The realization of field shooting ineffectiveness

[Hoosker Doo]

Field…I before E, except after C.

But what if I'm out there with my neighbor, eating protein bars, packing some extra weight, and hunting reindeer... than could it be considered " in the feild"?

Sorry, couldn't help it.

 

[Southern Lights]

If a guy knew someone from the mines, belting would be perfect. Heavy and lasts forever.

The rubber in the targets is made from old conveyor belt if I recall.

 

[Southern Lights]

I can’t count the number of folks who have missed chances on coues deer especially. They simply can’t find the animal in their scope. Once you’re past 400 yards (yardage for 70+% of coues deer kills I’ve been a part of) the number of folks that can effectively get the deer in their scope and get a shot off in time is scarily low.

Yes. You need to quickly ID the animal and execute. I see a lot of videos with people in prone, kestrel out, scrolling ballistic app, adjusting bipod, doing some yoga to loosen up, etc. Way too slow in the field.

Guides here in NZ complain about this. Hunters come down with way too much gun, way too much magnification, and are diddling their phones/kestrels as the animal walks off into the bush. Also like you said, can't find the animal (usually too much magnification), or have not practiced finding animals enough in binos and moving to the rifle to do it there.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Yes I don't think people understand how quickly you need to ID the animal execute. I see a lot of videos with people in prone, kestrel out, scrolling ballistic app, adjusting bipod, etc. Way too slow in the field.

Guides here in NZ complain about this. Hunters come down with way too much gun, way too much magnification, and are diddling their phones as the animal walks off into the bush. Also like you said, can't find the animal (usually to much magnification), or have not practiced finding animals enough in binos to do it quickly when on the rifle.

Preach!!!

We had a gal with us 2 seasons ago who said she was ready. Got her onto a group of 4 bucks opening morning who were fighting and distracted. They were 400 yards out so they couldn’t hear her making way too much noise trying to get set up.

We waited and waited and waited. Kept them in our binos and were constantly giving her animal position updates and current yardages to the different bucks. She never got a shot before they topped out, must have been 20 minutes.

Two days later we got her onto a young spike buck who was stupid and curious. 225 yards out but due to him being in broken terrain and slowly moving, she couldn’t get him in her scope and get comfortable. He was staring at us broad side multiple times for 5 minutes at a time. Again, no kill.

We hunted for 7 days with no kill. I talked to her husband after the hunt and told him that she wasn’t ready and needed to practice all year long with her gun.

This is one recent example, but the same stuff happens every single year when I hunt/guide with folks.

 

[Southern Lights]

Two stories that I remember from guides:

Guy setup on deer that was about 150m away. Ranged it and dialed(!). Then messed up the shot with a magnum and wounded it. Animal hit multiple times and ran. Found it later and put in finishing shot.

Another on an animal a few hundred meters away. Guy pulling out ballistic app finger banging the phone for some time. Guide tells him: "Take the shot, mate." Animal walked off into the bush and not seen again. This guide has multiple stories like this.

I've seen, and experienced, ballistic app errors in matches/hunts. Wrong data, set the wind wrong, accidentally change something and didn't realize, etc. Even worse, you are looking at your phone and not what the animal is doing or where it is moving.

Or, you get the app trued during practice and during an update a bug is introduced and everything is wrong but you don't realize it (seen that also).

I keep dope table taped to my rifle. If the animal is 400m and closer, I am not going to mess with an app or Kestrel. If I feel the wind is so bad I need the Kestrel at that distance to make a hit, I'm going to move closer. You have to keep your eyes on the animal and decide if you want it or not. If you want it, don't delay.

 

[McCrapper]

I guided my bro in law on a mule deer last year. It was bedded down and picture perfect 250-275 yards. He is inexperienced and it was so hard for me to understand how he couldn’t find the buck in the scope, it took no less than 10 minutes. Once he did get it, I told him where to aim and I admittedly instructed him wrong. He barely shot over it and it stood up and slowly walked/paused/walked off the hill, he could never get back on it again. Whereas a more experienced shooter could have gotten off another shot easily.

Time in the field and just glassing game with your scope helps immensely. Visualization of the shot sounds corny but I feel like that has helped me over the years. Pick the presumed area an animal would step out and aim at it or aim at the lone doe 300 yards away and visualize shooting it. Use good gun safety and judgement when doing so.

 

[Bluumoon]

If a guy were to set one of these up, what would be the make or break for you to show up?

Ie how many rounds is too many to require? 50 too many?
Is a 2 mile walking course on moderate terrain in July temps doable, likely 85-90 degree desert heat?
Novel shooting positions at each station, only allowed what you carry hunting.
I like the original posted course.
13 targets, shooter gets three shots per
At least one target requiring a reload.
Ranges from 50-600 yards, small canyon to work with
Times seem excessive at 2:30, but I do some timed practice and wouldn't want to ruin the experience for people who haven't, at the same time don't want to allow time for gaming it w big ass tripods and such.
Stakes for winner - loser?

Safety would be a big concern inviting unknown people to join...
I've never been to or participated in a match, can't stand shooting at public ranges r/t safety violations. Any one have some basic RO rules they can share?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

If a guy were to set one of these up, what would be the make or break for you to show up?

Ie how many rounds is too many to require? 50 too many?
Is a 2 mile walking course on moderate terrain in July temps doable, likely 85-90 degree desert heat?
Novel shooting positions at each station, only allowed what you carry hunting.
I like the original posted course.
13 targets, shooter gets three shots per
At least one target requiring a reload.
Ranges from 50-600 yards, small canyon to work with
Times seem excessive at 2:30, but I do some timed practice and wouldn't want to ruin the experience for people who haven't, at the same time don't want to allow time for gaming it w big ass tripods and such.
Stakes for winner - loser?

Safety would be a big concern inviting unknown people to join...
I've never been to or participated in a match, can't stand shooting at public ranges r/t safety violations. Any one have some basic RO rules they can share?

81 is our projected overnight LOW temperature for the foreseeable future. 85-90 as the high sounds amazing to me haha.

I’d love to try and do a get together for shooting if timing and location works out. Maybe make a weekend camping trip out of it to attract folks from further away? Rokslide camping/shooting get together sounds really fun.

50 rounds is quite low for a day of shooting for me personally.

2 mile walking with pack on, and taking off to shoot at targets 50-600 yards sounds great.

Timed practice in my opinion is one of the only ways to get more proficient. If guys are taking time to get a tripod out and set up they are missing animals in the field guaranteed.

Safety would be my number one concern and I’d like for folks to learn how to properly use a bolt action rifle before I’d shoot with them. When I used to teach, basic fundamentals and safety were always very first.

 

[Weldor]

81 is our projected overnight LOW temperature for the foreseeable future. 85-90 as the high sounds amazing to me haha.

I’d love to try and do a get together for shooting if timing and location works out. Maybe make a weekend camping trip out of it to attract folks from further away? Rokslide camping/shooting get together sounds really fun.

50 rounds is quite low for a day of shooting for me personally.

2 mile walking with pack on, and taking off to shoot at targets 50-600 yards sounds great.

Timed practice in my opinion is one of the only ways to get more proficient. If guys are taking time to get a tripod out and set up they are missing animals in the field guaranteed.

Safety would be my number one concern and I’d like for folks to learn how to properly use a bolt action rifle before I’d shoot with them. When I used to teach, basic fundamentals and safety were always very first.

Yeah, you gotta love the mirage at 110F

 

[RockAndSage]

Dry fire practice can help a lot. I use a DFAT trainer and their target cards, and a little giant ladder or other props in the garage. Just keep building positions, checking body and wobble zone, work on perfect trigger presses, and practice a couple times a week. Really helps. View attachment 731680

This type of setup is really good in helping perfect your cheek weld for parallax, too. It's not as much of an issue with parallax-adjustable scopes, but before those were common you had to be even more careful with eye placement, to make sure it was perfectly centered in the eyebox. If you don't (or if your parallax adjustment doesn't go down to garage distances), the target will move back and forth under the crosshairs if you move your head slightly. That can result in misses.

To align your eye for parallax, you basically pull your head back until you can see shadow perfectly even around the image, so that you're centered left-right/up-down, and then move your head forward to fill the eyebox back up with the image. You'll know you're centered front-back in the eyebox when there's almost zero movement of the target-crosshair alignment with slight head movement in any direction.

 

[Strider]

If a guy were to set one of these up, what would be the make or break for you to show up?

Ie how many rounds is too many to require? 50 too many?
Is a 2 mile walking course on moderate terrain in July temps doable, likely 85-90 degree desert heat?
Novel shooting positions at each station, only allowed what you carry hunting.
I like the original posted course.
13 targets, shooter gets three shots per
At least one target requiring a reload.
Ranges from 50-600 yards, small canyon to work with
Times seem excessive at 2:30, but I do some timed practice and wouldn't want to ruin the experience for people who haven't, at the same time don't want to allow time for gaming it w big ass tripods and such.
Stakes for winner - loser?

Safety would be a big concern inviting unknown people to join...
I've never been to or participated in a match, can't stand shooting at public ranges r/t safety violations. Any one have some basic RO rules they can share?

The goal for me was to challenge myself and my buddies. We all shoot TAC or Other 3d archery shoots every year but never practice with our rifles.
As far as what gets people there. Competition, prizes, and food. We all pitched in and bought 3 more targets for it. Those were prizes for the top 3. I feel a lot of people will come if personally invited. Not a lot of normal hunters seek this stuff out but if you invite them. They will come. We did a tailgate cookout after humping the steel back and that was a lot of fun.

As far as the shoot format.
If it's a Rokslide shooting rally (The Rokshoot?). Then the more rounds the better. But if you are planning on doing it with buddies who may not be devout shooters or subscribe to the teachings of Form. Then they will complain about having to buy their expensive Magnum ammo haha. As far as rnd count I think it just depends on the group shooting.
Time limits don't need to be 2:30. On all shots on a single plate almost every one was breaking their shot under 60ish seconds. Safety is huge. We did empty chambers, mags out, bolts open at all times.

If you plan it people will come.

 

[WCT3]

If a guy were to set one of these up, what would be the make or break for you to show up?

Ie how many rounds is too many to require? 50 too many?
Is a 2 mile walking course on moderate terrain in July temps doable, likely 85-90 degree desert heat?
Novel shooting positions at each station, only allowed what you carry hunting.
I like the original posted course.
13 targets, shooter gets three shots per
At least one target requiring a reload.
Ranges from 50-600 yards, small canyon to work with
Times seem excessive at 2:30, but I do some timed practice and wouldn't want to ruin the experience for people who haven't, at the same time don't want to allow time for gaming it w big ass tripods and such.
Stakes for winner - loser?

Safety would be a big concern inviting unknown people to join...
I've never been to or participated in a match, can't stand shooting at public ranges r/t safety violations. Any one have some basic RO rules they can share?

I would definitely be interested in a match format like this, unfortunately I'm in the northern front range.

Any one in this area interested in setting up something like this? I'd be happy to help with supplying targets and setting up but I don't know anything about the logistics of running a match.

 

[justinspicher]

I would definitely be interested in a match format like this, unfortunately I'm in the northern front range.

Any one in this area interested in setting up something like this? I'd be happy to help with supplying targets and setting up but I don't know anything about the logistics of running a match.

If you come down, I think it would be worth it. It wouldn’t be any different than going to a competition other than having to pay an entry fee.

 

[WCT3]

If you come down, I think it would be worth it. It wouldn’t be any different than going to a competition other than having to pay an entry fee.

I guess it depends where in SW Colorado it is. The only matches I've ever shot are local 3 gun and pistol so I'd be traveling a long way to probably be the worst shooter there haha.

We do have a local long range match but I've never gone because it's PRS style.

 

[justinspicher]

I guess it depends where in SW Colorado it is. The only matches I've ever shot are local 3 gun and pistol so I'd be traveling a long way to probably be the worst shooter there haha.

We do have a local long range match but I've never gone because it's PRS style.

PM sent.

 

[huntnful]

Hearing stories and seeing threads like this sure make me appreciate the countless tweetie birds and rabbits I killed growing up. Not even realizing that target acquisition and getting stable "enough" as fast as possible in the field is what leads to kills. It was just endless hours of unintentional practice, that now leads to pretty easily obtained kills in the field, without a big cluster F every time.

Starting shooting as an adult is actually quite the task to get proficient at. I used to judge quite heavily when people I was with couldn't find and kill something. Like dude "it's right there, point the gun at it, and then look through the scope" lol. But now I realize that it actually takes a ton of practice to even just point the gun DIRECTLY at the animal so that it's immediately in the scope.

I have good respect for anyone taking on the challenge as an adult and putting the work in to become proficient and effective. Good on you!!!

I still intentionally practice and kill squirrels/coyotes regularly from random positions and it certainly helps during the off season. I also plan to include even more intentional positional practice as well.

 

[chindits]

Plus if we left the plates out they would disappear. That's the problem with leaving anything out, it grows legs

You know a little leg work and attention to detail would prevent that. Don’t leave the target standing up, lay it down and camouflage it. Don’t walk the same route to the target every time to avoid making a path. Get off natural zones of drift from that BLM road you’re on.

I know it’s a terrible inconvenience to actually have to walk somewhere. I guess that aspect of hunting should be eliminated

 

[desertdwellerdyl]

If a guy were to set one of these up, what would be the make or break for you to show up?

Ie how many rounds is too many to require? 50 too many?
Is a 2 mile walking course on moderate terrain in July temps doable, likely 85-90 degree desert heat?
Novel shooting positions at each station, only allowed what you carry hunting.
I like the original posted course.
13 targets, shooter gets three shots per
At least one target requiring a reload.
Ranges from 50-600 yards, small canyon to work with
Times seem excessive at 2:30, but I do some timed practice and wouldn't want to ruin the experience for people who haven't, at the same time don't want to allow time for gaming it w big ass tripods and such.
Stakes for winner - loser?

Safety would be a big concern inviting unknown people to join...
I've never been to or participated in a match, can't stand shooting at public ranges r/t safety violations. Any one have some basic RO rules they can share?

I would also be very interested in this, seems like a great way for more novice/new rifle hunters to learn from more experienced guys. I'd participate if done in southern AZ, would probably save money/time in terms of trial/error on technique and such.

 

[wind gypsy]

You know a little leg work and attention to detail would prevent that. Don’t leave the target standing up, lay it down and camouflage it. Don’t walk the same route to the target every time to avoid making a path. Get off natural zones of drift from that BLM road you’re on.

I know it’s a terrible inconvenience to actually have to walk somewhere. I guess that aspect of hunting should be eliminated

This is true. However, not everyone has an hour to tend/hang targets every time they go shoot. The difference very well could be having time to shoot or not on a given day based on whether you need to hang steel.

 

[Weldor]

You know a little leg work and attention to detail would prevent that. Don’t leave the target standing up, lay it down and camouflage it. Don’t walk the same route to the target every time to avoid making a path. Get off natural zones of drift from that BLM road you’re on.

I know it’s a terrible inconvenience to actually have to walk somewhere. I guess that aspect of hunting should be eliminated

Nice concept, I guess it's different up there. These were on a private ranch, and more than one. Two different locations in the state. We have lots of folks walking around in the desert. No roads close by, just determined crooks I guess. If you leave targets on federal land , They call that littering. Maybe your liberal state looks at it different. I guess AZ. is just lazy.