Who's the better shot?

I started out with some pretty humble hunting rifles and tried to learn to shoot them, I progressed into more accurate rifles because my old guns were just not hitting varmints at the distances I wanted to shoot them. So with interest in pushing the limits of my equipment and skill I try to progress skill wise by competing in matches and fine tuning my equipment. I have learned a lot through competition shooting as well as field practice. Match shooting helps me shoot better under pressure which is a skill I also find useful in the hunting fields. If anyone thinks that shooting paper is a waste of time, its not. I have learned better trigger control and wind reading skills, and I still have alot to learn. Not to mention what makes accurate ammunition. I don't know why some hunters feel they are looked down upon by target shooters, many target shooters I met hunt themselves so I just don't understand it. Maybe they look down on people who don't practice and go out opening morning after sighting in the day before hoping to hit something. But practice is practice whether you are shooting varmints or paper, rocks or trees. I just enjoy different aspects of shooting, I am not caught up on 100 yard groups that gets boring, I try different distances using my rangefinder. And when that coyote presents himself I will have more confidence that I will make a killing shot and not a wounded animal.
 
Originally Posted By: DAAI'm more interested in and more impressed by the feats of Rifleman in the field, on live animals. Paper punching, even at the highest levels, just bores me. I'm just not all that interested in it, beyond the portions that I can apply in the field. That, and I've hunted with some world class paper punchers that were just totally lost in the field without the accoutrements of their particlular competitive discipline (bench rest). Literally Hall of fame level, in their chosen area of competition, but literally incompetent, trying to shoot standing on their hind legs, in the field.

- DAA

+1.

Growing up and walking the desert with my ol man was a treat. Shooting a .222 and jump shooting running jacks with great consistency was great to watch. Being that I was just a kid and never really saw other people shoot before I didn't realize what a great rifleman field shot he was/is until I'd been doing this awhile.
 
....i'm gonna go watch a hi school football game...i expect this to still be going strong when i return in 2hrs...please don't disappoint me....go coyotes.
 
Originally Posted By: tawnoperGrowing up and walking the desert with my ol man was a treat. Shooting a .222 and jump shooting running jacks with great consistency was great to watch. Being that I was just a kid and never really saw other people shoot before I didn't realize what a great rifleman field shot he was/is until I'd been doing this awhile.

Same here. I grew up on a steady diet of the same thing. Jump shooting jacks with my Dad, back when the jacks were "thick", everywhere. I do not believe that there is any better form of practice. Like you, I didn't realize how good Dad was until I got older and started shooting more with other guys.

I don't get in much jack shooting anymore, and am not nearly as good a shot as I used to be. But when I'm good and "tuned up" on jacks, a running coyote inside about a hundred yards seems really big and slow and easy to hit. Even now though, in my fairly pathetic state of skill, most called coyotes are still pretty easy shots.

- DAA
 
Interesting thread. I too am impressed by shooters that can hit what they aim at without the aid of wind flags,rangefinders, etc. A Guy that is out hunting, he has a couple seconds for a shot, standing, running, makes no difference. Those are the hunters we rarely hear about. They have my utmost respect. Paper is fine for sighting in, developing loads and posting internet groups. But in the hunting world if you need a caddy, a spotter to tell you distance, high,low, it wont impress me as much as a guy that uses instinct and can just shoot his target. Thats why I believe in " Yardstick Groups" !
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Originally Posted By: DAAI'm more interested in and more impressed by the feats of Rifleman in the field, on live animals. Paper punching, even at the highest levels, just bores me. I'm just not all that interested in it, beyond the portions that I can apply in the field. That, and I've hunted with some world class paper punchers that were just totally lost in the field without the accoutrements of their particlular competitive discipline (bench rest). Literally Hall of fame level, in their chosen area of competition, but literally incompetent, trying to shoot standing on their hind legs, in the field.

- DAA


+1

Amen,brother!
 
Competitive paper punching off the bench or 4 position paper punching impress me (The ones that are real good at it)and a person that can shoot game using a scope or open sights and put it right where it should be Impress me also.

People that just paper punch for the [beeep] of it do not impress me at all.

There are a lot of guys that can make little bitty holes off the bench all day long but put them in a paper punching match and they will fall apart because they can not shoot under pressure.

When shooting at game I would say I am just a hair above average.

I shot competitively for several years in the Columbia, Willamette rifle league hear in Oregon. We shot 22LR at 50 Feet in doors with High Power scopes and also shot 100 Yd. matches in the summer. I shot an average of 384 with 20 X's out of a possible 400 - 40X. We shot Prone, sitting, kneeling, off hand. I seen guys that thought that since they were great shots at animals they would do great at this type of shooting, a very few were and a lot more couldn't make the grade. There were guys that I shot against couldn't hit a bull in the -ss with a base fiddle when it came to shooting at animals.

OK I can here you guys laugh
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about shooting at 50 feet with a 22 and a high power scope just go out and put a 20 or 30 power scope on your 22 and put up an official target for Gallery shooting and try one of the 4 positions and see how well you can do. If you pick Prone, sitting, kneeling and can not shoot a score of 100 out of a possible 100-10X you might not make the team.
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Those 20 and 30 power scopes at 50 feet magnifies the slightest movement you make, Good shooters might not be able to hold it still but what they do have is Eye and trigger finger control down to a nats butt.
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That is why I say I am as impressed with good field shooters as I am with paper punchers both take a lot of shooting skill to do it right..


DAB
 
Like I said, I am impressed by both. WIND is a big factor in long range shooting. Guys who can really dope the wind well at long range are impressive IMO. I went to a match last winter when the wind was howlin' and it was snowin', and just downright miserable outside. The scores reflected it. Separates the men from the boys in quick fashion.

That said, the most impressive shots I have ever made in my own mind have come on shooting game. Shots that I would not have been fast/experienced enough to make or even CONSIDER making 15-20yrs ago. Last season I pulled off 2 shots on running deer that amazed myself. Mind you, I have whacked a whole lotta deer, and never missed or lost a single one (except with a bow). This is what lead me to discover that what I had thought to be instinctual shooting, had actually become learned shooting. I have become pretty much "automatic" at shooting deer. And not just shooting them, shooting them exactly where they should be shot for a clean kill given the angle of the animal at the time. I am able to do this even when the window of opportunity is next to nothing. When most hunters would still be gawking at the deer and then raising their gun only to be too late. The amazing part is I have let shots go so quickly on deer that were only visible for a split second, that I myself was not sure if I had hit them or missed. Only to find them a short ways away with a well placed bullet hole in them.

At what point does learned shooting and instinctual shooting blend together? I think it is starting to do so for me now.

Please do not think I'm trying to brag here. That is not my intention. I'm still learning every day....
 
I'm impressed with both the hunters with shots on running game and offhand iron sight target shooters.
 
Well, there's no substitute for trigger time, and all practice will improve your skill if you take it seriously. One thing I would say about experienced bench shooters is that they (the majority of them, at least) develop very good skills at estimating range, and that's perhaps the most valuable skill of all.
I'd be a very good shot if I was better at doing that. If I was going out on the plains hunting antelope and such, I'd be in dire need of a rangefinder, because my estimation skill is weak.
 
Im lucky to hit the broad side of a barn. Im just fairly descent at training coyotes to step in front of a speeding bullet.
Actually im mediocre at best. But I have fun trying.
 
Calling the wind requires the shooter to tap into 'THE FORCE'. Sometimes a value can't be quantified by measurement or terrain, its just 'felt' from prior experience with that rifle/load and conditions...
Before helping to conquer the Dark Side, Yoda was invariably a long range shooter somewhere on an outer rim planet in the Dagobah System...
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Originally Posted By: knockemdownCalling the wind requires the shooter to tap into 'THE FORCE'. Sometimes a value can't be quantified by measurement or terrain, its just 'felt' from prior experience with that rifle/load and conditions...
Before helping to conquer the Dark Side, Yoda was invariably a long range shooter somewhere on an outer rim planet in the Dagobah System...
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you're killin me.
 
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