Off Season practice

[C.Smith]

I want to improve my hunting accuracy abilities which are not great right now. I was wondering what you guys do (field positioins) that has really helped you get to be a better field shot?

Corey

 

[Guy Miner]

Good question. First thing I do is ditch the bench. I don't need it once I've got my hunting loads.

Second thing is grab the .22 rifle and shoot the heck out of it. I try for once a week, but sometimes that doesn't happen. The .22 is inexpensive to shoot, accurate and a lot of fun. I'll shoot it from prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. My favorite targets are small metal swinging silhouettes at 50 yards. That way I get immediate feedback and don't have to reset targets all the time. Other fun targets are expended shotgun hulls or empty .45 brass.

Then, usually as the hunting seasons approach I'll spend more and more time at the range with my hunting rifles and full power hunting ammo. Again shooting them prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. There's a gong at the 300 yard line of my gun club. I like to take 20 - 50 rounds of ammo, and my .25-06 or my .30-06 and just blaze away at it. Prone is easy, so I don't spend much time doing that. Sitting is almost as steady, but I practice it quite a bit anyway. Kneeling and standing are more challenging for me and I spend most of my time & ammo from those positions. Usually by the time the season rolls around, I'm hitting that 300 yard gong pretty regular. Last year was a hoot, because I was doing all that with my .375 H&H - lots of fun slamming that 300 yard gong with the big bullets!

If I can get out for coyotes or rock chucks, that's terrific practice too.

So: ditch the bench, shoot a mess of .22's, then move up to the hunting rifles & cartridges.

Regards, Guy

 

[6mm Remington]

Corey I have been thinking about an idea where we all can have a little fun, :grin: heckle each other, and get some practice in w/o breaking the bank. :lol: I'll post my idea soon and see if we can get some folks to participate.

Guy that's some great strategy you got on the shooting tips. I to like the reactive targets as paper or others becomes tedious after a while.

 

[jmad_81]

Once I get my loads set I shoot yotes year round. I also practice shooting the 200, 300, 400, and 600 yard gongs off bipods and shooting sticks.

 

[C.Smith]

Great replies, Guy, Jmad_81, adn 6mmRemiing (even though you area keeping me in suspense :grin: ). I only have a 10-22 but guess that will have to do for now. I guess trigger time is trigger time. Keep them coming too guys, fun things to do to keep it interesting.

Corey

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I do the same as jake, work up loads and shoot out to 600 yards, mainly from bipod as thats how I usually shoot while hunting.

Yotes get harrassed year round from us as well

 

[SJB358]

I practice about the same as the others. Once I get a load, I stay away from the bench. Mainly practice from sitting, kneeling and prone. I like to put out water jugs or something I can see hits from. Shooting the 22 also keeps it all tuned up pretty well.

I get some decent practice at work also. I think as long as you are practicing trigger pulls, you are doing well. It is great firing live ammo, but really knowing your trigger and tuning your sight picture helps alot also.

Lately, my boy and I have been having alot of fun doing friendly shooting competitions. His 243 is pretty cheap to shoot and does pretty well for practice out to 300 or so.

After shooting Woodycreek's Ruger pistol a few days ago, I think I am ready to get one of them. Love to shoot the pistol. I can't think of much that will tune your trigger finger as putting rounds on target from a pistol. Scotty

 

[velvetant]

What everyone said is great advice.
I do water filled milk jugs out to 600 yards, great visual effect.
If you carry a back pack practice shooting off it. Mine is tall enough I can shoot from a sitting position
or lay it flay for prone. I also throw my jacket over some sage brush or boulders and practice.

Randy

 

[Woodycreek]

I practice about the same as the others. Once I get a load, I stay away from the bench. Mainly practice from sitting, kneeling and prone. I like to put out water jugs or something I can see hits from. Shooting the 22 also keeps it all tuned up pretty well.

I get some decent practice at work also. I think as long as you are practicing trigger pulls, you are doing well. It is great firing live ammo, but really knowing your trigger and tuning your sight picture helps alot also.

Lately, my boy and I have been having alot of fun doing friendly shooting competitions. His 243 is pretty cheap to shoot and does pretty well for practice out to 300 or so.

After shooting Woodycreek's Ruger pistol a few days ago, I think I am ready to get one of them. Love to shoot the pistol. I can't think of much that will tune your trigger finger as putting rounds on target from a pistol. Scotty

Careful getting that .22 pistol since that boy will give you a run for your money :lol:

 

[SJB358]

I know. Darn kid is a natural born shooter! Scotty

 

[Woodycreek]

Bottle tops at 10 -12 yards is not to bad at all!

 

[Elkman]

I do all of the allready mentioned. In addition I shoot my bow pretty much daily, the same concepts are in play. Hold, sight picture, trigger control I really think it helps. I have some squirrels around my buildings that I harrass with my Buckmark pistol at extended distances. Every once in a while I connect. Ballons on a string on a breezy day are also a challenge. My favorite is plastic jugs with water.

I will say that with my 10-22 I do get sloppy on sight picture, those 30 mags make me carless, the bow helps a lot for me.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My wife has asked me to keep the bird feeder clear of rodents. It is exactly 25 yards from my bedroom deck door to the ground under the bird feeder. I shoot my .22 WMR, Savage, Accutrigger, Model 93 at varmits, since it is more accurate than my Model 63 .22 LR and is capable of 1/4 inch groups at that distance. I aim for the eye of the varmit, offhand, standing. So far this year, I am 10 for 10, almost all in or just behind the eye. I have not missed immediately killing a varmit so far this year. Keeps me sharp for real hunting but it is only one shot per animal, not a group.

Plus I go to the range and shoot high power rifle and revolver every week (9 months per year)from the bench for trigger control practice. I probably shoot 30-50 high power rifle per week as well.

 

[C.Smith]

I like the balloons idea, I've used milk jug a little bit but not their full potential (will have to work on that one). Any tried rigging up a target inside a tire and roll it down a hill to get moving target practise?

Corey

 

[Oldtrader3]

My ex-wife and I had an old gravel quarry near the edge of town and used to take a gallon milk jug and put a little water (maybe 8 ouces) in it to weight it mostly. Then we would take turns casting the bottle into the quarry with an old fishing rod. The quarry was all sand, light gravel and was fairly deep and wide so no ricochets were likely. We would take turns shooting at the bottle as it was reeled and bounced up the side of the quarry from the bottom.

It worked wonders for running shots and was very safe because we were in sight of each other and close by. Mostly we used lever action .35 Rem and .44 Magnum (Marlin 336's or Model 1894's) for our shooting. Sometimes we would use other rifles as well.

 

[Guest]

Ballons on a string on a breezy day are also a challenge.

I'm preparing to have some fun with my son using this method. He's getting his 270WSM this weekend (tonight, I hope) then we'll mount the scope (3-9x40 Bushnell 3200) and build some handloads, then we're ready. Between what we've got to get done, and my little sister's wedding next weekend (which me, my wife, and all three of our kids are in) plus a few days R&R at the beach immediately following it (for me and the family), I figure we'll get to the range in late June. One Saturday morning should be perfect, as it won't be too hot yet, hopefully. And the low power H4895 loads we're going to be shooting should keep the barrel temp low.

I'm thinking I'll start with targets so we get it dialed in, then go to 8" balloons at 100yds or some such. If he can hit a balloon, he's good on deer vitals at that distance!

 

[Ridge_Runner]

I pittle around tinkering with new loads, testing them in the eve's when its cooler, shoot a lil rimfire, and smallbores, then come aug/sept. I hit the riverbottoms and shoot at least 1 3 shot group a week (mostly 2) from 750 to 1050 yards, working now on getting my steel plates ready to hang.
8" playes will be 500-600 yards
12" plates 750-1000 yds
24" plates out to 1 mile
RR

 

[Elkman]

I like the balloons idea, I've used milk jug a little bit but not their full potential (will have to work on that one). Any tried rigging up a target inside a tire and roll it down a hill to get moving target practise?

Corey

I tried this back several (many) years ago, didn't work well for us. They won't stay in a a ine (veer off away) will hit things and fall over, bounce and they are heavy going back up the hill. :grin: :grin:

 

[Elkman]

I pittle around tinkering with new loads, testing them in the eve's when its cooler, shoot a lil rimfire, and smallbores, then come aug/sept. I hit the riverbottoms and shoot at least 1 3 shot group a week (mostly 2) from 750 to 1050 yards, working now on getting my steel plates ready to hang.
8" playes will be 500-600 yards
12" plates 750-1000 yds
24" plates out to 1 mile
RR

What rifle and caliber are we pittleing around out to a mile with ?, when I think out there I am thinking 300, sometimes 600 but not farther. Am very interested in your tools ?