we shot together my first shot killed one at around 75 yards. He thought it was an accident, but then I did it again.
Eileen prefers offhand-height shooting sticks, and is pretty deadly with 'em.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 35,900 |
Bob,
Shrapnel was being facetious when he posted "nobody shoots offhand anymore."
We've shot Richardson's ground squirrels together here in Montana on several occasions, and Shrap makes it a point to shoot a lot of them offhand. They're pretty small targets, as even a mature "gopher" is only about 10" long by 2" across, and younger ones are aboiut half that size. Plus, normally you're not getting a shot at the entire gopher. He hits far more than he misses out to 100 yards.
I am not too bad myself. On one of the occasions when we shot together my first shot killed one at around 75 yards. He thought it was an accident, but then I did it again.
Eileen prefers offhand-height shooting sticks, and is pretty deadly with 'em. John I knew he was being facetious.....I could tell the way he put it.  With the volume of shooting you guys do on PD's I know you all aren't on your bellies all the time. Don't have PD's here but on big wood chuck farms in NE, I used to break up the day by strolling the field edges and shooting of hand now and then. It's just what pops up. Three of the last 5 bucks I have killed were all shot off hand at 50-80 yards....just the nature of things I guess.
Last edited by BobinNH; 04/20/16.
The 280 Remington is overbore.
The 7 Rem Mag is over bore.
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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I have a lot of shooting under my belt. Wife does too. Lots of it was offhand but in competition which is not the same as hunting.
Much more than me I'm sure. I shot .22s a lot as a kid and did a couple years of target shooting in college, but nothing big. I'm always open to suggestions.
As to the errors.... I understand the math, but I run on worst case... which is why I'm pretty picky about shots and just dont' care if I go home empty, rather that than mess one up....
Completely agree. The only real point is that it is the shooter not the .5 or 1.5 rifle that matters most in the equation.
Re the dummy shells, that is one of the BEST if not the best idea for training to ever come along.
I wanted to ensure I would automatically cycle the bolt after the shot prior to a trip to Africa. It has served me well. One note of caution, the blanks will cycle easier than a just fired round so I had to continue to make sure I used a good grip when cycling the bolt even though I don't need to with the blanks.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
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Seems to me if you do any amount of BG hunting, eventually you are going to be faced with a situation where you simply have to shoot from an unsupported, or less than ideal,shooting position.
Not that we don't do our best to quickly assume a rest or some support if we can, but it's going to happen because we are dealing with unpredictable animals and situations. So, it only makes sense to have some degree of proficiency in a variety of positions. Our own practice sessions will tell us what our proficiency levels are.
This does not mean you get wild eyed about it, but seems to me most of us know almost immediately which shots we can, and cannot make, on an animal. My first moose was such... 125ish steps... offhand. Was the only choice and a quick choice... bull was going to leave. I put the gun up and knew i'd have to make a choice. But they are so big it was easy and I was not out of wind at the time... I still think that most times you benefit more from practicing field expedient shooting.... And in hindsight had I been thinking that morning... I could have quickly sat down and popped a shot off as quickly and more accurate... it did not dawn on me that quickly... though a knee or butt would have been damp or wet... Jeff you're an experienced shot....you knew right away you could do it. Doc good thread!  I knew it once I put the gun up. I also know some days 50 yards is rough due to conditions, body reactions, NPA missing, out of air and so on.... But then I still strive in my stupid head, that I'm trying to hit a postage stamp.... not a boiler room.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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I have a lot of shooting under my belt. Wife does too. Lots of it was offhand but in competition which is not the same as hunting.
Much more than me I'm sure. I shot .22s a lot as a kid and did a couple years of target shooting in college, but nothing big. I'm always open to suggestions.
As to the errors.... I understand the math, but I run on worst case... which is why I'm pretty picky about shots and just dont' care if I go home empty, rather that than mess one up....
Completely agree. The only real point is that it is the shooter not the .5 or 1.5 rifle that matters most in the equation.
Re the dummy shells, that is one of the BEST if not the best idea for training to ever come along.
I wanted to ensure I would automatically cycle the bolt after the shot prior to a trip to Africa. It has served me well. One note of caution, the blanks will cycle easier than a just fired round so I had to continue to make sure I used a good grip when cycling the bolt even though I don't need to with the blanks. Only thing to suggest, perfect practice makes perfect. And for hunting thats not target shooting. Although smallbore rimfire hunter matches seemed to help some. But IMHO they make you sloppy on aiming points....accepting a hit anywhere... The loose nut behind the butt is almost always the most important. But extra accuracy never hurts. Of course if you do the whole body flinch, it makes no difference at all.....If you haven't done a whole body flinch you are missing out..... heck sometimes we could do it and still not break the trigger, if we were REALLY lucky...
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Aug 2010
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Seems to me if you do any amount of BG hunting, eventually you are going to be faced with a situation where you simply have to shoot from an unsupported, or less than ideal,shooting position.
Not that we don't do our best to quickly assume a rest or some support if we can, but it's going to happen because we are dealing with unpredictable animals and situations. So, it only makes sense to have some degree of proficiency in a variety of positions. Our own practice sessions will tell us what our proficiency levels are.
This does not mean you get wild eyed about it, but seems to me most of us know almost immediately which shots we can, and cannot make, on an animal. Good post Bob. 99% of my shots are taken from the off hand position. It's been that way since I was a little kid hunting jacks in the sage till now. Still one of my favorite positions. I don't have a problem keeping 5 shots inside a 1' circle at 200 yards. Actually more like 8", but who's counting and the OP wanted the bs to be kept to a minimum...
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style. You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole. BSA MAGA
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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prm, how did you get within 40 yards of that bull elk. The story man. powdr I'm an archery hunter who just happens to carry a rifle.  Truth is I was stalking a few bulls in some thick timber. I saw a 5x5 walk down the hill to my right and at ~30 yds he saw me, turned and jumped a few steps to my front. While I was watching him the 6x6 literally appeared to my right and to this day I have no idea how he got there!
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Joined: Nov 2002
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 33,687 |
Seems to me if you do any amount of BG hunting, eventually you are going to be faced with a situation where you simply have to shoot from an unsupported, or less than ideal,shooting position.
Not that we don't do our best to quickly assume a rest or some support if we can, but it's going to happen because we are dealing with unpredictable animals and situations. So, it only makes sense to have some degree of proficiency in a variety of positions. Our own practice sessions will tell us what our proficiency levels are.
This does not mean you get wild eyed about it, but seems to me most of us know almost immediately which shots we can, and cannot make, on an animal. Good post Bob. 99% of my shots are taken from the off hand position. It's been that way since I was a little kid hunting jacks in the sage till now. Still one of my favorite positions. I don't have a problem keeping 5 shots inside a 1' circle at 200 yards. Actually more like 8", but who's counting and the OP wanted the bs to be kept to a minimum... That's excellent shooting.
Conduct is the best proof of character.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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in highpower, used to be only with irons too, but thats changed a bit....
200 yards a perfect score, which was rare, was 20 shots into 6 inches.
But 15 shots into that 6 inches was not uncommon.
I was never good at offhand. I could keep all 20-22 in 12 inches at 200 easily. But generally around 10-12 in 6 inches or less.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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I shoot / have shot NRA silhoutte matches both HP and smallbore and am master class in both. which means I shoot offhand way better than most ever thought about . When hunting I try not to shoot offhand , I take advantage of any support I can.
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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Bob,
Shrapnel was being facetious when he posted "nobody shoots offhand anymore."
We've shot Richardson's ground squirrels together here in Montana on several occasions, and Shrap makes it a point to shoot a lot of them offhand. They're pretty small targets, as even a mature "gopher" is only about 10" long by 2" across, and younger ones are aboiut half that size. Plus, normally you're not getting a shot at the entire gopher. He hits far more than he misses out to 100 yards.
I am not too bad myself. On one of the occasions when we shot together my first shot killed one at around 75 yards. He thought it was an accident, but then I did it again.
Eileen prefers offhand-height shooting sticks, and is pretty deadly with 'em. My brother and I were out shooting gophers recently too. We shot about 90% off-hand out to 50 yards with 22s. We contemplated what that would translate into shooting deer off-hand. Difference is we would need to be sure to put the bullet in the vitals on deer. I should point out this was with a peep sight. I am sure i could have seen them at longer ranges with a scope, but doubt I would hit much better.
Last edited by Just a Hunter; 04/20/16.
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I shoot / have shot NRA silhoutte matches both HP and smallbore and am master class in both. which means I shoot offhand way better than most ever thought about . When hunting I try not to shoot offhand , I take advantage of any support I can. That is my way of thinking as well (not that I'm such a great offhand shot). This gets into a discussion of ethics and opinions which I try to avoid, but I always figured the Shooter practices as much as possible to become the best shot possible, then when he becomes the Hunter he gets as close as possible and makes every effort to make the shot as much of a gimme as possible. I.e., the hunt is one thing, the shot ending the hunt should be as much of a foregone conclusion as it can be. And we all know that even under the best of circumstances, that "foregone conclusion" is not always as foregone as we anticipated.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
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Posts: 60,076
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,076 |
Just a Hunter,
My wife and I usually do some of our gopher shooting with open-sighted .22's, and even though we're in our 60's, can usually manage to get plenty out to around 50 yards. Eileen normally uses a lever-action Henry (though she also has a very accurate Savage 29B that gets some use), while I take my Winchester 62B. The tube magazines sometimes come in handy when gophers charge....
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
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Posts: 115,424 |
Shooting offhand and double-action, as often as possible are the secrets to success.
Maybe not success in life as a whole, but you'll shoot more better than most.
Dave
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,076
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,076 |
Dave,
A some of us do want to be more better!
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
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Posts: 115,424 |
A reasonable amount of alcohol also helps.
Dave
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual. Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit. My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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Joined: Feb 2010
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
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There's 1,000 other things going on when shooting at stuff with heartbeats vs paper.
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Posts: 8,748
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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And that little [bleep] named Murphy!
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
I shoot / have shot NRA silhoutte matches both HP and smallbore and am master class in both. which means I shoot offhand way better than most ever thought about . When hunting I try not to shoot offhand , I take advantage of any support I can. Hmm... thats interesting, you and I have similar backgrounds, and have similar results, and come to the same conclusion, spend a few seconds getting any rest you can, rather than none at all. Wonder how that happened.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 10,489
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Same here.... Shot a lot of NRA Hi-Power back in the 1990's with my M-1A and did most of my practicing for it from offhand. But in the hunting fields I'll take any rest I can find, if time allows it because my heart might be pounding, or a lot of other reasons. Bottom line is: Under field conditions my accuracy, on average, is a lot better from some kind of rested position. If I'm shooting at game I want all the accuracy help I can get. Accuracy.... It's the name of the game.
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