2025 Cold Bore Challenge Q&A Thread

[solarshooter]

I could be convinced to do timed, field position shots next year on a target that isn't neon orange. Maybe have a buddy place it too so it's a find it, range it, shoot it sorta thing.

I came up with an exercise just like this. Set a vitals sized gong and hiked around with a group calling "shoot" at random times and starting a timer. In 2 hours we ended up taking 14 shots from a wide variety of ranges, positions, winds. Super good practice and I want to do it a lot more.

A week ago I spent a day doing simulated coldbore hunting shots in the mountains at a vitals sized steel target with a 2min timer from hiking with a pack and hunting gear/rifles, from a variety of positions. Average range was 350yds (from 186-665yds), crosswind component from 5-17mph, my personal coldbore hit rate was 9/14 = 64%, other shooter was 10/14 = 71%, combined 19/28 = 68%.

 

[sndmn11]

200 yards and in is a “realistic” first round kill shot distance.

This is where I think both versions of the CBC are a double edged sword; is false confidence a result to some who participate or see others making hits?

I think it's a good tool to get folks to dust their gear off and START to shoot.

 

[robby denning]

This is where I think both versions of the CBC are a double edged sword; is false confidence a result to some who participate or see others making hits?

I think it's a good tool to get folks to dust their gear off and START to shoot.

Well, my false confidence caused me to quit shooting at 70 yards and backed all the way down to 55 for like 4 years and finally added 5 yards this year

And yes, it gets people to start shooting earlier, which is always a good thing

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Well, my false confidence caused me to quit shooting at 70 yards and backed all the way down to 55 for like 4 years and finally added 5 yards this year

And yes, it gets people to start shooting earlier, which is always a good thing

Probably don't need that fancy 6UM for 60 yard shots Robby, haha

 

[Harvey_NW]

I think if folks were truly “pushing themselves” the yardage doesn’t necessarily “matter” to an extent. Obviously the further back you go the more the wind/bullet/shooter variables have potential to change outcomes, but in general “long range” is not necessarily what makes us “miss”.

You take the average or even “skilled rifleman” type of hunter out and get them off their “range” or flat prairie/farm field, and put up targets at various yardages that blend into terrain like an animal; and give them time, say 2 minutes “before the animal moves off” to simulate some adrenaline…

It is truly shocking (to the point where nearly all folks call BS until they see it/shoot it) how much someone’s actual kill shot “MER” and first round impact rates drop off dramatically. Or the amount of folks who simply do not get a shot off in the allotted time at all. It’s not to say that “all hunting shots” are rushed or should be, but it’s a great way to simulate “let’s get this animal killed” and put some pressure on the shooter to simulate felt conditions when killing. THEN you bring in factors like distance/wind/guns that aren’t zeroed/forgot to dial, the list goes on, all compounding to work against the shooter being effective.

If I had to put an honest “yardage number” for the average “avid” shooter/hunter going into unknown terrain with elevation change/wind conditions; in seeing what I have with hundreds of shooters between guiding, instructing, etc. for the last couple decades, 200 yards and in is a “realistic” first round kill shot distance.

In saying that, in the dozens of Rokslide members I’ve met in person and shot with, this is a group of folks that is generally well above average. There is zero replacement for getting in shooting reps in hunting type terrain and it’s clear that this site has a high concentration of what I would consider “very good to elite” hunting shot shooters. Not that it really even matters “what I consider” anyway just a personal observation.

I don't disagree with any of that. I just meant in terms of applying statistics or hit rate percentages I still think it's an apples to oranges comparison because there's no ethical contingency when shooting at plates. So like I said in my situation I wouldn't have taken that shot at an animal in those conditions, but for the sake of the challenge and learning I did. And I missed.

This fall we should start a thread about hunting situations where everyone can post their stats from their hunt and people can pull the data from there for comparisons.

 

[Bobrobheimer]

I could be convinced to do timed, field position shots next year on a target that isn't neon orange. Maybe have a buddy place it too so it's a find it, range it, shoot it sorta thing.

Shoot an NRL hunter match if you get the chance. Super fun even if you’re not trying to be competitive.

 

[ztc92]

I could be convinced to do timed, field position shots next year on a target that isn't neon orange. Maybe have a buddy place it too so it's a find it, range it, shoot it sorta thing.

Last year a few friends and I got together to ruck and shoot at random targets in the field from varying positions. Unbeknownst to me, one friend had cut out and painted a life size mule deer from some OSB he had lying around. He placed a 12” gong where the vitals were so we knew if it was a good shot. When I thought we were done and walking back to the truck, they surprised me and told me there was a deer to shoot. Initially I was confused as it was June and deer season was obviously closed but once I realized there was a target it led to some great practice and lots of good learning. I’d highly recommend this if you can find a few buddies to shoot with.

Here’s a night photo of the deer he made lit up by headlights. It looks a little goofy in the photo but I can assure you through a scope at 400 yards it looked very realistic!

 

[Nine Banger]

If anyone is hung up on participating because of the public eye I just noticed only 25 people watched my first shot last year and only 9 people watched my second shot.

Makes sense; no one really cares about your shooting but you.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

If anyone is hung up on participating because of the public eye I just noticed only 25 people watched my first shot last year and only 9 people watched my second shot.

Makes sense; no one really cares about your shooting but you.

I'm at 33 and 20 views for this year. When do companies start reaching out to ask if I'll be an influencer for them?

 

[robby denning]

I'm at 33 and 20 views for this year. When do companies start reaching out to ask if I'll be an influencer for them?

you didn't get my voicemail? lol

Yip, like @Nine Banger says, people just care about how they themselves shoot-- which is not a bad thing and one of the goals of the CBCs

But I do like to scan the posts and see how guys & gals are doing. I always learn something

 

[robby denning]

Last year a few friends and I got together to ruck and shoot at random targets in the field from varying positions. Unbeknownst to me, one friend had cut out and painted a life size mule deer from some OSB he had lying around. He placed a 12” gong where the vitals were so we knew if it was a good shot. When I thought we were done and walking back to the truck, they surprised me and told me there was a deer to shoot. Initially I was confused as it was June and deer season was obviously closed but once I realized there was a target it led to some great practice and lots of good learning. I’d highly recommend this if you can find a few buddies to shoot with.

Here’s a night photo of the deer he made lit up by headlights. It looks a little goofy in the photo but I can assure you through a scope at 400 yards it looked very realistic!

View attachment 897983

@Ryan Avery @Tanya Avery get this is the Rokstore lol

 

[Nine Banger]

Here’s a night photo of the deer he made lit up by headlights. It looks a little goofy in the photo but I can assure you through a scope at 400 yards it looked very realistic!

I had some real deer come across my shooting lane before I took one of my shots, about 50 yards closer than the actual target. I was suprised how big they looked compared to the 10" target behind them. It reminded me how easy it is to take a liver shot, bruise lungs and so on.

 

[24valve]

Last year a few friends and I got together to ruck and shoot at random targets in the field from varying positions. Unbeknownst to me, one friend had cut out and painted a life size mule deer from some OSB he had lying around. He placed a 12” gong where the vitals were so we knew if it was a good shot. When I thought we were done and walking back to the truck, they surprised me and told me there was a deer to shoot. Initially I was confused as it was June and deer season was obviously closed but once I realized there was a target it led to some great practice and lots of good learning. I’d highly recommend this if you can find a few buddies to shoot with.

Here’s a night photo of the deer he made lit up by headlights. It looks a little goofy in the photo but I can assure you through a scope at 400 yards it looked very realistic!

View attachment 897983

It was only an 8" gong, as we were going for approximate lifelike proportions and size (although it's a big bodied buck). After shooting it we learned to not place it in front of a rock pile or every shot sounds like a hit, and that we should adjust the gong placement a bit as those other shots in the photo in the shoulder would have been in the vitals.

It was good practice to shoot at something without a bullseye painted on it and unintentionally a good test of @ztc92's ethics who was definitely not going to shoot the "deer" before season and was slightly appalled we were even suggesting it, until we very thoroughly convinced him it was a plywood target we placed in an aspen grove before he arrived to shoot with us.

 

[Silver Wings]

you didn't get my voicemail? lol

Yip, like @Nine Banger says, people just care about how they themselves shoot-- which is not a bad thing and one of the goals of the CBCs

But I do like to scan the posts and see how guys & gals are doing. I always learn something

Same here…and with so many misses there’s a lot to learn!
I enjoy the challenge of banging steel beyond my comfort range and it’s helping me get more and more solid at all ranges below my MER. If anything the CBC, in general and not just my own performance, has got me rethinking my MER. There’s just so much that can go wrong as the distance increases and at 65 the thought of getting into any drawn out rodeos is not very appealing.

 

[Bobrobheimer]

If anyone is hung up on participating because of the public eye I just noticed only 25 people watched my first shot last year and only 9 people watched my second shot.

Makes sense; no one really cares about your shooting but you.

Some of the videos have a couple views and others have between 1 and 2 thousand. Not sure why such disparity.

 

[robby denning]

Some of the videos have a couple views and others have between 1 and 2 thousand. Not sure why such disparity.

Some guys have big channels (more followers) so YT pushes those out to more people. Plus if the YT algorithm picks up a video, they push it out to non subscribers feeds who’ve viewed/liked similar. Also if they post as a reel, sometimes those grow wings easier than regular videos. The internet loves itself and wants to keep us hooked. And here we are lol.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I'm at 33 and 20 views for this year. When do companies start reaching out to ask if I'll be an influencer for them?

Wondering the same thing? Maybe it’s because I missed…

 

[Harvey_NW]

Some of the videos have a couple views and others have between 1 and 2 thousand. Not sure why such disparity.

Since the majority are hosted on YouTube my guess would be their channel following. If there's a way to see who viewed your videos solely on Rokslide, I'm unaware of it.

 

[JohnB]

Whelp I'm an idiot. I missed both CBC shots this year. My first day was in strong wind so I attributed my miss to that. Day 2 was calm wind, prone, great shot process and I missed as well. Last night I went to the gun range and my zero was good vertically but 0.4 mils off horizontally. I'd completely forgotten that after cougar season I'd pulled my action out of the stock and installed a couple of metal washers in my plastic bottom metal and torqued the screws to 65 in/lb instead of the 40 in/lb they had been at.

This is some motivation to keep doing some CB shooting and I guess this year I'm representing the hunter that shoots 3 rounds before deer season and says "looks like I'm still good!".

Thanks mods for the contest

 

[Brontosaurus]

Whelp I'm an idiot. I missed both CBC shots this year. My first day was in strong wind so I attributed my miss to that. Day 2 was calm wind, prone, great shot process and I missed as well. Last night I went to the gun range and my zero was good vertically but 0.4 mils off horizontally. I'd completely forgotten that after cougar season I'd pulled my action out of the stock and installed a couple of metal washers in my plastic bottom metal and torqued the screws to 65 in/lb instead of the 40 in/lb they had been at.

This is some motivation to keep doing some CB shooting and I guess this year I'm representing the hunter that shoots 3 rounds before deer season and says "looks like I'm still good!".

Thanks mods for the contest

Basically my story to an extent