How good are you offhand when hunting?

[DakotaElkSlayer]

  Just wondering how good are you guys offhand when in the field?  Me?  I actually don't know, but I am betting I pretty horrible.  In the prone, backpack as a rest, I shoot with extreme confidence at all ranges(which translates out to 300yds. for me).  Offhand, is another story.  If a deer is 75yds. away, I first look for a suitable rest!!!!   Needless to say, this year a few thousand rounds with the .22 is going to be shot offhand to practice up.  Gee, I never used to use a rest when I was a kid...

Jim

[Graybeard]

Out to at least ten or fifteen yards I'm deadly.  Do we really have to talk about longer ranges off hand?  Once upon a long time ago when I shot metallic silhouette competition regularly and was required to do it all off hand I was much better and felt confident of my off hand shooting skills. I no longer compete and no longer do a lot of off hand shooting so I pretty much make sure I have a rest or I don't shoot at game. But realistically if I was not rushed 50 yards with handgun and perhaps 100 yards with rifle would likely be about the best I could do these days and I'd rather not try either of those.

[Sourdough]

Out to 150 yards, I'll take the shot off hand (usually with a mini-14).  Beyond that I look for a rest (usually a single shot).  I never shoot prone it would kill me, due to a bad back.  My long distance shots are always made from a sitting, or kneeling position. 

[Jerry Lester]

I actually practice regularly shooting offhand both rifles, and revolvers. In a pinch, I'd feel perfectly confident taking a shot past 200 yards on a standing deer offhand with a rifle. With that said though, I'll use any kind of available rest even if he's standing at 30 yards. I practice at the longer ranges specifically for that "in a pinch" situation for times when I happen to be standing in a bad spot, and there's no rest available.

With a revolver I'd be confident up to 50 yards or so on a deer with no rest, and maybe 20+ on a shot at small game. Still yet, I'll use a rest if at all possible. Heck, I've rested on the side of a tree for a shot on a squirrel at 10 feet or less many times.

In my opinion, if a rest is available, you'd be silly not to use it no matter what the range is.  

[burntmuch]

I gotta practice at offhand shooting. Once I get a gun zeroed I practice offhand at 50 yards & 100 That target gets real shakey at 100. This is where a good fitting gun comes in to play. My best shot on game to date is 80 yrd shot on a 8 pt that was at a steady trot with love on his mind. It was with a gun that fit perfect. The shot was perfect. 2 inches higher than where I was aiming. (Luck Ill take it) I ve let shots like that pass before & since. 

[Land_Owner]

I've said it before, I suck shooting off hand if combined with any distance.  Stalking through the woods and getting spooked by a deer or hog jumping up from its bed.  Adrenalin flowing and rushing to get the gun up and sights into position.  Combine that with increased heartbeat and erratic breathing.  I don't care how many shots I take at the range, when faced with game hunting conditions, muscle memory and subconscious technique do not get it done for me.  If I can't get to a steady rest before the game takes off, I just won't take the shot out past 25 to 35 yards tops.

[Phoneman]

I use a rest whenever possible. But I do practice with a 22 at 25 and 50 yards offhand as much as possible. There was an article in F&S this year about it. Take a 1 in. dot at 25yds and try to put 5 shots in it. I thought no problem. Boy was I wrong 1 out of five the first time I tried. So a trip to the gun store and a-lot of ammunition later I can now put 4 of 5 in that circle pretty consistant at 25 yds and 3 of 5 at 50.  There are some times were I can get all 5 in the dot now. But I still prefer to at least drop to one knee on most shots and use my elbow as a rest. I think it is good practice to use anything available as a rest whenever possible. I don't like to take chances on  bad hit.

[IOWA DON]

I was better when in my 20's than now at 58. And a gun with the weight foreward and with a good trigger pull make a lot of difference for me. Using a match rifle on the standard NRA 50-foot target at the University of Nebraska indoor rifle range I would get 80+ scores, holding the forend in a hunting position. That is, not resting my elbow in the ribs. A friend and I had a contest, again using the standard NRA 50-foot target for small bore rifles at 50 feet. We were in our 20's My friend used a .22 riflle and I used my Ruger .22 pistol (target model) with a two-hand hold. I got the higher score which was a 68 and still have the target. Last summer I did some shooting with my S&W Model 41 and found I was way out of practice with a pistol and suspect I could never shoot a score like that again. I went to a 200-yard centerfire rifle practice last summer where the regulation rifles were the WWII military .30-06 semi-automatics but some people used other rifles like scoped AR-15's. I took my 7x57 which had a scope, a very good trigger, a forward balance and a stock that fits me. Of 10 shooters I got the second highest offhand score which was an 82. I do not recall for sure, but think most shots would have been in the vitals of a deer at that range. However, I would probably not shoot at a deer offhand at a distance of more than about 100 yards. I shoot many pest birds, rabbits and squirrels in my back yard all year round with pellet rifles and .22 shorts so get a lot more rifle practice than most people.

[IOWA DON]

I belong to a gun club and used to only go there to sight in guns and test loads. However, I retired a couple years ago and decided I needed to go there and make better use of the facility doing some fun shooting. This year I bought a grandson a .22 rifle for his 12th birthday and took him there a number of times, and I went to both a centerfire and a rimfire organized practice session. The guy who heads up the practices says that they have tried to organize shooting events which would encourage hunters with non-target type rifles to participate. The hunters just don't seem to want to shoot at paper targets. The people who participate in the match shooting seem to be target shooters, and don't hunt. I don't know if hunters are afraid they won't do well, and be embarresed, or what. Maybe there is just no fun for a typical hunter to shoot at a paper target. For my grandson and myself, we enjoy shooting pop cans and clay pigeons at 50 yards much more than paper, but paper is good too.

[beemanbeme]

I try to practice all of the field positions regularly.  Offhand more than the others because I'm not very good at it.  If a deer is 100 yards away, I'm gonna drop into a sitting or kneeling position or even move three or four steps to get to a rest.  If that spooks the deer and he runs,  he's home free. You got to let them win once in a while or they'll quit playing.
I find if the deer is walking along where I have to track him, its a lot easier to stay on target than if he is just standing still. 

[Mac11700]

I won't try to shoot in unsupported position over 200 yards...out to there I am very confident of my ability...but I still would prefer to be in a supported position even then...

Mac

[Don Fischer]

I spent years practicing dropping into the sitting position and kneeling position and pretty much can hit it right. Off hand. Whats that? Don't tell anyone, I suck at that!

[kyelkhunter3006]

Offhand shooting is something that you have to practice on a regular basis, or you just aren't going to be good at it.  There is no way that I'd shoot at something more than 100yds away offhand.  Honestly, if it's that far, you should be able to get some kind of rest and take the shot.  I am pretty confident out to 75yds, and ok out to 100, depending on the rifle.  I was shooting my Savage 93 heavy barrel .17HMR at popcans at 75 yds the other day offhand.  I sort of amazed myself to hit as consistently as I did.  I had 17 full cans of Diet Coke that someone left at my house about 6 months ago.  I figured that I should make them easier to recycle  , so I shot them up first.  Since they were full, it was easy to see if I hit them.  It took me 22 shots for 17 cans.  I actually think I went 19 for 22, as one of the cans I hit was right behind another one on the hill, and then I realized I was aiming at a can that was already busted.

[elmer]

I am shaky when shooting past 50 yards offhand. With the bursitis and calcified tendonitis in my left shoulder it just hurts to try and hold the rifle steady enough to go past that point. Of course it could be that my hands are just not as steady at 53 as they were at 33 (or even 43 for that matter).

[PartsMan]

We set up a 4" gong at the farm this summer while we were tuning our rifles.
We decided on 4" to leave room for buck fever in the field.

It was very humbling.

Out to 50yd I was consistent with all my rifles.
I could do well at 100yd with my 223 and 22lr. I am very confident with these rifles.
Guess I need to practice with the others more.

[Glanceblamm]

I will usually completely avoid offhand if a rest is available.
Offhand was necessary for a lot of years in an open tree stand for deer with the blkpwder rifle.
Offhand continues to be necessary for handgun hunting in a doghouse type of blind as there are four windows and I have shot out of three of them while hunting.

I am proficient enough at this, but you just cant beat a good rest if it is available.

[blackpowderbill]

I will always use a rest if available, if not, and the target is no moving I will take a shot at an estimated 100 yards but no farther. On a moving target, not more than 50 Yards. If I have a rest and the target is not moving then I will take a shot all the way out to the computed point blank for my cartridge and load.

[Dee]

I sold my bolt rifles, and hunt with lever actions. 50 to 100 yards off hand on standing, but I'm always lookin for a rest. 250 yds with my 3030 and a rest.

[Siskiyou]

I prefer shooting deer from a rest or setting position but the circumstances may not allow that.  I think back on the last six bucks I have taken, three were taken at less then a hundred yards off-hand and three were taken from a setting position from 100-yards to over 250 yards.

But from historical view when the topography, vegetation, and the actions of the deer allow I shot from a setting position, or I will use a tree, log, or rock for a rest.  I have taken standing deer at over 100 yards off-hand because if I set down in the brush I would have lost sight of the deer.

While I like shooting a centerfire rifle I think that some of my best practice sessions have been with a scoped .22-rimfire rifle.  I believe I benefit more when teaching a young kid to shoot.  Sharing the day with a youngster helps me think about proper form, sight picture, controlling my breathing and trigger control. 

Most of our practice with the .22 is from fifty feet out to fifty yards.  We like to have and leave a clean shooting area, and concentrate on paper targets. For the .22 I down load targets off the Remington Website:  http://www.remington.com/pdfs/turkeytarget.pdf
In 2008 there will be a new hunter in the family and hopefully timing will allow us to get out and practice shooting from a number of positions.  I hope to instill in him the message that off hand long range shooting is not a good option. 

[IOWA DON]

I guess this question was more or less what can one consistently do. However, I have a couple somewhat lucky cases, both in front of the same person. This guy thought I was a terrific shot, but I would not be able to count on repeating them. First, when I was about 12 years old I had a lot of experience with BB guns and a smooth bore pellet rifle, but don't think I had graduated to a good Sheridan pellet rifle. A neighbor who hunted a lot took his son and me hunting. They had shotguns but gave me a single shot bolt action .22 rifle. Walking to the woods we would be hunting in, the neighbor suggested I shoot at something for a little practice in case I would get a shot at a rabbit. I picked out a stem of a weed about 1/4 inch in diameter sticking out of the snow 30 feet away or so. Figuring I had little shooting experience he suggested trying a much larger target, and then said to go ahead a try. My first bullet cut it down. This family had later moved to Colorado and I went camping with them when I was 18 or 19 years old. I had a 7MM Weatherby and was a fair shot. While going up a jeep trail in the mountains above timber line we saw a marmont on top a rock with only its head showing (probably a 3-inch target). It was about 150 yards away and there were no good rests so I took a shot from the standing positon and got it. Again he was impressed. I'm was glad he did not ask me to repeat that shot. Another time when I was about 20 years old my younger brother, about 12, and a couple of his friends happened to be tagging along. I had a .22 pistol and we saw a small bird about 50 or 60 yards away on the ground. One of my brothers friends said he bet I couldn't hit it, and I did. They were pretty impressed, and so was I knew it was as it was a low percentage shot for me, but I did not tell them.

[jamaldog87]

i pretty good with my .22 and airguns up to 50 yards.

[The Gamemaster]

Back when I lived in the Indian Nation - they called me the Rifleman!

One shot - one kill.

If the gun goes up = they go down!

If I come home and there isn't anything in the bed of the truck.  I didn't see anything!

I would rather hunt than eat, and I weigh 300 lbs!

Target shooting is something that you do to sight in your rifle.  Anything past that and you are just wasting ammo.

I can remember once, going out on a rabbit hunt by myself in 12 inches of new fallen snow.
That law said I could shoot 4 rabbits a day and that is what I came home with. 
All I used was a 20 ga Mossberg 500 shotgun.  No dog and no sleepers.

[six_gunz]

Target shooting is something that you do to sight in your rifle.  Anything past that and you are just wasting ammo.

Anything past that is a waste of ammo? I believe you cannot practice enough and I never have enough ammo!!!

[mogwai]

An friend with considerable range experience taught me a drill to improve offhand shooting.  Place a blank 8x10 paper at 50 yds.  Load 4 rounds in your gun, have 4 extra ready to reload.
Shoot from 4 positions, in this order, at the blank paper:
Stand
Kneel
Sit
Prone

Reload while on the ground, then shoot the same 4 positions backwards
Prone
Sit
Kneel
Stand

Do this as quickly as possible.  Look at the group on paper.  Try it again tomorrow.  When your group shrinks, move the paper out to 75 yds. then 100.  And so on.

I think this is one of the best tools to improve field shooting that I've seen

[beemanbeme]

That's a good idea, Mogwai.  Finn Agaard use to practice shooting at blank paper since animals didn't have bullseyes on them.  An added challenge might be, while you're prone to reload while looking at the target and not the action.

[Foggy]

I don't bench shoot much except to zero a rifle. I shoot standing mostly and for longer the 100 yds I use a waling stick  for a brace I very rarely shoot kneeling any more a bad motorcycle wreck limits the ease I can get up and down. I can do minute of clay target at 100yds with my levers and handi (45colt 30-30,  handi is 45-70) I can still bring bambi home for supper. whack mr yote
I noticed the guys with the orange dot on the card board game targets.  think of the job DNR would have getting all those sticker on all thse deer before deer season