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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,082 Likes: 9
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,082 Likes: 9 |
Almost all shots from shooting sticks, and a few (many years ago) off hand. Change of hunting locations and “not” walking the timber much anymore, dictates longer shots. memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,532
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,532 |
Home in Iowa-25% offhand(hopefully with a tree to rest on), 50% sitting either in a stand or on the ground and 25% kneeling. Can't recall ever trying a prone shot on big game-the terrain I hunt just wouldn't allow it. Hunting out west probably 75% prone (equally divided between off a pack and off a bipod. 25% sitting or kneeling-always with a pack, bipod or sticks.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 23,579 Likes: 23
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 23,579 Likes: 23 |
Depends on the season.
Alpine-95% prone across pack. Average shot is 200yds I'd say
Rut-95% offhand . Most shots are less than 75 yards. Often moving at weird angles. (coming to a call) I love to hunt ridge tops and heavy timber. If I chose to hunt clearcuts like many, prone would be more likely.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,887 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,887 Likes: 1 |
I remember one offhand shot, a mule deer buck at about 25'.
My last one was prone off my pack. I use shooting sticks a bunch.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,010 Likes: 3
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,010 Likes: 3 |
I usually let the situation at hand dictate shooting position. I really like using my Primos Trigger Stix, because they are so adaptable to many different scenarios. I guess my favorite position is sitting and resting on the Stix, but on a recent deer hunt in Missouri, the endless thick trees in my hunt area provided handy, standing rests. Most of my pronghorns have been shot after crawling to the top of a ridge, flipping down the Harris Bipod, and shooting from prone.
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 5,534 Likes: 12
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 5,534 Likes: 12 |
Now that's a good question and deserved real attention. I started hunting deer when I was a young boy with my dad. He let me shoot some of the deer he had tags for and so did my mom. I have been shooting deer and larger game now for 53 years. I started hunting game larger then deer when I was 17, so that's been 44 years. I can't count the number of game animals I have killed ------ and I probably could have said that when I was 30years old. I am now 61. I have killed game with a lot of rifles and 11 different handguns that I can recall as I write this, as well as 3 different bows with wood arrows and one deer killed with an aluminum arrow.
An honest guess would be that about 60-65 percent of my game has been killed off-hand. The other 40% is divided in categories of Standing-Rested (like a tree branch or rock) sitting, a few (probably 10) kneeling, and at least 40 prone or prone over a back-pack. I also remember killed 3 deer resting over an open door of a Toyota Land Cruiser.
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,575
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,575 |
I have shot only 1 deer in my life from prone, and one elk seated using a tripod and special head {the Gun Claw}. One elk offhand and one lion offhand (that with a bow). Dozens using a rest, such as a treestand or tree, or truck tailgate, and a few seated. Never shot anything offhand more than 32 yards away (bow).
It's normally too thick for prone shooting where I end up, but of course it's great when you can.
I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world itself is vexing enough. -- Col. Stonehill
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,062
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 2,062 |
this is going to probably be geographically specific:
east: still hunting and/or stands, so mostly sitting or offhand. Use a tree when possible to steady. "long" shots are 50-75 yards. west: prone, long is a different beast out west.
Last edited by Bob_H_in_NH; 11/13/17.
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,947
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,947 |
90% offhand or steadying the rifle against a tree.
The truth angers those whom it does not convince
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 459
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 459 |
I usually slow walk when hunting and drop to one knee for most shots, sitting is next most used position.
Benefactor Life Member NRA, Arizona Hunter Education Instructor
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,651 |
Can only remember 1 shot taken off=hand since I started in 1982.
Most have been kneeling (rare), sitting (common), prone over pack or with rifle-mounted bipod (fairly common), sitting with a bipod (a couple-three-four), sitting with a tripod (common).
In addition I'l use any solid object I can find to help steady my position. Rocks. Trees. Behind my back or as a rest.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 152,632 Likes: 52
Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 152,632 Likes: 52 |
99% our of a stand. 1% offhand
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 15,909 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 15,909 Likes: 2 |
I'm usually in a climbing stand, so I put one foot on the front rail and us my knee as a brace. Or, I sit facing the tree and use the side of the tree as a brace. 90% of the time it's one or the other of these 2. Other 10% off hand.
Old Turd- Deplorable- Unrepentant Murderer- Domestic Violent Extremist
Just "Campfire Riffraff and Trash"
This will be my last post! Flave 1/3/21
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,520
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,520 |
I would say 80% sitting or kneeling and shooting off sticks and 20% prone off of a pack. I can't remember the last time I shot offhand while hunting.
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,879
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,879 |
"The more I am around people the better I like my dog." Mark Twain
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,520
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,520 |
I remember when you used to shoot offhand matches, too.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,934 Likes: 3
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,934 Likes: 3 |
Adding up what I remember, I come out to a real rough estimate of 30% standing or offhand, another 30% either sitting or kneeling, often using a hasty sling. 30% prone, which is with a sling, off a bipod, or pack. Another 10% of "other", such as shooting out of blinds.
Field expedient rests such as a rock or something are used when available, though a properly adjusted sling and some practice works about as well as anything.
So much depends on what and where a person hunts, and if a person gets around and hunts some different terrain and species without practicing different techniques, it's easy to get outside one's comfort zone.
Overspecialization breeds in weakness, as the old saying goes.
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,586
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,586 |
It depends on the circumstances, but I try to get a better position when I can. I probably shoot more game kneeling using a convenient tree/sapling as a rest than any other position, but the last deer I killed, just recently, was shot from prone. She was lying down with her head up looking towards me, with low cover obstructing her body from view and leaving only head and neck visible, down a clear cutline nearly 200 yards away, and I shot her under the chin into the top of the neck. Others recently included one offhand into the back of the neck as it galloped away, and another shot while I was standing braced against a tree at about 90 yards.
One position I used to use a bit, but don't much anymore, is sitting. I'd only really use it if I have plenty of time and can't go prone due to cover or terrain. Dropping to a low kneel (ie sitting on the side of my right foot) with a convenient tree to brace up against, is easier and faster to get into and usually steady enough.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,878
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,878 |
Just went through my hunting log. I haven’t been recording the shooting position but I remember the last five years well enough.
So, 5 years, 13 big game animals. 1 offhand, 1 standing off a tripod, 11 prone off a bipod. I tend to hunt open areas with longer shot options, so that probably explains all the bipod/prone shots. My average shot distance has been 366 yards, with a long shot of 575 and a short of 87. The 87 yarder happens to be the offhand shot.
Empirical results rule!
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,878
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,878 |
That said, I actually practice positional shooting a lot and am pretty comfortable with it. I just often have the option for bipod/prone due to the terrain I’m in.
Empirical results rule!
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