Most common field position on big game animals?

[jonpall]

90% kneeling or sitting, with the rest standing. Haven't ever been able to shoot anything prone.

 

[TaperPin]

I’m about 40% prone, 55% sitting and 5% standing. The first decade of hunting it was more like 60% 15% and 25%.

I lost a bear that I hunted hard a couple of years for because I went prone on an easy 200 yard shot and discovered a slight rise preventing the shot - got up into a sitting position just in time to watch him walk into the trees - one of my three all time top hunting regrets. Since then if it’s under 300 yards I automatically sit first - Bang Bang! For me, sitting with a knee strap is good to 350ish and a tall bipod and knee strap will reach out to 375 yards. I’ve been impressed with the range guys are getting with a pack wedged on the chest - it’s never worked for me, but I most likely haven't practiced with the pack enough.

In the early years I figured if it was 125 yards or less, offhand was the fastest shot - that’s true for the most part, but with practice, dropping into sitting is nearly as quick, and the more you practice the faster you’ll be, so my standing numbers have gone way down. Nonetheless, sometimes there’s no time or clearance for anything but a good old standing shot.

Most of my friends hate practicing seated, so they also avoid it in the field. The ones that do, practice it much less than they should. 10 minutes of practice a day, even if it’s dry firing, will more than double a new shooter’s hits.

 

[pbroski]

None from kneeling.
None from prone.
About 60% from sitting unsupported.
About 20% from sitting with sticks..
About 20% from standing unsupported.

 

[Formidilosus]

This is extremely interesting info - what are your criteria for when you start and stop the clock?

From the moment we/say “I want to kill that animal”.

 

[199p]

Prone for 90% of animals ive taken
then standing supported
standing unsupported and about the same kneeling

 

[RockAndSage]

From the moment we/say “I want to kill that animal”.

Clock stops when the animal goes down, regardless of number of shots?

 

[SouthPaw]

Mine the past couple years:

Prone: 4
kneeling: 3
Sitting: 1

Hunting partners I've witnessed past two years:

Prone: 3
Kneeling: 2
Sitting: 1

 

[Formidilosus]

Clock stops when the animal goes down, regardless of number of shots?

Correct.

 

[Felix40]

0 kneeling, I don’t feel stable or comfortable there.

15% prone

Standing and sitting are basically even. I’ve used tripod, trees, and pack for a rest. Also quite a few off hand shots.

Thinking about it blows my mind because I always want to shoot prone but it seems to rarely work out.

 

[Taudisio]

I just went through my camera roll and only counted the ones I could remember and I was present. I am way out of the norm here.

Prone-8
Sitting-5
Kneeling-1
Standing-40

Supported-21
Unsupported-33

Farthest shot on this list was 890 yards closest was 11 yards. Most were well under 150 yards. I counted anything touching the gun other than your hands, shoulder, and cheek as being supported. Be that a tree, bipod, tripod, backpack, shooting sticks, etc.

 

[hereinaz]

I have been shooting seated off my tripod in positions that are as stable as prone for practical purposes. My neck doesn’t tolerate prone very much anymore. Consequently none of my shots on animals have been prone. All but one were seated off a tripod. My hunts have been in the open in the west, mostly AZ.

For my bison it was seated with rifle on my elbow.

 

[willfrye027]

For the last 3 seasons (this one still going)

Elk and mule deer

Prone: 3
Sitting: 5
Standing unsupported: 2

Historically sitting with shooting sticks/trekking poles is definitely my most common position. Hurts my brain to go back father than a few seasons.

 

[grappling_hook]

Most recent deer and mt goats, all in Alaska:

Standing: 5
Kneeling: 4
Sitting: 3
Prone: 3

 

[Moccasin]

Last season:

Sitting with sticks: (2) coyote, deer
Kneeling with sticks: (3) turkey X2, hog
Standing: (1) hog

Not a lot of prone opportunities due to tall grass, thick veg, and terrain here.

 

[lintond]

Based on my memory I’m pretty much an even split. Majority of these are in talk sage rolling hills, so prone is tough.

Prone - 2
Standing - 2
Standing supported - 1
Sitting - 2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bluumoon]

Large game
Prone- 1
Sitting supported -3
kneeling supported -1
standing supported- 1
off hand - 2

 

[TaperPin]

It’s curious why so much emphasis online is spent shooting prone, while in reality sitting is just as, if not more, important.

 

[Jamesrjack]

Curious how most people are taking big game animals in the field?

I just randomly wanted to actually figure out what my most common field shooting position was and the percent of shots taken in that position. So I went through my camera roll and added them up. I think 8-10 of these are friends that I was personally hunting with and there when the shot was taken also, for added data.

These are all big game animals take from 12,000' elevation all the way down to sea level. Taken in CA, ID, MT, NM, WY, TX, CO, UT, AZ, AK and NE. Most of these were mountainous backpack hunts.

Prone - 37 animals 77%
Seated - 4 animals 8%
Kneeling - 1 animal 2%
Standing - 6 animals 13%

Most all of the shots taken outside of the prone position had some form of rest. I believe only 1 seated and 1 standing shot, which were taken by me, were unsupported. So 4% of field shots were unsupported.

This is just my personal experiences over the last 5 years. I'd love to hear others personal experiences and maybe as much actual field data as you can remember.

Below is an updated compiled list of the responses, including mine.

Prone - 98 / 59%
Seated - 26 / 16%
Kneeling - 17 / 10%
Standing - 26 / 15%

Shots taken unsupported from the above positions (mostly by @Harvey_NW with his muzzleloader hahaha) - 15 / 9%

I always try to get prone and for the most part have found a way to do so. Thx for the stats!

 

[PathFinder]

For myself and shots I've been present for over the last 5 years, muzzleloader and rifle:
Prone: 16
Sitting: 6
Kneeling: 1
Standing: 1 (laying over a big rock on a bag, can barely be considered standing)

Unsupported: Just one of the sitting shots. A mule deer ran right into me at about 42 yards with a muzzleloader.

The reasoning for most of the shots being taken prone is selection of glassing spots. Most of the good glassing spots I've used lend themselves to prone shooting as well. During down times I like to build up shooting spots on steep slopes so that prone shooting is possible. Even when MZ hunting, I try to pop up on a stalk where there's a rock or something similar to lay down and shoot from.
All of the sitting shots used a tripod in some way. Some because of steep upward angles, some because of grass, partly because it was convenient and comfortable.

 

[Bluumoon]

For myself and shots I've been present for over the last 5 years, muzzleloader and rifle:
Standing: 16
Sitting: 6
Kneeling: 1
Standing: 1 (laying over a big rock on a bag, can barely be considered standing)

Unsupported: Just one of the sitting shots. A mule deer ran right into me at about 42 yards with a muzzleloader.

The reasoning for most of the shots being taken prone is selection of glassing spots. Most of the good glassing spots I've used lend themselves to prone shooting as well. During down times I like to build up shooting spots on steep slopes so that prone shooting is possible. Even when MZ hunting, I try to pop up on a stalk where there's a rock or something similar to lay down and shoot from.
All of the sitting shots used a tripod in some way. Some because of steep upward angles, some because of grass, partly because it was convenient and comfortable.

Assuming you meant 16 prone, not standing