Do many of you practice this or other shooting positions regularily?I shoot long rifles quite a bit at home and on our local range and don't see many hunters practicing hunting positions.I finish off a session at the range shooting offhand and sitting or prone.I don't see many others do this ...so I gotta ask.Do you?

Yes.

I can't remember the last time I went to a range to shoot. As far as shooting off hand goes, the best practice is walking and shooting gophers with someone of equal skill or better. If you want to see improvement and make yourself a good shot under any circumstances, shoot off hand...

I spend most of my range time shooting the 2 and 300 yard gongs off hand. Once I get the rifle zeroed I'm either shooting from seated on the ground or standing off hand. I was at my best when I was shooting groundhogs two days a week back in Maryland.

Edit for side note: I was banging away at the 200yd gong with my scoped 223 and there was an ancient gentleman down at the end of the range matching me shot for shot with an '03A3 with iron sights. It was humbling.

Groundhog hunting here in WV kept me in tune. Squirrel hunting with a 22 offhand tightens things up as well.

Nothing like squirrel hunting with a rimfire and head shots only to keep you in shooting form

Benches are only for confirming zero's and wind drifts.....

I wish more of my hunters would practise it. A 9" paper plate at 50 yards would be safe from most of them if they shot offhand. Most of them are content to only shoot from the bench and think that if they can make a "long range" hit once in a while that they are good to go.

I do some offhand shooting even when going to the range to bench-test stuff, but the biggie here in Montana, as Shrapnel pointed out, is shooting burrowing rodents offhand. (He likes to bet a Coca-Cola on those shots, but since he works for a Coke distributor he gets them at a "discount," so there's no much pressure on him either way.)

But I also simply must mention that I once shot a big game animal from a benchrest, a mule deer doe that wandered too near the old farmhouse where some of us were staying one year. There was a bench in the yard.

Almost once shot an Alaskan moose from a benchrest once too. Actually, it was an all-purpose piece of plywood, nailed to a tree along the banks of a small river in a hunting camp, used not only for testing whether rifles were still sighted-in after the flight from Dillingham, but filleting salmon and other stuff. The bull moved at the last moment, and I had to move down to the river bank to take the shot.

"Ingwe" ? ?


Jerry

Gotta be kidding. That's pretty bad.

Most of them are busy men - and a few women - who have either taken up hunting later in life, or placed it on hold while they were working, and when they get a chance to shoot it is from a bench sighting in for a big hunt .

If they are serious about hunting and shooting I simply recommend they place a paper plate at 50 yard - or 25 - and when they can consistantly hit it 3 times in a row off-hand to move it back until they can reliably do it at 100.
I deal with a lot of highly successful people and once they actually try off-hand shooting and see how it relates to real hunting scenarios they improve rapidly.

I honestly don't remember the last time I shot from a bench. I'd guess 90% of my shooting is offhand, the other 10% sitting or standing with a modified rest (tree etc).

I've fired this rifle a grand total of 4 times.

The first 3 shots were hedge apples at 50 yards offhand, all hits.

The 4th was this deer. I have many such rifles that I've killed with and have never once shot 'paper' or 'groups' with them.

Shoot like i hunt.
All of my rifles have slings not carrying straps.

And add more practice.

Another hedge apple shooter. Deer haven't been around the times I've carried it, but that will eventually change.

Scott, what vintage and chambering is that 1895?

28" of 30US (30/40 Krag), born in 1904. Someone put a recoil pad on it a long time ago, but that's ok.

I used to think I was a pretty decent shot. Then I took up competitive silhouette shooting.

People who have never tried it talk down about funny stances and high-powered scopes and such. What they are really saying is that it's different than what I do so of course it's wrong. But it's amazing what 10 000 rounds or so a year of offhand shooting does for a persons trigger squeeze and follow through.

It is sad how often a hot-shot shooter shows up, ready to show off their abilities. Then, out of 40 shots, then don't hit double digits. Most we never see again, because silhouette shooting is hard. Talking about shooting, and shooting off rests, is easy. It is a shame, because like any past time, practice makes us better. Most don't practice.

I'm with Shrap and rosy on this one. Benches are for testing loads and confirming zeroes.
Offhand practice is the best, get used to it and once you are actually in the field hunting, use any rest you can....it seems luxuriously easy ...

Steel that is a sharp model 95..

I agree with the bench being a place for checking loads and sighting in, but I seldom shoot any game off hand.. When I spot something, my first move is to get a good rest.. This is something I try for even in heavy timber.. An off hand shot for me, is my last resort..

I'm like WCH.I might shoot off hand in thick timber when elk are 30-50 yards away,but I either carry a shooting bipod or look for a rest close by for longer shots. Very seldom do I find myself not having time to find a suitable rest.

Back when I was 20-40years old,I did competitve shooting with service rifles and one course of fire was 200 yards off hand. After a summer of that,I was confident to take off hand shots up to maybe 200 yards.

I might practice with a 22 RF ,357 or 38-40 lever gun while plinking at the range,but I practice more with handguns.I very seldom shoot a lot of rounds thru any of the rifles I hunt with.After 40 years or so of using them,I pretty much know what they will do.

Yes, I like to shoot sitting with a sling and will practice dropping into the sitting position at the range.

I've found that Sporting Clays competition with an O/U or SxS shotgun has improved my offhand rifle shooting. For moving targets ie Gophers, I just step into position, mount the rifle, acquire a sight picture, and trigger the shot more dynamically. If there is more time, I'll tuck into a steadier position.

Excellent choice in rifles!

This year's bull succumbed to an offhand shot with the Browning 1895. About 100'yds.

Most rifle designs are pizz poor for off hand shooting. Purpose built off hand rifles like the Schuetzen rifle show what can be done on 2 hind legs. Knowing how to use a military sling can help in all positions but 99.9% of today's shooters have no idea how to "sling up."

Among other events, our club has 2 rimfire Turkey shoots shooting offhand 22 steel targets at 25, 35 and 50 yds. People under 50 almost never get a bird. (except the under 10 who can use the bench)

Mine is a hvy bbl Savage bolt gun fitted with a hook buttplate, cheek rest, palm rest and extra lead in fore end. Only lacking double sets to make it a 2014 Schuetzen.

For an offhand hunting rifle hard to beat my 1890 Browning 26-06. Has a 30" med hvy bbl, rifle buttplate and decent trigger. You shoot it off the arm, not the shoulder and it works fine. A 12" gong at 300 yds is toast.

That looks really sharp. And the red pad wouldn't have stopped me from buying it either.

You hear all of these stories around the bar or the range or the campfire (real and virtual) about how some nimrod saw the elk, deer, antelope, bear, whatever, at 300 yds and they just threw their rifle up on their shoulder and fired and dropped it right in it's tracks. I saw the lie put to those sorts of claims when we used to hold a 1/4 mile shoot each year at the range. Part of that shoot was offhand for score at 200 yds. 99% of the competitors couldn't score high enough to pass on to the 300yd target. Of the guys who did get to 300, most never made it to 440. I failed to make the 200yd cut myself a couple of times. That's when I got serious about putting a fair amount of rounds down range from offhand.

Just walked in from shooting 20 shots offhand. Don't do it every week, but most weeks I do.

I probably shoot more deer from sitting than any other position. Standing runs a real close second.

Nice thing about sitting is it is nearly as accurate as prone. I expect 10 shot 200 yard sitting groups to be smaller than my palm.

Competitive target shooting is where you can hone your skills.

We have leagues here in the CT area for three and four position matches. During the fall and winter it's 22's at 50 ft indoors on Thursday nights.

During warmer weather it's 'big bore' leagues at 200 yds.

My favorite hunting rifle these days is a Browning BLR that I had lightened and shortened - it's my saddle gun.I shoot this and a little Henry .22 levergun alternatively when I am developing loads for the BLR.It gives the barrel a chance to cool and I get lots of positional practice.The mechanics are pretty much the same on both rifles.

Hell, I'll even go one further. In the past several years, about 50% of the deer I've killed have been using the wrong shoulder/hand. I've found it easier to just shift hands.

I've killed a turkey or two wrong handed with a shotgun too.

I hunt sheep, goats and mule deer by preference and there is seldom an opportunity for a classic , rehearsed shot at one of these species on a rocky bluff or chute I might be on or in.Sometimes you just cannot get comfortable and this is when practice in those awkward shooting positions becomes helpful to really build confidence.70* upwards and off a chunk of ragged limestone.

I think it's odd that people will work to get the smallest possible group from bench rest and then hunt and shoot at game standing or off hand. I shoot more than ten shots off hand than I do at bench rest. But I do try to get smallest groups too.

Yep I shoot rimfire silhouette and with 120 rounds in a day match you get a lot of off-hand trigger time. Tried hi-power but I've enjoyed rimfire much more and with shooting a Cooper 57M I'm basically shooting a cf rifle size and weight.

My practice method is to use an 8.5x11" sheet of black construction paper placed horizontally on my target frame. I shoot prone, sitting, kneeling and offhand as well as using whatever makeshift rests I can find at distances out to 300 yards.

The paper fairly closely approximates a kill zone and lets me know where my limit is on range and position and where I need to practice. I can keep my shots on the paper at 300 in every position but offhand. My limit offhand is 225 yards. Beyond that I start to have one off paper occasionally.

Yep......

The traditional shooting areas here are Cinder pits. 100-300 yards off hand practice is real simple. Pick out a rock of appropriate size, for the game the rifle is for and shoot. Keep the scope set at its lowest power setting, see the target, mount and shoot when the crosshairs settle. When you try to precisely aim you will make fewer hits.

Why black?

Why horizontal?

Just curious, because I do the same with white and vertical.

Because I had a package of 100 sheets of black construction paper we bought for another use and had only used a couple of sheets. I liked it and bought more when we ran out. Horizontal because when I started doing it we lived in deer country and I felt the horizontal placement more closely matched a deer's kill zone. I have just kept with that even after moving to Alaska.

My brother in law figured out how to shoot his bow wrong handed for the pig coming on the wrong side... I never really got that far.. my draw weights were usually to heavy to start with.

This doesn't hurt, but it sure doesn't represent hunting either. I know... I've done what you are doing way past 200 yards for many a year... and was pretty decent at it, but its not offhand hunting practice IMHO.

All. 458Win had a short article a few years ago about shooting OH from his porch w/a comp. air rifle. I shoot my Beeman R-1 OH every day in the back yard for at least a few shots. Use an old BBQ top facing me on edge which has a piece of sheet metal inside to deflect them down. I use a dime suspended on a piece of wire for a target at about 40 feet. Aint gophs' but 500 rnds. is about $14 using good pellets and YOU DO learn about follow through.-Muddy

I can shoot a rifle as well left handed as I can right, likely because I am wrong I dominate. Manipulating one is a different story.

Just as I always drive left handed (so many years with a stick), but I'd always have corn kernels stuck in my ass if I had to wipe wrong handed.

We also run the running deer shoot in the fall and so do other clubs around here!

Whatever you guys got to do to stay in practice. Pulling the trigger is pulling the trigger. I've shot trap competitively, gone to many centerfire and rimfire shoots, shoot at the local gravel pit and other gun clubs. When I was young, I used to shoot jackrabbits on the run and walked many thousand miles doing so, also shot the chit out of them in the night time while riding in the back of a pick-up hanging on to the top of the cab with one hand and shooting with the other. Shooting is shooting. There's also no replacement for practice. I hear some guys even practice dry firing while sitting on the couch. Never done that and probably never will personally, but if it works for you so be it. I'd rather send rounds down range at paper or game, it doesn't matter....

I do my very best not to shoot at game off hand and teach younger hunters the same technique of dropping to one knee and getting a solid rest or using a tree etc. to improve their odds. I still practice off hand once in a while with a 22 and shoot trap to keep moving target skills sharper but for me one knee is vastly more accurate than standing even when using a sling to steady the rifle.

Last weekend my daughter shot off hand and asked how anyone could hit anything that way. I surprised myself by keeping the spinning targets going non stop for 10 rounds at 50 yards but if the targets had fur I would have been on a knee or sitting.

One of my hunting partners is good on gongs to 300 with his 300 Winmag but missed the last shot he took at a cow elk from about 100 yards shooting off hand.

I coached a gal getting ready for one of those TV hunting contests. We worked on the 375H&H off hand and she did fine but I told her to go off of one knee on the run then shoot course. She was slow around the course but the one knee strategy scored about double any of the other girls off hand efforts.

I'm glad that most shooters at the public ranges around here only shoot from the bench. It helps them keep their barrels pointed downrange. Besides, many of them can't hit a 9 inch paper plate at 50 yards from the bench.

Nothing wrong shooting offhand. I also add the 'dropping to one knee' sounds groovy in the backyard, not so much in many settings.

If you can get a rest, get a rest, but not to the point of spending 5 minutes to do so.


On my one and only 'pay' hunt for deer they asked that we fire our rifles at 35 yards to see if we were right on at that distance.

There were 2 of us that showed up at the same time. I watched the first guy sit at the bench, then fiddle f*ck the sandbags for 2 minutes, adjust scope power and finally after about 5 minutes made one shot on target at 35 yards.

The owner then said 'Your turn'. I walked to the bench, chambered a round, shouldered the rifle and fired. Took me about 20 seconds. It would have been less time if the owner did stop me part way through and say 'Don't you want to use the bench?'

If a person can't hit a target offhand at 35 yards, they should take up Yahtzee.

I don't think you can even call yourself a hunting rifleman unless you are reasonably proficient from off hand. It should be a right of passage for any aspiring BG hunter.

Instead of being looked down upon, it should be encouraged and practiced since it is of FAR more value in BG hunting than sitting on one's ass at a bench and squeezing irrelevant 3 shot groups

Use to be a lot of old timers at the range shooting cheap cast loads off hand out to 200 yards. What they could do was amazing. Today guys shoot groups hunkered in sand bags and call it "practice"...then get out in the field and blow modest opportunities because they don't have the security of their bench rest.

Seen it happen...gawking when presented with a simple shot. Usually close and unexpected.

Off hand is normally the work of the walking around woods hunter and at normal wood distances getting down on one knee will most often do little to improve your view of the animal. Taking it to the extreme, go down flat on the ground and have a look at what you can see and what pops up in front of you.

Grab on to something if you can, go down on one knee if you have time, practice for those times when you can not.

Nor does going down on a knee grant any favors for when the animal is moving. If it did, then skeet would be shot on one knee.

Addition: Shooting only from the bench does nothing for learning how to correctly mount a rifle quickly. Like many things there is a wrong and right way. It does nothing for learning how to subconsciously have the feet set themselves to the best advantage. There is more to hitting things than pulling the trigger.

Good post and good advice.There's loads of value in grabbing the best field rest you can, but trying too hard will cost opportunities.

Like any shot we will know immediately if we can make an off hand shot or not. I think it is a big mistake to discourage anyone from learning to shoot off hand since you will for sure bump into situations numerous times if you do a lot of hunting.

Here's a victim.Works on mule deer too. Spotted at long range and stalked to about 80, shot off hand.

Sitting at a bench shooting targets is NOT hunting practice.

You'd better find accurate loads for hunting AND get your scope sighted FROM A BENCH -- ( if you want confidence to kill humanely at any distance ) but NONE of that is ' hunting ' practice.

Practice from field positions includes ' off hand ' shooting. I'd rather not have to shoot off hand but when hunting, sometimes off hand is the only opportunity you have.

Jerry

battue - PLUS 2


Jerry

Offhand in a shooting house at around 40. Couldn't get on one knee and he wasn't hanging around to have his picture taken.



Sitting at around 20.




Standing at around 30. Nothing to grab onto. Deer was uphill walking thru some brush and on a knee you would have had nothing to shoot at.





Nothing to grab onto and on a knee you would have been shooting thru brush. If I had decided to shoot there was only one way.

One knee at around 80. I tried to get on her running but couldn't. Then she stopped to look back.

battue: All nice!


How come the Old Guys know how to do this stuff?

Offhand, 85 yards...in a hurry....


Course...it was a big target!

Because old guys have f*cked up knees and if they did sit or kneel to shoot, they wouldn't be able to get back up.

Got to hang around with the right old guys.

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...)


70 yards




60'ish yards




25 yards




35 yards




70 yards




30 yards

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




35 yards






60 yards



60 yards




70 yards

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

I see lots of wood/blue in those photos.....Nice.

I've never been a 1 trick pony, regardless of what many may think.

Besides, a Ruger 77 was my only rifle for many a years. Barrel rusted out towards the muzzle and stock cracked in 2 places.

Gotta love it.

twenty five yard "finisher" 416 Rigby. (Initial shot at 40 yards by my friend off sticks)

[img]http://lavikinga.com/jorge/Zimbabwe/CD1A.cfm[/img]

~ seventy yards whilst on a l-r "trot" and in low light (scope cut the ol' schnazz)

[img]http://lavikinga.com/jorge/Zimbabwe/CD2.cfm[/img]

Not counting Namibia where all my game shots were offhand facilitated by shooting sticks, in my case a 5' tall tripod, this is the only true offhand game shot I can remember, taken without other support. I invariably hunt the plains, or open mountain areas where game is usually not close so there is no need for a true offhand shot. A rest, any rest, or a bipod can be used without risking a bad outcome.

This was an Idaho bull in the predawn grey at about a hundred and fifty yards and as I was up to my armpits in ferns and the bull was almost broadside and at ease I went for it.

Me too, and I love to use old iron...

Does this count?

There was the time when the first shot on a hard quartering at around 30 or so went too far left. Offhand it was. The Doe took off running, (correction) her front right dangling, and picked my point on the compass to run to. She recognized me at-well it was getting close-and made a leap which I'm not sure would have cleared my head. Second shot was from the hip and she crashed at my feet. Never did practice for that one.

Another thing to consider is game rarely stands perfectly still and waits while you get down in position or scramble for a rest, or is moving past/away from you to begin with. I'll take a step and lean into a tree or something to steady my aim, if circumstances allow, but more often than not- here in the Eastern woodlands- it's an offhand shot right now or not at all.

I have a lot more respect for a rifleman who can hit a paper plate every time offhand at 100-200 yards than the guy who can produce ½" groups off the bench but can't hit the berm when shooting off his hind legs.

I bet you did. Who, as a kid, never practiced emulating Chuck Connors, "The Rifleman"?

RE moving animals, I will not fire at them. Just my choice, but it sure seems like a few folks out there are good at it. And thats great!

My theory though, is for the way and places we hunt, it rarely takes moer than a few seconds to grab some kind of rest, and I'll do that every time. Even if it costs me the game.

Just a different way, but if you practice for getting a rest as another poster noted, then its second nature and quick.

Of course I rarely shoot an animal unless bow or my old war musket, thats close. Generally all my shots are around 175 and further out, its mostly due to where and how I choose to hunt. Pretty common to take at least a couple of shots at 300-350 on a particular trail. While I'm pretty sure I could do that offhand on a good day on our deer, Its much more reliable to get a rest. And since I won't shoot unless I"m 200% sure, its about the only way I do it these days.

Alaska fall hunting is a bit different at times and I"ve made a few quick moose shots around 125-150 off hand with zero other rests around. But they are not small and standing still...

I didn't mean to imply that my shots were offhand. My point was that even though I practice it, I rarely use it. Sitting here thinking about it the only truly offhand shot that comes to mind was a small muley buck at about 75yds while I was still hunting a river bottom. 100gr interlock from my Ruger 77 250 savage. Deer was facing me pretty close to straight on. Bullet entered just below the chin a few inches and followed the spine on back a bit.
Ruined about 4 inches of backstrap.

Scott

I failed to notice your pics earlier. Besides nice shooting and irons as always, I really enjoy the mix of stuff you use. I figured I was kinda weird for using anything from a home made recurve to a crossbow to a civil war musket all the way to a Mc stocked custom rifle.

Those blacktails sure always make me want to go back. Hopefully in less than 5 years that will happen, and I can figure a way to hunt them every fall. If nothing else hopefully can drive to Valdez and make somethign work out of there!

If you do all your pre-season shooting from a bench rest, be sure to take a bench rest with you when you go hunting.

I don't consider shooting from a bench to be practice for hunting. I shoot a scoped air gun in my basement regularly and practice offhand, kneeling and sitting at the range, mostly with a .22.

I rarely shoot offhand when hunting though, except in the thick stuff, and when I'm in open country I usually carry shooting sticks.

shrapnel

I was thinking the same thing of the gopher shooting about a 1/2 hr ago. Shot 15, most unsupported. One on the run. I am getting better since I have lots of practice lately.

That is the truth too! I was at our local range and an old timer was hitting a 5-inch plate at 220 yards shooting off hand with Winchester M70. 3 out of 3 was the norm. My barrel is waving all over the place with off hand range shooting.

What is the secret to better off-hand shooting?

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Actually I found to start squeezing the trigger as soon as its on target. Sure its gonna wobble around while you're doing it, but eventually, with practice, the wobble gets smaller.

Holding your breath and or position waiting for it all to get better NEVER works.

1) Knowing how to mount a rifle. Lots of guys FIND game/target in the scope, WRONG way to do things.

2) As Ingwe said, quick is best. You can't be standing there for 10 seconds (see #1). You don't have to be quick draw, bring rifle up, find the spot (you should be close if you know how to mount a rifle) and shoot.

3) A good trigger HELPS much

4) I prefer a rifle with a little weight out front, or at least neutrally balanced. A butt heavy gun sucks for offhand.

And yea, practice. It's an odd day when I don't sling a magazine of ammo through an open sighted 22 off the back deck or a pellet gun.

Practice mainly as the others have said. Reduce the magnification on your scope as well. The more Xs you have on the scope the more it magnifies the wobble. A good trigger is very important.

Just loaded a bunch of .357 pistol bullets in Whelen cases this wknd so I can do a little OH practice. I get a fair amount of close range opportunities. Ave distance off all the deer I've taken is well under 50 yds. I don't do running shots and will take advantage of any tree I can find as a rest.

Scott has great points.

One other thing you need to see with a scope, so you understand it rather than someone telling you to shoot quick...

Put the gun up, learn to mount it while staring at the target. Then notice how wild it is at first, and then it starts to settle some as you concentrate. Then it starts to get worse, and way worse.

When you realize you might have 5 seconds to shoot without it getting to the 2nd wild, you know what we are talking about.

As another post says... if you are in the killing zone you need to be pulling the trigger. You can learn by dry firing to snap it pretty quickyl, but you have to not jerk. And you have to know when to give up and take a breath and start over again. Pressure while teh crosshairs are moving towards center, if it starts moving out or away, stop the pressure... start it again as its coming back in.

You likely won't see this without some practice....

And for live fire stuff, ball and dummy rules IMHO... always have some blanks loaded, dead or no primer, and a bullet but no powder. Drop in your pocket or bag with live.. do not look as you load....

And follow through. I've seen guys dropping rifles and lifting heads to see what was going on the millisecond they pulled the trigger.

Yep. An air rifle is a very good tool to teach follow through. If you're not going all the way through it will become very obvious.

And for live fire stuff, ball and dummy rules IMHO... always have some blanks loaded, dead or no primer, and a bullet but no powder. Drop in your pocket or bag with live.. do not look as you load... This is how I conquered flinching:-)

We ain't talking about flinching, we are talking about improving shooting offhand. I don't want nor need dummies for practicing shooting offhand.

Another couple of points.

Squeezing the trigger has been mentioned. At least as important is the follow-through. You can't believe how far you can miss a shot with the reticle in exactly the right spot, if you get excited and get jumpy on the trigger. especially when your air starts to run out, because you are of course holding your breath.

Stance. What is your weight distribution like? It should be slightly on the front foot.

Also, concentration! You have to focus on making the shot. Not be thinking about missing.

Balanced weight distribution, neither front nor back. Shoulder width stance. Focused controlled breathing and timing.

It might be a situational thing, dependent on such things as cover, but I actually do shoot a fair bit of game from kneeling, braced up against a convenient tree if I can, or not. I find it steadier than standing, and takes but a moment to adopt.

I think it is important to adapt yourself to the situation, and take the best option depending on time, cover, distance etc. To that end I think that it is valuable to practice from a range of positions, and also to practice adopting positions smoothly and quickly. It is also worthwhile when hunting to be conscious of where you might take a shot from. For example, if you see an undisturbed animal, or even if you flush one "do I take him from here, or step up to that tree and brace up?"

Of course, you have to make the shot, and sometimes don't have much time to think about it. This little bloke was shot offhand at a distance of less than a yard, pi$$ed off and coming in fast:


And these were shot offhand by me and a mate, all going hard in various directions, over a few noisy seconds. Distances probably less than 60 yards for the longest shot.


I've shot a fair few like that. There again though, I've shot a fair few critters from kneeling and sitting too, and prone. I've even shot game from a fair approximation of a benchrest, such as a big boulder with my backpack on it.

When I am doing well I bring the crosshair over the target the same way everytime.I anticipate crossing the 10 ring.It is not a attempt at a steady hold on the 10 ring...just my way.What do others do ?

This do make things easier. The real lightweights are tough to shoot offhand, I find a medium weight ( 8 lb) rifle with a mag contour barrel about the easiest.

And personally speaking, I don't like a sling on a rifle for offhand shooting, and don't like to shoot all wrapped up in a sling either...JMHO

A nice trigger is a big benefit, too. The rifles I do my best offhand work with all have light crisp triggers, and my favorites have double set triggers. One can't possibly conquer the wobbles, but one can snatch the shot accurately with a good trigger as the sights linger on the aiming point. Harry Pope, the esteemed barrel maker and champion offhand target (Schuetzen) shot was asked by a bystander what he considered the most important part of a good target rifle (expecting Harry to say the barrel, of course), gave the reply that it was his trigger.

The most important aid IMO though is the one between your ears. Be smart enough to know what your deficiencies are and work to correct them, be smart enough to ask for and heed advice from guys who've been there and succeeded, and be smart enough to practice practice practice.

I was told to use a figure 8 if it helps.

Lots of wobble, figure 8 and inside 60 yard shots when we discuss the real world hunting applications of offhand shooting. It seems that folks practice at longer ranges, but only see it as a tool for short range hunting and I agree.

Anyone with a little experience will take a field rest of some kind if conditions allow. From a steady field rest even moving targets are much easier if it is anything but a fixed bipod providing your extra stability.

For the shotgunners who stand exclusively - Turkey shots are much closer to big game shots and most of those are taken sitting with a rest to get the precise pellet placement in a head or neck.

My hunting conditions and methods haven't resulted in tons of closer than 60 yard shots but I'm almost exclusively hunting arid mountain areas with patches of thicker forests rather than thick woods with occasional clearings. But even at inside 100 yards I take a rest if I can and think you are foolish not to get as steady as you can.

Good post.

General Comment: I would not begin to know how to shoot moving game off bipod or shooting sticks, but from a sitting position or off hand,MUCH easier.

The sticks or bipods would do noting but handicap me. In open country I will grab what I can for a rest and have used jackets, hats, bins, branches,rocks etc but depend primarily on a shooting style sling like Brownell Latigo. I

By far, IMHO thats the best way to set up the quick offhand shot..... bring it in the same wobbly slow speed every time and start to break the trigger as you get there... usually goes bang when it should... but to me this also means not trying to start that trigger break until you are at least in the vitals of the chest and then breaking it fast.

I can say, if you wait till its there, its going to usually be too late...

I do use a bench for sight in and checking sights. My air gun is my offhand practice tool. I don't shoot anywhere as much as competitors do, but a few hundred shots offhand prior to the season is a great tune up and confidence builder.

Jack

Yes practice of course but trigger control, knowing when to break the trigger as it crosses your target. You are going to move so your job is to dictate the movement rather than chase it.

Practice calling your shot.

For me it was years of shooting Cross Course High Power which was a wonderful teacher.

Honestly for me shooting a moving target off-hand is easier than shooting a stationary target off-hand.

Practice at the range, practice in the field are all good.

I just got back from Romania hunting Roe deer and took three nice animals. The first was off hand at about 80-90 yards at a steep uphill angle while sucking wind trying to keep up with my young ranger. I was able to bring the cross hairs down across his vitals and break trigger just right for a good behind the shoulder double lung shot. The 2nd was a fast 50 yard shot at a spooked Roe quartering strongly away.(a bit if skeet shooting helped there)As I broke the trigger as I swung through vitals.
The 3rd was a kneeling shot at about 50 yards at low light with a full frontal neck shot.

The only shot I was able to use a rest was the kneeling shot but the point is conditions dictate my shot. I will always opt for a rested shot anytime if available and if not I have to feel good about it. That comes from practice.

All of this interesting conversation makes me want to get to the range that much sooner and practice:-)) I think about 40 rounds @ 100yds with some clay pigeons will get me warmed up for 220 yards.

For the wood, on game when it happens quickly: Controlled breathing, square shoulders, shoulder width stance and balance is what you are given. Few xxxx's, fat reticle-big dot is nice-plant the reticle, hit the trigger wins the race. Screwing around making everything perfect is most often not an option.

Use milk jugs at all ranges.

Unless you're shooting gophers or similar. Obviously.




Dave

Often makes things worse - or the opportunity is gone.

For a quick shot, look at the point on the animal you're going to hit, keep your focus on it, muzzle on it, mount to the shoulder and the sights superimpose themselves on it and bang. Takes more time to say than to do.

Of course, a rifle which fits you, sights set up properly too, and a decent trigger, all help, as does practice, including dry as well as live.

If you had time to faff around getting things "just so", you probably had time to get into a better position, whether by moving to a better spot, moving to something you could rest against, or getting into a more solid position - or a combination of these.

After taking up silohuette shooting, I have shot more offhand in the past six months than in the previous six years. I have always shot a fair amount prone and when I shoot from the bench, I mostly do so off my elbows. I can still get into a decent sitting position on most days but cannot get into anything like a decent kneeling position.
I have come to realize that I am not getting more steady with age but occasionally produce a satisfactory result anyway. GD

Essential.

You must know where the reticle was when the trigger broke, even if it happens fast.You should be able to see that image in your mind for a long time after.

You cannot hit what you don't aim at.

When it comes to shooting game quickly, a short adrenalin burst is your friend. It gives you strength to be steady from what may not be an ideal position and concentrates your focus on where the sights are.

Aim small may work for paper, clay targets, setting up exactly at the range, getting your breathing perfect, squeezing just so, etc. But when it has to be done right now on BG milk jugs is the better analogy. Stick the bullet into the shoulder area, the heart lung area or the area for it to angle correctly and let it do the work it was designed to do.

It's a different game than shooting targets, LR hunting or when you have time to set up.

Shooting involves muscle memory.So proper mechanics will aid your shooting in the long run burning these practices into the muscle memory imo....really much the same as throwing a baseball or roping a steer consistently. ..Yup and call your shots...

Funny we mention muscle memory.

Its rare these days, in fact I can't actually recall, breaking the trigger or the shot.

It goes alright, and mostly when it needs to, but I just don't ever recall actually "pulling" the trigger.

There is a reason for that too, and its not a bad reason, but it cost lots of money/time/effort of practice...

One of the best reads I did while in competition, was by the guy that set the free throw record in BB. It was about that too, had nothing to do with shooting. but mentally and practice wise it did.

Years ago I'd never even heard about "practice". We just called it out shooting.I'd grown up shooting gophers and grouse from about 3 years of age. When I was into my teens I worked many summers on the weekend doing what we called babysitting for a logger. He'd work weekends by himself and needed someone else there for safety purposes in case he were to get hurt. My pay was a 22 rifle and a box of 500 22 LR each day I worked. Most summers I'd go through 10,000 rounds or more. When the big game hunting years came putting a bullet where it needed to go seemed like a natural thing.







Shod

I have likened MS shooting to shooting free throws and I find it to be very similar. Sadly, my performance is much the same in both situations. I can string together a half-dozen nice shots then follow up with a similar number of misses. In both cases, I know when a shot is good before it hits. When the trigger breaks at just the right time or the ball leaves on just the right trajectory, there is no question as to the result. I also find that making the shot is physical while missing the shot is more likely to be mental. When things are working well, alignment occurs and the trigger breaks right on time. Other times, alignment occurs and I wonder why I can't pull the trigger.
Like many of the members here, a great deal of my early off-hand training came in the form of "plinking" or hunting small game with a .22 and, later on, with a muzzle-loader. In my early twenties, I could manage pretty consistent hits on a 1.5 inch target at 50 yards with 45 caliber round balls and a gopher didn't stand a chance. Today, I can't see the sights!
Many of the members here can probably recall the training we received in "instinctive shooting" when we were in basic training. We shot a ton of BB's at ping pong balls with BB guns without sights; just point and shoot. I, like many of my fellows, soon got so I would rarely miss and was even pretty consistent on a thrown ping pong ball. Of course, we were nineteen and twenty year olds with good eyes and reflexes; quite unlike the pitiful specimen I am today! I still shoot the BB gun quite a lot but the hits are not nearly so consistent. GD

Pick a spot on the wall, snap the rifle up again and again until the sights are aligned and on the spot when the gun comes up.
Look at the spot, close your eyes, bring the gun up, open your eyes. On target? Do it all enough and just looking at something will seal its fate.

Greydog,

Kids and the young are not afraid to miss nor have it ruin their self image. Failure is shrugged off and they just keep on going with learning and doing better. Lot to be learned from kids.

Grab a rifle and dry fire quickly on yard Deer, rabbits, spot on a tree trunk, leaf, center of a car wheel, etc. Come real time you should be fine.

Local range won't allow any sort of shooting except from the bench. So, I go to a friend's place when I can and shoot there. Unfortunately, I don't get out there as often as I'd like to!

Most of my scopes are 4-12X40 AO. Depending upon exactly where I'm hunting the scope is set on 6X OR 8X.....

The --ONLY-- adjusting (screwing around) I - might - do is to turn the power ring up or down W/O looking at it.

Even then there are occasions when there is NO time for that.


I've been hunting these scopes so long it's second nature for me. My longest shots AND opportunities are 400 yds... so I NEVER mess with the AO.


Jerry

Now and then at 50 yards.





Or when I zero the hog slayer:



I have a good coach for chitz'n giggles:

Gangster style. Should we pick out any particular car passing by if we start dry firing on car wheels? I'll bet the mexicano's around here would [bleep] them selves... . I like your idea though..

I prefer to aim at my neighbors when they're out in the yard.

My wife says that's why we don't get any trick-or-treaters at Halloween.

Dry firing does replicate the actual thing really well imo.It costs nothing, has little effect on the rifle and will help any type of shooting.Also..I have never really understood how a longer, more balanced rifle helps much in awkward shooting positions. I do better with a carbine sized rifle everytime, a longer, heavier rifle is harder for me to stabilize and hold for a longer period of time.The effect of gravity is more of an issue as the weight is further from my body...Just me and I suppose shotgunners would say differently.Just putting it out there, folks.

Laffin my azz off...

I agree. I've shot a lot of shotgun and still agree with you. I like a rifle to feel well balanced in the hands, not front end heavy. Back in my trap shooting days, I had a terrible habit of dropping the barrel right before I called for the bird when using a heavy barreled trap gun. Thus, the reason I gave them up and went back to my old faithful left hand Remington 870 with a 28" barrel. I think it really depends on a persons shooting style, how much they've actually hunted, what rifles and shotguns they've used in the field and what they have become proficient with. The best "hunting" rifle I had for shooting offhand was a factory sporterized m1917 made by BSA in 1951. It was fairly heavy (9.5 pounds scoped), but balanced right. Best offhand group shot with that one (with the aide of a sling) was 1.057" for 5 shots. When I buy a rifle, that's one of the first things I do, is test it in the offhand position to see how it's going to handle in hunting situations. Here's a target fired with my left hand Remington 760. Not the best, but acceptable for a quick handling deer and elk rifle:

My best 3 shot group off hand @ just over 100yds, Leupold 2.5x Marlin 1895G. I was aiming at the top point of the steel.

RP Brass
WLR Primers
300gr Laser Cast
25grs IMR-sr4759 - scooped with Lee dipper, did not weigh





I had 4 rounds left so I shot them making a 7 shot group. The round low right was round #5.

Heath, that's about the perfect size steel plate to practice offhand shooting at 100 yards. Looks like you are doing just fine..

Best three shot group?

I have seen a guy shoot 20 consecutive shots into a 6" 10 ring at 200 yards. Not me.

The best I ever did involved 16 out of 20 shots into a 12" 5-ring at 200 with an M1 Garand when I was young. That was enough to take 6th Master in the Navy cup at Camp Perry years ago.

Thanks


I was pretty pleased as I've honestly not really done much off hand shooting at 100yds or farther. I need to do more of it.

If you are going to try it, best advice I can give is to stand way back away from the window😀

The most fun I can manage with a firearm is wandering about the sand-hills and shooting rabbits from my hind legs with a cannon and open sights...22's don't really do it for me, but 270 and up works just fine on the fun-o-meter.

It just amuses the heck out of me and has the advantage of not having to pick anything up.

"from my hind legs"

LOL! We used to all get a laugh from my dear ol' mom who was pretty much crippled, when she would say "that one hind leg of mine ain't working right today!"

It helps to have a light trigger when shooting offhand.

Here's a decent bull I killed in Colorado in 2004 with a muzzleloader off hand at 96 yards. old bull with lots of mass but short tines!

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/picture.php?albumid=51&pictureid=351

Rabbits are great offhand practise

Living in the extensive west, I can't remember that last time I took an offhand shot at anything. Sitting, kneeling, standing with a rest, or prone. I near always have a bipod, pack frame, or walking stick that I'll use for support.

I don't really think it matters where you live. However, when I lived due south from you which might also be considered "extensive west" as well, I shot a lot in the offhand position because I didn't like laying down in the sticker bushes and if I did, couldn't see over the sagebrush anyways...

I shoot lots of Jack rabbits offhand each winter. Has helped on several quick Mule deer off hand shots.

If you want to learn how to shoot offhand.....join the NRA and shoot NRA HP!!

Don't shoot the 'rat gun' however! Choose the NRA Match Rifle category!!

I have a moose hunt here in a month so I have been shooting off hand, and standing, kneeling and sitting with sticks all summer.

I typically shoot at 8" gongs at 100 (for unsuported) and 200 and 300 yds with the sticks.

The sticks make a big difference in what I can hit

I probably should do some more prone too, but I have been working up an F-class rifle so I have had my fill of laying on my belly.

LOL. Hard to change our opinions as we age. All of us.

Regardless, NRA HP or Silhouette, both make you better shots for sure. Even if you don't have the sweatshirt, shooting coat, shooting glasses etc... out in the field that you do on the range.

Always felt that cross training silhouette did a lto more for my HP offhand than anything so these days if I wanted to play and practice for offhand only I'd shoot silhouette rather than HP.

This may sound odd to some. I did a trigger job and scoped a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun just to practice off-hand shooting and trigger squeeze. I shoot inside my garage at about 25 feet, five shoots every day. I was amazed how bad an off-hand shot I was a couple of years ago when I started. And how much my groups have shrunk now. While hunting in Texas I took a really nice Whitetail buck from the off-hand position. It was a rather quick shot in some thick brush. I'm convinced that had I not had that garage practice I would not have been successful. I had gotten away from shooting off-hand and used everything in the book for a rest. I think this little BB gun practice has really helped.

My offhand practice is squirrel hunting with a 22 and trying to get head shots.