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

Originally Posted by Jhon

@canross, agree with comments and dilemma re time etc. @19Badger maybe elitist was a poor choice of word. The point I was trying to make, perhaps badly, was having been to a member of a couple of NZDA ranges over the years, they seem fixated on the 3/4p courses of fire. Unless perhaps Silhouette is being shot. That's fine and I've participated. However as I've grown older, and crankier, I am less and less inclined to lower my old carcass to the ground. Actually its not the going down or even being uncomfortably prone as much as the getting up again lol.

Maybe it's just a young person's game after all. And yet I can shoot offhand and off sticks as much as I want. There are no courses of fire being offered that allow me to participate in that way. I would love to move from sub 200m to competency at 300+ The range days offered however are base on 3/4p shooting only. And with a range open only on weekends there are no flexi hours available for individual shooters or small groups doing their particular thing.

My solution is simply to go off on my own to a private bit of land whenever I can. I would prefer to shoot in a club with others. I keep running into folk who likewise eschew their local clubs simply because of the rigid insistence on the traditions of 3/4p shooting. Anyway enough. The problem will go away in a few years lol

Perhaps it was a poor choice of words.
I whole heartedly agree with you and can relate to the getting up bit.
It has been my thought for some time that clubs/branches should diversify what they offer. My thoughts are that ranges should offer days where any position/discipline can be used/shot not just the 3/4p positions but off sticks/bipods/benches/whatever and should have competition days that cater to the various positions, as not everyone is interested in the same thing.
Offering the same thing over and over with no variety probably reduces the participation.

What is allowed on ranges does come down to what the range standing orders allow, I know of ranges where you can shoot at 100 from any position but beyond 100 you have to shoot prone.
We do have a serious lack of available ranges in New Zealand and a lot of restrictions on the ranges that are available

To be successful I think you need to practise, this aids you in being able to make successful shots that you may not have felt comfortable doing before, and I agree with Friwi out in the field is different to shooting on the range. With that in mind the range time has given me confidence in my rifle and myself that I wouldn't have had if I didn't spend that time on the range.

Some of the posts have been quite enlightening and highlight some problems.

My boss many years ago said to me people will make happen what they want to happen regardless of the barrier, that was quite a statement to a young person and I still think of that today and as I've grown older I realise this is true in many ways.