The 1 Thing You Learned- Rifles

[Oregon Hunter]

Most people know this, but test firing your rifle when at new elevations. I'm at 900' and hunt at 3,400' - I know bigger differences like 7K+ matter from where I'm at but didn't think a couple thousand feet would matter that much. My rifle was an an inch and a half low or so at 100 yards when I tested it prior to hunting this year, was pretty surprised by that. It also could have been from zeroing my rifle with the suppressor on, taking it off, and then putting it back on but I haven't tested it since getting back to 900'. I also learned to bring a lens cleaner with my this year, my optics were in rough shape and I was struggling to get them clean with the clothes I had on my body. Luckily nothing presented itself prior to running back to my truck.

My normal hunting elevation is 2000', and I top out at about 5000' in Eastern Oregon. I ran the ballistics for 3500' through a calculator, which only equated to about an inch either way at 500 yds.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

This....100%


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I'm always amazed at how many veteran hunters walk around with their scope still at top power, or their parallax aadjustment set at a zillion yards

 

[Oregon Hunter]

No worries man, just venting re: the frustation of being over here where in LA/OC.. where they have these nice rugged mountains... with perfectly fine dirt roads thru them.... but you, me and the guy nextdoor don't have keys (aka privilege) to the gates any and every road seems to have over here.

My guess re: LA is that at some point they probably got tired of broke-n-po immigrant hunters driving deep into them with crappy hoopties (old clunkers cars for those that don't know the lingo) having them breakdown and them probably electing to just leave them in there. And/or illegal dumping perhaps... like so many people seem to like to do with dumb shit like couches and old TV's, beds, boats, entertainment centers, etc. Seems like their default goto move is "F**k it NOBODY gets to USe IT!!!".

It's just real frustrating is all.

I'm driving around the mountains of Palm Desert while visiting my family right now. You're right, it's surprisingly rugged down here!

 

[Oregon Hunter]

NO WILDCATS!!

Didn't read a single post on here. But for me, the one big lesson I learned is, the BS that comes with reloading for a wildcat, not worth it.

I'm glad you brought this up. Wildcats are fun to tinker with for target shooting or varmint hunting. Probably more trouble than it's worth for big game hunting though, because if you forget your shells or don't have time to reload you're stuck.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

FYI I just started another one of these discussion threads on the 1 thing you've learned about mule deer. I would love to hear your advice, so head on over to this link!

 

[TheGDog]

I'm driving around the mountains of Palm Desert while visiting my family right now. You're right, it's surprisingly rugged down here!

I'm send you a PM... with a place to check out!

 

[Cheptastic]

I was very fortunate this year to get a second chance and fill my tag, but things did not start off well. First day of my hunt I was first on the mountain and hustled to a great glassing location. 270+ degrees of field of vision. There was a good amount of movement and I was able to see it all. About 30 minutes after sunrise I heard some brush breaking behind me. Very slowly I turned my head around to see a good size buck crest a small ridge behind me, maybe 35 yards. He didn’t spot me or wind me, but I knew that any more movement and I would give up my position, I was trapped. I tried to roll to my right to get into a prone position and immediately spooked him. He stopped briefly as if to rub it in and then vanished. I learned a couple of things that day, don’t assume that everything will be in front of me, and glass in a position that allows movement. I got skunked that day and was very disappointed in my lack of situational awareness. A few days later I was able to fill my tag with a nice buck in another location, but that was a VERY valuable lesson.

 

[Buffinnut]

I learned I need to be as self-sufficient as possible. Had a shop do some basic work on a rifle and had a failure. Bought the tools & supplies I needed to redo everything myself and feel much better about it.

 

[AirborneEScouter]

My normal hunting elevation is 2000', and I top out at about 5000' in Eastern Oregon. I ran the ballistics for 3500' through a calculator, which only equated to about an inch either way at 500 yds.

Other factors could be that I zeroed in a more humid climate at 60-70 degrees and was hunting in ~30 degrees. A degree of headwind (20 mph) could have played a roll as well but not sure as 100 yards is not very far for headwind to have a whole lot of effect. I do go back to the fact that zeroing with the suppressor, taking it off, putting it back on might have something to do with it but who knows. Point being, just test your rifle when you get to where you're going, especially if your shots exceed 100 yards as mine typically do.

 

[texagvet23]

Practice shooting from positions other than prone and off of a bench. While pronghorn hunting this year, we struggled to get solid rests off of a tripod. We knew our rifles would handle any shot up to 500, but we weren't able to get a steady hold past about 250. This really limited our hunting capabilities.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I was very fortunate this year to get a second chance and fill my tag, but things did not start off well. First day of my hunt I was first on the mountain and hustled to a great glassing location. 270+ degrees of field of vision. There was a good amount of movement and I was able to see it all. About 30 minutes after sunrise I heard some brush breaking behind me. Very slowly I turned my head around to see a good size buck crest a small ridge behind me, maybe 35 yards. He didn’t spot me or wind me, but I knew that any more movement and I would give up my position, I was trapped. I tried to roll to my right to get into a prone position and immediately spooked him. He stopped briefly as if to rub it in and then vanished. I learned a couple of things that day, don’t assume that everything will be in front of me, and glass in a position that allows movement. I got skunked that day and was very disappointed in my lack of situational awareness. A few days later I was able to fill my tag with a nice buck in another location, but that was a VERY valuable lesson.

You've got to learn to shoot like you're in the Matrix man hahaha

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I learned I need to be as self-sufficient as possible. Had a shop do some basic work on a rifle and had a failure. Bought the tools & supplies I needed to redo everything myself and feel much better about it.

I've had mixed luck both with shops and trying to do it myself. Now I've learned to do all that stuff in the spring (if possible) so that if a problem pops up, it's not during crunch time

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Other factors could be that I zeroed in a more humid climate at 60-70 degrees and was hunting in ~30 degrees. A degree of headwind (20 mph) could have played a roll as well but not sure as 100 yards is not very far for headwind to have a whole lot of effect. I do go back to the fact that zeroing with the suppressor, taking it off, putting it back on might have something to do with it but who knows. Point being, just test your rifle when you get to where you're going, especially if your shots exceed 100 yards as mine typically do.

You're right, nothing beats actually testing your rifle. I think it's a lot of fun though to play around on the ballistic calculators to see what variables make a discernable difference or not. It's nerd stuff, but still interesting.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Practice shooting from positions other than prone and off of a bench. While pronghorn hunting this year, we struggled to get solid rests off of a tripod. We knew our rifles would handle any shot up to 500, but we weren't able to get a steady hold past about 250. This really limited our hunting capabilities.

Spring is a great time to practice the positions you mentioned in the field. For fun, I treat it almost like a 3 D archery shoot. I'll hang a couple targets, then try to hustle to as many shooting positions as I can to force myself to adapt. I think it's helped

 

[texagvet23]

Spring is a great time to practice the positions you mentioned in the field. For fun, I treat it almost like a 3 D archery shoot. I'll hang a couple targets, then try to hustle to as many shooting positions as I can to force myself to adapt. I think it's helped

For sure. I'll be spending lots of time practicing with my new rifle this spring and summer. We have an Eastern Colorado Mule deer hunt we are supposed to get to go on in December, and I will be prepared for it this time.

 

[Cheptastic]

You've got to learn to shoot like you're in the Matrix man hahaha

That's awesome! Yes I do.

 

[JBradley500]

I end up taking the simplest rifles hunting. Less seems to be more to me when it comes to walking and/or being stealthy. It just feels "right".

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I end up taking the simplest rifles hunting. Less seems to be more to me when it comes to walking and/or being stealthy. It just feels "right".

It looks like a lot of things go in a curve. We all started out with simple gear. As the tech became more prolific many of us got fancy, complicated setups. From this forum it seems like a lot of us are on the other side of the curve now and returning to a simpler rifle set up

 

[TheGDog]

I've had mixed luck both with shops and trying to do it myself. Now I've learned to do all that stuff in the spring (if possible) so that if a problem pops up, it's not during crunch time

Definitely something learned from doing software... test, test.... and then... test some more! And verify everything works as you want it... WAY ahead of time! That way, when the time approaches you're not rushing... all relaxed... have faith in your setup because you've verified for yourself it should be able to do exactly what you're expecting to need it to do. Then it's just you focusing on finding them!

 

[hereinaz]

Good lesson! I think tacticool will be a trend that fades for hunters. I love my big heavy rifles for practice, but have learned it doesn't add any fun to my experience in the field. Ultimately I'm not a super sniper whose life depends on it, so I am learning to err on the side of fun while hunting.

YES! Tacticool as a trend is annoying! I have a ton of fun learning to be successful with and without gadgets. So, we can't discount what the precision rifle world has brought to riflemen and marksmanship. Rifleman are not tacticool, neither are hunters.

We need to keep preaching the end to tacticool! Keep preaching riflemanship and fun.

I just want to say that hunters can take a TON of information and learning that has come from precision rifle shooting, withoutthe tacticool. The luminaries in the arena are against the Tacticool, thankfully. They preach fundamentals more than anyone I have ever seen.

Notably, a Godfather and legend in precision rifle is Jacob from Rifles Only and his marksmanship started as a hunter and training hunters to shoot. It is shooting, after all.

Gadgets don't make a shooter, 100% truth. Shooters can make better shots with gadgets though... and without them too. Its about the fundamentals of marksmanship.

I know riflemen that actually carry LESS weight even with their new carbon fiber gizmos (including me). Many have left behind stuff traditional hunters still carry (including me). We are still hunters, you can say we are improving the shooting aspect of hunting. Heaven knows we need that after I have seen guts hanging out of deer a guy shot on the run at 50 yards...