How much do you practice?

[MT Beard]

This is something I've been curious about for awhile. How much practice do you get in prior to the hunting season? I'm not talking shooting groups, and forget the bench! We're talking shooting from hunting positions. I got roughly 300 practice rounds in from offhand, kneeling, and sitting combined. About 100 of those I was wearing my hunting pack. Target was a life size deer silhouette at 100 yards. Still feel like I could have used more.

What say you? What is your practice regimen?

[SeabeeMan]

Wow, nothing like that. I do a lot of squirrel and rabbit hunting, most of which is pretty casual. It's the same area I deer hunt, so I guess I figure if I can hit animals that small on the same terrain and types of movement, I should be ok with whitetails. If I were going out west or to Alaska with my brother in law, that would be a different story and more practice would be needed.

[dk17hmr]

Maybe upwards of 2000 rounds a year......field positions are different for everyone. For me prone with a bipod is about 75% of my hunting shots.....about 90% of my time at the range is laying on my belly. My off hand shooting is usually speed shooting with a carbine or semi auto handgun (at p-dogs or bouncer targets) which is about the other 25% or my hunting shots.

I have a couple bench rest rifles and that's really the only thing I shoot from a standard bench unless I'm working on a load. More often you will see me laying in the dirt or in the bed of my truck shooting steel at long range.....a 1MOA plate at 1200-1500 yards makes a deer at 300 look huge.

[chambers]

Well for several Montana elk hunts we practiced shooting 200, 300, 400 yard shots with bipods, kneeling, laying down, shooting sticks, shooting off sand bags laying down, shooting off trees. Gun used was 300 win mag, some weeks we shot multiple times a week and every weekend. Practice does pay off. We shot elk at 400 yards and had no problem. Probably shot 600-700 rounds with 300 win mag for three people to prepare for one hunt, had one hunter start from nothing and became a great shot. We did shoot a lot smaller calibers like 30-06 and 22-250 just for ease of shooting smaller calibers in addition to large guns.

[geargnasher]

Excellent topic that doesn't surface much.

I have a little routine that I don't practice as much as I should, but still do on occasion, if only for fun. Basically, I do a little "run 'n' Gun" exercise where I trot about a hundred yards (sometimes go in circles if space is limited), or enough to get the blood pumping really well. Then I go through a rapid series of shots similar to Dave Petzal's little hunting accuracy challenge from Field & Stream a few years back. I take one shot each from standing, kneeling, prone, and rested against a tree (not necessarily in that order) at a 50-yard target. Then I do it again at 75 and 100. Whatever feels appropriate for the land I'm hunting. Sometimes I just go out, flip a quarter for the range, and pop one off. Doing this really puts one's limitations in perspective, and that's a good thing to have in the field.

Gear

[MT Beard]

A lot......field positions are different for everyone. For me prone with a bipod is about 75% of my hunting shots.....about 90% of my time at the range is laying on my belly. My off hand shooting is usually speed shooting with a carbine or semi auto handgun (at p-dogs or bouncer targets) which is about the other 25% or my hunting shots.

I have a couple bench rest rifles and that's really the only thing I shoot from a standard bench unless I'm working on a load. More often you will see me laying in the dirt or in the bed of my truck shooting steel at long range.....a 1MOA plate at 1200 yards makes a deer at 300 look huge.

Ha! You're right, hunting positions are different for everyone. I like to still hunt whitetails in thick cover and rarely have a shot longer than 40 yards and most of those are from the kneeling position. There is rarely a chance of me getting a prone shot, that position gets maybe 15 practice rounds. The bulk of my practice is at 100 yards, sure makes a 50 yard shot seem like a chip shot. Can't imagine what that would feel like going from 1200 to 300 yards!

[dk17hmr]

........ Can't imagine what that would feel like going from 1200 to 300 yards!

About like shooting 120-150 yards with a compound bow then bringing it in to 30 yards.....another thing my buddies and I like to do before season :)

[MT Beard]

That's a good point Gear. Getting my heart rate up is something that I need to add into my practice schedule, as I'm sure my shooting with an elevated heart rate is not as good.

I wanted to ask you all because at the range this year I saw exactly ZERO folks shooting without using the bench and I generally get out there once a week. This is the Deer Creek Range just outside of Missoula with a membership north of 3,000 members.

[Wolfer]

I'm not sure I have a regimen. Once loads are worked up and guns sighted in I never shoot off the bench. It's been a couple years since I shot off the bench. I'm a fairly avid coyote hunter and while I rarely shoot one during pup raising time my hunting season lasts for several months.
I often hunt with different guns and will check sights regularly.
I do this from a field position, pick out a small rock on yonder hillside and try it. If the first shot from a cold barrel hits the rock I feel we're good to go. I generally empty the magizine just because I like the smell of powder smoke.

Since I have several rifles and never know what I'll choose to hunt with late summer/ early fall may see me go thru 100 rds or better.
Right or wrong I've always felt cast boolit guns shot best with a barrel that's been fouled in the last week or so I tend to keep the fouling fresh.

Pistols, while I used to shoot 3000 to 5000 rounds a year to stay in tune I haven't been shooting that much the last few years. I still shoot pretty regular but if the first six are where I think they need to be I often quit.

Im lucky that I can shoot in my yard, back when I had to travel to a range I tended to shoot more per trip.

I believe that shooting one round per day is better practice than shooting 365 rds the week before season.

On hunting rifles I'm not too concerned with group size anymore. What interests me is how far the hole is from where the sights were when the trigger broke in a field position.

[dtknowles]

I have not hunted for years but I like to shoot from positions. I almost always shoot a few rounds offhand at the plates at 100 yards. Last weekend it was only three rounds but I was 3 for three offhand on the 8 inch plate at 100 yards. If I miss I usually take a seat and shoot a couple from sitting to confirm I can still hit or I rest against the post. We are talking rifles here, I shoot my pistols mostly offhand anyway.

Tim

[DIRT Farmer]

I shoot my flint rifle that I hunt with offhand. I used to shoot match with it offhand, once or twice a month with pratice in between. Shooting match will introduce the stress like hunting, shooting with a friend for quaters will liven up pratice.

[Bazoo]

I rarely shoot from a bench, even when sighting in a scope or irons. I normally prone across my pack if im going to sight in. But have done it setting. Mostly though, I practice any shooting standing offhand, or setting.

[Lead Fred]

WE have established trail walks for rifle and pistol. We use them quarterly. Come rain or shine. One year we had to stop shooting and go out and paint the gongs orange so we could see them in the snow storm.

[monge]

I try to practice every chance I get 1000+ rounds a year but I got to say every hunt is different weather and shooting position.ALL effect your shot .

[JSH]

Serious trigger time with good accuracy intentions with what ever caliber cartridge or range is practice. It is a learned behavior that pays off in the long run. Even archery or golf will help with your firearm related accuracy, follow through.
The pray and spray crowd seem to back up their inadequate accuracy with the thoughts of needing more firepower.
Jeff

[btroj]

Much of my rifle shooting is done offhand anyway so not much. Other than one rifle I just don't shoot off a bench much at all.
Even plinking at a can at 100 can improve your field skills

[mattw]

I get between 100 and 150 12 gauge slugs fired over summer and fall and a couple hundred 265gr. .41 magnums. Some years that feels like it is about right and sometimes I feel that I need more. I do shoot many more .41's over the summer, just not the big boys. To hard on the frame to use a regular diet of those with a basically full case of H110 Data powder behind them. But they sure are fun!

[nekshot]

I am always screwing around with loads and that calls for shooting at least every other day. Hunting practice as you are asking about I did more than my share in my twenties and it gets really boring after awhile. I go thru about 1500 primers a year and a couple pound of black. I find I still can out shoot any of the folk I hunt with in any situation, and that is because I practiced so much in my twenties but I am slowing alittle. I find the crossbow really fun now also!

[44man]

Almost none unless a friend comes to shoot. I know what my guns do. I suppose I shoot less then anyone here.
Yet once I get to having fun, rounds go fast. My friends shoot my guns as much as I do. At a dime a shot, they are free to have fun.
Speed shooting is different but I hunt. It is your game that might need a million shots.
Only thing is my age where I shake more but practice does not solve it.
If your loads do 4" at 25, you will NEVER get 1" even with 1000 more shots. It is why my minimum with a revolver is 1" at 50. A revolver can sit in the safe 3 years but I know there will be a dead deer if I take it out.
Yes, I have done 3/4" at 100 off hand but might not ever do it again but a deer has a much larger kill zone. I need some kind of brace now but 100 is nothing if held steady.
After well over 61 years, I think I can pull a trigger.

[44man]

Working loads means more but once experience to read a target comes, it takes 5 shots to see what you have. FIX it.

[onegunred]

150 rounds of 22 then 150+ rounds of 44 per month and a few hundred rounds of 45-70 a year.

[HABCAN]

My small village is pretty well 'gun oriented', but so as not to startle the neighbors, my Daisy Red Ryder BB gun daily gets to work in the big yard out my window. At 80+ yrs., a guy needs an 'assistant' to make a proper range trip!! The practice pays off when I DO get out.......weather permitting.

[Malamute]

These days, I don't get out as often. In the past, there were periods that I shot about 500-1000 rds of 22's 3 or 4 times a month, and 500-2000 rds of centerfire handgun a month. When ammo was cheaper and I had an AR, I was shooting about 3 30 rd magazines each time I went out, several times a week. Ammo was about $175/1000 at the time.

I shoot mostly offhand unless getting something zero'ed, we have steel plates at 300 (18" then 22") and 600 (24") yards. I bought a Ruger 77 in 308 when surplus ammo was $145/1000 and shoot it mostly at the plates. Good fun, but am running low on that cheap ammo. For pistols, I started shooting mostly one handed about 15 or so years ago. Most of my pistol shooting in the last 6-8 years has been at the 300 yard plate. Havent kept up with trying to hit stuff thrown in the air, the few times I've tried recently, it came back a little, but it takes a lot of practice to stay very good at it. I dry fire on running rabbits sometimes when out dog walking. I used to hunt rabbits pretty regularly. Running rabbits with a pistol or rifle was a lot of fun.

Before hunting, I check zero, but don't often shoot more because of planning to hunt. My hunts mostly consist of shooting a deer for meat with a scoped bolt rifle. Grouse with a rifle or pistol is the fun hunting in the mountains, but its very close and doesn't take much effort to make head shots on sitting grouse in a tree.

[Beerd]

I wanted to ask you all because at the range this year I saw exactly ZERO folks shooting without using the bench and I generally get out there once a week. This is the Deer Creek Range just outside of Missoula with a membership north of 3,000 members.

Sadly not that uncommon.

I find it's good to have a partner with you to remind the other shooters that the range is hot when you sit on the ground next to a bench.
..

[Char-Gar]

When I hunted, I never practiced before season. I shot all years long from many positions and didn't think it was necessary and it was not. Finding the deer was much more difficult that hitting the deer when found.

[merlin101]

The best practice I ever got for hunting was when I first got my .410 barrel for my contender, I went out and shot some clay pigeons with it and had a ball! A couple weeks later I was amazed at how much faster I could get on target with my Blawkhawk.
I need to do that more!

[nrdewalt]

We shoot USPSA and there were times a couple years ago I was shooting around 1000 rounds a week and got really good really quick then life happened.. Now i'm lucky if I get to shoot 5,000 a year.. It happens

[41mag]

I guess I am somewhat like 44man in that once I have a load dialed in, it stays that way, and I know when I need it it will preform.

I DO shoot both handguns and rifles through out the year. I carry something with me every trip to the farm, and once there my intentions are focused on the hogs, but a yote that slips up won't be passed by. I take a walk each morning and evening while there to see what I see. Sometimes it is nothing more than a nice sunrise or sunset, other times a few deer. I don't harass the deer much anymore, in fact I try to hold them on our place to watch and admire. I leave the harassment to the grandson and daughter, and I stay on the hogs.

Most of the shooting I have done in the past couple of years has been handguns working on cast loads. I have a few that I know work and hit where they should, but enjoy tinkering with others to see what I can accomplish. My typical off hand unsupported range is 25yds with 50 not being uncommon, but I do run a few out to 100 on occasion when I know things are right and proper. I haven't hit anything under 3" that far out yet, but in my woods, 3" is plenty for anything I plan on shooting that far anyway, be it 2 or 4 legged critters.

[white eagle]

This is something I've been curious about for awhile. How much practice do you get in prior to the hunting season? I'm not talking shooting groups, and forget the bench! We're talking shooting from hunting positions. I got roughly 300 practice rounds in from offhand, kneeling, and sitting combined. About 100 of those I was wearing my hunting pack. Target was a life size deer silhouette at 100 yards. Still feel like I could have used more.

What say you? What is your practice regimen?


I sight my rifles in from the bench and hunt
I shoot my handguns a bunch from the bench and from field positions
the reason I do not use field positions for rifle hunting is I always have a rest of some sort ,tree, cross sticks things of that nature

[MarkP]

Several years ago I would shoot about 400 rounds getting ready for elk hunting in Colo. I would shoot off hand at paper at 200 m, after shooting 5 shots I would run down to check my target and run back. I would shoot while out of breathe to simulate high altitude breathing. I would clean my bbl after 20 shots and usually shoot 40 rounds per session. I used a bipod for hunting and knew were my rifle shot at various ranges.
I was using a 700 MTN in 300 Wby, if I tried that now my shoulder would be greenish purple for months.
One thing I have noticed, my rifle and handgun shooting remains pretty consistent even when not shooting for a while. However my shotgun shooting deteriorates without practice. After my kids were born I did not shoot sporting clays for 5 or 6 years my scores went way down.

[MT Beard]

My rifle skills seem to be the most perishable in my case. With the shotgun I have no problem picking it up and heading after pheasants or ducks and doing quite well. I need regular practice with the rifle to stay proficient.

[44man]

Shotgun is my downfall. Nothing here to hunt with one. I used to never miss when young but shot all the time. Now I have no idea. I shot a lot of aerial targets with pistols and did a lot of speed shooting but all would go away in a month, these are things that need practice all the time. Now I need a clay on a string to hit, close enough for muzzle blast to break!
Trigger control is not lost but we age and shake more, big difference a few years makes. I need some kind of brace now. Even a knee works or the side of a tree. Never get a revolver grip above your knee or you will walk funny.
Been only a few years since I could out shoot a rifle off hand at 100 with my revolvers. Now a sandbag is my friend. Even signing my name is a squiggle. Spill coffee trying to get it in the basket.

[runfiverun]

I'm a pretty fair rock killer.
one thing I used to do was pick a rifle for the year and take it along everywhere.
then shoot it every chance I got.
unknown distances and unknown sizes of things from yeah it's right there, to I think that's about 350 yds..
you can hit that stuff even with something like a 44 mag lever gun once you get used to looking down those sights, holding it just so, and being able to give that front sight a little bit of elevation as necessary.
some ground squirrel, prairie dog, and rock chuck shooting helps too.
shooting the same load combination over and over and over really drums it in.

you could just buy a flat shooting super mag type rifle and point and press at everything within 300 yds too [shrug]

[atr]

700-800 rounds...mixed calibers....some bench especially when I am trying to print a new load combination...but in the field mostly kneeling or from a rest, the rest being anything I can find out in the field. Some off-hand but that I limit to range of not more than 75 yds. I do a lot of hiking in the same area I hunt and I always carry a rifle of some caliber. In the field shooting at rocks at different ranges make for good practice

[ravelode]

I used to shoot 2K of .45ACP, 5K of .22 LR and 400-1000 centerfire rifle every year, mostly offhand or kneeling at steel or paper at a Private club. Now of days I shoot 1K of .45ACP, 900 9mm carbine, maybe 500 .22 LR and 150 Centerfire Rifle at paper, other peoples' trash, and rocks in a casual shooting area, aka the "Big Butte Gun Club", there's too little free time working two jobs 160 miles apart.

[Wolfer]

R5R
there was a time long ago that I was into that flat shooting stuff. But I found that when I did my part, steady crosshairs, trigger squeeze etc it would smoke the rock at reasonable distances pretty much every shot.
This all got pretty boring after awhile. Now I find that lobbing some lead at my 200 yd gong is a lot more fun.

[bikerbeans]

I go to my gun club one to two times a week, year round. The bad news I have heart/lung issues and can only stay about 90 minutes before I have to go home and rest. I usually bring 4 rifles so I don't have to wait for them to cool and I shoot a dozen or so rounds from each gun. I got rid of my shooting rest and once I have a load worked up and the rifle sighted in I only shoot from hunting positions; seated, kneeling, standing and my favorite sitting on the ground leaning up against a tree. Seems to work for me, I have four one-shot kills on whitetail deer this season, using 3 different weapons, so I am happy. I do think that limiting myself to 100 yard maximum shots and not shooting at moving deer has more to do with my success than my target practice.

BB

[dragon813gt]

Bench for zeroing the scope or filing down the post w/ a new aperture sight. After that it's all offhand. If I can hit it offhand then I can hit it supported in any if the other positions. There is never a chance for a prone shot so I don't practice it ever. I don't specifically practice for hunting. I shoot all year round. Actually end up shooting less when rifle season rolls around. A lot of people only practice from a bench because they only shoot from a treestand w/ a rail for support. In that case there is no need to practice other positions.

[MT Gianni]

I like a bench. Much of my shooting is to see if I can make a group smaller. Handguns get used offhand and rifles shot offhand when I am practicing for an upcoming event. I used to put 100 lbs of lead a year down range, last two years it is more like 25.

[marshall623]

I can say not as much as I would like to, IHMSA matches when I can make to them make a big difference . Practice like you hunt with it is mandatory with handguns in my book . Tree rat hunting with a 22 tender tunes you up quick

[GhostHawk]

Summer time I get out to the range every 3-5 weeks and I'm ok with that. It isn't as often as I like but I'm 62 and that is life.

Winter time here in the Dakota's pretty much means your either cold as heck, or your not shooting.

So last year I made myself an airgun range in my basement. All summer long it held very little interest for me.
But I can tell its been a month or more since I've been to the range. I'm eyeballing the Airguns and thinking about going back to shooting.

I don't do anything fancy, I've shot a can in mid air with a bb gun. Used to break lots of clays at the trap range.

But I do find that I enjoy the challenge. Even if it is just punching smaller holes in paper at 20 feet.

My favorite is the old Sheridan 5mm pump up gun. Iron sights but 2 pumps is all I need for target shooting.
However there is a new kid in town. A Crossman 1322 with a carbine stock and an old Simmons red dot.

On a good day he and I can put 5 shots into a dime sized circle one ragged hole with change left over.
Not in my opinion really good enough to brag about. But it keeps hand and eye working together.
Keeps things sharp and ready to play with the big boys when it gets warm again.

[MT Beard]

Practice like you hunt

That is what my dad drilled into me. The first time he ever took me trap shooting he was the only one there that would call for the bird with his shotgun at port arms. When I asked him why, he said "well I don't know anyone who walks up pheasants with the shotgun on their shoulder and the safety off". That is the way I've always shot trap as well, focus on the bird, safety off as the gun comes to the shoulder and touch it off when the butt meets the shoulder. Get some funny looks, but I do pretty well with it on the trap line and in the field. Same applies to shooting rifles, practice like you hunt!

[huntnman]

^^ Same way I shoot sporting clays. If you are trying to duplicate hunting situations make as real as you can.

[trickyasafox]

I sight in from the bench, rest of my shooting throughout the year is off-hand or field position (I never shoot from a knee, it just doesn't come up for the way I hunt).

I do practice with 2 specific guns though before hunting season - My airsoft 1911 that uses green gas / propane and my pellet gun. I try to get 50 shots a day between them (which is probably less than a dollar in cost) throughout all the summer months to help me get ready for the fall seasons. The pistol work I often do inside and some of it honestly is more personal protection / defensive style shooting - but I find it helps my hunting game all the same. For me, the biggest skill builder was working on target transitions with a handgun. I set 2 one-liter pop bottles about 10-15 feet apart, 20-25 ft away from me, and shoot at one then quickly transition to the other. For me, this really helped improve the consistency of my trigger pull and sight picture - as the movement between the two targets really magnified my errors.

Cheap good fun! also quiet!

[Love Life]

When I used to hunt, I practiced year round. I reckoned that I owed it to the animal I was wanting to kill.

[home in oz]

This is something I've been curious about for awhile. How much practice do you get in prior to the hunting season? I'm not talking shooting groups, and forget the bench! We're talking shooting from hunting positions. I got roughly 300 practice rounds in from offhand, kneeling, and sitting combined. About 100 of those I was wearing my hunting pack. Target was a life size deer silhouette at 100 yards. Still feel like I could have used more.

What say you? What is your practice regimen?

You are doing well! I need to do more.

[oldsagerat]

Practice is the primary source of accuracy. I hosted a range session for the Master Hunter program for the state of Oregon. They had to
shoot standing up at 6 inch circles at 100 yards. What an eye opener! I practice a lot. Its called varmit hunting. When fall rolls around shooting a deer or elk is pretty easy. In August I will do a lot of walking through the sage with my deer/elk rifle and blast
rabbits or coyotes. There's more to shooting than just pulling a trigger. I don't understand folks who take a few shots at a pie plate and think they are ready to go hunting.