Thread: The dinner plate challenge

I’ve been practicing shooting in various sitting / standing positions as the grass is so long, prone shooting is a non-starter. Some gong practice shooting uncomfortable positions has really helped fine tune the setup.

What I have found is that the DPT Hunter chassis with a wide sling around the left forearm and left elbow on my left knee, right hand on the pistol grip and right elbow on my right knee which is supported by the sloping ground, produces a very stable position with which to take some difficult shots.

Recently I’ve been hunting hard country on shitty gradients where long grass / scrub and bad lies make prone shooting impossible. I’ve really appreciated getting the sitting position sorted as its pretty much on autopilot now. Getting the sling length just right was important.

This was a tough shot - a good red stag stopped to take one last look back up the spur to see if the smelly human was still there. Neck shot was the only option in the scrub. Shot angle was >30° down, about 140-150m. Something that is also on autopilot is remembering to aim slightly low on the steeply angled closer shots. My .308 Win POI is 2.5” low at 100m (200m zero) and I’ve pretty much got this hard-coded when snap shooting, again thanks to “dinner plate” practice on the gong.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I’ve been practicing shooting in various sitting / standing positions as the grass is so long, prone shooting is a non-starter. Some gong practice shooting uncomfortable positions has really helped fine tune the setup.

What I have found is that the DPT Hunter chassis with a wide sling around the left forearm and left elbow on my left knee, right hand on the pistol grip and right elbow on my right knee which is supported by the sloping ground, produces a very stable position with which to take some difficult shots.

Recently I’ve been hunting hard country on shitty gradients where long grass / scrub and bad lies make prone shooting impossible. I’ve really appreciated getting the sitting position sorted as its pretty much on autopilot now. Getting the sling length just right was important.

This was a tough shot - a good red stag stopped to take one last look back up the spur to see if the smelly human was still there. Neck shot was the only option in the scrub. Shot angle was >30° down, about 140-150m. Something that is also on autopilot is remembering to aim slightly low on the steeply angled closer shots. My .308 Win POI is 2.5” low at 100m (200m zero) and I’ve pretty much got this hard-coded when snap shooting, again thanks to “dinner plate” practice on the gong.

Attachment 213749

Nice. 2.5" low at 100??

Originally Posted by Tahr

Nice. 2.5" low at 100??

Clearly not!

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I’ve been practicing shooting in various sitting / standing positions as the grass is so long, prone shooting is a non-starter. Some gong practice shooting uncomfortable positions has really helped fine tune the setup.

What I have found is that the DPT Hunter chassis with a wide sling around the left forearm and left elbow on my left knee, right hand on the pistol grip and right elbow on my right knee which is supported by the sloping ground, produces a very stable position with which to take some difficult shots.

Recently I’ve been hunting hard country on shitty gradients where long grass / scrub and bad lies make prone shooting impossible. I’ve really appreciated getting the sitting position sorted as its pretty much on autopilot now. Getting the sling length just right was important.

This was a tough shot - a good red stag stopped to take one last look back up the spur to see if the smelly human was still there. Neck shot was the only option in the scrub. Shot angle was >30° down, about 140-150m. Something that is also on autopilot is remembering to aim slightly low on the steeply angled closer shots. My .308 Win POI is 2.5” low at 100m (200m zero) and I’ve pretty much got this hard-coded when snap shooting, again thanks to “dinner plate” practice on the gong.

Attachment 213749

Good shot for a downhill, tricky.
I like sitting as a good position too, cant master kneeling at all.
Another one to try is to lay your mustering stick against a bush or tree at 45 degrees and shoot across it. Can be used laying onto a soft springy bush / hebe etc for a surprisingly solid rest

Good shot Flyblown. That’s flying !

Before we can fly we have to be able to dance
Before we can dance we have to be able to run
Before we can run we have to be able to walk

Once we have our equipment sorted, then some familiarity with the 4 basic unsupported positions and bench resting, we need to start trying those awkward positions and being inspired by people who have solutions to them. And passing on tips. Sometimes a technique can give unexpected stabilty (like kneeling with a rest but the left elbow hanging in space and the right keen up with right elbow resting on it which you see occasionally at gong shoots) and other times an apparently unpromising technique like using a none too tight sling for sitting like you described or standing does translate to higher scores on paper even if it still feels abit wobbly. Unsupported shooting can give good results in training bit can be a bit fragile under stress.

Should have been poa not poi (point of aim vs point of impact)

If you want to really see your offhand (standing) shooting improve have a go at silhouette shooting.
A club day of silhouettes at Tokoroa is 4x rounds of 40 shots on the silhouettes repeated the next day.
All up 320 shots standing in two days plus whatever practise shots you use.
That's all standing with 22rf.
You'll be surprised what you can do standing with your after a while.
It's a lot of fun.

Another good rest in long grass is your day pack standing rather than lying down - so long as it has some of those rigid stays in the back of it. And if its got a bit of gear in the bottom it also helps more.

This is an American made Outdoorsman pack frame that I use in the tussock. Its an excellent platform to shoot off, especially steep down hill. The frame is stiff nylon sort of stuff and there is a notch in the frame to rest the rifle stock on when shooting. There are several bag sizes you can attach or just use a meat shelf.
I mainly use the small bag in the bottom pic so the set up can be used for day hunting. Ive also got a 70 litre bag, and it takes about 3 minutes to change the bags. A wonderful set up.

Originally Posted by Tahr

This is an American made Outdoorsman pack frame that I use in the tussock. Its an excellent platform to shoot off, especially steep down hill. The frame is stiff nylon sort of stuff and there is a notch in the frame to rest the rifle stock on when shooting. There are several bag sizes you can attach or just use a meat shelf.
I mainly use the small bag in the bottom pic so the set up can be used for day hunting. Ive also got a 70 litre bag, and it takes about 3 minutes to change the bags. A wonderful set up.

Clearly designed by a hunter with other hunters in mind.

203m prone with backpack.

The “sitting position” extra-long Harris bipod I bought recently worked really well too. Went out for a quick goat cull before the weather packed up and did well with the .223, sitting comfortably on a settee cushion.

Yes, I know. Unfortunately my coccyx takes such a beating on the quad on these rough bloody tracks that after a while sitting on hard uncomfortable ground becomes sufficiently unpleasant to resort to ridiculous comforts. Nick it off the couch when no one is looking and stuff it in the pack. Easy!

Originally Posted by Bagheera

203m prone with backpack.
Attachment 226838

Attachment 226839

That’s a solid effort!!

25m today off the pack. #fulllrealism
#opensights

Originally Posted by Bushline

Attachment 227375
25m today off the pack. #fulllrealism
#opensights

Looks like a teaspoon challenge to me.

If you’ve used open sight sights I guess you used a full 6 o’clock aim ?
You’ll have to take the offset into account hunting animals with that !

Tricky target shading there- difficult shooting.