Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Offhand shooting

Smokepole got me into Yoga and Pilates....

That sounds gay...

You're fine as long as you wear Carhartt's, camo cap and a sewed on NRA emblem....

I don't think any of those things will help when smoking a pole...

Agree 100%........fantastic buck Bob!

Or, you can't judge a book by looking at the cover....

As I have gotten older, my offhand abilities have gone downhill. Maybe from lack of practice, I'm not sure, but I try to find some kind of rest when shooting at game if at all possible.

Steelhead,
You are dead on about us old guys with bad knees. There ain't nobody out there in the woods to help us get up.

Battue,
I think I recognize that buck in the first picture. Maybe a Ky. deer?

No maybe about it. Spent its every breathing day there.

Its nice to see the art of off hand shooting isn't dead and that a bunch of animals are.

There is nothing faster than offhand with iron sights.

At 14 I shot my first deer offhand on the dead run at 60 yards right through the heart. But just because you can shoot that way doesn't mean it isn't the least accurate method. I'll only use it when nothing else would work.

I'll take a knee in the real word faster than most guys shoot offhand and extend my range from under 125 yards or so to over 300 with that less than a second move, certainly faster than I can use a sling to steady my aim. But you should use what you practice and one knee is faster and steadier for me. I'd prefer to be sitting but that really does take longer.

Ive killed moving deer and elk from a walk to a run from a knee way more often than offhand. I'll shoot a bow or shotgun from a knee, sitting crouching whatever it takes to get the prey.

Field rests are what is available - I've always thought it would ne nice to shoot at an animal from prone position but never had the opportunity.

Elbow rested on a stump while standing. 100yds or so


Sittin on my butt in two feet of snow 300yds


Shooting sticks probably 200yds or less.


Sitting on her butt ab about 100


kneeling, resting on a wire fence 50 or 60 yds

Injun crawled across 200yds of open hillside to cut the distance from 400 to 200. Rested on a sage bush while sitting.

My local range allows only one prone shooter at a time. Few people use it; but when we do it everyone wants to try it. California liability laws keep the ranges in check which results in limited experiences for novice shooters.

I've shot at exactly one public range in my life, that was even when I had my own range, but I needed a wind protected range to verify a no wind zero.

I hated that experience.

I don't know how folks put up with public ranges personally.

I've shot a lot of matches on public ranges, or membership ranges to so speak, but ours were position matches and obviously had to allow everything at that time of the match.

I am lucky enough to have a 100 yard range at home and I use it for load development etc and I enjoy going to our little local range for a change and a little competition, shooting positions.The ones that don't practice struggle more than regular shooters in the hunting field.The dinner plate at 50 might as well be platter to many.Cheers

Im kinda liking all these photos with captions" rested on a tree" or "sitting...20 yards..." etc.
I was always under the impression that offhand meant you weren't resting the rifle on anything....

That said I practice religiously offhand, but can only remember about 6 kills on big game done that way...like the rest of you I'll use absolutely anything I can get for a rest......

+1.

If there is a silhouette match nearby to take part in, that is an excellent way to sharpen one's offhand skills and have a ton of fun at the same time.

Offhand (real offhand, standing, no rest...)


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Inge: Yes. Off hand does mean "off hand" and not rested.

I am from the wooded east...circumstances here frequently dictate true off hand conditions,so for us it's pretty common that you will fill a lot of tags that way.

It's just conditions.

85 yards





20 feet




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70 yards

There's more but I ain't digging anymore.