Hunters who do not practice their marksmanship

45ACPKING said:
and that would force a disabled guy like me to have to give up hunting and shooting..... and ice fishing among other things I do on crown land with my atv. Not all ATV users are disrespectful to people and the land like many are. In BC we call them weekend warriors.
Not only am I respectful of the land and people when I use my atv , I generally use it to get to an area I 'can' manage on foot to get to where I want to be. Otherwise , established trails and forestry skid roads an mains. Where I live I can leave my driveway on my ATV to access crown land and existing trails and that is why I bought my home here.
Regardless this is not an ATV thread
As far as the people who never go shooting to hone thier skills...... I am not one of those people though sadly I know many hunters who fit that bill. It's why I solo hunt for the most part and poor firearm safety practices by hunting companions of the past is one reason for that. This season I did not get a whole lot of summer time shooting in and found myself scrambling a little to get a rifle ready for my first deer hunt of the season. I did make time to get the rifle sighted in with the new mount and scope , set for the ranges I expected to be shooting. Same for my 7mm rem mag. I put it away last season , zero'd at 275m and she was bang on where I left her with a caveat.... I have a wrist roll when I shoot off the bench so was hitting almost 2 inch to the left at 100m..... before I adjusted the scope I let the rifle cool down and took 3 standing shots at the 100m. They hit right on the money so I left the scope alone.
Both rifles took game with clean 1 shot kills this season so I'm happy about that.
My new 22 was a different story. It's a savage rascal kids rifle I use for grouse. I should have just used the irons it comes with but no..... I had to go and put a scope on it LOL.
Zero'd it at what I thought would be the perfect distance for grouse hunting but I obviously came up short. I also had no summer time shooting with that rifle and it showed. I saw probably close to 100 grouse or more on my last trip and only killed 2 LOL pretty pathetic I know. So I need to get more shooting time in this year and I also need to take the wife with me so she can hone her skills some more too.
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Allowances are already in effect for handicap hunting.
 
I wonder how thoses guys a hundred years ago or more managed?

Sure they didn't spend too much of their precious time practicing.

Hmmmm, also pretty sure they didn't waste a lot of ammo shooting wood once their rifle was sighted in. Can't eat wood you know.

Kindest regards

Devils Advocate

T.I.C
 
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yomomma said:
I wonder how thoses guys a hundred years ago or more managed?

Sure they didn't spend too much of their precious time practicing.

Hmmmm, also pretty sure they didn't waste a lot of ammo shooting wood once their rifle was sighted in. Can't eat wood you know.

Kindest regards

Devils Advocate

T.I.C
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I’d venture to guess the average hunter was a better shot 100 years ago than now.
 
trebor2880 said:
My dream would be to ban motorized vehicles from Crown Land. That would separate the men from the boys.
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But it would separate the the old boys from getting into the bush any farther than they could walk.
However old boys like myself must remember that someone else younger should know where you are so they can come and get you when that machine breaks down!
 
I work out in the sticks as an oilfield well site operator and I am amazed that more PEOPLE don’t get shot and wounded given the amount of idiots I see out there
I can’t imagine the amount of wounded animals that are out there
Sadly this is something out current corrupt incompetent government will eventually use as leverage to ban hunting
 
Times have certainly changed. One of my outdoor mentors showed me his box of 30-30 ammo which was marked with every deer harvested. 17 animals, 1 box . Nothing was waisted back then by anyone who grew up in 30s through 50s. However, he never went anywhere without his Cooey .22LR and no pest was safe. He literally lived on wild game and fish. In today’s fast paced world and current prices even those who shoot regularly are questioning the sanity of heading to the range for extensive practice with a Centerfire.
 
I always sight in off a bench before a hunting trip and am quite pleased with a 1-1/2"group at 200 yds discounting the fliers that just happen at the best of conditions. This tells me that the rifle is true and the rest is on me. When I set up I use a small folding canvas chair and a shooting stick (small sapling with a crotch to support the forend. I will try to put my back towards the area that I least suspect a critter to come from. As a right hand shooter I can swing pretty far left so I angle the chair to the right so I can swing that direction further without moving or getting up. Once seated using .the shooting stick I get a feel for my shooting arc by sighting on trees or stumps. Off hand shooting is definitely more challenging and a few timed rounds off hand after the bench session is always in order. Once you have touched off the first shot, follow up shot timing if needed can get quite erratic.
It's not perfect but it works for me.
 
Dont judge lest ye be judged....
Who's to say that hunters dont practice be it at a range or in the bush a couple times or more a season?
Not to mention just because someone has a rifle and a tag in their pockets while hiking the back country means they hunting ??
Some guys like to get away from the world even but for an afternoon stroll in the wild.
Rob
 
Maybe I'll buck the trend, I use to shoot alot of PRS, rifle and various shooting competitions etc. For years I haven't competed and haven't had a desire to shoot. So I don't practice. I know my rifle is sighted in and every year I take it out, go stalk a deer and shoot it. I have never shot a deer over 60 yards. The difference is shooting practice helps people learn limitations and come to grip with that. I already have my self imposed limitations. I don't need to practice to shoot deer when they fill the scope.... For those guys shooting animals at far greater distances, sure, go practice shooting. Or just learn how to get closer. Devils advocate.
 
I shoot as much as is possible, all year round. The 22 LR is a great practice platform, and
I use it a lot to hone my "field position" capability.

However, for big game, I like to be as close as possible, but also prepare to take a
longer shot, should that be necessary. I practice in several field positions, so as to get
to know my rifle's and MY OWN capability.

For example, this year's Bull Elk was taken at just over 300 yards from a field position.
Because I knew what my rifle would do, and where it would hit, and was confident that
I could make the shot, I harvested that Bull with one shot. Terrain and fading light made
a closer shot impossible. I am pleased with the practice done before hunting season. Dave.
 
yomomma said:
I wonder how thoses guys a hundred years ago or more managed?

Sure they didn't spend too much of their precious time practicing.

Hmmmm, also pretty sure they didn't waste a lot of ammo shooting wood once their rifle was sighted in. Can't eat wood you know.

T.I.C
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I think they did practice... by using their rifles and shotguns to shoot dinner many many days during the year, and as Yomomma states below, they did not take hail-Mary shots at 300 yards because their TV Show heroes are whacking elk at 1200...

yomomma said:
Not neccesarily, i think they were a lot better at getting closer to the game. So close that 1 moa at 300 yard accuracy was not important
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My childhood hunting mentors rarely took a shot over 100-150 yards; most animals were killed well under that range.

Another difference between "then and now" is the overall experience of today's new hunters. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and spent most of each summer and after school on decent weather days plinking cans with a pellet gun, wandering the nearest bush lot (not necessarily legally) trying to bag a squirrel, killing rats at an abandoned community dump, or just trying to out shoot our friends. Pellet guns, 22s, slingshots, stick bows or fishing rods were our constant companions. Except for a handful of new hunters who are lucky enough to still grow up on a farm or in a very rural area, very few have the shooting experience of those who came before.

Having said all that, I agree with the OP that we must all encourage hunters to practice, and at the very least spend some time behind the scope before season opens. We should all be inviting new and old hunters alike to go shooting with us whenever we have the time.
 
Unfortunately there are too many "hunters" who fall into the "good enough for a deer" mentality. These are the ones who are "too busy" to waste time confirming their hunting rifle is in fact still shooting in the same place as last year. It makes me sick that these types put so little value on another creatures life. I am an avid lifelong hunter and it pisses me off tremendously when I find a carcass on my property that was gut shot and not retrieved. 3 deer and 1 moose so far this year. I am seriously considering changing my signs from Hunting with Permission only to No Hunting. And guys wonder why so many land owners are posting their land.
 
know many guys who have no ability to sight in their guns, often ask me to take them to the range as a guest. Most of these guys have dollar store bases and rings, canted scopes, etc. priceless.
 
I always ensured that my rifles were sighted in before hunting season. A few times a year, I would work up loads at the range. The best practice I had was shooting gophers with 22’s and varmint rifles. Coyote hunting during the winter months kept my skills honed. Lots of people don’t know enough about ammo variation, ballistics, etc.
 
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