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Post by willyp on Nov 13, 2018 4:16:17 GMT -5
I have over these many years of shooting fire arms have heard this from folks " It shoots good from a rest but what about in the woods when to don't have one ?" First of all if you don't use a rest of some kind be a pillow ,a sand bag or even a block of wood just how do you know how consistent your rifle is ? I have shoot a few deer off hand [ these were really close !] but most of the ones I have got were from resting from a sort of something to steady my aim ! Be it a limb or a rock or a stump. A few times I have used my knee ? Most all tree stands be they bought or built have a type of rest on them ! I have bought a type of walking stick that has an adjustable part for a place to rest a gun ? When ever the citation arises to take a giant 3or 4 point or a little 8 I don't want to miss the shot and know darn well it isn't my rifle that caused it to happen ?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2018 6:07:16 GMT -5
Some years ago while on a bear hunt in British Columbia I missed an offhand shot at a huge black bear. When I got home from that trip I determined to become a better offhand shot, so I bought several bricks of .22 longrifle ammo and took my .22 to the cabin shooting range. I did not do all that well for the first few hundred rounds, but over time I got better at it. I kept up my practice sessions for a few years, burning through at least four bricks of ammo, and probably more. I always use a rest when one is available, but sometimes one is not. On a trip to Montana for mule deer, I had a chance at a muley buck standing facing away from me at approximately 150 yards. I put the crosshairs on the spot between the shoulder blades and squeezed the trigger. The buck dropped. My guide looked at me in disbelief. Practice is a good thing. I always sight my rifles in from the bench so that if I get a shot I know it is not the rifle that caused a miss, but me. This mule deer buck is not the best I ever got, but it was memorable because of the shot taken. The rifle on the ground next to me is that same Ruger ugly rifle in 7mm Rem Mag that I sold to Bawana Jim from this board several years ago.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2018 11:41:20 GMT -5
I seldom ever used A rest while afield. Even all my antelope were offhand shots
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Post by dennyf on Nov 13, 2018 12:21:24 GMT -5
Bench work is good for proving the accuracy of the firearm. Offhand practice after the proof, is an even better idea for deer season. When my huntin' bud was still around and we were doing some late summer 'chuck hunting up at camp, now and then I'd take a shot offhand with the 22-250. Used to drive him nuts. Now and then it was at a 'chuck out there a good 100 yards. I might've sat down and rested an elbow on a knee a time or two, but some long pokes were standing offhand. Most of the time I hit what I was shooting at offhand and that made him even crazier. Told him it'd be deer season before we knew it, time to brush up a bit. Considering that he was a Marine combat veteran, he was usually a lousy offhand shot and always sought some sort of rest to shoot from. One year when deer were running thru the big pasture across the road from the cabin in doe season and he was trying to find a suitable rest, I popped one offhand from the dooryard. The local boys down by the .road had wounded her, but she was still going. He was not happy. He returned the favor at another time, when I was too slow to get it done, but he shot from the bipod. Cheater! Over the years I have given the coup de grace to more than a few wounded baldies running around there, when we had doe seasons and there was heaps of blasting going on. Dooryard was and still is, a good place to be when deer are running about.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 13, 2018 15:14:28 GMT -5
I shoot off a tree or off my knee.
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Post by dennyf on Nov 13, 2018 16:42:46 GMT -5
Went out earlier to put the cinder spreader on the club tractor, figured might as well shoot a little while there?
Took the M700 25-06 and the Winchester 30-30 w/Lyman rear sight. Piece of paper at 100 yard, cross for the scoped rifle, big ol' 3" round blob for the open sights. Fired one shot from the bench with the M700, just resting my elbows. Dead on. That rifle hasn't varied in years. Fired one shoot standing offhand, with the 30-30. Also dead on.
Guy pulled in, asked me if I was done? Yep.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 13, 2018 18:18:13 GMT -5
I love the guys that shoot their guns, with the barrel resting on a block of wood.
Very accurate method of shooting good groups. 😂
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Post by Muab Dib on Nov 14, 2018 6:48:41 GMT -5
Was at the range years ago and there was a guy there sighting in a pump 12 gauge with slugs. He'd shoot one shot with the barrel resting on the bags and the next with the forearm on the bags kept doing it....couldn't figure out why he couldn't get it sighted in. I politely told him what he was doing and that it would change his point of impact and he looked at me like I was an azz. I just walked away.
Another time I watched as a guy (a day before rifle season started) ran about a box of 7MM Rem. Mags through his rifle in five minutes or so trying to sight it in. You could almost see heat waves coming off his barrel. He finally got one a couple inches from the bull and proudly proclaimed "That'll be close enough." After all those shots had heated up the barrel and were walking all over the place there was no way he knew where that rifle would shoot from a cold bbl. Ranges are interesting a few days before the season! I've learned to stay away from them at that time.
Muab
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Post by timberdoodle on Nov 14, 2018 9:16:41 GMT -5
I just shoot out back...I got tired of all you range bullies making fun of me
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Post by dennyf on Nov 14, 2018 9:19:09 GMT -5
Ranges are interesting a few days before the season! I've learned to stay away from them at that time.
This is why I tend to be there, to savor the drama and comedy. Did it for many years at our club, because it was my "job" at the time to oversee our ranges.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 10:14:16 GMT -5
My sight ins take multiple visits. I'm only really interested in cold bore shots. After an initial sight in I come back another day to see where the cold bore shot is and fine tune for that. Then I come back again to verify.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 14, 2018 15:56:24 GMT -5
I just shoot out back...I got tired of all you range bullies making fun of me Well, if you wouldn't wear a fancy Tweed cap they wouldn't make fun!
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Post by timberdoodle on Nov 14, 2018 16:15:42 GMT -5
peasant
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Post by davet on Nov 14, 2018 19:32:22 GMT -5
At my gun club, where during the summer we shoot a CMP match every Sunday.....when the two week period before deer rifle starts, we don't shoot at the rifle range. We call it "Fudd" time. Fudd....as in Elmer. It's the usual parade of "shoot 3 and see if you hit the pie-plate" and then leave crowd.
There's nothing wrong with shooting 3 in a 6" pie plate, and then leaving. The problem is that these guys only come once a year and just enough of 'em have no inclination for the range rules, nor do they care.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 10:17:36 GMT -5
There's actually a lot wrong with it Dave. Does an archer or a crossbow hunter shoot 3 arrows two days before the season and call it good? No, they practice throughout the summer. Why should a rifle be any different?
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Post by bushmaster on Nov 15, 2018 11:05:19 GMT -5
I normally site in off a bench. Then I practice with my shooting stick. It doubles as my walking stick as I'm always on the move during rifle season. Short sits then a walk.
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Post by dougell on Nov 16, 2018 15:22:27 GMT -5
Other than once in a while shooting off my knee,I never use a rest.Ninety percent of the deer I shoot are shot offhand.When I taught my son to shoot,I taught him by using a shooting stick because he wasn't strong enough to hold a high powered rifle off hand.By the time he was 10,he lost the shooting stick.I bought him a ruger 10/22 so he can burn through box after box offhand.I also bought him a .223 in the exact same rifle as his .308.I load 500-600 rounds every winter for that rifle so he can burn through them off hand.You need good form,follow through and a good trigger to be able to shoot well offhand.You also have to practice and practice a lot.With a youngster,a featherweight rifle also helps.Last year my son shot deer at lazered 168,186 and 248 yards without the aid of a rest.All but one was a one shot kill and that one didn't need another one.Two weeks ago,he folded a gobbler at 145 yards with a .223.We still hunt the vast majority of the time and you have to be able to shoot offhand relatively quickly before the deer takes off.I can't stress a good trigger enough.It makes all the difference in the world when shooting offhand.I adjust all of ours to 2.25lbs or replace them with an adjustable trigger.
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Post by dennyf on Nov 16, 2018 17:53:08 GMT -5
No disagreement from me, Doug. Unless some physical issue hinders your ability to shoot offhand, you shouldn't be walking around after game if you can't shoot well offhand. Just my opinion.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2018 19:16:14 GMT -5
Spot on Doug. A light, crisp trigger is everything. Absolutely everything. My 308 is 2 1/4 and my 243 is 3#. They both break clean. I've run clean out of patience for triggers. A big reason why I probably won't hunt with a lever action this year.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 16, 2018 23:21:37 GMT -5
No disagreement from me, Doug. Unless some physical issue hinders your ability to shoot offhand, you shouldn't be walking around after game if you can't shoot well offhand. Just my opinion. I know my limitations, and therefore take shots off rests. I don't need to be a good off hand shot, I just need to know I shouldn't take them.
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Post by dennyf on Nov 17, 2018 8:04:56 GMT -5
Everyone should try to become the best offhand shooter they can be. I learned to shoot that way when I was a little feller and became a decent offhander.
What really helped me become better later in life, was shooting three position Hi Power matches at our club with an AR. The standing position segment is no sling assist allowed. You learn to hold the rifle as steadily as possible and shoot.
When still hunting and a deer jumps up, or breaks cover, you're usually not going to have time to seek a rest. More time ya take looking for a rest, farther away it is gonna be.
Some of the places I used to still hunt in near camp, were open, mature woods. Might spot a deer bedded in a small patch of green briar, in depressions or blow downs, etc. Spotted a doe's head in a depression one year in the middle of open woods. Turned out there were three of 'em in there. Nothing at all around me to afford a rest of any kind.
You're either going to shoot at it offhand, or watch it wander off while looking for a rest?
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Post by Dutch on Nov 17, 2018 8:10:44 GMT -5
I'll let a deer go, no worries. Not the end of the world.
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Post by Dutch on Nov 17, 2018 8:15:01 GMT -5
Three years ago I kicked up an 8 pointer. No great shot as he ambled away. Sure, other hunters would have taken and maybe made the shot. Oh well. Again, not the end if the world.
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Post by bushmaster on Nov 17, 2018 8:36:34 GMT -5
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Post by dennyf on Nov 17, 2018 9:04:32 GMT -5
I should probably make a shooting stick, for the limited amount of walking around I do in deer season? It'd get used more as a walking stick, though? Ankles and knees still haven't recovered from my firewood gathering, last time I was at camp for the turkey opener.
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