Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hind leg shooting at critters

I wonder how many here might claim to never shoot at big game from the vantage point of their own hind legs?

And I wonder how many folks who have, wished they knew how their rifle (and selves) grouped from that position?

I wonder how many have also wished they had practiced from that position - upright without supports- enough to take shots with any level of confidence?

you have too much time to 'wonder'.....

I'm pretty much guilty of using a rest whenever possible.

Here are a couple porkers I jump shot.



I was riding down the main road when I saw them in the middle of a power line easement about half mile away. I rode to within a couple hundred yards of where I estimated them to be, got off my four wheeler and started stalking. I stuck my head out from behind a juniper, they were about 45 yards away. They busted me and started running. Dropped these two and missed a third as he was hitting the brush.

But also,

I wonder how many folk, their hearts a poundin' their pulse racin' their breath short in their chest sayin' to themselves after trying to get back on target to take a second or third shot after a miss saying. Dang me, I should have availed myself of a rest of some sort.


Best

GWB

In my world I rarely have to shoot more than a hundred yards so I almost never take a rest. If the shot is beyond a hundred yards I try to find a rest.

I practice standing shots with a regular frequency, in addition to each field position. I bring bowling pins with me, and shoot one twice from each position. I figure if a bowling pin isn't safe with me standing than neither will any creature larger.

p.s. I do clean up after myself.

i prefer some sort of rest even if its just leaning my left arm against a tree......but i do shoot offhand at gophers in the off season for practice.....

I practice from standing with almost every range session, usually double taps.
The idea is to remind me how slow I am in getting the shot off and to try and speed it up.
It also reminds me why using a sitting position, even on close in stuff, works better. The time lost assuming a sitting position is largely made up for with a faster trigger break.
With really close shots, say 25 yds., it works fine. Out to 50 yds., speed and accuracy wise, I do a little better from standing. But, beyond 50 yds., I get reminded that a sitting position works better.
Beyond 200-250 yds., I'm better off using a rest, like my pack. E

Practicing from standing is a great thing.

Used to do a lot of that with my .22 rifle. Might have to reconsider and get an air rifle for practice if .22's don't become more available soon.

As hunting season approaches, I've got a little practice routine that I do every week if possible. Take 50 cartridges, usually my .308 Win, start with 10 rounds prone, then 10 rounds sitting, 10 rounds kneeling and 20 rounds standing. All at a 12" gong at 300 yards. After a couple of weeks I'll be nailing that thing almost every time.


When I use the .375, I cut down on the rounds fired by a fair amount, but I still use the same practice drill. It seems to work pretty well.


I've take a few deer from standing, but not many. If I can use a rest in the field I do so. Usually I'm able to use my sling to help with accuracy in the field too.

All my blackpowder/traditional muzzle loader deer were taken from standing, because I got pretty doggone close to them before shooting. Center fire rifle kills have been split pretty good; a few from prone, quite a few from sitting and a few from standing.

FWIW, Guy

Klik,

I've killed pickup loads of big game offhand, including quite a bit of running game. Generally the shorts have been at shorter ranges, but not always. Once killed a deer at around 200 paces because when I sat down tall grass prevented the shot.

Does the squat position count? I've used it quite frequently, especially at woods ranges. It's steadier than offhand, and in fact I find it about as steady as kneeling, but easier and quieter to get into than kneeling or sitting. You just squat, with your upper arms on your knees as in the sitting position. It often helps when you have to shoot UNDER tree limbs.

Shot a lot of coyotes off hand, as well as my fair number of jack rabbits with my heavy, 20" bull barrel AR-15.

I have shot a coues deer or two standing. One was running but only about 80 yards, rolled him. A cow elk (20 yards maybe), and a javelina. I do a lot of dry firing (with snap caps) prone, making clear mental notes of where my cross hair were when I fired Vs. where I wanted them to be. Seems to work for me.

John, in the Marines, we called that squatting position, "rice paddy prone." It works out pretty doggone well.

It's good to know that people make the effort to practice 'out of position', but it's even better to hear about the methods of practice used by various persons.

It seems that the challenges one often gets under actual field conditions, are different just about every time, are totally different than what one might have had in their imagination, and often require very spontaneous and imaginative solutions in order to create a decent shot prospect. (The squat or crouch positions remind me of bunny hunting where willows and alders are involved and there is invariably, it seems, a twig right in line between barrel and bunny head. Burning thigh practice ain't bad either. )

But flopping prone in two feet of snow has certain negative issues. But so does trying to shoot over the tops of head-high willows.

The older I get, the less I value shooting paper or see the downside in practicing from the weakest positions, even if that doesn't include the tip-toe position sometimes called for in actual situations.

I reckon muddy spring weather (in some places) is probably a good excuse to be getting some good offhand practice.

I have taken a few animals while standing, but prefer to get a rest if possible. Longest to date is ~ 150 yards because the grass was to tall.

I use a rest if I can find one, I lean if I can't, or sit down or lay down. My Dad taught me to shoot in the standard positions, offhand, sitting, kneeling and prone. We didn't shoot off a bench back in the dark ages. They had just discovered fire a few years before I was borne. The way I deer hunt, it's usually just taking the shot that's offered. Since I tramp around in pretty thick cover, distances are usually shortand most of the deer that I've shot have been offhand and so have most of my misses.
I practice offhand pretty regularly. My rule is that my maximum range in any position is the range that I can hit a little pie pan from that position with that gun. From my practice sessions and field time, I know that there are times that my maximum distance should be measured in inches, particularly when I've just hoofed up a mountain. But most times my unsupported maximum range is about 75 yards. When I was younger, that range was considerably longer.
Bfly
Thankgoodness for grey squirrels. In PA that season runs for a couple weeks before deer season, so my field shooting is much better than it would be if I were only punching paper.

I don't shoot standing unless I have to or the deer is very close. Mostly from my butt with my forearms resting on my knees or folding shooting sticks. If I shoot from standing at an unalarmed deer, I try to have my Bogpod tripod or homemade cane shooting sticks handy.
As far as practice, I did that for the first 50 years of my life.
BB guns, pellet guns, .22's, etc. Now I just sight my guns in and go kill stuff. Hog hunting is year around and I shoot more in a month now than I do in several years deer hunting.

stumpy

makes a hell of alot of sense to grab your hunting rifle and go varmitting......either shooting ground squirrels like i do or walk around a prairie dog town or even hunt rabbits with it(though unless head shots are used you wont be keeping many for the pot)....you wont shoot as many rounds as you do in a day with your varmint guns but doing it periodically in the off season is excellent practice for big game seasons....

or if you have a target range you can use that isnt to rigid in policies, playing "horse" can be alot of fun, you and a buddy take turns calling the shots....."a gallon jug, standing no support at 125 yards"....."a pop can, using rice paddy prone at 45 yards" and just challenge each other.....tends to work better out in a field than on a range but you get the idea and it can be done on paper instead using different sized bullseye targets.....

I had to shoot a 5pt bull elk offhand a couple years ago when he was walking across a small meadow 250 yards ahead of me and the radius of the terrain kept me from getting a rest. The alley or window was also narrow so I didn't have much time either.
I hate shots like that, but I got him!

Last summer I hammered a rock chuck with a 300 gr SPBT Sierra from my .375 H&H. I guess that counts as using the hunting rifle for varminting!

Most of my hunting though, is done with a .25-06 Rem 700 CDL and a 6x Leupold. I like it for hunting mule deer and finally got around to hunting pronghorn with it. During the rest of the year it sees use as my coyote rifle. Same loads, same zero, just more shooting. The .25-06 does just fine on coyotes too.

Favorite rifle ever though is the little .22 rimfire Marlin 39A. Dang I enjoy shooting that thing. Swinging metal targets and a brick of .22's makes for a great afternoon of plinking, or I'll just walk the hills with it, shooting rockchucks & other vermin. That sort of thing is great practice for big game season. Besides, it's just plain fun.

Guy

I shot a 6X7 bull offhand a couple of years ago from about 75 yards when he stopped just short of a small rise in the timber. I wouldn't have been able to see his chest from either sitting or kneeling.

JB, I've used the squatting position too but one has to be careful about using it with a heavy kicker. You'll end up on your bu++ wondering where the animal went. Guess how I know.

I agree.....