Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting rifle shooting practice for elk hunt

That's funny bob, but I'm sure its good practice and fun to boot. Just don't shoot the tv anymore

While I haven't read all of the post I see a lot of great advice. I agree that any shooting is helpful, but certainly practice with your elk rifle from field positions at unknown ranges is important. This is assuming a good shooting load and a zeroed rifle. I might add that I wouldn't rely too much on shooting sticks and such because it's not always possible to use them. This past fall I couldn't use my shooting sticks because when I had a shot at a bull elk the sage brush was too high. I also recommend practice shooting in the wind. Seems like it's often a factor. Good luck.

The original poster is from Kansas so probably not a stranger to wide open places, but I think range estimation is probably the hardest thing out west. Mostly greater than 300 yards can all look the same, and I hunt here all the time...

To sum up the behavior of other hunters I see around our valley, practice shooting after a 6 pack of beer, off the front of your 4 wheeler, run 3 miles (equivalent to 100 yards here in the Rockies) and then try to shoot, anything over 500 yards without practice, I am sure I will come up with a few others, etc...

Good shooting will come from good hydration and nutrition and legwork.

I practice to 700 from my back yard on a life size elk target made mostly from AR500. I've played around at farther distances but consistancy drops off considerably for me from a prone position. While this practice is certainly beneficial it does not prepare you for the tremendous uphill/downhill angles which greatly affect trajectories on the creeck I've hunted many years. Supercrewd may be familiar with the headwaters of Soap Creeck in the West Elk.

try finding a big empty field and call yotes then shoot them.

Think about the terrain you will be hunting first. Then apply your shooting practice to match. If you don't know then I would Zero my rifle for 200yds or at least 150yds. After zeroed I get off the bench. If you are going to use shooting sticks, shoot from them. Shoot kneeling without sticks, prone from your pack. Standing even but only at short range of course. Which brings up another point. Practice close shots like 25-50 yds. By practice I mean jog around and get winded and then grab your rifle and shoot. This is realistic shooting. You never know when you may jump an elk from its bed. Don't worry so much about groups when your practicing at first. The groups will get better as you get better. Also practice the little things like clicking your safety off quietly and loading your rifle quietly and without looking. You never know when you have to do this. It's best to know how to do it right when it counts. Any trigger time is good but by incorporating these things into your practice to make the best of your time.

As others have mentioned get into the best shape you can. Arrive early to check your zero and get acclimated to the high altitude. Lastly, have fun. It's beautiful in elk country

I like to shoot prairie dogs near and far for practice and coyotes for near and far but actual up and down just like in elk country. If you can consistently hit dogs and yotes at ranges out to 500 yards, an Elk becomes a piece of cake. You need a good rifle and practice to do this. Then all you worry about is finding the elk.

You're right that it really depends on the country. My state has two species of elk and they live in very different areas. The Roosevelt Elk live in fairly thick timber on the west slope of the cascades. It doesn't snow much so the elk don't seem to migrate as much. They will head down into river bottoms and very thick forest when pushed.

Picking up fresh track and stalking through the timber can be very effective while everyone else is up on a ridge glassing clearcuts. For this kind of hunting, I like to practice 100 yards and closer with off-hand shots, kneeling shots and shots using improvised rests (like a tree trunk). A lot of this practice is on a set of steel plates and a 22. Hunting rabbits and grouse with a 22 is great practice. Sometimes things unfold quickly and sometimes you have to put on the sneak. Just like elk hunting but smaller.

The Rocky Mountain Elk live east of the cascades and can be found in pine forests with more openings. The forests aren't as thick at the floor as on the west side. It is sometimes possible to shoot over 100 yards through the trees. For this, I like to practice the same positions I mentioned above and then stretch the improvised rest out to 200 yards and then add the prone and ranges out to 400 yards into the whole thing. A 6 or 8 inch steel plate and a bolt-action 223 gets the call for most practice sessions.

Where I hunt, the most important part of marksmanship is quick target identification, and then quick off-hand shooting at a walking target.

Elk are 3-point minimum here. When you stumble upon a herd of 6-8 animals in the timber, you have about 2 seconds (literally) to scan all of them and determine which one, if any, is a legal bull. By then, they are all already up on their feet and starting to walk, getting ready to bust. You have about 1 more second to aim and fire.

Not trying to be dramatic here either--it's just how it happens. Ask heavywalker, mallardaddict, Fred III, SU35, Okanagan, Safariman or any of the other members here that hunt elk in Western Washington. My off-hand shooting is average at best. So, I practice shooting at 100 yds and in--down to abut 30 yards. Chamber a round, bring the rifle up as I am positioning my feet, and squeeze. Even at 75-100 yards, the whole process needs to go quick.

Anyway, that's my two cents...

Great advice and very true Wade. I hunt in north central oregon so it is the same way here except we have spike only hunts and then our over the counter bull tag has a very low (3 percent) success rate so running into them also becomes part of the problem. I grew up in Nevada hunting jackrabbits and deer in the sage so I am very familiar with offhand shooting and it's attributes to hunting big game. It's almost a forgotten art though as most people I know will not shoot that way.