Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How well does the "average" hunter shoot?

I won't carry a rifle afield unless it is shooting < 1 moa @ 100yds.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct.

Big differences between range work, with a bench and rest and shooting from field positions, IMO. I have shot some pretty small groups over the years from the bench but I consider that more of a indication of my rifle as opposed to my shooting skills, because I have yet to come across a standard bench in the field! I have come across some pretty steady rests in the field at times!

Once I am happy that my rifle that I will be using is adequately sighted in with the specific load, I will switch to a bolt action .22 RF for a lot of trigger time from field positions. I will also shoot my centerfire from those positions, but not nearly as much as the .22. I use prone, sitting, kneeling, from sticks and just a little from standing, because that is always my last resort when hunting. I will also try to shoot from some "available" rests like trees, stumps, rocks etc to try to mimic what I might see in the field.

For field postion practice with a centerfire, I usually use either 6 inch or 8 inch paper plates, depending on the size of the game I may be hunting.

For the .22, I have some 1 inch sticky orange dots and will go out at varying distances to sometimes 75 yards.

[quote=StrayDog

I would say probably 50% don't even know that changing brands of ammo will give a different POI or different size groups, providing of course they are capable of shooting something that resembles a group. [/quote]

One of my hunting buddies carries a box of 30-06 ammo that is a mixture of brands as well as bullet weights. Every thing from 150 gn Corelock to 180 gn Federal. He says a bullet is a bullet and it don't matter because they all shoot the same. Crazy thang is I have never known him to miss a deer and he has shot at least 50. Some people are lucky like that I guess.

i dunno how the average guy is, but if the targets at the range are any indication, i am not impressed.

ten inch "groups" of ten or more shots. yikes.

now from a bench i am a pretty decent shot. if the gun is capable i can go to about 1/2" with 3 shots without too much trouble on most days (i have had my days where i just shake my head and leave too.)

below 1/2" or so, well...i am not a benchrest competitor for a reason.

but to stand on my own two feet and offhand at 100 yards....i practiced a little, i can generally stay within 6" or so but thats really stretching it.

life happens, i know, and the game animals aren't going to present themselves so that you have a rest or even time to find one.

but i have only taken one or two truly offhand shots at deer. usually i am close to a tree or can sit or get prone to shoot before the window of opportunity closes.

i do however need to get way better offhand.

Find a place you can shoot offhand close up (10m or less) at small targets.

Maybe you will have to get an air rifle and a bullet trap and shoot in the garage or back yard.

Shoot matches.
Shoot for the match head.
Shoot the diamonds, clubs, etc out of old playing cards.
Split the cards.

I have no hard statistics but observations from being a RSO, an NRA Instructor, & once owning a booking business & seeing a lot of hunters in the field. First many hunters/shooters never have the rifle & scope properly set up. They either mounted them selves with little knowledge or had a sporting goods dealer, with limited knowledge, mount & bore sight. Frequently eye relief is wrong & scope reticle not centered. Many have terrible triggers with a hard pull & creep. As stated many do very little practise. I can't tell you how many shooters don't even know how to zero a scope or properly shoot from a bench. Perhaps most of all is the anxiety of seeing a nice trophy & panicking. I have seen hunters miss or wound a black bear or deer at under 100 yards due to shaking. Some times this even happens to more experienced hunters. I have a friend with a lot of money they went on many guided hunts & missed or wounded trophies. Finally through luck or what ever he killed a couple of trophies. Now his confidence is there & anxiety has diminished & his trophy room is filling up. I take Wounded Warriors on hunts & I am yet to see any of the marines or army infantry that couldn't shoot. One marine told me hitting a deer is easy when you a$$ is not being shot at.

Buck Fever is an ugly thing. I got a buddy who shoots and always misses. It never occured to me that he does not really want to kill anything.He enjoys Elk Steak though. Weird
In the Marines we dry fired alot! they refered to it as "snapping in" We sat in a big circle and the man across from you was your target. That took a little getting used to.
Aiming a rifle at a man who is aiming one at you!
T-Bear Thanks for taking our wounded warriors on hunts. A noble task. I sure it gives you great satisfaction.
Semper FI!
I hear about guys with Magnumitis and all that stuff but I really belive there just as many guys with standard calibers who are lousy shot with standard calibers

In Army Trainfire (back in the dark ages when I went through) consisted of much dry fire practice of trigger control before you ever got to fire a live round down range. Now, we had a mixture of Draftees and others but most of the rural recruits who had used and hunted with a rifle, qaulified expert without too much trouble considering all the training.

I put up the bench rest targets simply as an illustration that if you can learn trigger contro and how to breathe while shooting a rifle, you can shoot small groups at the bench. Funny thing also, most people who bother to learn how to shoot at the bench properly also learn to shoot the other positions well. It is all kind of related. That was my point. My point was not to generate a bunch of macho "I don't need to shoot at no stinking bench" comments.

The way most people shoot, they can use all the help they can get. I am not talking about the guys that go to the range every week and practice, practice, practice.

Shooting ability gets confused with How Good Can Your Wallet Shoot !

'Loader: Well me neither but that's because I keep the good one's and ditch the bad.If I'm on my game mine will stay MOA.....but that does not mean that 1.5" rifles don't work....just that we don't use them....cause we don't have to......

That said, I suspect that we could take a 1.5" sporter for BG hunting about anywhere,and we would kill stuff thoroughly dead.

Hell, I've hunted with rifles I've never shot groups with.

I've killed a few critters with rifles I'd never shot. One of them wasn't the stationary pronghorn I was aiming at.


Savage 99 in 250-3000. One of dad's buddy's rifles on the way out to cow camp.

figure any rifle that can hit a Crown box at 600 yds can kill a critter....

I assume that this means that you have at least shot the firearm to verify that the bullets are striking somewhere near the intended point-of-impact, or is it more of a challenge to wound and trail?

I would say that about 10 to 20% of the hunters in this area could sit at a bench & shoot MOA. I might be surprised.

MOA rifles are wonderful but I hunted for years with much worse back when I was ignorant and happy... most of my shots are under 50 yards...come to think about it I have no idea why I am burning so much powder and lead developing these little tiny groups that I never need...

[

Another issue,and maybe a seperate topic,is the psycological part of hunting...a buddy of mine is a booking agent;hunts a lot,and sees lots of hunters in action.He says that some have no "killer instinct" at all.That a lack of confidence with a rifle, coupled with what (he thinks)is a fundamental aversion to killing,causes guys to dawdle, mess with gear,and find every excuse in the world not to pull the trigger.Thye are infatuated with the notion of hunting,but not the realities of it....this, in turn affects field performance with a rifle.I dunno....maybe he has something there

[/quote]

There is truth in that statement. As in all things martial, committing to a course of action before actually being in the situation allows immediate action, not consideration.
That is why we practice from field positions, visualised animal anatomy while taking shots, and do not take the shot if it is questionable. I personally am more intimidated by a bullseye target than a bull moose.

In Africa this spring I shot a kudu at 125 yds offhand. He cleared a group of trees saw me turned to run and died in his tracks.The PH said "[bleep] old man, you are fast!" I did not think so as when the cross hairs hit the shoulder the trigger was squeezed. I did not have to decide if it was ethical, or moral, or anything else, I just did what I had a year ago decided I would do. Where I had a harder time was when the animals were 270 yds or more and I needed to compensate for trajectory. The shots were made, but with more concern that sights were correct, trigger squeeze deliberate but smooth etc. I have hit paper at distance but little game previously. Oddly enough I consciously picked the spot of impact, the hold over, the windage adjustment, breath control, and trigger squeeze. Because I have done most of my hunting up close, those shots are natural and instantanious.

I am not a hunting expert by any means, but I am one who loves to hunt.

Randy

Randy: Sounds to me like ya done good!

There are few true experts,so we are in good company.You do the best you can,and practice!

Apparently my buddy doesn't like shooting groups or zeroing rifles, either. Reloaded some 140 Accubonds for his 270 WSM, and asked him to shoot a few and let me know how they shot. He didn't, and we went looking to blast some does with crop damage tags. Needless to say, the sucker killed a doe at 200 yards with a perfect shot through the lungs.

Due to my laziness and lack of time, often my 'range' time is to staple a piece of paper or plate to a tree, and standing back at 60-75 yards offhand, try and shoot some 'groups'. It's worked okay so far, but I really gotta find a better place to shoot.