Thread: Long Range Hunting and F-Class Target Shooting.

@caberslash who said "every hunter should have the skill to effectively shoot animals using these positions, prone, sitting, kneeling and standing, if they can't then they lack the skills to effectively make clean kills on animals.

Like everything how do you gain these skills? By practise, ie go and shoot targets on a range, and you should practise all forms of shooting positions so that you gain confidence in your equipment and ability which leads to better results in the field."



I have some real disagreement with this. It smacks of elitism. I am a member of a range that assiduously practices 3/4position shooting. I rarely go now. Why? Because they have no ability to accommodate how I hunt which is off sticks, standing. In the NZDA Hunts Course I did, one of their mantras was any rest is better than no rest. Whether a pack prone, a rock or log or a tree or post standing etc. I take my rest with me. Can I shoot prone? yes I can. Should I be forced to in order to participate? Well I don't mind there being competitions and club events where shooting prone is part of the course of fire. But where a club neglects to accommodate other methods and stipulates a particular format only then they simply exclude a part of the shooting population. That's fine if they have a surfeit of members. What rifle club can boast that however these days?

What I need to know to hunt effectively is not 3/4p shooting. What I need is to be proficient at my chosen style of shooting, and to be willing to pass up shots that don't offer that style.

I went out on a guided hunt where I was told to leave my sticks on the vehicle, put onto a deer at 140m, basically pushed to the ground and told to shoot off the guides pack prone. I shot clean over the deers shoulder from for a me very uncomfortable shooting position I was not used to and have no intention of practicing. The next opportunity that arose not a word was said when I took my sticks. I dropped my target with a neck shot. After I was grudgingly told it was a good shot.

Purist thinking may have its time and place..I teach my grandkids the 3/4 positions for shooting. I also have them shoot off my sticks, a tree trunk, a post and offhand. When we go hunting they get to choose. If they want to shoot prone off a bipod and the grass is too long they have to wait until an opportunity presents that they can do that.. or they miss out. Of all the shooting positions available, shooting prone would have to require the most favorable conditions. Off a standing rest, the least. The pre-occupation with prone shooting seems to me to be a hangover from military practice where yiu are likely to endure return fire. Fortunately, deer don't shoot back.