Training Drills for NRL Hunter and Hunting

[NickyD]

I’m preparing to do my first NRL Hunter match (skills division) this year. I’ve done a NRL hunter prep day so I have an idea of what to expect. I want to improve my skills and be dialed in before the match to maximize my learning opportunities while there.


I typically get out to my gun club 1-2 times a month. I usually only have a single goal when I go to the range so I get bored and don’t shoot as many rounds as I should. I’m hoping adding more drills and structure to my day will help me stay longer and shoot more.


I’d like to know what people do for training on a typical day. Specific drill ideas would be great. I’ll be focusing on training with my tripod but also have access to various positional training setups at my range.

 

[hereinaz]

Build and break drills at home. Use chairs, tables, ladders, etc. learn how to build a position at different heights and settle the wobble.

Build position, reduce wobble, dry fire once or twice and repeat.

Learn how to use your body, pack, and tripod for stabilization.

Also helps to start the stage with a simulated, find target and range off the top of your tripod. It helps to have a plate/bag on your tripod to glass and shoot off of.

Practice starting with everything in your pack and rifle in your hand. Set rifle down, set up tripod, glass/range, build position and shoot.

Also, mark heights on tripod legs for seated, kneeling, and standing.

 

[Bbell12]

Build and break drills at home. Use chairs, tables, ladders, etc. learn how to build a position at different heights and settle the wobble.

Build position, reduce wobble, dry fire once or twice and repeat.

Learn how to use your body, pack, and tripod for stabilization.

Also helps to start the stage with a simulated, find target and range off the top of your tripod. It helps to have a plate/bag on your tripod to glass and shoot off of.

Practice starting with everything in your pack and rifle in your hand. Set rifle down, set up tripod, glass/range, build position and shoot.

Also, mark heights on tripod legs for seated, kneeling, and standing.

What tripod would you recommend for shooting? RRS is a little out of budget but I heard Leofoto makes a similar one just can’t remember the model. Have looked at the Gunwerks tripod too but haven’t seen much feedback about it. Thanks

 

[wind gypsy]

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This is probably what I'd buy for a dedicated shooting tripod if not spending RRS money. They were on-sale recently below $600 and it was real tempting. I think i'd prefer that to my RRS TFCT 24L for a dedicated shooting tripod but have a hard time justifying having both. Inverted legs are quicker/easier to set up fast and I like the bigger apex for throwing a bag on without a ball head or levelling base.

 

[hereinaz]

This is what I run and recommend from Leofoto. Stable and fast with the inverted legs. Those are two of the tripods, and my buddy is 6’4”

 

[hereinaz]

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This is probably what I'd buy for a dedicated shooting tripod if not spending RRS money. They were on-sale recently below $600 and it was real tempting. I think i'd prefer that to my RRS TFCT 24L for a dedicated shooting tripod but have a hard time justifying having both. Inverted legs are quicker/easier to set up fast and I like the bigger apex for throwing a bag on without a ball head or levelling base.

Yes, the larger one is nicer with the big apex. Leofoto has a larger model like that with inverted legs that I used.

I found the smaller one to be nearly just as stable but easier to handle. And, its weight is good for hunting 95% of the time for me.

 

[Bluumoon]

Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting

This isn’t in response to anyone I particular, but there is an up tick in the amount of “I want a XXXX distance hunting rifle” traffic the last few months. I am getting a lot of questions relating to this, which I do not mind helping, but thought a public post might help answer some questions...

rokslide.com

 

[Rippey715]

Build and break drills at home. Use chairs, tables, ladders, etc. learn how to build a position at different heights and settle the wobble.

Build position, reduce wobble, dry fire once or twice and repeat.

Learn how to use your body, pack, and tripod for stabilization.

Also helps to start the stage with a simulated, find target and range off the top of your tripod. It helps to have a plate/bag on your tripod to glass and shoot off of.

Practice starting with everything in your pack and rifle in your hand. Set rifle down, set up tripod, glass/range, build position and shoot.

Also, mark heights on tripod legs for seated, kneeling, and standing.

All of this

I’d add a DFAT trainer for your dry fire and a timer. Get used to being on the clock and feeling what your time management and budget will be. How will you range and write dope cards and how long does that take? That kind of practice.

Focus your one shot drills/position building on target acquisition with speed. That way once you find targets in your binos you can quickly get on target with your rifle. Say 15 seconds from rifle gear in hand to breaking shot.

If you don’t already have a good shooting bag like a game changer or MDT peanut with light fill, get one. Start practicing and breaking it in.

Good luck this season

 

[hereinaz]

All of this

I’d add a DFAT trainer for your dry fire and a timer. Get used to being on the clock and feeling what your time management and budget will be. How will you range and write dope cards and how long does that take? That kind of practice.

Focus your one shot drills/position building on target acquisition with speed. That way once you find targets in your binos you can quickly get on target with your rifle. Say 15 seconds from rifle gear in hand to breaking shot.

If you don’t already have a good shooting bag like a game changer or MDT peanut with light fill, get one. Start practicing and breaking it in.

Good luck this season

Lots of time is lost in the transition, don’t yard sale like me. And, it helps you make fast shots while hunting. I can set up on my tripod faster than friends with bipod on their rifle.

So, I agree with all the above, except buy the Satterlee Bone Bag, cause I make them! PM and I can give a discount code.

Satterlee's Bone Bag

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[OK Shooter]

I've read that a lot of PRS guys practice their positional shooting from only 100 yards. I only have access to a 200 years range so could I make this work for NRL hunter matches, as.long as I work off of lots of barricades/natural terrain?

 

[hereinaz]

I've read that a lot of PRS guys practice their positional shooting from only 100 yards. I only have access to a 200 years range so could I make this work for NRL hunter matches, as.long as I work off of lots of barricades/natural terrain?

Yes, and you can add practice for wind with a .22lr at 200.

Learning to build a position to reduce wobble then break the shot is a big part of shooting PRS and NRL Hunter.

 

[Macintosh]

I've read that a lot of PRS guys practice their positional shooting from only 100 yards. I only have access to a 200 years range so could I make this work for NRL hunter matches, as.long as I work off of lots of barricades/natural terrain?

Absolutely. The shooting part of it I might even say you are better off doing at 100 yards, because things like bad dope and environmental inputs wont mask your actual performance. Just realize that it wont help you practice calling wind or dealing with dope.

 

[Lawnboi]

Kraft drills with whatever you’re going to use for support.

Kraft drills with natural objects (rocks,stumps,trees)

60 seconds, 4 shots, 4 positions.

A timer would help a lot both at the match and for training.

100 yards is enough to beat a lot of people. Paper dosnt lie. If you can keep all your timed positional shots in 1.5” at 100 you’re going to be in good shape at most matches.

 

[Macintosh]

…If you can keep all your timed positional shots in 1.5” at 100 you’re going to be in good shape at most matches.

Unless you’re trying to be truly competitive Id even say 1.5” is unrealistically precise as a initial goal, especially for non-prone positions.

As mentioned kraft drills are good, they are supposed to be a standardized diagnostic tool to identify weaknesses so they can be worked on specifically. Using one kraft target for each position will identify your “standard” at that specific position, so you can go practice, and then use that standardized drill to track progress.

 

[Rippey715]

A dry fire trainer like a DFAT is also invaluable for practicing reps and trigger press. You can practice in the garage or living room. Get some of the practice target cards or place dots on your walls. It works for target acquisition too. Most people focus too much on their ability to shoot groups or get stable and overlook the fact that most new shooters lose half their stage time to target searching. Target acquisition is super important.

Kraft drills are really good for multiple uses. I like to do them to zero my scope before a match and to shoot a single 12 rd group to make sure my groups stay tight through all the positions.

So yeah, lots of ways to practice at 100 and at home that will really help you at your next match.

 

[TaperPin]

This goes under the “…and hunting” category since I have no experience with NRL Hunter.

I’m a big fan of practice from the perspective of you’re walking along and see the target and have to shoot quickly. Shots where you have 6 minutes to set up are a luxury, and not any kind of real life. Shotgun hulls, or pop cans, or plates of different sizes, are nice because progress is easy to see in your hit rates. If you have mostly paper targets, put up multiples, and sharpies of different color on bullets can show up on the paper and give you an idea of different positions on the same target. Rather than printed targets, cut squares of brown cardboard without any marks - deer don’t have printing.

Wearing the daypack, rifle on a sling or in your hands, scope caps on, safety on, shooting shotgun hulls offhand gets you used to the weird feeling and logistics of getting the recoil pad into position quickly on the shoulder. I may shoot singles, or add a follow up shot either standing, sitting, or prone. Use the glove you hunt in.

The same works well sitting. Start standing with day pack on, drop quickly for a sitting shot. Again, the logistics of getting the rifle off the shoulder, popping caps off, and into position are better to work out at the range. Many well intentioned techniques and gizmos will be abandoned once the actual time penalty is seen time after time.

I hunt with an empty chamber and practice how I hunt with every shot, or I’m only practicing half of what really happens. Muscle memory cost me a really big really old buck - I practiced without needing to engage and disengage the safety each shot - when I had to scramble to get an angle at a buck running away, the safety went on, I scrambled, and a quick, but doable standing shot presented itself - squeeze..nothing…squeeze harder…nothing…look at the very reliable custom rifle for a second to realize the safety was on…look into scope just to see the old buck disappear into the trees.

Maybe take 5 shots - one standing, a second at a further target sitting, a further prone shot without a rest, a fourth over a pack, and fifth with a bipod or tripod. Even if someone always wants to use a bipod, especially a short one, in real life there might not be time, or the terrain may not make it usable. If you’re only shooting from ground that allows a bipod and rear bag, you’re accepting a big limitation. I chuckle when the nephew complains about the time to fold up the bipod and get off the ground for each shot - that time penalty is exactly what you’re accepting by using a gizmo.

Training like every shot is real, also helps the shooter develop rules of thumb and sense of time for when to range, or whatever, and when to simply take the shot. When to shoot offhand, and when quickly dropping for a seated shot is appropriate, or the only option is going straight to prone. Sitting wearing a t shirt, taking a bunch of shots, or loading them one by one is as unrealistic as humanly possible.

Measure how long different positions take to set up. Many shots are lost because the shooter has tried to use a time consuming set up and the animal didn’t stand there long enough. At what range do you need to range? Dial? How far can you connect reliably standing? Sitting? Sitting with a rest? Etc.

It ticks off the nephew when we have a 300ish yard rock and I jump out, throw a pack down and bang bang, before his bipod is leveled. I could do jumping jacks between shots and beat his first shot time. When it’s closer to 400 I know to range it, hold three fat squirrels high and bang bang. 450 up is automatically dialing range. I only developed the rules of thumb at the range figuring out what works and doesn’t work for me. I’d go as far saying it’s important to know the difference between max distances with and without a rear bag. Our teenagers and wives can smoke a goat at 400 yards without a rear bag, so if you’re crawling through sagebrush to get into position, not needing a bag is nice to know.

How many guys have practiced crawling 50’ and taking a shot? It doesn’t take long before figuring out knee pads and at least a left hand glove makes perfect sense. Practice in the knee high sage with a short bipod and you’ll be leaving it in the truck because it’s useless.

Even when I was broke, I’d go through all the gymnastics to get into position, dry fire a number of times for every live round. Especially for new shooters, dry firing should be a part of every range trip.