The Range vs. The Field

[grizzmoose]

I know this shooting long distance thing has been driven into the ground, but I'd like to get people's opinions on this. I've read some posts about being able to shoot small groups while practicing. If someone is able to shoot extremely well at the range (from any distance), do you think the results at the range are really similar to what would transpire in the field?

Im not the expert shooter in here at all, but each year before I go out hunting, I empty a couple boxes practicing and getting sited in. During that practice, my groups are small and consistent. I practice out to 300 yards, yet I have missed an animal in the field at 145. My opinion is that while practice at the range is extremely valuable, it certainly does not equate to success while shooting at a live animal. I have to think that things like adrenaline, pressure and not having a perfect dead rest would impact your consistency.

For any of you that golf, you know that it is ALWAYS easier to drive one down the middle at the range than it is off the first tee. Or, after putting a ball in the trees that second ball you hit just for the hell of it always goes exactly where you want it too.

What do you guys think?

 

[littlejoe]

I think every person is different. Have a very good friend that is a great target shooter and is a terrible shooter out in the field. I am an okay target shooter I think but definitely not one hole through the next. In the field, knock on wood, I feel I can really hold my own.

 

[BIGJOHNT]

When you said golf....it made me think of this. www.spirtridgeriflegolf.com It is one thing shooting from a bench on level ground at level targets. It another shooting up and down hill and dealing with the wind. I think Spirit ridge is the best place to practise these skills in the off season. We need to have a Monster Muley's get together there. I think it would be fun !!

 

[Big_DD]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-08-11 AT 03:31PM (MST)[p]Field and range shots are two totally different things.

Adrenaline, being short winded or tired, wind, crappy rests, inclines and declines, buck fever, looking at the antlers and not the target... The list could go on and on.

Keeping your cool and remembering all the little steps to make a long range shot in the field is hard.

I've been wanting to shoot Spirit Ridge for a while, I need to find some time in the spring to get up and try it out.

 

[Cahunter805]

All good info so far. I think a lot of people tend to shoot off a rest or bench to sight in and practice. I have started shooting from my bipod and prone a lot more. Some rifles can have major point of impact changes from a bipod also. I tend to practice only field conditions and shots once I get my load developed. Practicing offhand and sitting are great also.

 

[npaden]

>All good info so far. I
>think a lot of people
>tend to shoot off a
>rest or bench to sight
>in and practice. I have
>started shooting from my bipod
>and prone a lot more.
>Some rifles can have major
>point of impact changes from
>a bipod also. I tend
>to practice only field conditions
>and shots once I get
>my load developed. Practicing offhand
>and sitting are great also.
>

This is the key in my opinion. Are you trying to sight in your rifle on the range or are you practicing for field conditions?

Sighting in a rifle you can use a lead sled and a nice bench, practicing and you should be shooting off your shooting sticks, prone on a backpack, offhand, on your knee, from a tree limb or rock, etc. You should really even do some moving around between each shot, maybe some jumping jacks or something like that.

You can practice with any gun including a .22, you don't need to waste a bunch of expensive rounds out of your hunting rifle, but you need to be familiar with it too.

 

[justr_86]

I"l bet you will sleep better at night and lead a happier life if you quit worrying about what everyone else is doing.

At the range I do good, my wife can group better, but I can shoot better than her while hunting. Faster too, that's where my experience comes in. I never thought shooting paper was much fun, but hunting rabbits and birds or the off color rock from whatever distance is more fun to me. Real world hunting situations if you will.

 

[dreaminbouthuntin]

As long as I don't get ripped on for making more than one sentence ..

When I shoot at the range to sight in my rifle and practice, I never shoot off the bench. I shoot prone off my pack or my harris bipods. I don't use sand bags either. Use a pack or my elbows/arms/hands as support. All my shooting is done with in the field situations. I also practice standing and sitting shots.
I practice quick three round shots with control, stand with my rifle, get down quick, get on target and shoot as if an elk or deer is my target. I prefer also I shoot in the wind, rain, and snow to get real hunting weather to see what my bullet does.
Your groups lying down vs sitting on a bench will vary greatly. Different body positions will change your elevation and left/right.
When im sighting in I do several things to make my groups tight.
1. Three round shots per target
2. I never raise my head off of my rifle between shots and cycle the next round into my rifle immediately
3. I use breathing techniques to raise my oxygen levels to steady my shot
4. Front to rear trigger pull. It should suprise you to some extent that the rifle has shot. Don't jerk or yank the trigger.
5. FOCUS! You shouldn't notice anything going on around you. I have had someone throw empty cartridges at my head while I shoot. Helps me keep my mind on all the little things to make a good shot.
just a few things to use when sighting in and practicing.

 

[gb22]

I agree with much of what has been said; there is a difference between range and field shooting but there is also a correlation between (any) practice and success.

I shoot 300 to 400 bullets at the range each year...but shoot HUNDREDS (thousands?) at ground squirrels, coyotes, rock chucks and (my favorite and most-effective practice) jack rabbits, which run almost exactly like a mule deer.

I shoot a LOT of small game with my .300, because it's good practice. I do use other guns (25% of the time) but they all have the same cross hairs, length and trigger pull. (The site picture and feel are the same...one to the next.)


Within the shadows, go quietly.

 

[smitty]

I really don't shoot much. I sighted my gun it at the range, got it steady on my pack, got a tight 3 shot group. Called it good. Had some buddies build a long range course, 500-900 yards. Went out and shot that, I have a Burris scope with hashmarks for 300, 350, 500 and 600. Each mark is right on at that yardage. I know the gun will shoot where I'm pointing it.

I prefer to shoot off my pack, but the elk I shot this year was off my shooting sticks, maybe 250-275 yards, hit him twice through the heart. I knew where the bullet would hit when I pulled the trigger. I've only shot a couple coyotes off those shooting sticks, never practiced.

Growing up, I shot tons of things with my ruger 10-22, it had a 3 to 9 tasco scope. I attribute any shooting skill I have to that gun and setup. It's the same view I have now on the big gun.

Having said all that, I think shooting any distance boils down to confidence in your gun, (the gun will make the shot every time if you do your part) and confidence in yourself.

 

[marley]

There's no way, imo, to practice for the "in field" shots. Sure you can shoot at jackrabbits, ground hogs, etc. but none of them give you the rush that a big buck or bull will give you. The point of the practice is so that when that shot of a lifetime comes around the rifle handling, the trigger pull, the sight picture, the follow through all go on auto pilot. That's alot to think about while you are trying the find the best rest, dope the wind, control your breathing (hyperventilating), get the range, wait for the broadside shot, recheck the range, etc. The more you practice at the range the less things you have to think about when it's time to pull the trigger.


....If you find a message from myself offensive, inappropriate or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to me and I will demonstrate.....

 

[gb22]

Practicing does make a lot of difference and "live" practicing helps more than target practicing. If nothing else, paper never moves..unless you fill an old tire with a target and bounce it down the hill, as a target. problem there is, you've got to keep carrying it back up (did that several times...dad's behest).

My younger brother (passed away) always had "that rush" (buck fever). I never have. Maybe that's from stalking innumerable sparrows and pigeons from the time I was 4 or 5 (BB gun). Maybe I'm just cold-blooded.

The more responses to shooting threads I read, the more it once again brings home the different life experiences between those who grew up on farms/ranches and those who grew up in other environs.


Within the shadows, go quietly.

 

[nickman]

I shoot a LOT of coyotes all year. The one single thing that will always make a difference is simply shooting.

I seldom go to a paper target unless I am setting up something new.

I have NO doubts, that when a big game animal presents a target, that I can make the shot.

I am old though, so I make sure I have a good rest and NEVER take a shot at running game animals. I will pass on a running target at 100 yards, and hope for a standing shot at 300.

I have always got a kick out of the guys that show up with a rifle that can kill a beer can at 200 yards and cannot hit a deer at 80.

"If God did not intend for man to hunt animals, he would have made broccoli more fun to shoot"

 

[dreaminbouthuntin]

That's why you practice the techniques at the range so when you get in the situation in the field, your in the "zone" as I call it. Personally, when im hunting and take the shot on whatever animal im hunting, I never hear the rifle go off. Im so focused on sight alignment, trigger pull, reload, get back on the animal that I never hear it. Im more military oriented in my training that it differs from non military people.
I do have a buddy that shoots long range competition. The guy drinks strictly water, no caffeine or sugars. Eats a low sodium, low fat diet. All to steady his body for the long shots. Its just how he is.
As stated, live targets help. Like coyotes. Small kill zone, usually running, and do that bob and weave. Plus, well, you get to kill those dang things!
all I can say is.. shoot in the elements that you will be hunting in and do it from and with the equipment you will have and shoot alot!!

 

[grizzmoose]

>I"l bet you will sleep better
>at night and lead a
>happier life if you quit
>worrying about what everyone else
>is doing.
>
I hope that wasnt directed at me. Im not worried at all about what others do. I do like to know what other people do in hopes that I can learn something from them.

That Spirit Ridge thing looks great! That could be a fun Christmas gift for my dad. Thanks for sharing!

 

[cabinfever]

Practice and learn to control your emotions. If you can commit to those two things, you will put more trophies on the ground.

 

[Zeke]

Here's a fact (in my opinion)
If you can't shoot well off the bench then you won't shoot any better in the field.
I've heard guys say "oh , I can't shoot good groups off the bench but I can hit a deer in the eye at the same range". To this I say BS.
I do think that bench work is needed to see what the RIFLE will do and to build confidence in your rig but it's the shooting type that gb22 and nickman do that really helps for FIELD shooting. Lots and lots of field shooting WILL make you a better field shot. Period.
If you're not shooting several hundred rounds per year from a centerfire rifle then you're short-changing yourself.
How will you ever KNOW YOUR limits if you're not shooting a ton?

Remember: perfect practice make perfect! And the bench work is part of it, especially if you want to know what your rig will do at long range!

Zeke

 

[justr_86]

>>I"l bet you will sleep better
>>at night and lead a
>>happier life if you quit
>>worrying about what everyone else
>>is doing.
>>
>I hope that wasnt directed at
>me. Im not worried
>at all about what others
>do. I do like
>to know what other people
>do in hopes that I
>can learn something from them.
>
>
>That Spirit Ridge thing looks great!
> That could be a
>fun Christmas gift for my
>dad. Thanks for sharing!
>


It was to you... IMO it seems you have been very critical of others, and very concerned with their way of doing things.

 

[hossblur]

There are major differences. My opinion:

1. Unlike the long distance shooting shows, I hunt public land where trophy animals have been pressured for weeks if not months and are not likely to sit out in the open while I set up my rest, calculate wind speeds, calculate distance and angles, and set up my scope accordingly. This fall the elk I killed was at about 75 yrds and gave me a running shot with a small opening in between trees. Like most others I shot for the shoulder which on an elk(even the little feller I shot) is a big target.

2. I do a lot of uphill hunting, and am not in any mood to back some oversized "target" gun all day with me. I shoot a nice light A-bolt.

3. I get only a week to hunt elk, a week to hunt deer, so I can't choose my weather. Usually that means snow, wind, and nastiness that doesn't bode well for long range precise shooting.

4. Patience and adreniline. At the range you shoot when you want, with animals you may have to wait. I have never got all the excited with a paper target, with animals, I still do(thank god).


We can argue the ethics and what not somewhere else, but I feel long range shooting is overblown. Like the guys out at the golf course who break out the oversize driver, then miss the fairway. If you can hunt you can do it with a bow, 30-30 or whatever, if you can't you have to keep searching for that next big thing to "help you". I shoot a .50 caliber muzzy at deer that has killed every deer I was able to hit. I shoot a 22 year old 30-06 that again this year killed an elk. I think most guys would be better off spending the time and money they spend on new technology instead just spending the time in the hills.

When they came for the road hunters I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for the oppurtunists I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for the public land hunters I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for me there was no one left to say anything!

 

[sageadvice]

"The Range vs. The Field"

In my experience, some guys are just natural born killers and can shoot the eyes outa game from a fairly young age. We had a table to shoot from right outside the yard gate at our Ranch. Within 400yds were several "ground squirrel" groups and all sorts of target backgrounds. Jacks, squirrels, and blackbirds, nothing was safe as long as i had ammo.

Yes, i missed my share of bucks with the old 30-30 long tom i carried before my teens but i shot enough, often enough, with it and other guns, that i quickly learned from my mistakes in the field and soon went on a very long string, to this day actually, of hardly ever missing a buck.

Getting back to the Natural born guys, several of my hunting pards were this way as well. We all had other friends that goofed up their chances all the time. There was one excuse or another but those guys flubbed up more likely than getting the job done. My good buds though, always seemed to get the job done when it counted and some of that came naturally.

Also want to mention that some of the best archery, some rifle guys too, shooters i know, can't hardly get it done out in the field while hunting. They can shoot a bulls-eye on paper at amazing distances but can't hit a standing buck well within their range.

Joey

 

[westelkman]

Yep practice like you hunt and get in the woods and shoot-

I'm a bowhunter and have turned into a pretty decent shot on game. 6 or 8 yrs ago I hunted with a group of pro shooters-ASA tour, one was IBO world champ- nice guys and they could hit a quarter at 50 yds every time.

The IBO champ missed an elk at 35 yards on that trip- flat out missed! No surprise, really, in those high end shoots they have totally clear lanes, they can stand and hold for an hour if necessary, etc.

This guy was pinned down on an elk coming hard to the call and he had to shoot from a slightly twisted kneeling position with only a short window to shoot. It doesn't take away from this guys world class talent- its just different [and funny as hell]

 

[LongRangeBangin]

It boils down to this. Paper and hair/fur are to different things. I have yet to shoot at a piece of paper that made my heart race. If the animal your shooting at doesnt get you a little excited, its probably not worth shooting in the first place. IMHO